cut some saplings and rushes, and some creepers to bind things together. I promised Billy I would come back after a while and let him take his turn, but I had not been working above half-an-hour, I should think, when he joined me, saying he was sure the canoe would be safe, because it was hidden behind the rock, and there was nothing to bring the men to that part of the island, because he would take his davy they never bathed, of which indeed I myself had had good evidence; and besides, he said, he had left Little John to guard it. I was glad of Billy's help, for between us we cut a good deal of material in a very short time; but I did not like leaving the canoe to the sole charge of the dog, and resolved not to come again in the morning, but only in the evening, there being much less danger of meeting the men then. Accordingly I did not wait until we had got enough material for our purpose, but said we would finish the job another time; and we carried the stuff to the canoe, making two journeys to do it, and so got back to the Red Rock safely. We spent the rest of that day in making, with the things we had brought, a kind of trellis-work to serve as the front and side walls of our lean-to, for the back wall was the rock itself. We had not near enough to finish the job, but enough to keep us employed all that day; and a little before dusk we set off again to paddle to the island to fetch more. And this time, as soon as we had got enough saplings and reeds and things, we went on to the smaller cocoa-nut grove, there being a very good moon, purposing to carry away a few ripe cocoa-nuts for our own consumption; but when we were gathering them from the trees it came into my head that we might as well begin upon that notion I have before mentioned, which was nothing less than to starve the seamen into repentance and humbleness of spirit. I had not as yet told it to Billy, but I had pondered it myself, and thought I saw my way to it, and so I now began suggesting to Billy that we should strip the trees of all the ripe fruit. "What's the good, master?" says he at once, as I knew he would: "it will take us a long time to carry 'em all to the canoe, and we don't want 'em, not really." "No," said I, "but Hoggett does want 'em," and then I told him my drift. I was afraid he would spoil it all with shouting, for he opened his mouth wide to let it forth, but remembered himself in time, and so shut his mouth on a sort of hoarse croak, which might have seemed to any one that heard it the croak of some strange animal or bird. "My eye!" says he, "that's prime, master. However did you think of it? But we'll have to come pretty often, because these here cocoa-nuts get ripe so fast. 'Tis lucky the bread-fruit ain't in season yet, and the yams is nearly all gone; but there's the pigs and fowls, drat it, and if they use all them up too we'll never get no more." [Sidenote: Stealing no Robbery]