xed
expression on his countenance, as he said, "Never mind, boy, we'll find
somethin' or other that will do instead o' hooks an' lines."

"To be sure we will," assented the other encouragingly; "an' that'll be
one of the jolliest bits of it all, that we'll spend lots of our time in
tryin' to find out things that'll do instead o' other things, won't we?
And then--hallo! was that a grump?"

"It sounded uncommon like one."

"An' that's a squeal," said Billy.

In another moment both "grump" and "squeal" were repeated in full chorus
by a drove of wild pigs that burst suddenly out of a thick bush, and,
rushing in mad haste past the intruders on their domain, disappeared,
yelling, into a neighbouring thicket.

"Pork for our ducks, daddy!" shouted Billy, when the first burst of his
surprise was over; "we'll have plenty of grub now; but how are we to
catch them?"

"Ha! we must find that out," replied Gaff cheerfully; "it'll give us
summat to think about, d'ye see? Now then, here we are at the beach,
an' as far as I can see we have bright prospects in regard to victuals
of another sort, for here be crabs an' oysters an' no end o' cockles.
Come, we'll not be badly off, if we only had a hut o' some sort to sleep
in; but, after all, we can manage to be comfortable enough under a tree.
It will be better than the housin' we've had for the last few nights,
anyhow."

To their great delight they found that the boat had been cast ashore on
a sandy place, and that it was uninjured. A short way beyond it, too,
the oars were found stranded between two rocks.

This was a piece of great good fortune, because it placed within their
reach the means of an immediate circumnavigation of their island. But
before entering on this voyage of discovery they resolved to explore the
woods near the place where they had landed, in search of a cavern, or
some suitable place in which to fix their home.

Acting on this resolve they pulled the boat up the beach, placed the
oars within it, and returned to the woods. As they went they picked up
a few shell-fish, and ate them raw. Thus they breakfasted; but although
the meal was a poor one it was unusually pleasant, because of the hunger
which had previously oppressed them, and which Billy, in a fit of
confidential talk with his father, compared to having his "interior
gnawed out by rats!"

Passing through the woods they found a quantity of ripe berries, of
various kinds, of which they ate hearti