I said that I thought Mr. Bodger a weak and cowardly fellow, who would
probably deem himself very much ill-used if set to work, and I was
determined to have none idle on the island, while if he were put over
the others, they would flout him and might grow mutinous again. Well,
after considering the men one by one, we resolved to bring Clums and
Hoskin first to the island, and Billy said, anticipating me, that their
first job must be the cleansing of our hut, which in its present state
was not fit for a pig to live in. This put me in mind of our two pigs
in the cave, and as soon as we had finished our breakfast we paddled to
the cave and brought them away, though when we took them to the sty we
found that it was not a secure place at present, those lazy wretches
having actually broken up a great part of the fence, I suppose for
firewood. "That's the second job," says Billy, "to mend the fence."
We then made our way to the cliff opposite Red Rock, so that we could
speak to the men, for we could scarce make our voices heard at so great
a height if we sailed to the foot of the rock in our canoe; and having
hailed them, I said that Clums and Hoskin were to come to the
landing-place and we would fetch them to make a beginning in working
for their living. Pumfrey asked whether he couldn't come too, which I
took to be a very good sign; but I replied that his turn would come
another day.
The two men came with us very readily, and on the way Clums said he
would cook us the best dinner we had had for years, upon which Billy
winked at me, making such a comical grimace that I could not help
laughing. Clums was taken aback when he learnt what task had been
assigned to him, but he was a cheerful soul, and said that as Billy had
cleaned his pans for him a good many times on the _Lovey Susan_ he
supposed it was only fair that he should clean up the floor for Billy
and me, though he thought it ought by rights to be done by Hoggett and
Wabberley. It took them pretty nearly all day to make the hut
thoroughly tidy and shipshape, and when they were looking rather rueful
at the thought of being taken back to the rock for the night, I pleased
them mightily by giving them the small hut to sleep in. As for Billy
and me, we took up our quarters in our old place, having as a
precaution brought in the drawbridge and barricadoed the door; and we
had Little John with us to give warning of any attempt to break in,
which indeed I thought unlikely, for I did not see what they could gain
by it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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