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 and his comrades, solicited a formal interview with the officers.

The request having been granted, Pim, with the nine soldiers, all punctiliously wearing the regimental tunic of scarlet and trousers of invisible green, presented themselves at the door of the colonel's room, where he and his brother-officer were continuing their game.