Page:Adrift in the Pacific, Sampson Low, 1889.djvu/62

 have shown it on his map, and this he had not done. It must be a lonely island, and probably more to the north or the south than these Archipelagoes. But without the necessary elements or instruments it was impossible to fix its position in the Pacific.

All that could be done at present was to take up their quarters and make themselves comfortable before the wet season had made it impossible to move.

"The best thing to do," said Briant, "is to move into the cave near the lake. It would make a capital place to live in."

"Is it large enough to hold the lot of us?" asked Baxter.

"No," answered Donagan, "but I think we could make it larger by digging out another cave from it. We have tools — "

"Let us try it first as it is," said Gordon, "and if it is too small we can — "

"And let us get there as soon as we can" interrupted Briant.

The matter was urgent. As Gordon had said, the schooner became less habitable every day. The late rains and the hot sun had opened up the cracks in the hull and deck considerably. The torn sails allowed the wind and water to find their way inside. The sand on which it rested had been undermined, and it had slanted further over and sunk deeper into the sand. If a storm were to come, there was every chance of the wreck going to pieces in a few hours. The sooner the boys cleared out the better, and it would be well for them to take the hull to pieces methodically, so as to secure all that would be useful, such as beams, planks, iron, copper, with a view of properly fitting up "French Den," as the cave had been called in memory of the shipwrecked Frenchman.

"And in the meantime where shall we live?" asked Donagan.

"In a tent," answered Gordon. "In a tent under the trees by the river-side."