The Swiss Family Robinson Part 7

"Aye, little wife," said I; "so that is your idea of comfort and security, is it? A tree, I do not know how many feet high, on which we are to perch and roost like the birds? If we had but wings or a balloon, it would, I own, be a capital plan."

"Laugh as much as you like," returned my wife, "my idea is not so absurd as you make it out. We should be safe up there from jackals' visits during the night. And I know I have seen at home, in Switzerland, quite a pretty arbor, with a strong floor, up among the branches of a lime tree, and we went up a staircase to reach it. Why could not we contrive a place like that, where we could sleep safely at night?"

"I will consider the idea seriously, my wife," said I; "perhaps something may come of it, after all! Meantime, as we have finished our supper, and night is coming on, let us commend ourselves to Almighty protection and retire to rest."

Beneath the shelter of our tent, we all slept soundly, like marmots, until break of day; when, my wife and I awaking, we took counsel together as to future proceedings.

Referring to the task she had the previous evening proposed for me, I remarked that to undertake it would involve so many difficulties that it was highly necessary to look closely into the subject.

"In the first place," said I, "I am unwilling hastily to quit a spot to which I am convinced we were providentially led as a landing place. See how secure it is; guarded on all sides by these high cliffs, and accessible only by the narrow pa.s.sage to the ford, while from this point it is so easy to reach the ship that the whole of the valuable cargo is at our disposal. Suppose we decide to stay patiently here for the present--until, at least, we have brought on sh.o.r.e everything we possibly can?"

"I agree with you to a certain extent, dear husband," replied she; "but you do not know how dreadfully the heat among the rocks tries me. It is almost intolerable to us who remain here all day, while you and Fritz are away out at sea or wandering among the shady woods, where cool fruits refresh, and fair scenes delight you. As to the contents of the ship, an immense deal has been cast ash.o.r.e, and I would much rather give up all the remainder, and be spared the painful anxiety it gives me when you even talk of venturing again on the faithless deep."

"Well, I must admit that there is much right on your side," I continued; "suppose we were to remove to your chosen abode, and make this rocky fastness our magazine and place of retreat in case of danger. I could easily render it more secure, by blasting portions of the rock with gunpowder. But a bridge must be constructed in the first place, to enable us to cross bag and baggage."

"Oh, I shall be parched to death before we can leave this place if a bridge has to be made," cried my wife impatiently. "Why not just take our things on our backs and wade across as we have done already? The cow and the donkey could carry a great deal."

"That they will have to do, in whatever fashion we make the move," said I; "but bags and baskets we must have, to put things in, and if you will turn your attention to providing those, I will set about the bridge at once. It will be wanted not once but continually; the stream will probably swell and be impa.s.sable at times, and even as it is, an accident might happen."

"Well! well!" cried my wife, "I submit to your opinion; only pray set about it without delay, for I long to be off. It is an excellent idea to make a strong place among the cliffs here; the gunpowder especially, I shall be delighted to see stored here when we go away, for it is frightfully dangerous to keep so much as we have close to our habitation."

"Gunpowder is indeed the most dangerous and at the same time the most useful thing we have," said I, "and for both these reasons we must be especially careful of it. In time I will hollow out a place in the rock where we can store it safe from either fire or damp."

By this morning's consultation we had settled the weighty question of our change of abode, and also chalked out work for the day.

When the children heard of the proposed move their joy was boundless; they began at once to talk of it as our "journey to the Promised Land,"

and only regretted that time must be "wasted," as they said, in bridge-building before it could be undertaken.

Every one being impatient for breakfast that work might be begun at once, the cow and goats were milked, and, having enjoyed a comfortable meal of biscuit boiled in milk, I prepared to start for the wreck, in order to obtain planks for the proposed bridge. Ernest, as well as Fritz, accompanied me, and we were soon within the influence of the current, and were carried swiftly out to sea. Fritz was steering, and we had no sooner pa.s.sed beyond the islet at the entrance of the bay, so as to come in sight of its seaward beach, than we were astonished to see a countless mult.i.tude of sea birds, gulls, and others, which rose like a cloud into the air, disturbed by our approach, and deafened us by their wild and screaming cries. Fritz caught up his gun, and would have sent a shot among them had I permitted it. I was curious to find out what could be the attraction for all this swarm of feathered fowl; and, availing myself of a fresh breeze from the sea, I set the sail and directed our course toward the island.

