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"Was there not a large lime tree in our town in which they built a ball room, with stairs up the trunk?" |
"To be sure there was," said I; "and if we can not build in it, we can at least make use of its shade, and dwell in a hut on the roots." |
Ernest said that he took a string, and found that it was twelve yards round. This led me to think that my wife's scheme was by no means a bad one, and that I would have a look at the tree the next day. |
When I had heard all they had to tell, we knelt down to pray, and then sought a good night's rest, which the toils of the day made us much in need of. |
Chapter V. |
WHEN I rose from my bed the next day, I said to my wife: "Does it not seem, my dear, as if God had led us to this place, and that we should do wrong to leave it?" |
"What you say may be quite true, so far as it goes," she said; "but I must tell you that the mid-day heat is more than we can bear, and that if we stay here we may have to keep watch at night, for there are, no doubt, wild beasts of some kind that will find us out; and we should not trust too much to our dogs, who may ... |
"I dare say you are right," said I; "but I do not yet see how we can cross the stream. We shall first have to build a bridge." |
The boys were now all out of their beds; and while my wife went to milk the cow and cook some food, I made my plans known to them. They were all glad when they heard that we were to leave, and each said he, would help to build the bridge. |
The first thing to be done was to find some strong planks; and Fritz, Ernest, and I went down to the shore, and got in the boat, which the tide took down to the bay. |
On a piece of land which lay to the left we could see some large dark thing, round which flew a flock of sea gulls. We put up a sail and caught a gust of wind which had sprung up, and this soon brought the boat to the spot. We made no noise, but crept up the shore step by step, and we got so near that Ernest brought do... |
"Do not fail to give God thanks," said I, "that our lot has been cast where we can pick up more food than we can eat." |
It would take a long time to tell how we brought all the wood up to the spot, built piers of stone in the stream, and put the planks one by one in the place; it was late at night when we left off work, and once more sought our tent. |
The next day we saw the sun rise, and took our first meal in haste, for we knew we should have a long day's toil. All the stores that we could not take with us were laid by in the tent, the door of which was made safe by a row of casks, that we put round it. My wife and Fritz soon led the way; the cow went next; then t... |
Just as we had left the bridge, Jack cried out, "Be quick! here is a strange beast with quills as long as my arm." The dogs ran, and I with them, and found a large POR-CU-PINE, in the grass. It made a loud noise, and shot out its quills at the dogs, and made them bleed. At this Jack shot at the beast, which fell dead o... |
At last our march came to an end, and I saw for the first time the great trees that my wife had told me of. They were of vast size, and were, I thought, fig trees. "If we can but fix our tent up there," I said, "we shall have no cause to dread, for no wild beasts can reach us." We sent Frank off to find sticks, with wh... |
Chapter VI. |
THE meal at an end, my first thought was to make some steps by means of which we could reach the first strong branch of the tree. Ernest and I went in search of some thick canes that grew in the sands hard by. These we cut down, bound them to four long poles, and thus made a pair of steps that would, we thought, reach ... |
On our way back from the sands, one of the dogs made a dart at a clump of reeds, and a troop of large birds rose on the wing with a loud noise. Fritz let fly at them, and brought down two at a shot. One of them fell quite dead, but its mate, though hurt in the wing, made use of its long legs so well that it would have ... |
"Yes," said I, "and he can fly with more speed through the air, for these birds have great strength in their wings. In fact, few birds have such means of flight as the FLA-MIN-GO." |
My wife thought the great bird might need more food than we could spare. I told her that it would feed on small fish and worms, and not rob our geese of their grain. I then tied him to a stake near the stream; and in a few days we were glad to find that he knew us, and would come at a call, like a tame bird. |
While I sat on the grass with my sons, late in the day, I thought I would try to make a bow and thus save our shot. This I did with a long cane and a piece of string, and then made a dart with a sharp point, which I shot off and found it would go straight. The branch of the tree on which we were to fix our hut was so h... |
