e boat has done its duty well; but we must not venture in her again
until I have put her into a little better condition."

They were not at all sorry, after their hard day's work, to find that
Juno had prepared coffee for them; and while they were drinking it, they
narrated to Mrs Seagrave the tragically death of the poor pig by the
shark. Poor Juno appeared quite frightened at the danger which the
children had been in, even now that it was all over.

"We shall have plenty to do here to-morrow," observed Mr Seagrave, "in
getting things into their places."

"We shall have plenty to do for some time, I expect," replied Ready.
"In two months, or thereabouts, we shall have the rainy season come on,
and we must be under cover before that time, if we possibly can."

"What's the first thing we must do, Ready?" inquired Mr Seagrave.

"To-morrow we had better fix up another tent or two, to stow away all
the articles we have brought on shore: that will be one good day's work;
we shall then know where to lay our hands upon everything, and see what
we want."

"That's very true; and what shall we do then?"

"Why then, sir, I think we must make a little expedition to explore the
island, and find out where we must build our house."

"Can we build a house?" said William.

"Oh, yes, sir, and with more ease than you would think. There's no tree
so valuable as the cocoa-nut tree; and the wood is so light that we can
easily move it about."

"Why, what are the great merits of the cocoa-nut tree?" said Mrs
Seagrave.

"I'll tell you, madam: in the first place, you have the wood to build
the house with; then you have the bark with which you can make ropes and
lines, and fishing-nets if you please; then you have the leaves for
thatching your house; then you have the fruit, which, as a nut, is good
to eat, and very useful in cooking; and in the young nut is the milk,
which is also very wholesome; then you have the oil to burn, and the
shell to make cups of, if you haven't any, and then you can draw toddy
from the tree, which is very pleasant to drink when fresh, but will make
you tipsy if it is kept too long. There is no tree which yields so many
useful things to man, for it supplies him with almost everything."

"At all events, we've plenty of them," said William.

"Yes, William, there's no want of them; and I am glad of it, for had
there been but few, I should not have liked to destroy them. People
might be wrecked here, as