Swiss Family Robinson Part 12

'Go we must, I am afraid,' I replied, 'but not for a day or two yet.

Come, it is getting late. We and the chickens must go to roost.'

We lit our watch fires, and, leaving the dogs on guard below, ascended the ladder. Fritz, Ernest and Jack were up in a moment.

Their mother followed very cautiously, for though she had originated the idea of building a nest, she yet hesitated to entrust herself at such a terrific height from the ground. When she was safely landed in the house, taking little Franz on my back, I let go the fastenings which secured the lower end of the ladder to the ground, and swinging to and fro, slowly ascended.

Then for the first time we stood all together in our new home. I drew up the ladder, and, with a greater sense of security than I had enjoyed since we landed on the island, offered up our evening prayer, and retired for the night.

Chapter 4

Next morning all were early awake, and the children sprang about the tree like young monkeys.

'What shall we begin to do, father?' they cried. 'What do you want us to do, today?'

'Rest, my boys,' I replied, 'rest.'

'Rest?' repeated they. 'Why should we rest?'

'"Six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do, but on the seventh, thou shalt do no manner of work." This is the seventh day,' I replied, 'on it, therefore, let us rest.'

'What, is it really Sunday?' said Jack, 'How jolly! Oh, I won't do any work; but I'll take a bow and arrow and shoot, and we'll climb about the tree and have fun all day.'

'That is not resting,' said I, 'that is not the way you are accustomed to spend the Lord's day.'

'No! But then we can't go to church here, and there is nothing else to do.'

'We can wors.h.i.+p here as well as at home,' said I.

'But there is no church, no clergyman and no organ,' said Franz.

'The leafy shade of this great tree is far more beautiful than any church,' I said, 'there will we wors.h.i.+p our Creator. Come, boys, down with you: turn our dining hall into a breakfast room.'

The children, one by one, slipped down the ladder.

'My dear Elizabeth,' said I, 'this morning we will devote to the service of the Lord, and by means of a parable, I will endeavor to give the children some serious thought; but, without books, or the possibility of any of the usual Sunday occupations, we cannot keep them quiet the whole day; afterward, therefore I shall allow them to pursue any innocent recreation they choose, and in the cool of the evening we will take a walk.'

My wife entirely agreed with my proposal, and having breakfasted, the family a.s.sembled round me, as we sat in the pleasant shade on the fresh, soft gra.s.s.

After singing some hymns and offering heartfelt prayers to the Almighty Giver of all good, I told the children I would relate to them a parable instead of preaching a sermon.

'Oh, that would be delightful! I like the parables in the Bible better than anything,' said Franz. 'When can we hear you read out of the Bible again, father?'

'Ah, my little boy, your words reproach me,' returned I. 'While eagerly striving to procure from the s.h.i.+p would feed our bodies and provide for their comfort, I blush to think that I have neglected the Bread of Life, the word of G.o.d. I shall search for a Bible on my next return to the wreck: although our own books were nearly all destroyed, I am pretty sure to find one.'

At these words my wife arose, and fetching her magic bag, she drew from it a copy of the Holy Scriptures, which I thankfully received from her hand; and after reading aloud from its sacred pages, I spoke as follows:

'A Great King, ruling in power and splendor over a vast realm of light and love, possessed within its boundaries a desolate and unfruitful island. This spot he made the object of his special care; and, lavis.h.i.+ng on it all the varied resources of his might and goodness, it bloomed in beauty, and became the happy residence of a band of colonists, who were charged not only with the cultivation and improvement of the soil, but each, individually, was bound to cherish in his soul the spirit of love and true allegiance to his Sovereign.

'While this faithful union was maintained, the colony flourished; and the n.o.blest virtues exalted and rendered happy the existence of every member of the race.

'That a discontented and rebellious spirit should ever have infected these fortunate subjects of so loving a master, seems incredible, yet it was so; disobedience and pride brought misery and punishment, the fair prospects of the colony were blighted, the labours of the colonists were unblessed, and total separation from the parent kingdom seemed inevitable.

'A message of pardon--of free forgiveness--was nevertheless accorded to these rebels; and to all who, humbly accepting it, molded their future lives to the will of the Great King (now revealed in a character even more gracious than before), was held out the promise of removal at last from among the ruins caused by the great rebellion, to the glory and undimmed splendor of the realm of Light and Blessedness.'

