Page:Ballantyne--The Battery and the Boiler.djvu/167

 Powerfully impressed by his example, the others worked in total silence and with all their might, for Sam's conduct, far more than the appearance of things, convinced them of their danger.

"The planks now, Stumps! Drive in as many of these clamps as you can find, Slagg—so (he set the example)—we've no time to bore holes for bolts. A plank now; that 's it! Hand some nails—no, the biggest nails and the big hammer. Mind your fingers!"

Down came the heavy hammer on a four-inch nail, which went half through the thick plank. Two more such blows and the iron head was buried in the wood. Six planks sufficed to cover the frame. They were laid lengthwise with nails just sufficient to hold them. A piece of thick rope passed four times round the entire fabric still further secured them in position. "Tie a lot of these nails in a bit of sailcloth, Slagg, and fix 'em to the raft—to one of the spars, not the planks. Do the same with a saw, hammer, axe, and cask of biscuit—water, too; don't forget water. Make a belt of a bit of rope, Robin, and stick that small axe in it. Have it handy."

While he spoke Sam did not look up, but gave all his attention to the tightening, with a hand-spike, of the knot on the thick rope that bound the raft together; for we may as well inform those