rived opposite the
bower and leaped upon the strand. So glad were we to be safe back again
on our beloved island that we scarcely took time to drag the boat a
short way up the beach, and then ran up to see that all was right at the
bower. I must confess, however, that my joy was mingled with a vague
sort of fear lest our home had been visited and destroyed during our
absence; but on reaching it we found everything just as it had been
left, and the poor black cat curled up, sound asleep, on the coral table
in front of our humble dwelling.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

SHOEMAKING--THE EVEN TENOR OF OUR WAY SUDDENLY INTERRUPTED--AN
UNEXPECTED VISIT AND AN APPALLING BATTLE--WE ALL BECOME WARRIORS, AND
JACK PROVES HIMSELF TO BE A HERO.

For many months after this we continued to live on our island in
uninterrupted harmony and happiness. Sometimes we went out a-fishing in
the lagoon, and sometimes went a-hunting in the woods, or ascended to
the mountain-top by way of variety, although Peterkin always asserted
that we went for the purpose of hailing any ship that might chance to
heave in sight. But I am certain that none of us wished to be delivered
from our captivity, for we were extremely happy; and Peterkin used to
say that as we were very young, we should not feel the loss of a year or
two. Peterkin, as I have said before, was thirteen years of age, Jack
eighteen, and I fifteen. But Jack was very tall, strong, and manly for
his age, and might easily have been mistaken for twenty.

The climate was so beautiful that it seemed to be a perpetual summer,
and as many of the fruit-trees continued to bear fruit and blossom all
the year round, we never wanted for a plentiful supply of food. The
hogs, too, seemed rather to increase than diminish, although Peterkin
was very frequent in his attacks on them with his spear. If at any time
we failed in finding a drove, we had only to pay a visit to the
plum-tree before mentioned, where we always found a large family of them
asleep under its branches.

We employed ourselves very busily during this time in making various
garments of cocoa-nut cloth, as those with which we had landed were
beginning to be very ragged. Peterkin also succeeded in making
excellent shoes out of the skin of the old hog in the following manner:
He first cut a piece of the hide, of an oblong form, a few inches longer
than his foot. This he soaked in water, and while it was wet he sewed
up one end of it so