Satisfied
with our work, we now fixed our departure for the next day, once more
hoping the rain would not come again to disappoint us.
* * * * *
CHAPTER XLIV.
The next day the weather was delightful. We rose before daybreak. My
eldest sons took their work-tools, which we might want, and their guns
also, but under the condition that they should not use them till I gave
the word, "Fire!" I carried the bag of provisions. Our flock of sheep
had increased so much at the farm, that we allowed ourselves to kill
one, and my wife had roasted a piece for us the preceding evening; to
this we added a cake of cassava, and for our dessert we depended on the
fruits of the trees we might discover. But, previous to our departure,
while I was taking leave of my wife and Francis, I heard a dispute in
the colonnade, which I hastened to learn the cause of. I found it was a
question between Fritz and Jack, whether we should make the tour of the
island by sea or land; and each was anxious for my support. Fritz
complained that, since their two expeditions in the canoe, Jack believed
himself the first sailor in the world, and that they had given him the
name of Lord of the Waves, because he was constantly saying--"When I was
under the waves--when the waves were washing over me, do you think that
they left me dry?"
"No, Mr.
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