When I came down my wife spread a good meal on the ground, which we ate as best we could, and then made our beds of dry moss, round which we put heaps of twigs. These we set light to, as watch fires to keep off wild beasts and snakes. The toils of the day had made the boys tired, and they were soon in a sound sleep, bu... |
We were all out of bed as soon as light was in the sky, and set to work to hoist up the planks that were to form the floor of our hut. These we laid down on the branch, with their ends made fast to a cross piece of wood that we had to fix to the trunk of the tree. Our nails were long, and we drove each one of them home... |
Chapter VII. |
WE did not wake next day till the sun shone in upon us. I told my wife and sons that as it was the Lord's day we would do no work. Our beasts and birds had first to be fed. This was done by my wife, who then brought us some hot milk, and made us sit down on the grass and take it. When our meal was done, I got on a log ... |
"There was once on a time a Great King, who had two vast realms, the Land of Light and Truth, and the Land of Night and Sloth. Those who dwelt in the first were full of life and joy. The King held his court at the Place of Rest where all was bright. |
"This King had a land, not far off, where those for whom he had so much love should dwell ere they went one by one to the Place of Rest. This land was the Home of Earth. He gave to his Son the right to rule the host that dwelt in the Home of Earth, and set forth to think what they were to do, and all the ills that woul... |
"At first they were all glad to hear the way in which they were to live, and the terms on which they could reach the Land of Light and Truth. Sad to tell, they soon broke the King's laws, and paid no heed to what they knew to be his will. Still there were a few who did as they had been taught, and dwelt in peace, in th... |
"From time to time ships came to the Home of Earth, and at last a great ship was sent, the name of which was The Grave, which bore the flag of Death. To the good it was a sign of hope, but the bad were thrown by the sight of it into a state of gloom. These ships were not seen till they came close to the shore, and then... |
When my sons had heard my tale to the end they all knew what it meant; I then drew from them their views of what they ought to do to please and serve the Great King. We then sang a hymn; and my wife drew from her bag the BIBLE, which I gave to one of the boys, who read from it in a clear, loud voice. When this was brou... |
We did no work that day, but took a long stroll up the banks of the stream. |
The next day Ernest and Jack tried their skill with the bow, and brought down some small birds that came to the great tree in quest of figs. I gave them leave to kill what they could; for I knew if put in casks made air tight with grease, they would keep for a time, and might prove a boon, if our stock of food should g... |
When we sat down to dine, the thought struck me that it would be well to give some name to each part of the land that was known to us. This was at first the source of some fun, for Fritz said we should call the bay where we had found the shell spoons by the name of Spoon Bay; but Jack, who still had a mark on his toe w... |
"If you will let me give it a name," said my wife, "I should wish to know it by some term that will make us bear in mind how good God was to lead our raft there, and I don't think Safe Bay will be a bad name for it." |
"So let it be," said I; and from that time Safe Bay had a name. "What shall be the name of the spot where we spent our first night on shore? You shall give that its name," said I to Fritz. |
"Let us call it Tent House." |
"That will do," said I. "And now for the spot at the mouth of Safe Bay, where we found our planks?" |
"Sharp Point," said Ernest. The place from which Fritz and I sought for a trace of out ship mates was to be known as No Man's Cape. Then we had the Boys' Bridge, which name I gave it from a wish to please my sons, who had done so much to build it. |
"But what shall we call the place which is most dear to us all?" |
"Now, my dear," said I to my wife, "it is your turn. What shall we say?" |
"Let us call it The Nest," said she; and with that I gave each of my young birds a glass of sweet wine. |
"Here's to 'The Nest,'" said I; "and may we live long to bless the day and the means that brought us here." |
When the heat of the day was past, I told my sons that I should be glad to take a walk with them. My wife said that she should like to go with us; so we left The Nest in charge of Turk, and bent our course to the banks of the stream. On our way we went past some shrubs and rare herbs, which my wife knew well how to mak... |
We found that our ducks and geese had grown so wild that they would not come near us; so, while my wife and I went to pick up such things as we thought we might take back with us, Ernest and Fritz were sent to catch them, and to tie their legs and wings, and in this way we got them at last to The Nest. |
Chapter VIII. |
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