This made Billy look glum for a moment or two, but then his face brightened again, and he said, "I don't believe they've got many muskets. They were all put in the round-house, don't you remember, master? The Captain's orders. They stole one or two when we were all sixes and sevens in the storm, and I don't suppose they've got much powder and shot either, maybe none, for they're sure to have used some, and it's a long time ago." This seemed to me very reasonable, and I thought that if we were within our walls we might defend ourselves very well for a long time against the men, even if they had a musket or two. But I wished we could in some way strengthen our defences, and my mind went back to my notion of cutting a moat around the hut, which would be of great assistance to us; but the difficulty of cutting it was no less than before, and I was afraid if we started it we should never get it done. Furthermore, the only condition of our making a successful defence at all was that we should not be taken by surprise as we had been this time, and I said to Billy that we must never go a voyage again. "Well, and I don't want to," says he, "unless we can sail to England. I didn't like the look of them brown fellows with the painted faces, and did you see the sharks' teeth stuck in a ring round their hair? We're better off here, master; and here we'd better bide." [Sidenote: We Strengthen our Defences] We had been putting our place in order while we talked thus, and then we had our breakfast, eating indeed some of the food which the men had been preparing when we drove them away. And after we had done our customary morning's work--fed the pigs and fowls, gathered ripe cocoa-nuts, and so forth--we set to work at once to make some new arrows and spears, and bows and strings also, in case the others broke; and all the while we were doing this, Billy talked very bravely about the great fight there would be if the rascals came back. I said nothing to damp his ardour, but my thoughts were very busy with a part of the subject which he seemed not to consider, namely, what we should do if it came to anything like a regular siege. I did not doubt we could do much execution among the enemy from behind our walls if they stood to be shot at; but they could very well avoid this, and since there would be many of them against us two, they could strictly blockade us; and though so far as food went we could defy them for a long time, having our concealed stores below, yet the need for constant watchfulness, day and night, would in a short time wear us out. When I asked Billy what we should do in that case, he said, "Why, run out, and let 'em chase us; we could dodge them big chaps well enough, and I reckon we can run a deal faster." It was easy enough to show him that the hunted life we should lead would be most wretched and precarious; but he having suggested that we might escape set me on thinking whether