The Island School — page 50: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Ry per) side by : a ditch and another stockade of timber. Each member of the Council of Ten had a number Mod boys under him, and each gang had its segs mil Bae at aes Vey, ‘5 VA 50 hy a nes Jabour to perform. \/ mie Adam Steene undertook the supervision of cutting NG ' - down suitable trees; Dawson and his boys were the Be haulers; Rainstone arg his assistants cut the trunks Un into suitable lengths, and so on right through all had appointed work to do. Morse and Gordon each undertook the superintend- ing of a fort Morse that of the Redan, Jim that of, the Roman fort. ay The first thing was the marking out of the forts, _ which was done by the leaders, and then the sappers went to work, with coats and waistcoats off, and A - shirtsleeves rolled up to their elbows. --—s- The sounds of pick and saw and cheery voices filled the air around, and floated seawards. _---—s Presently the few boys who had remained to assist came hurrying up, and reported that the old man had gone, grumbling because nobody would go with him. ie He wanted the boys badly to accompany him, but a _ they declined. The fun of fort-building was more to Ain! . their taste. ip When people work for pleasure they usually work with a will, and in an hour the boys with the pick and spade had cut out the lines of the two forts. Then i) the earth which was to form the protecting parapets. i" But work as they might, the morning could not do more than give the faintest outline of what was y - intended to unpractised eyes. 4 But Martin saw what was being aimed at, and it met with his entire approval. ite, feeb Le “ae s q “have got a head.” " Just before noon Mr. Groby, accompanied by the a . two other undermasters, came up by the path to see hie how the boys were gettingon. The respective names ef the latter were Turner and Storeby. The position _ they filled in the school was that of general teachers. - Both were quiet men, without much peculiarity of : character. Still, they had their especial wave) and _* — gifts, as we shall presently see. “Well, Hee i said Mr. Groby, “ you seem to be busy here.” “YT want the work done as soon as possible, sir,” te ‘replied Morse. | - “T do not approve of war, even in play,” said Mr. | Storeby. He was not more than twenty-six, and i, i remarkably solemn for his years. | Hs _ “Tndeed, sir,” exclaimed Morse, “ why not 2” ait Peace ae be cultivated by the monarchs of th pons. } fea he ie coslinan , oy iM ie rite Pe Mile hi ; a if ot wie my AO } on 4 "Dh i - { a> r om PAD ei Ad 7 +s bs “e, fl} iy ie Ws @his A ic yas SE end > Hae z Wa ay <7 ¥ f 4” See Pyne HY ih ve Lee 4 * amy ' , 4 7 PAY x OLD cHORKER GOES WRONG Ar SEA. old Roman camp, cae iele in ee and) ie ee out ef with the mail-bags and help Chorker to get away, “~vabout Chisticer: Jim Gordon volunteered to RUE. a . ny they went to work making the ditches, throwing up | _/ “One or both those boys,”’ he said, more than once, - Ss) Recall » i Ka us Bi ie fik! Ait * J we o ta SU 4 Pips a> Vn wr, ar; “it , : Ae okt ; “tet ye i Ee 7 i ; * Nd) ; jes law sir 2” asked. Morse, in his quiet way. “Why, by—by——’” Mr. Storeby paused, complete u _ puzzled to say how, unless he admitted that by force— : in other words by war—peace ought to be insisted on. iS There was some silent laughter at the expense of Ns the undermaster, as the boys tripped down to the ay ie lower ground when the dinner-hour drew near. At ‘ ‘ the foot of the pathway they met Mr. Farrell, who q wanted to know if they had seen anything of the © felucca from the higher ground. | 4 It turned out that nobody had taken the troutie x a to look for it, nor had the smoke of a steamer, the — | expected mail-boat, been observed. p ~ “ He ought to be back,” said Mr. Farrell, ee es “Chorker is a first-rate seaman. He cannot have se met with an accident, I trust.” Se day" a as = few hours, sir,’ said Gordon. “Iwas out halt the tay : the last time I went to meet it.” : ee ‘So you were,” said the sch g ots oer, brightening. Mi “Perhaps Chorker will be. back soon.’ vg returned. Owing to the position of the schoolhouse, < a view of the sea in front could not be obtained. It was | a cut off by the line of rocks on the other side of the i lagoon. rowing-boat and go down to the mouth of the M i estuary. From there they could see something a | the felucca unless something had gone wrong with it. __ While they were gone, the rest could betake them- ‘4 selves to the region cf the castle as originally ‘eh arranged. pte | With Lal Brodie and Stiff as oarsmen, Jim was soon ‘ ‘ ) off, and those left behind lost no time in getting away. ae Twenty minutes afterwards the schoolhouse en ae closed, and there was a long string of humanity toiling © ple up the narrow path, with Macbeth, Hamlet, and Romeo, — Ne i laden with sundries for tea, bringing up the rear, ae CHAPTER XVI. Bees) A SERIOUS ROBBERY, oa O you think anything has hap- | on pened to Old Chorker?” asked Lal Brodie. | va Jim did not reply at thes 4/7" moment, for he was thinking: i Presently he said: Wea “He ought to have been back, barring accidents, by twelve o'clock, Although I | talked about the mail being late, I have rarely ns Basi Me : ele) nm Cc 0} (@xk @) cS (eco) nm % Mi Hy a ' Hig Cy "4 eke Rae aN eth Sia