broken.

"It has borne us well, but will never bear us again," I said.

"That is so, Master. But if we were in my own country yonder I would set
its fragments in a case of gold and place them in the Temple of the Sun
as a memorial."

Then we went to a pool of rainwater that lay in a hollow rock near by,
and drank our fill, for we were very thirsty. Also among the ruins of
the _balsa_ we found some of the dried fish that was left to us, and
having washed it, filled ourselves. After this we limped to the crest of
the land behind and perceived that we were on a little island, perhaps
two hundred English acres in extent, whereon nothing grew except some
coarse grass. This island, however, was the haunt of great numbers of
seafowl which nested there, also of the turtles that I have mentioned,
and of certain beasts like seals or otters.

"At least we shall not starve," I said, "though in the dry season we may
die of thirst."

Now there on that island we remained for four long months. For food we
ate the turtles, which we cooked over fires that Kari made by cunningly
twirling a pointed piece of driftwood in the hollow of another piece
that he filled with the dust of dried grass. Had he lacked that
knowledge we must have starved or lived on raw flesh. As it was, we had
plenty with this meat and that of birds and their eggs, also of fish
that we caught in the pools when the tide was down. From the shells of
the turtles, by the help of stones, we built us a kind of hut to
keep off the sun and the rain, which in that hot place was sufficient
shelter; also, when the stench was out of them, we used other shells in
which to catch rainwater that we stored as best we could against seasons
of drought. Lastly, with my big bow which was saved with the armour, I
shot sea-otters, and from their pelts we made us garments after rubbing
the skins with turtle fat and handling them to make them soft.

Thus, then, we lived from moon to moon upon that desert place, till I
thought I should go mad with loneliness and despair, for no help came
near us. There were the mountains of the mainland far away, but between
them and us stretched leagues of sea that we could not swim, nor had we
anything of which to make a boat.

"Here we must remain until we die!" at last I cried in my wretchedness.

"Nay," answered Kari, "our gods are still with us and will save us in
their season."

This, indeed, they did in a strange fashion.

CHAPT