CHAPTER XIII.
WE had now so much work to do, and the days and weeks came and went soquick, that I do not think we should have known the time of year had itnot been for our log.
Some days were spent at the Cave, where we made our goods, ground ourflour, stored our food, and kept our tame live stock. Then we had totake care of our crops in the fields near The Nest, and this took us twoor three days in each month. Once in ten days at least we went to theFarm on the hill, and at the same time made a call at the Half WayHouse; so that there was not a day that we had not our hands quite full.Now and then we went out to hunt for sport or to add to our stock ofbeasts, which had grown so large that there were few we could name thathad not been caught and brought home. We had birds of the air, fowls ofthe land, and beasts of all kinds' from the great black ox of the plainto the small wild RAB-BIT that came and made its hole close by our cave.
But there was one bird that we had not yet caught, though we had seenit two or three times in the woods. This was the OS-TRICH. Fritz found anest with some eggs in it, and this led us to make a tour with a view tocatch one of the old birds. We rose that day ere it was light, and setout at dawn, each on the back of a good steed.
As we should have to hunt through the woods, my wife was left at home;and Ernest, who did not like rough work, chose to stay with her. We madeit a rule to take one of the dogs with us when we went out to hunt, buton this day we thought it wise to let them both come.
Fritz took us straight to where he had seen the nest, which was not morethan a few miles up the stream. When we came in sight of the spot, wesaw four great birds, as if on their way to meet us. As they drew nearwe kept the dogs well in, and made no noise, so that they did not stoptill they came near us.
Fritz had brought his Ea-gle with him, which he now let fly. At oneswoop the bird came down on the head of the Os-trich, held on with itsbeak, and struck out its wings with great force, as if to stun it.
We now rode up close to the scene of war. Jack first flung a cord roundthe legs of the bird, which made it fall to the ground. I then threw mypouch on its head, and, strange to say, it lay down as still as a lamb.
I now tied both its legs with cords, but left it just room to walk. Wethen made it fast to the two bulls that had brought Jack and Frank allthe way from home, and put one of them on each side. They next got up ontheir steeds, and I took the pouch from the head of the bird. As soon asit could see, it gave a wild stare, and then fought to get free.
The boys then put spurs to the flanks of their steeds, and when the birdhad made a few starts back, as if to try the strength of the cords whichheld it, it set off with a run, and the bulls at each side made it keepup a smart pace.
Fritz and I now went in search of the nest, which we soon found. I tookthe eggs from it and put them in a bag I had brought to hold them, inwhich I put some wool and moss, so that they should not break.
It did not take us long to get up to the two boys, who had gone onfirst, and we were glad to find that the poor bird had made up its mindto its fate, and kept up well with the pace of the bulls.
When we got in sight of home, my wife and Ernest, who had been on thelook out for us, came forth to meet us; and the strange way in which webrought home our new prize made them laugh. I need not say that we tookgreat care of it.
The next day we built it a house, with a space in front for it to walkup and down, round which were put rails, so that it could not get out.At first it was shy, and would not take any food, so that we had toforce some balls of maize down its throat; but in a short time it tookgrain from the hands of my wife, and soon grew quite tame.
The boys now set to work to break it in for use. They taught it firstto bear them on its back. Then they put a pair of string reins in itsmouth, and made it turn which way they chose to pull, and to walk, orrun, or stand still, as it was bid. Thus, in a month from the time wecaught it, the boys made it take them on its back to and from the Farmor The Nest, in less than half the time an ox would go; so that it cameto be the best steed we had to ride on.
The eggs we found in the nest were put in a warm dry place, and thoughwe scarce thought our care would bring live birds out of the shells,we had the joy to hatch three of them, and this led us to hope that weshould ere long have a steed for each of our sons.
My work at this time was by no means light. Our hats and caps were allworn out, and with skins of the musk cat I had to make new ones. Thebears' skins were laid in the sun to dry, and of these we made furcoats, which would keep us warm when the cold wet nights came round, andthere were some left to serve as quilts or rugs for our beds.
I now tried my hand at a new craft. I dug some clay out of the bed ofthe stream, and taught the boys to knead it up with sand, and some talcthat had been ground as fine as road drift. I had made a lathe with awheel, and by its aid the clay left my bands in the shape of plates,cups, pots, and pans. We then burnt them in a rude kiln, and though atleast one half broke with the heat and our want of skill, still thosethat came out whole more than paid me for my toil, and kept up my wife'sstock of delf. Some of the jars were set round with red and blue beads,and these were put on a shelf as works of art, and kept full of longdried grass.
The time was now at hand when we must reap our grain and store the ripecrops that were still on the ground; and, in fact, there was so much tobe done, that we scarce knew what to do first. The truth must be toldthat our wants did not keep pace with the growth of our wealth, for theland was rich, and we had but a few mouths to fill.
We knew that we might leave the roots in the ground for some time, asthe soil was dry, but that the grain would soon spoil; so we made thecorn our first care. When it was all cut and brought home, our next taskwas to thresh it. The floor of our store room was now as hard as a rock,for the sun had dried it, and there was not a crack to be seen. On thiswe laid the ears of ripe corn, from which the long straw had been cut,and sent the boys to bring in such of our live stock as were fit for thework to be next done.
