lunged down together, head foremost. Peterkin behaved like a
hero. He floated passively between us like a log of wood, and we passed
the tunnel and rose into the cave in a shorter space of time than I had
ever done it before.

Peterkin drew a long, deep breath on reaching the surface, and in a few
seconds we were all standing on the ledge of rock in safety. Jack now
searched for the tinder and torch which always lay in the cave. He soon
found them, and lighting the torch, revealed to Peterkin's wondering
gaze the marvels of the place. But we were too wet to waste much time
in looking about us. Our first care was to take off our clothes and
wring them as dry as we could. This done, we proceeded to examine into
the state of our larder, for, as Jack truly remarked, there was no
knowing how long the pirates might remain on the island.

"Perhaps," said Peterkin, "they may take it into their heads to stop
here altogether, and so we shall be buried alive in this place."

"Don't you think, Peterkin, that it's the nearest thing to being drowned
alive that you ever felt?" said Jack with a smile. "But I have no fear
of that. These villains never stay long on shore. The sea is their
home, so you may depend upon it that they won't stay more than a day or
two at the furthest."

We now began to make arrangements for spending the night in the cavern.
At various periods Jack and I had conveyed cocoa-nuts and other fruits,
besides rolls of cocoa-nut cloth, to this submarine cave, partly for
amusement, and partly from a feeling that we might possibly be driven
one day to take shelter here from the savages. Little did we imagine
that the first savages who would drive us into it would be white
savages--perhaps our own countrymen! We found the cocoa-nuts in good
condition, and the cooked yams; but the bread-fruits were spoiled. We
also found the cloth where we had left it, and on opening it out, there
proved to be sufficient to make a bed--which was important, as the rock
was damp. Having collected it all together, we spread out our bed,
placed our torch in the midst of us, and ate our supper. It was indeed
a strange chamber to feast in; and we could not help remarking on the
cold, ghastly appearance of the walls, and the black water at our side
with the thick darkness beyond, and the sullen sound of the drops that
fell at long intervals from the roof of the cavern into the still water,
and the strong contrast between all t