"No doubt she will," answered the other.

Accordingly, they came to the mutual resolution that they would
"stick to their post."

To say the truth, it would have been a difficult matter for
the gallant officers to do otherwise; they had but one small boat;
therefore, it was well that they made a virtue of necessity,
and resigned themselves to patient expectation of the British
ship which, in due time, would bring relief.

They had no fear of starvation. Their island was mined with subterranean
stores, more than ample for thirteen men--nay, for thirteen Englishmen--
for the next five years at least. Preserved meat, ale, brandy--all were
in abundance; consequently, as the men expressed it, they were in this
respect "all right."

Of course, the physical changes that had taken place had attracted the notice
both of officers and men. But the reversed position of east and west,
the diminution of the force of gravity, the altered rotation of the earth,
and her projection upon a new orbit, were all things that gave them little
concern and no uneasiness; and when the colonel and the major had replaced
the pieces on the board which had been disturbed by the convulsion,
any surprise they might have felt at the chess-men losing some portion
of their weight was quite forgotten in the satisfaction of seeing them
retain their equilibrium.

One phenomenon, however, did not fail to make its due impression upon
the men; this was the diminution in the length of day and night.
Three days after the catastrophe, Corporal Pim, on behalf of himself