o were very
glad, when they awoke, to find their breakfast ready.

The hurricane, I should have said, was over, and the sea glittered
brightly in the rays of the sun. We asked Mudge whether he proposed
returning at once to the island where we had left the ship.

"There are several reasons against our doing so," he answered. "We must
in the first place repair our battered boat--and that will be no easy
job, I suspect; and we have but two oars remaining to pull, should it
prove calm; then, we have no food nor water, and the distance which it
has taken us a night and a day to accomplish may occupy us three or four
days in returning, perhaps longer, should the wind be contrary. Before
we can put to sea, therefore, we must repair our boat, and make a couple
of oars at all events, if not more, and obtain a sufficient stock of
provisions and water. It won't do to trust to cocoa-nuts; we want fish
or fowl, and it will take us more than a day to get them. We must also
consider whether it will be prudent to go in search of the ship, as she
may have left the harbour to look for us. Judging from the appearance
of the country we saw, we are not likely to find any food upon it; so
that should we arrive there after she has gone, we should be in a worse
predicament than we should be by remaining here."

The rest of the party agreeing to Mudge's proposal, we went down to the
beach and anxiously examined the boat. Two planks in her starboard
bilge had been stove in, as had also a portion of her bow; and it seemed
wonderful that she should have floated till she had reached the shore.
Harry and I must have placed our feet unconsciously on the shattered
planks, and thus partially prevented the water from rushing in. Tom,
who was in the bows, had also pressed down the sail with his body, while
he was desperately clinging to the foremost thwart. We could account
for our preservation in no other way.

Without nails, or tools of any sort except our clasp-knives, we could
scarcely hope to render the boat sufficiently sea-worthy for such a
voyage as we might have to take before we could get back to the ship.
We all looked at each other, wondering whether any one would suggest
something.

"Our safest plan will be to remain on the island, in the hope that the
ship may, in the course of time, come off the shore to look for us,"
said Mudge. "They will know that if we have escaped, we must have been
driven in this direction; and I don't