Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

Masterman Ready by Frederick Marryat
page 58 of 358 (16%)

The dogs, who had crept into the tent and laid themselves down upon the
mattresses by the side of William and Tommy, now fawned upon Mr.
Seagrave. William woke up with their whining, and having received a
caution from his father not to wake Ready, he dressed himself and came
out.

"Had I not better call Juno, father?" said William; "I think I can,
without waking mamma, if she is asleep."

"Then do, if you can, my boy; and I will see what cooking utensils
Ready has brought on shore."

William soon returned to his father, stating that his mother was in a
sound sleep, and that Juno had got up without waking her or the two
children.

"Well, we'll see if we cannot get some breakfast ready for them,
William. Those dry cocoa-nut leaves will make an excellent fire."

"But, father, how are we to light the fire? we have no tinder-box or
matches."

"No; but there are other ways, William, although, in most of them,
tinder is necessary. The savages can produce fire by rubbing a soft
piece of wood against a hard one. But we have gunpowder; and we have
two ways of igniting gunpowder - one is by a flint and steel, and the
other is by collecting the sun's rays into one focus by a
magnifying-glass."

DigitalOcean Referral Badge