As a matter of course, Philip was enabled to resume his proper habiliments as soon as he stepped on board the Reynard, Captain Seaworth supplying him with a full outfit, and it was with no slight degree of satisfaction that he surveyed himself in the mirror.

His long and peculiar residence on the island rendered him a valuable adviser to Captain Seaworth, and it was decided that during such time as he would be obliged to remain, owing to the limited means of transportation, he was to act as a member of the board of directors.

The first labor the colonists engaged in was the repairing of the houses which had been injured during the last siege. Then every dwelling was fortified, as far as possible, for it was not to be supposed that such a large body of apes, having once had possession of the settlement, would remain very long at a respectful distance.

Philip’s advice to Captain Seaworth was that before anything was done toward restoring the plantations to their former condition some means be devised for ridding the island of the mischievous and vindictive animals. To plant anew would be only to[253] provide something for the apes to destroy, and it was by no means safe for the male colonists to go into the fields, leaving the cottages unprotected, since Goliah might lead his forces to an attack at any moment; therefore if the scheme of transforming the island into a garden was to be carried out, the first and all-important task was the destruction or subjugation of the apes.

No one knew better than Philip how difficult would be such a task. At the very lowest computation there were two thousand of these long-tailed brutes against whom war must be waged, and, as has already been shown, they were no mean antagonists. One such as Goliah would be more than a match for three unarmed men, and the strictest orders were issued that the colonists should only go from one point to another when in large numbers, and with sufficient weapons to repel any onslaught which might be made.

This order was promulgated on the afternoon of the same day the Reynard entered the little cove, and before twelve hours had elapsed those of the colonists who thought such a precaution foolish were fully convinced of its wisdom.

The boatswain of the ship, whose constant boast it was that he could overcome, single-handed, any three men who might be opposed to him, laughed at the idea of banding together to resist an attack by monkeys, and openly declared that he was not afraid of all the apes in the Malay Archipelago. He even went so far as to intimate that Philip was[254] little less than a chicken-hearted fellow to allow himself to be made a prisoner by such animals, and to do their bidding like a slave. In fact, he did not hesitate to say he doubted Mr. Garland’s story very seriously, and otherwise made so much sport of the “Munchausen Tales,” as he called them, that many of the colonists were disposed to share in his incredulity.

At about four o’clock in the afternoon Captain Seaworth decided to have one of the small cannon brought from the Reynard for the better defense of the village, and instructed the boatswain to proceed to the ship with a sufficient number of men for mutual protection.

“I am going alone,” the old sailor said when he emerged from the captain’s temporary dwelling, speaking to a number of his comrades with whom he had previously been discussing the alleged facts of Philip’s story. “I’ll make it my business to walk half-around the island just to show how much truth there is in the yarn of this monkey-trainer, who has been scared out of his senses by two or three tame baboons.”

Of course this would be a total disregard of the captain’s express commands; but the boatswain flattered himself that his disobedience would not be known save to those in whose eyes he wished to appear as a hero, and away he started, armed only with a stout cudgel, which he declared was enough to frighten all the apes on the island into convulsions.

[255]

Three hours later, the piece of ordnance not having arrived, Captain Seaworth sent half a dozen colonists to the ship, and in due time they returned with the information that the boatswain had not arrived at the coast. The foolhardy man had been absent from the settlement sufficiently long to have made four or five trips to the tiny harbor, and, believing his desire to show contempt for the apes had resulted ............