Drifted Away [by M. C. Phillpotts?]

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1877 edition. Excerpt: ...all came round me and finished up my pudding." The captain smiled at the quiet way in which Charlie talked as if he had been at home in England with barn door fowls all round him. "Is it not a good thing there are so many birds here?" said Charlie. "I think they are guineafowls, and we can have a roast fowl for our dinner any day, and plenty of eggs and cocoa-nuts, so we shall not starve." When they had finished their meal the first thought of Stephen was to stow away all their provisions in the boat under the sail to make them safe from the depredations of Charlie's cocks and hens, then they mounted the cliff to make some observations of the land on which they found themselves cast. The wood extended, as far as they could judge, for more than a mile, and the captain, climbing a tree, looked about him for some moments, and then came down again and rejoined the others, who were busy collecting cocoa-nuts and looking for eggs. "I think we are on an island," he said, "by the way the tide sets in round yonder western point, but of that I can't be sure; however, there is no sign of any human being, so I think we may safely turn in for the night in the cavern below, without feeling much cause for alarm." Stephen, who had been cutting large arms'-full of dead fern and brushwood, quite agreed, and they descended at once, each carrying as many of the branches as he could to make his bed. "We must make haste," said the captain, "or it will soon be night; we must remember that there is little or no twilight in these latitudes." They soon made all snug for the night, and, each wrapped in a blanket and stretched on the dead leaves, they were not long in falling fast asleep. "We must...