ces," observed one of the men.

"You are right, Ned," said another. "For my part, I do not care how
long we stay."

"What if there should be savages on the island! Most of them are
cannibals in these parts, I have heard say; and, as we have no arms to
defend ourselves, we should look foolish," remarked a third.

"I have seen no signs of any natives, so I do not think we should make
ourselves unhappy about them," said old Tom. "If there are any we must
make friends with them, and it's more than likely that they will give us
help and show us where we can obtain food."

Thus old Tom did his utmost to keep up the spirits of the men, and to
prevent them from falling into despondency. Harry, however, could not
help feeling sad as he thought of the possible loss of the ship. He
eagerly set off the next morning to look out for her, and while two of
the men who pulled the boat remained fishing below he and Dickey climbed
the cliff. The gale had considerably abated, but the ocean still
swelled and broke with the effects of the gale. They returned with an
unsatisfactory report.

The men who had remained in the camp had, in the meantime, been looking
out for traces of natives. None had been discovered. They had also
begun to build a hut. As they had only one axe, this was a slow
process. They had cut out a couple of rude spades with which to dig the
holes for the foundation, and, as all hands worked hard, by the close of
the day they had made some progress. The cocoa-nut fibre, twisted into
rope, enabled them to bind the rafters together, and the long leaves of
some palms, which grew farther inland, served for thatch. Old Tom
encouraged them to proceed, though he had lost all hopes that the ship
would return.

As had been agreed on, one man went down and remained on the look-out
during the first part of the day, and a second took his place in the
afternoon. Thus all were employed.

Harry took the afternoon of the second day. Climbing to the top of the
hill, he gazed, as before, anxiously round the horizon. A sigh escaped
him when no sail appeared. Sitting down, he remembered his Bible, which
he had always carried since he formed the resolution of doing so. He
took it out. From its sacred pages he drew that comfort which it always
affords. Never before had he read it with so much satisfaction, for he
prayed earnestly that his mind might be enlightened; and he now was
enabled to see many of the important t