"I'll soon put you
right, but you'll have to lie still for some time. Here, Robin, go into
the store-cave and fetch me a few yards of that white cotton, you
remember, near the door. And, I say, mind you keep well clear of the
powder."

When the cotton was brought, Sam tore it up into long strips, which he
wound somewhat tightly round the sailor's huge chest.

"You see," he observed, as he applied the bandages, "broken ribs are not
necessarily displaced, but the action of breathing separates the ends of
them continually, so that they can't get a chance of re-uniting. All we
have to do, therefore, is to prevent your taking a full breath, and this
is accomplished by tying you up tight--so. Now, you can't breathe fully
even if you would, and I'd recommend you not to try. By the way--what's
your name?"

"Johnson, sir,--John Johnson."

"Well, Johnson, I'll give you something to eat and drink now, after
which you'll have another sleep. To-morrow we'll have a chat on things
in general."

"I say," asked Robin that night, as he and Sam stood star-gazing
together beside a small fire which had been kindled outside the
cavern-mouth for cooking purposes, "is it true that you have studied all
the subjects you mentioned to Johnson this morning?"

"Quite true. I have not indeed studied them long or profoundly, but I
have acquired sufficient knowledge of each to enable me to take
intelligent action, as I did this morning, instead of standing
helplessly by, or, what might be worse, making a blind attempt to do
something on the chance that it might be the right thing, as once
happened to myself when a bungling ignoramus gave me a glass of brandy
to cure what he called mulligrumps, but what in truth turned out to be
inflammation."

"But what think you of the saying that `a little knowledge is a
dangerous thing,' Sam."

"I think that, like most of the world's maxims, it is only partially, or
relatively, true. If Little Knowledge claims the position and attempts
to act the part of Great Knowledge, it becomes dangerous indeed; but if
Little Knowledge walks modestly, and only takes action when none but
Ignorance stands by, it is, in my opinion, neither dangerous nor liable
to be destructive."

While they were speaking, little Letta came out of the cavern and ran
towards them.

"It is like a dream of the Arabian Nights to meet such a little angel
here," murmured Robin; "what a dreadful blow the loss of her must have
been t