venture to sea."

"I am not afraid about that," said Desmond, "and I hope by the time the
crop of vegetables is up, that we may have our craft afloat, and ready
to sail for the Sandwich Islands, or Hong-kong."

CHAPTER SIX.

PROGRESS MADE IN BUILDING A VESSEL--TOOLS BREAK--SIGNAL KEPT FLYING--A
SAIL SEEN--THE FLYING BEACON--A NIGHT OF SUSPENSE--SIGNAL GUNS FIRED--AN
ANSWERING GUN HEARD--A MAN-OF-WAR STEAMER IN SIGHT--A BOAT COMES ON
SHORE--TOM AND HIS FRIENDS GET ON BOARD HMS BELLONA, CAPTAIN MURRAY, AND
FIND CAPTAIN ROGERS--FALL IN WITH A DISMASTED JUNK--JONATHAN JULL AND
HIS WIFE--SUSPICIOUS APPEARANCE OF JUNK--JULL AND HIS WIFE TAKEN ON
BOARD THE BELLONA--THE JUNK BLOWS UP AND FOUNDERS--THE BELLONA PROCEEDS
ON HER COURSE--PASS A REEF--A WRECK SEEN--VISITED--SUPPOSED TO BE THE
DRAGON--NO ONE FOUND ON SHORE--BELLONA REACHES HONG-KONG--JULL
DISAPPEARS--CAPTAIN ROGERS ASSUMES COMMAND OF THE EMPRESS.

The midshipmen and doctor had been somewhat over sanguine in regard to
the rapidity with which the proposed craft could be built. They had not
taken into account the damage the tools would receive from unskilful
hands. They were constantly striking bolts and nails with their adzes
and hatchets, blunting the edges. One of their two augers broke, and
they had reason to fear that the second was injured. Tim Nolan cut
himself badly, and was unable to work for several days. Two of the
party were obliged to go off and fish for some hours, as the fish caught
on one day were unfit for food on the next. Several of the ribs, from
being unscientifically shaped, had to be taken down and reformed. Two
or three were split so as to render them useless. Tom and the doctor,
who were the architects, exerted all their wits, for practical skill
they had none, and they often regretted the want of such training.

"If every sea officer were to serve for a few months in a dockyard, he
would gain a knowledge which would be useful under our circumstances, at
all events," observed the doctor.

Still, by dint of sawing and chopping, they got a dozen ribs cut out and
fixed in their places. They improved too, and, Gerald declared, "would
have got on like a house on fire," had not one of the adzes been totally
disabled by the constant grinding which it required to restore the edge.
An axe also broke, and they had now only three tools for executing the
rougher work, beside some large chisels; but they found smoothing down
with these was