It is the best way for taking out stiffness, and Giuseppi used to give me relief that way, when I was stiff with fencing." The idea was adopted; and while the rest were at work in the manner he suggested, Francis, taking one of the irons, went to the bulkhead.

One by one he tried the planks, from the floor boards to the beams above.
"Well, captain, what is your report ?" Matteo asked as he joined the rest.
"My report is a most favourable one," Francis said.

"By great good luck, the planks are nailed from the other side against the beams both above and below." "What difference does that make, Francisco ?" "All the difference in the world.

Had they been nailed on this side, there would have been nothing for it but to carry out our original plan--that is, to make holes through the planks with these irons, large enough for the saws to go through, and then to saw the wood out from hole to hole.

As it is, I believe that with five minutes' work we could wrench a plank away.