y would "stick
to their post."

To say the truth, it would have been a difficult matter for the gallant
officers to do otherwise; they had but one small boat; therefore, it was
well that they made a virtue of necessity, and resigned themselves to
patient expectation of the British ship which, in due time, would bring
relief.

They had no fear of starvation. Their island was mined with
subterranean stores, more than ample for thirteen men--nay, for thirteen
Englishmen--for the next five years at least. Preserved meat, ale,
brandy--all were in abundance; consequently, as the men expressed it,
they were in this respect "all right."

Of course, the physical changes that had taken place had attracted the
notice both of officers and men. But the reversed position of east and
west, the diminution of the force of gravity, the altered rotation of
the earth, and her projection upon a new orbit, were all things that
gave them little concern and no uneasiness; and when the colonel and the
major had replaced the pieces on the board which had been disturbed
by the convulsion, any surprise they might have felt at the chess-men
losing some portion of their weight was quite forgotten in the
satisfaction of seeing them retain their equilibrium.

One phenomenon, however, did not fail to make its due impression upon
the men; this was the diminution in the length of day and night. Three
days after the catastrophe, Corporal Pim, on behalf of himself and his
comrades, solicited a formal interview with the officers. The request
having been granted, Pim, with the nine soldiers, all punctiliously
wearing the regimental tunic of scarlet and trousers of invisible green,
presented themselves at the door of the colonel's room, where he and
his brother-officer were continuing their game. Raising his hand
respectfully to his cap, which he wore poised jauntily over his right
ear, and scarcely held on by the strap below his under lip, the corporal
waited permission to speak.

After a lingering survey of the chess-board, the colonel slowly lifted
his eyes, and said with official dignity, "Well, men, what is it?"

"First of all, sir," replied the corporal, "we want to speak to you
about our pay, and then we wish to have a word with the major about our
rations."

"Say on, then," said Colonel Murphy. "What is it about your pay?"

"Just this, sir; as the days are only half as long as they were, we
should like to know whether our pay is to be dimini