The swelling sail and flying pennant charmed Ernest, while Fritz bent his keen eyes eagerly toward the sandy sh.o.r.e, where the flocks of birds were again settling.

Presently he shouted: "Aha! now I see what they are after! They have got a huge monster of a fish there and a proper feast they are making! Let's have a nearer look at it, father!"

We could not take our boat very close in, but we managed to effect a landing at a short distance from the festive scene; and, securing the raft by casting a rope round a large stone, we cautiously drew near the object of interest.

It proved to be a monstrous fish on whose flesh these mult.i.tudes of birds were ravenously feeding; and it was extraordinary to watch the ferocity, the envy, the gluttony, and all manner of evil pa.s.sions, exhibited among the guests at this banquet.

"There was nothing on this sandy beach when we pa.s.sed yesterday, I am certain, father," said Fritz. "It seems strange to see this creature stranded here."

"Why, Fritz!" cried Ernest, "it must be the shark! your shark, you know!

I believe I can see where you hit him in the head."

"You are right, I do believe, Ernest," said I, "though I think your imagination only can distinguish the gunshot wound among all the pecking and tearing of the voracious birds there. Just look, boys, at those terrific jaws, beneath the strangely projecting snout. See the rows upon rows of murderous teeth, and thank G.o.d we were delivered from them! Let us try if we can induce these greedy birds to spare us a bit of the shark's skin; it is extremely rough, and when dry may be used like a file."

Ernest drew the ramrod from his gun, and charged so manfully into the crowd, that striking right and left he speedily killed several, while most of the others took to flight. Fritz detached some broad strips of skin with his knife, and we returned toward the boat.

Perceiving with satisfaction that the sh.o.r.e was strewn with just the sort of boards and planks I wanted, I lost no time in collecting them; and, forming a raft to tow after us, we were in a short time able to direct our course homeward, without visiting the wreck at all. As we sailed along, extremely well pleased with our good fortune, Fritz, by my direction, nailed part of the shark's skin flat on boards to dry in the sun, and the rest on the rounded mast.

"Will that be a good plan, father?" inquired he, "it will be quite bent and crooked when it hardens."

"That is just what I want it to be," said I, "we may happen to find it useful in that form as well as flat. It would be beautiful s.h.a.green if we could smooth and polish it."

"I thought," remarked Ernest, "that s.h.a.green was made from a.s.ses' hide."

"And you thought rightly," said I. "The best s.h.a.green is prepared in Turkey, Persia, and Tartary, from the skins of horses and a.s.ses. In these skins, the roughness is produced artificially; while the skin is newly flayed and still soft, hard grains of corn are spread on the under surface, and pressed into it as it dries. These grains are afterward removed, and the roughness imparted to the appearance of the skin remains indelibly; s.h.a.green is useful in polishing joiners' work, and it is made in France from the rough skin of a hideous creature called the angel-fish."

"Angel-fish!" exclaimed Fritz; "what a name to give to anything 'hideous,' father!"

"There are bad angels as well as good ones," observed Ernest, in his dry, quiet way; "it is better to leave people to see for themselves which is meant."

By this time we were close in sh.o.r.e; and, lowering the sail, we soon had our craft, with the raft in tow, safely moored to the bank.

No one was in sight, not a sound to be heard, so with united voice we gave a loud cheery halloo, which after a while was answered in shrill tones, and the mother, with her two boys, came running from behind the rocks between us and the stream, each carrying a small bundle in a handkerchief, while little Franz held aloft a landing net.

