\"Iamverythirsty，\"saidBastinpresently。\"Thosesmellsseemtohavedriedmeup。Iamgoingtogetsometea——Imeanwater，asunfortunatelythereisnotea，\"andhesetofftowardsthemouthofthecave。
Wefollowedhim，Idon’tquiteknowwhy，exceptthatwewishedtobreathefreelyoutside，alsoweknewthatthesepulchreanditscontentswouldbeassafeastheyhadbeenfor——well，howlong？
Itprovedtobeabeautifulmorningoutside。Wewalkedupanddownenjoyingitsub—consciously，forreallyour——thatisBickley’sandmyown——intelligenceswereconcentratedonthatsepulchreanditscontents。WhereBastin’smayhavebeenIdonotknow，perhapsinavisionaryteapot，sinceIwassurethatitwouldtakehimadayortwotoappreciatethesignificanceofourdiscoveries。Atanyrate，hewanderedoff，makingnoremarksaboutthem，todrinkwater，Isuppose。
Presentlyhebegantoshouttousfromtheendofthetable—rockandwewenttoseethereasonofhisnoise。Itprovedtobeverysatisfactory，forwhilewewereinthecavetheOrofenanshadbroughtabsolutelyeverythingbelongingtous，togetherwithalargesupplyoffoodfromthemainisland。Notasinglearticlewasmissing；evenourbooks，acanwiththebottomout，andthebrokenpiecesofalittlepocketmirrorhadbeenreligiouslytransported，andwiththeseafewarticlesthathadbeenstolenfromus，notablymypocket—knife。Evidentlyagreattaboohadbeenlaiduponallourpossessions。TheywerenowcarefullyarrangedinoneofthegroovesoftherockthatBickleysupposedhadbeenmadebythewheelsofaeroplanes，whichwaswhywehadnotseenthematonce。
Eachofusrushedforwhatwedesiredmost——Bastinforoneofthecanistersoftea，Iformydiaries，andBickleyforhischestofinstrumentsandmedicines。Thesewereremovedtothemouthofthecave，andafterthemtheotherthingsandthefood；alsoabelltentandsomecampfurniturethatwehadbroughtfromtheship。ThenBastinmadesometeaofwhichhedrankfourlargepannikins，havingfirstsaidgraceoveritwithunwontedfervour。