The captain’s suggestions met with unanimous approval, and while Jack and Tom clambered up to inspect the _Wondership_, the others scattered on their various tasks. As they worked, Jack and Tom from time to time took a look at the island on which the yacht rested. It might have been that their imaginations were quickened by what the captain had said, but it appeared to them that the bushes at the water’s edge were gradually subsiding into the sea.
If this actually were the case, there was need for quick work, for the floating island was all that was keeping the _Valkyrie_ above water. If, as the captain feared, the island subsided, the yacht would go with it to the bottom beyond the shadow of a doubt.
It was mid-afternoon by the time that the ripped bag had been patched with canvas, carefully sewn with stout waxed thread and then pitched with a resinous mixture compounded by the captain. By this time, too, the lockers had been filled with provisions from the yacht’s pantry, many of them in concentrated form especially selected by the professor for his projected expedition, the object of which still remained a mystery.
When this had been done, there was nothing left to be accomplished but the launching of the _Wondership_. The sea remained smooth, but without question the island was sinking rapidly. This made the need for haste imperative. Yet Captain Sprowl allowed nothing to be slighted. Maps of the district where they expected to land, navigating instruments and the ship’s chronometers were placed on board. The professor’s papers were found to have been stolen from his cabin, which had been ransacked from floor to roof; but, luckily, his most important documents he carried on his person.
As for clothes, they could take only what they had on; for when the work of loading was complete, the _Wondership_ carried a pretty heavy cargo, besides the six persons who were to travel in her. This number, too, was augmented by a seventh in the person of Judkins. Feeble groans from his cabin had led to the discovery that the injured man had been left behind by his companions. He was carried out and placed in the machine before it was launched so as to lose no time later in hoisting his helpless form over the side.