Part 5 (1/2)

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

CHAPTER XII.

OUR fields near Tent House had by this time brought forth good crops of wheat, maize, beans, and peas; but as the work of the Cave had for some weeks kept us on this side of the stream, we did not know in what state we should find our crops at The Nest.

One day we all set out for our old home. We found our corn fields of a rich brown hue, and saw that the wheat was, for the most part, fit to reap. This, and a large patch of rye we cut down, and, as we did so, whole flocks of birds took to wing when we got near them, while quails were seen to run off at the sight of our dogs, who had no lack of sport that day.

We laid by the seed that was quite ripe till the time should come for us to sow it, and put the rest in sacks. Some of the wheat was laid up in sheaves till we should have time to beat out the grain.

When we left The Nest for the Cave, we could not find the hand mill that we had brought from the s.h.i.+p. This now came to light, and we took care to pack it up to take with us, as we should want it to grind our corn.

That night we slept once more in the great tree; but I must say that we did not now sleep so sound there as we used to do, nor did we feel so safe as we did in our rooms at Rock House.

The next day we were to start a plan by means of which our live stock would not want so much of our care. They had bred so fast that we could well spare some of them, and these I thought might be left in some place to seek their own food, and yet be in reach should we want them.

My wife took from her hen roost ten young fowls, and I took four young pigs, four sheep, and two goats. These we put in our large cart, with such tools as we thought we should need, tied the black ox, the cow, and the a.s.s to the shafts, and then set off from The Nest.

We had to cross a wide plain, and here we met with some dwarf plants on which, as Jack would have it, grew snow b.a.l.l.s.

Fritz ran to see what they were, and brought me a twig to which clung b.a.l.l.s of snow white down. I held it up to show my wife, for I knew the sight would please her still more than her sons.

”See,” said I, ”this is the COT-TON plant, which you have oft tried to find. It seems to grow here as thick as weeds, and, if I am a judge, it is of the best kind.”

We got as much of this as our bags would hold, and my wife took care to pluck some of the ripe seed, that we might raise a crop in our grounds at Tent House.

At the end of the plain we came to the brow of a high hill, from which the eye fell on a view the like of which we had not yet seen. Trees of all kinds grew on the sides of the hill, and a clear stream ran through the plain at its base, and shone bright in the rays of the sun.

We said at once that this should be the site of our new farm. Close by we found a group of trees, the trunks of which, as they stood, would do for the main props of the house.

I had long had a mind to build a boat, and here I at last came on a tree that would suit. Fritz and I went for a mile or two in search of what we could find, and by the time we came back my wife had put up our tent for the night. We then all sat down to sup, and went to rest on beds made of the bags of the white down that we brought from the trees on the plain.

The next day we rose at dawn. The trees which were to form the frame of our farm house stood on a piece of land eight yards long by five wide. I made a deep cut in each of the trunks, ten feet from the ground, and put up cross beams to form a roof, on which we laid some bark in such a way that the rain would run off.

We were hard at work for some days at the Farm House. The walls we built of thin laths and long reeds, wove close for six feet from the ground, but the rest we made of thin cross bars to let in both light and air. We made racks to store bay and such like food for the live stock, and put by some grain for the fowls, for our plan was to come from time to time to feed them, till they got used to the place.

Our work took us more time than we thought; and as our store of food got low, we sent Fritz and Jack home to bring us a fresh stock, and to feed the beasts we had left at Tent House.

While they were gone, Ernest and I made a tour of the woods for some miles round the new Farm. We first took the course of the stream that ran by the foot of the hill. Some way up we came to a marsh on the edge of a small lake, and here in the swamp grew a kind of wild rice, now ripe on the stalk, round which flew flocks of birds. We shot five or six of these, and I was glad to note the skill with which Ernest now used his gun. I took some of the rice, that my wife might judge how far it was of use to us as food.

We went quite round the lake, and saw plants and trees that were not known to me, and birds that Ernest said he had not seen in any of the woods near The Nest. But we were most struck with the sight of a pair of black swans, and a troop of young ones that came in their train. Ernest would have shot at them, but I told him not to kill what we did not want for use.

We did not get back till late in the day. Jack and Fritz, whom we met just as we came round the foot of the bill, had done their task well, for they had a good stock of food in a sack that lay on the back of the a.s.s, and they brought the good news that all was well at home.

We spent four more days at the Farm, and then left it in such a state as to be fit for our use when we chose to go back to it.

The Farm House was but a part of our plan, for we had made up our minds to build a sort of half way house, or cot, in which we could rest on our way to the Farm. This took us six days to do. The spot we chose lay by the side of a brook, and was just such a place as would tempt, one to stop and rest in the shade of the trees, that grew on the bank. While at the brook, I made a boat out of the tree we found at the Farm, and took it back with us to Tent House in the cart.

We had still two months ere the rain would set in, and this left us time to put the last touch to our cave. We laid the whole floor with clay, and spread on it some fine sand, which we beat down till it was quite smooth and firm. On this we put sail cloth, and threw down goat's hair and wool made moist with gum. This was well beat, and, when dry, made a kind of felt mat that was warm and soft to tread on, and would keep the damp from our feet.

By the time these works were done, our cave was in a fit state for us to dwell in. We did not now dread the rain, for we were safe out of its reach, and there was no need that we should go out in it. We had a warm light shop to work in by day, a snug place where we could take our meals and dry bed rooms in which we could sleep in peace. Our live stock we kept in a shed at the back of the cave, and our store room held all that we could want.