Page:Ballantyne--The Battery and the Boiler.djvu/175

 "No sign of the big raft," said Sam, stooping to unfasten the hammer and packet of nails, after taking one quick, anxious glance round the horizon.

"But it may be not far off after all," said Slagg, kneeling down to aid his comrade, while Stumps, by that time recovered, assisted Robin to tighten the ropes that held the pork barrel. "With such poor light it 'ud be hard to make out a flat thing like that a-kickin' in the hollows of the seas."

"But you forget," returned Sam, "that it must be a-kickin' on the top o' the sea as well as in the hollows. Another nail—thanks. However, I don't expect to see it again."

"Well, now, I expects to see it in the mornin' not far off," said Slagg. "Is the water-cask fast, Robin?"

"All right—and the pork too."

"And the sail. Just give it an extra shove under the ropes, Robin. We 'd be badly off if we lost it."

"I don't see what good a sail can do us," said Stumps, who had now quite recovered.

"Not as a sail, Stumpy," replied Slagg, whose spirit soon recovered elasticity, "though even in that way it may help us, but as a blanket we shall appreciate it before long."

Slagg was right. After the planking had been