e
time, but did not see a soul on deck. Then, as I had nowhere particular
to go, I lay down and slept. On getting up I found that I had drifted
two or three miles from the ship, which was now a mere smoking shell,
the greater part being burnt to the Water's edge. Two miles to the
north lay the land, and getting out an oar at the stern I sculled her
to shore. I suppose I had been seen, or that the flames of the ship had
called down the people, for there they were in the bay, and such a lot
of creatures I never set eyes on. Men and women alike was pretty nigh
naked, and dirt is no name for them. Though I was but a boy I was taller
than most. They came round me and jabbered and jabbered till I was nigh
deafened. Over and over again they pointed to the ship. I thought they
wanted to know whether I belonged to it, but it couldn't have been that,
because when I nodded a lot of 'em jumped into some canoes which was
lying ashore, and taking me with them paddled off to the ship. I suppose
they really wanted to know if they could have what they could find. That
wasn't much, but it seemed a treasure to them. There was a lot of burned
beams floating about alongside, and all of these which had iron or
copper bolts or fastenings they took in tow and rowed ashore. We hadn't
been gone many hundred yards from the vessel when she sunk. Well, young
gentlemen, for upwards of two years I lived with them critturs. My
clothes soon wore out, and I got to be as naked and dirty as the rest
of 'em. They were good hands at fishing, and could spear a fish by the
light of a torch wonderful. In other respects they didn't seem to have
much sense. They lived, when I first went there, in holes scratched in
the side of a hill, but I taught 'em to make huts, making a sort of
ax out of the iron saved. In summer they used to live in these, but
in winter, when it was awful cold, we lived in the holes, which were a
sight warmer than the huts. Law, what a time that was! I had no end
of adventures with wild beasts. The way the lions used to roar and the
elephants--"

"I think, Jack," Ruthven interrupted, "that this must be one of the
embellishments which have crept in since you first began telling the
tale. I don't think I should keep it in if I were you, because the fact
that there are neither lions or elephants in South America throws a
doubt upon the accuracy of this portion of your story."

"It may be, sir," the sailor said, with a twinkle of his eyes, "th