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 XIX.



Shoemaking - The even tenor of our way suddenly interrupted - An
unexpected visit and an appalling battle - We all become warriors,
and Jack proves himself 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