The Swiss Family Robinson, Told in Words of One Syllable

by Johann David Wyss

  CHAPTER XI.

  I CAN not tell how glad we all were when we at last saw a change inthe sky, and felt once more the warm rays of the sun. In a few days thefloods sank in the earth, and left the ground of a bright green hue; theair grew warm and dry, and there were no more dark clouds to be seen inthe sky.

  We found our young trees had put forth new leaves, and the seed we hadsown had come up through the moist ground. The air had a fresh sweetsmell, for it bore the scent of the bloom which hung like snow flakes onthe boughs of the fruit trees; the songs and cries of the birds were tobe heard on all sides, and we could see them fly from tree to tree insearch of twigs to build their nests. This in fact was the spring of theyear, when all things put forth new life; and we knew that the time wasnow come when we could once more range the woods and till the soil, andthis made the boys leap for joy.

  Some planks had been blown off the roof of The Nest, and the rain hadgot in here and there; so our first job was to mend our house, and makeit fit to sleep in.

  This done, Jack, Fritz, and I set out to Tent House. We found it in asad state. The storm had thrown down the tent, blown off some of thesail cloth, and let in the rain on our casks, some of which held a storeof food. Our boat was still safe, but the raft of tubs had broken Lip,and what there was left of it lay in splints on the shore.

  Our loss in the storm had been so great that I felt we ought at once toseek for some place on the rocks where we could put what was left.

  We went all round the cliffs, in the hope that we might find a cave, butin vain.

  "There is no way but to hew one out of the rock", said Fritz, "we mustnot be beat."

  "Well said, Fritz," said Jack; "we have each an axe. Why not try thiscliff at once?"

  I gave them leave to try, and we soon set to work at the rock. From thisspot we had a good view of the whole bay, and could see both banks ofthe stream.

  With a piece of chalk I made a mark on the side of the cliff, to showthe width and height that the cave should be cut. Then each took an axeto try what kind of stuff our rock was made of. We found it a hard kindof stone; and, as we were not used to this sort of work, we had not donemuch when the time came for us to leave off.

  We came back next day, and got on with more speed, though we thoughtit would not take us less than six months to make the cave, if our workwere done at the same rate each day.

  At the end of five or six days we had got through the face of the rock,and we found the stone soft. In a day or two more we came to what wasbut hard clay, which gave way at a slight blow from the axe.

  "We need not fear now," said I, "for we shall soon have a hole as largeas we want."

  With the earth we took out we made a ridge in front of the cliff. Theboys now got on so well, and dug so much out, that I had hard work tothrow up the earth on the bank.

  One day, as Jack stuck his pick in at the back of the cave, which wasnow more than eight feet from the front, a great mass of the rock fellin, and he cried out, "Look here! I have got through."

  "Through what?" said I. "Not through your hand, I hope."

  "No, no, but through the rock."

  At this, Fritz set up a loud laugh.

  "Why not say through the world at once, and push your crow bar in tillyou reach EU-ROPE, which, Ernest says, lies in a straight line from ourfeet. I should like to have a peep down, such a hole, for I might thusget a sight of our dear Swiss home."

  Fritz and I went up to the wall and found that Jack was right, for hehad come to a clear space. His first thought was to jump in; but as Iknew that there might be foul air in the cave, I would not let him riskhis life.

  The boys then set fire to some dry grass, and thrust it in the hole, butit went out at once, which was a sure sign that the air was not fit tobreathe.

  I knew that we had brought from the wreck a box full of fire works,which were used on board to make signs to ships far out at sea. I sentFritz to Tent House for these, though I thought that they might be toodamp to make use of. When he came back, I set light to some of them,and threw them in the hole. They flew round, and threw out a stream ofsparks that lit up the cave. When these were burnt out, we put in a heapof straw and threw a light on it. This was now soon in a blaze, and gaveus a clear view of the cave; but it was too deep for us to see the end.

  Our joy was so great that we sent Jack off home to The Nest to tell thegood news, and to bring back some wax lights. I did not deem it safe forus to go in the cave in the dark, for there might be pools or deep drypits in the ground.

  Fritz and I had just thrown up on the bank the last spade full of earththat had been dug out, when we heard a loud shout. We got up on the topof the cave, and saw that Jack had brought back a tribe at his heels.The large cart, drawn by the cow and the ass, came on at a slow pace,led by Jack on a black ox, and in it were my wife, Frank, and Ernest.

  By the help of a flint and steel I soon lit some of the wax lights, andgave one to each. I went in first and led the way, and the rest keptclose at my back. We had not gone on more than a few steps when we cameto a dead stop, struck with awe at the grand sight that met our view.The walls and roof of the cave were lit up, as it were, with star-likegems, while some hung down like glass drops from the roof, and some roseup from the ground at its sides like blocks of spar. I broke off a pieceand put it on my tongue.

  "What does it taste like?" said Jack.

  "I find," said I, "that we are in a cave of rock salt."

  "We shall not have to scrape the rocks to get our salt now," saidErnest, "for there is more here than would serve a whole town for alifetime."

  When we went back to The Nest that night we laid out a plan for our newhome, for there could be no doubt that the cave was the best place forus to dwell in, though we should still sleep in The Nest when we went onthat side of the stream.

  The next day we all set to work; the floor of the cave was quite smooth,and the walls dry, so that we could build at once. We first cut holes inthe sides of the rock to let in the light, and then brought frames andpanes of glass from The Nest, and put them in. We then brought all theplanks and wood we could find, and built a strong wall in the midst ofthe cave. On the right side of this wall we made three rooms, two ofwhich were to be used as bed rooms, and one to take our meals in. On theleft side was a room for my wife to cook in, one to work in, to whichwe gave the name of the shop, and a place with stalls in it for our livestock. At the back of these was a store house, where we could keep ourstock of food and the whole of our spare goods.

  I need not say that it took us some months to do all this, nor that wehad to toil hard day by day, from morn till night, ere we got to the endof our task; but the end did come at last, and then the joy we felt thatwe had done all this with our own hands more than paid us for our toil.