d. Several of the women had found
biscuits in their pockets, which afforded support to the younger
children. The young ladies had begged to be allowed to walk, but were
assured that their shoes were unfit for the rough ground which they
would have to traverse. Willy and Peter, with two other boys, insisted
on carrying May, while Emily's litter was borne by her elder brother,
Mr Paget, Tom Loftus, and Jack Ivyleaf. Mrs Clagget declined taking
her seat on the litter prepared for her. "No, no; you men will be
letting me down in the middle of a bog," she exclaimed. "If some one
would lend me a pair of boots, I would show you that I could trudge as
well as any body." As may be supposed, no boots were to be procured;
but Jack Ivyleaf, ever fertile in resources, undertook to fit the old
lady with a pair of seal-skin moccasins, which would protect her feet
from the rocks.

The party formed a long line, not unlike a caravan prepared to cross the
desert. They were in tolerable spirits, but the more thoughtful ones
could not help feeling anxious about the means of supplying so many
mouths with food.

As soon as they had started, Captain Westerway launched the boat, to be
ready to visit the wreck directly the weather moderated sufficiently.
Meantime, while some of the people were collecting the pieces of timber
and planking which were washed on shore, others were engaged in cutting
wood for building the huts they required to shelter them from the cold
and rain at night.

Towards evening the sea had gone down sufficiently to enable the captain
and his first mate, with Mr Bollard, to get alongside the ship. A
short inspection soon convinced them that she was a hopeless wreck.

"It cannot be helped, Windy," said Captain Westerway, with a sigh. "We
must now try to make the best of what remains of her."

"Cheer up, captain," answered the mate; "though the old `Crusader' will
carry us no longer over the ocean, we will have a `Young Crusader' built
before long, and she will do good service if, by her means, we can get
away to some Christian land. We might have been much worse off than we
are, and, to my mind, we have no cause to grumble. Here's our boat
still safe, and, with some tinkering, she may be made to swim and serve
us well. We will tow her on shore; but first we will see what
provisions we can come at to carry with us."

Bill and his companions at once set to work. A cask of beef, another of
pork, and three o