f iron on the keel, but as we had no
iron I knew not what was to be done. "It seems to me, Jack," I added,
"that it is impossible to prevent the keel being worn off thus."

"Impossible!" cried Peterkin, "my dear Ralph, you are mistaken, there is
nothing so easy--"

"How?" I inquired, in some surprise.

"Why, by not using the boat at all!" replied Peterkin.

"Hold your impudent tongue, Peterkin," said Jack, as he shouldered the
oars, "come along with me and I'll give you work to do. In the first
place, you will go and collect cocoa-nut fibre, and set to work to make
sewing twine with it--"

"Please, captain," interrupted Peterkin, "I've got lots of it made
already,--more than enough, as a little friend of mine used to be in the
habit of saying every day after dinner."

"Very well," continued Jack; "then you'll help Ralph to collect cocoa-nut
cloth, and cut it into shape, after which we'll make a sail of it. I'll
see to getting the mast and the gearing; so let's to work."

And to work we went right busily, so that in three days from that time we
had set up a mast and sail, with the necessary rigging, in our little
boat. The sail was not, indeed, very handsome to look at, as it was
formed of a number of oblong patches of cloth; but we had sewed it well
by means of our sail-needle, so that it was strong, which was the chief
point. Jack had also overcome the difficulty about the keel, by pinning
to it a _false_ keel. This was a piece of tough wood, of the same length
and width as the real keel, and about five inches deep. He made it of
this depth because the boat would be thereby rendered not only much more
safe, but more able to beat against the wind; which, in a sea where the
trade-winds blow so long and so steadily in one direction, was a matter
of great importance. This piece of wood was pegged very firmly to the
keel; and we now launched our boat with the satisfaction of knowing that
when the false keel should be scraped off we could easily put on another;
whereas, should the real keel have been scraped away, we could not have
renewed it without taking our boat to pieces, which Peterkin said made
his "marrow quake to think upon."

The mast and sail answered excellently; and we now sailed about in the
lagoon with great delight, and examined with much interest the appearance
of our island from a distance. Also, we gazed into the depths of the
water, and watched for hours the gambols of the curious and
br