Having interested the children, I then, leaving allegory, pressed simply and earnestly home to each young heart the truths I sought to teach; and, with a short prayer for a blessing on my words, brought the service to a close.

After a thoughtful pause, we separated, and each employed himself as he felt disposed.

I took some arrows, and endeavoured to point them with porcupine quills.

Franz came to beg me make a little bow and arrow for him to shoot with, while Fritz asked my advice about the tiger-cat skin and the cases he was to contrive from it. Jack a.s.sisted with the arrow-making, and inserting a sharp spine at one end of each reed made it fast with pack-thread, and began to wish for glue to ensure its remaining firm.

'Oh, Jack! Mamma's soup is as sticky as anything!' cried Franz. 'Shall I run and ask for a cake of it?'

'No, no, little goose! Better look for some real glue in the tool-box.'

'There he will find glue, to be sure,' said I, 'and the soup would scarcely have answered your purpose. But Jack, my boy, I do not like to hear you ridicule your little brother's idea. Some of the most valuable discoveries have been the result of thoughts which originally appeared no wiser than his.'

While thus directing and a.s.sisting my sons, we were surprised by hearing a shot just over heads; at the same moment two small birds fell dead at our feet, and looking up, we beheld Ernest among the branches, as bending his face joyfully towards us, he cried, 'Well hit! Well hit!

A good shot, wasn't it?'

Then slipping down the ladder, and picking up the birds, he brought them to me. One was a kind of thrush, the other a small dove called the ortolan, and esteemed a very great delicacy on account of its exquisite flavour.

As the figs on which these birds came to feed were only just beginning to ripen, it was probable that they would soon flock in numbers to our trees; and by waiting until we could procure them in large quant.i.ties, we might provide ourselves with valuable food for the rainy season, by placing them, when half cooked, in casks with melted lard or b.u.t.ter poured over them.

By this time Jack had pointed a good supply of arrows, and industriously practised archery. I finished the bow and arrows for Franz, and expected to be left in peace; but the young man next demanded a quiver, and I had to invent that also, to complete his equipment. It was easily done by stripping a piece of bark from a small tree, fitting a flat side and a bottom to it, and then a string.

Attaching it to his shoulders, the youthful hunter filled it with arrows and went off; looking, as his mother said, like an innocent little Cupid, bent on conquest.

Not long after this, we were summoned to dinner, and all right willingly obeyed the call.

During the meal I interested the boys very much by proposing to decide on suitable names for the different spots we had visited on this coast.

'For,' said I, 'it will become more and more troublesome to explain what we mean, unless we do so. Besides which, we shall feel much more at home if we can talk as people do in inhabited countries: instead of saying, for instance, "the little island at the mouth of our bay, where we found the dead shark", "the large stream near our tent, across which we made the bridge", "that wood where we found cocoanuts, and caught the monkey", and so on. Let us begin by naming the bay in which we landed. What shall we call it?'

'Oyster Bay,' said Fritz.

'No, no!--Lobster Bay,' cried Jack, 'in memory of the old fellow who took a fancy to my leg!'

'I think,' observed his mother, 'that, in token of grat.i.tude for our escape, we should call it Safety Bay.'

This name met with general approbation, and was forthwith fixed upon.

Other names were quickly chosen. Our first place of abode we called Tentholm; the islet in the bay, Shark's Island; and the reedy swamp, Flamingo Marsh. It was some time before the serious question of a name for our leafy castle could be decided. But finally it was ent.i.tled Falconhurst; and we then rapidly named the few remaining points: Prospect Hill, the eminence we first ascended; Cape Disappointment, from whose rocky heights we had strained our eyes in vain search for our s.h.i.+p's company; and Jackal River, as a name for the large stream at our landing place, concluded our geographical nomenclature.

In the afternoon the boys went on with their various employments.

Fritz finished his cases, and Jack asked my a.s.sistance in carrying out his plan of making a cuira.s.s for Turk, out of the porcupine skin. After thoroughly cleansing the inside, we cut and fitted it round the body of the patient dog; then when strings were sewn on, and it became tolerably dry, he was armed with this ingenious coat of mail, and a most singular figure he cut!