ome breakfast ready for you to have at any
time."

"Wait a bit," cried Rodd, and he hailed his uncle and Captain Chubb
before having a good look round at their position, and finding that they
were in a beautiful open reach of the river, with the forest overhanging
the stream on one side, while on that where the brig was seated close in
shore there were only a few scattered trees, and those of large size,
for the main portion of the forest had retired back nearly a quarter of
a mile.

The next morning, as arrangements had been made to begin work at
daylight, Captain Chubb and certain of the men, including Joe Cross, had
their breakfasts by lamplight, and were on board the brig long before
the sun rose.

Then came a busy time, with everybody anxiously watching for the success
of Captain Chubb's plans.

He took his place upon the brig with the schooner's carpenter, the two
lads bargaining that they might stay too, and as the tide sank the brig,
which had been hauled in close to the bank at high water, soon touched
bottom, her keel settling down steadily into the mud, and in due time
began to careen over more and more, her progress being governed by a
couple of capstans that had been arranged upon the shore. This went on
until long before low water she was lying so much over on her side away
from the shore that the sail that had been used as a plaister, as Rodd
called it, was slackened off, and one of the holes made by the cannon
ball fully exposed to view.

Then followed a busy time, the carpenter and his mates stripping off the
copper and using their saws hour after hour as long as the tide left the
leak bare, while after working as long as was possible, pieces of new
thin plank were temporarily nailed on over the now much-enlarged
opening, which was carefully caulked and all made as secure as possible.

This done, the capstans were manned again, and with the rising tide the
brig raised to her proper position, and secured for the night, but
hauled in as close to the shore as was possible, with the consequence
that though the water rose through the untouched leak considerably, it
never reached so high within as the point it had occupied with the pumps
hard at work.

It proved to be a much longer job than had been anticipated, though the
men worked as hard as was possible while the tide was low.

But the time passed very pleasantly for Rodd and his uncle, for they
took their stations on board the anchored schoone