Our return so soon was quite unexpected, and they anxiously inquired the reason, which we soon explained; and then the mysterious bundles were opened, and a great number of fine crawfish displayed; whose efforts to escape by scuttling away in every direction, directly they were placed in a heap on the ground, caused immense fun and laughter as the boys pursued and brought them back, only to find others scrambling off in a dozen different ways.

"Now, father, have we not done well to-day!" cried Jack, "did you ever see such splendid crawfish? Oh, there were thousands of them, and I am sure we have got two hundred here at least. Just look at their claws!"

"No doubt you were the discoverer of these fine crabs, eh, Jack?" said I.

"No! fancy young Franz being the lucky man!" answered he. "He and I went toward the stream while mother was busy, just to look for a good place for the bridge. Franz was picking up pebbles and alabasters, some because they were so pretty, some to strike sparks with in the dark, and some, he insisted, were 'gold.' 'Jack! Jack!' cried he presently, 'come and see the crabs on Fritz's jackal!' You know we threw it away there, and to be sure it was swarming with these creatures. Are you glad we have found them, father? Will they be good to eat?"

"Very excellent, my boy, and we may be thankful that food for our wants is thus provided day by day."

When each party had related the day's adventures, and while the mother was cooking the crawfish, we went to bring our store of planks to land.

Even this apparently simple operation required thought, and I had to improvise rope-harness for the cow and the donkey, by which we could make them drag each board separately from the water's edge to the margin of the stream.

Jack showed me where he thought the bridge should be, and I certainly saw no better place, as the banks were at that point tolerably close to one another, steep, and of about equal height.

"How shall we find out if our planks are long enough to reach across?"

said I. "A surveyor's table would be useful now."

"What do you say to a ball of string, father?" said Ernest. "Tie one end to a stone, throw it across, then draw it back and measure the line!"

Adopting my son's idea, we speedily ascertained the distance across to be eighteen feet. Then allowing three feet more at each side, I calculated twenty-four feet as the necessary length of the boards.

The question as to how the planks were to be laid across was a difficult one. We resolved to discuss it during dinner, to which we were now summoned. And my wife, as we sat resting, displayed to me her needlework. With hard labor she had made two large canvas bags for the a.s.s to carry. Having no suitable needle, she had been obliged to bore the hole for each st.i.tch with a nail, and gained great praise for her ingenuity and patience. Dinner was quickly dispatched, as we were all eager to continue our engineering work. A scheme had occurred to me for conveying one end of a plank across the water, and I set about it in this way. There fortunately were one or two trees close to the stream on either side. I attached a rope pretty near one end of a beam, and slung it loosely to the tree beside us; then, fastening a long rope to the other end, I crossed with it by means of broken rocks and stones, and having a pulley and block, I soon arranged the rope on a strong limb of the opposite tree, again returning with the end to our own side.

Now putting my idea to the proof, I brought the a.s.s and the cow, and fastening this rope to the harness I had previously contrived for them, I drove them steadily away from the bank. To my great satisfaction, and the surprise and delight of the boys, the end of the plank which had been laid alongside the stream began gently to move, rose higher, turned, and soon projecting over the water, continued to advance, until, having described the segment of a circle, it reached the opposite bank; I stopped my team, the plank rested on the ground, the bridge was made!

So at least thought Fritz and Jack, who in a moment were lightly running across the narrow way, shouting joyfully as they sprang to the other side.

Our way was now comparatively easy. A second and third plank were laid beside the first; and when these were carefully secured at each end to the ground and to the trees, we very quickly laid short boards side by side across the beams, the boys nailing them lightly down as I sawed them in lengths; and when this was done, our bridge was p.r.o.nounced complete. Nothing could exceed the excitement of the children. They danced to and fro on the wonderful structure, singing, shouting, and cutting the wildest capers.

I must confess I heartily sympathized with their triumphant feelings.

Now that the work was done, we began to feel how much we were fatigued, and gladly returned to our tent for refreshment and repose.

Next morning, while we breakfasted, I made a little speech to my sons on the subject of the important move we were about to make, wishing to impress them with a sense of the absolute necessity of great caution.