Jack and Fritz were soon on the backs of their steeds, and thought itfine fun to make them course round the floor and tread out the grain.Ernest and I had each a long fork, with which we threw the corn at theirfeet, so that all of it might be trod on. The ox on which Jack sat putdown his head and took a bunch of the ears in his mouth.
"Come," said Jack, "it is not put there for you to eat, off you go!" andwith that he gave it a lash with his whip.
"Nay," said I, "do you not know what God has said in his Word? We mustnot bind up the mouth of the ox that treads out the corn. This bringsto my mind the fact that the means we now take to thresh our wheat werethose used by the Jews in the days of old."
To sort the chaff from the grain we threw it up with our spades whilethe land or sea breeze blew strong. The draught which came in at thedoor took the light chaff with it to one side of the room, while thegrain fell straight to the ground by its own weight.
The maize we left to dry in the sun, and then beat out the grain withlong skin thongs. By this means we got a store of the soft leaves ofthis plant, which my wife made use of to stuff our beds.
When all the grain had been put in our store room, some in sacks and therest in dry casks, we took a walk one day to our fields, and found thatflocks of birds, most of which were quails, had come there to feed. Thisgave us a fine day's sport with our guns, and the next year we did notfail to look for them, so that the fields were made to yield a stock ofgame as well as a crop of grain.
With but slight change in our mode of life, we spent ten long years inour strange home. Yet the time did not seem long to us. Each day broughtwith it quite as much work as we could do, so that weeks and months andyears flew past, till at last we gave up all hope that we should leavethe isle or see our old Swiss home, the thought of which was still dearto us.
But the lapse of ten years had wrought a great change in our sons.Frank, who was but a mere child when we first came, had grown up to bea strong youth; and Jack was as brave a lad as one could wish to se
e.Fritz, of course, was now a young man, and took a large share of thework off my hands. Ernest had just come of age, and his shrewd mode ofthought and great tact was as great a help to us as was the strength andskill of the rest.
To crown all, it was a rare thing for them to be ill; and they were freefrom those sins which too oft tempt young men to stray from the rightpath. My wife and I did our best to train them, so that they might knowright from wrong; and it gave us great joy to find that what we toldthem sunk deep in their hearts, and, like ripe seed sown in rich soil,brought forth good fruit.
I need not say that in the course of ten years we had made great stridesin those arts which our wants had first led us to learn. When we firstcame the land near Tent House was a bare waste; now it bore fine crops,and was kept as neat as a Swiss farm. At the foot of the hill by theside of Rock Cave was a large plot of ground, which we laid out in beds,and here we grew herbs and shrubs, and such plants as we used for food.Near this we dug a pond, and by means of a sluice which led from thestream, we kept our plants fresh in times of drought. Nor was this thesole use we made of the pond; for in it we kept small fish and crabs,and took them out with a rod and line when we had need of food, and timeto spare for that kind of sport. In the ground round the mouth of theCave we drove a row of strong canes, bound at the top to a piece ofwood, so as to form a fence, up which grew a vine, and, at each side,plants that threw a good show of gay bloom crept up to meet it. Shellsof great size and strange shapes were got from the shore, and these webuilt up here and there with burnt clay, so as to form clumps of rockwork, on which grew ferns and rare plants. All this gave a charm to ourhome, and made the grounds round it a source of joy when, we laid by ourwork for the day. In fact, we thought there was now scarce a thing towish for that we had not got.
Our cares were few, and our life was as full of joy and peace as wecould well wish; yet I oft cast a look on the sea, in the hope thatsome day I should spy a sail, and once more greet a friend from the wideworld from which we had been so long shut out. This hope, vague as itwas, led me to store up such things as would bring a price, if we hadthe chance to sell them; they might prove a source of wealth to us if aship came that way, or would at least help to pay the charge of a cruiseback to the land we came from.
It is but just to say that the boys did not share my hopes, nor did theyseem to wish that we should leave the place where they had been broughtup. It was their world, and the cave, to which we gave the name RockHouse, was more dear to them than any spot on the earth.
"Go back!" Fritz would say; "to leave our cave, that we dug with our ownhands; to part with our dear kind beasts and birds; to bid good-by toour farms, and so much that is our own, and which no one in the worldwants. No, no! You can not wish us to leave such a spot."
My dear wife and I both felt that age would soon creep on us, and wecould not help some doubts as to the fate of our sons. Should we stayand end our days here, some one of us would out-live the rest, and thisthought came oft to my mind, and brought with it a sense of dread Icould not get rid of. It made me pray to God that He would save us allfrom so dire a fate as to die far from the sound of the voice of man,with no one to hear our last words, or lay us in the earth when Heshould call us to our rest.
My wife did not share this dread. "Why should we go back?" she wouldsay. "We have here all that we can wish for. The boys lead a life ofhealth, free from sin, and live with us, which might not be the case ifwe went out in the world. Let us leave our fate in the hands of God."
The Swiss Family Robinson, Told in Words of One Syllable Page 12