Swiss Family Robinson(fiscle part-3 of 2) - Johann David Wyss (desktop ebook reader .TXT) 📗

I Yielded to His Earnest Wish To Return Alone As He Came;

He Longed to Act As Our Avant-Courier,  And Announce Our Approach To His

Mother; So He Was Soon Skimming away Over The Surface Of The Water,

While We Followed at Slower Rate.

 

Black Clouds Meanwhile Gathered thick And Fast Around Us,  And A

Tremendous Storm Came On. Fritz Was Out Of Sight And Beyond Our Reach.

 

We Buckled on The Swimming belts,  And Firmly Lashed ourselves To The

Boat,  So That We Might Not Be Washed overboard By The Towering seas

Which Broke Over It.

 

The Horizon Was Shrouded in darkness,  Fearful Gusts Of Wind Lashed the

Ocean Into Foam,  Rain Descended in torrents,  While Livid Lightning

Glared athwart The Gloom. Both My Boys Faced the Danger Nobly; And My

Feelings Of Alarm Were Mingled with Hope On Finding how Well The Boat

Behaved.

 

The Tempest Swept On Its Way,  And The Sky Began To Clear As Suddenly As

It Had Been Overcast; Yet The Stormy Waves Continued for A Long Time To

Threaten Our Frail Bark With Destruction,  In spite Of Its Buoyancy And

Steadiness.

 

Yet I Never Lost Hope For Ourselves--All My Fears Were For Fritz; In

Fact I Gave Him Up For Lost,  And My Whole Agonized heart Arose In

Prayer For Strength To Say,  `Thy Will Be Done!'

 

At Last We Rounded the Point,  And Once More Entering safety Bay,

Quickly Drew Near The Little Harbour.

 

What Was Our Surprise--Our Overwhelming delight When There We Saw The

Mother With Fritz,  As Well As Her Little Boy,  On Their Knees In prayer

So Earnest For Our Deliverance,  That Our Approach Was Unperceived,

Until With Cries Of Joy We Attracted their Notice.

 

Then Indeed ensued a Happy Meeting,  And We Gave Thanks Together For The

Mercy Which Had Spared our Lives.

 

Returning joyfully To Rockburg,  We Changed our Drenched garments For

Warm Dry Clothes; And,  Seated at A Comfortable Meal,  Considered and

Described at Our Ease The Perils Of The Storm.

 

Afterwards,  The Head Of The Walrus Was Conveyed to Our Workshop; Where

It Underwent Such A Skilful And Thorough Process Of Cleaning,  Embalming

And Drying,  That Ere Long It Was Actually Fixed on The Prow Of The

Cajack,  And A Most Imposing appearance It Presented!

 

The Strips Of Hide,  When Well Tanned and Prepared,  Made Valuable

Part 3 Chapter 7 Pg 102

Leather.

 

Much Damage Had Been Done By The Late Storm. The Heavy Rain Had

Flooded all The Streams,  And Injured crops Which Should Have Been

Housed and Safe Before The Regular Rainy Season.

 

The Bridge Over Jackal River Was Partly Broken Down,  And The Water

Tanks And Pipes All Needed repair. So That Our Time Was Much Occupied

In Restoring things To Order.

 

On Going to Work One Day Near The Cascade,  We Found A Great Number Of

Dark-Red berries,  Scattered on The Ground; They Were About The Size Of

Ordinary Hazel-Nuts,  With Small Leafy Coronets At The Tip.

 

The Boys Thought Them So Inviting,  That They Tasted them At Once,  But

Angry Exclamations And Much Spitting and Spluttering followed the

Experiment; Even Knips Rejected them,  And They Would Have Been Cast

Aside With Contempt,  Had Not The Smell Induced me To Examine Them. I

Decided that This Was The Fruit Of The Clove.

 

Some Plants Were Immediately Set In the Nursery Garden,  And My Wife Was

Pleased to Have This Excellent Spice Wherewith To Flavour Her Boiled

Rice And Other Dishes,  In lieu Of Pepper--A Very Welcome Variety To

Everyone.

 

Having a Good Supply Of Clay,  Brought From The Bed near Falconhurst,  I

Proposed to Use It For Making aqueducts; And,  Observing how Much The

Recent Rain Had Promoted the Growth Of Our Young Corn,  I Determined to

Irrigate The Fields With The Drainage From Our Crushing-Mill.

 

The Fishing season Was Again Successful. Large Takes Of Salmon,

Sturgeon And Herring rewarded our Annual Exertions,  And Our Store-Room

Again Assumed a Well-Stocked appearance. Much As I Wished that We Could

Obtain A Constant Supply Of These Fish Fresh,  I Was Obliged to Reject

The Naive Proposal From Jack,  That We Should Tether A Shoal Of Salmon

By The Gills To The Bottom Of The Bay As We Had Secured the Turtles.

 

Many Quiet Uneventful Days Passed by And I Perceived that The Boys,

Wearied by The Routine Of Farm Work At Rockburg,  Were Longing for A

Cruise In the Yacht Or An Expedition Into The Woods,  Which Would

Refresh Both Mind And Body.

 

`Father,' Said Fritz At Length,  `We Want A Quantity Of Hurdles,  And

Have Scarcely Any More Bamboos Of Which To Make Them. Had We Not Better

Get A Supply From Woodlands? And You Said,  Too,  The Other Day,  That You

Wished you Had Some More Of The Fine Clay: We Might Visit The Gap At

The Same Time.'

 

I Had Really No Objection To Propose; And It Was Shortly Afterwards

Settled that Fritz,  Jack,  And Franz Should Start Together; And That

Ernest,  Who Had No Great Desire To Accompany His Brothers,  Should

Remain With His Mother And Me,  And Assist In the Construction Of A

Sugar-Mill,  The Erection Of Which I Had Long Contemplated.

Part 3 Chapter 7 Pg 103

 

Before They Started,  Fritz Begged some Bear'S Meat From His Mother,  To

Make Pemmican.

 

`And What May Pemmican Be?' She Asked.

 

`It Is Food Carried by The Fur-Traders Of North America On Their Long

Journeys Through The Wild Country They Traverse; And Consists Of Bear

Or Deer'S Flesh,  First Cooked and Then Pounded or Ground To Powder. It

Is Very Portable,  And Nourishing.'

 

His Mother Consented `To Humour Him',  As She Said,  Although Without

Much Faith In the Value Of The Preparation; And In the Course Of Two

Days A Stock Of Pemmican,  Sufficient For A Polar Expedition,  Was

Fabricated by Our Enthusiastic Son.

 

They Were Ready To Start,  When I Observed jack Quietly Slip A Basket,

Containing several Pigeons,  Under The Packages In the Cart.

 

`Oh,  Oh!' Thought I,  `The Little Fellow Has His Doubts About That

Pemmican,  And Thinks A Tough Old Pigeon Would Be Preferable.'

 

The Weather Was Exquisite; And,  With Exhortations To Prudence And

Caution From Both Me And Their Mother,  The Three Lads Started in the

Very Highest Spirits. Storm And Grumble,  As Usual,  Drew The Cart,  And

Were Ridden By Fritz And Franz; While Hurry Carried jack Swiftly Across

The Bridge In advance Of Them; Followed by Floss And Bruno,  Barking

At His Heels.

 

The Sugar-Mill Occupied us For Several Days,  And Was Made So Much Like

Our Other Mills That I Need not Now Describe It.

 

On The Evening of The First Day,  As We Sat Resting in the Porch At

Rockburg,  We Naturally Talked of The Absentees,  Wondering and Guessing

What They Might Be About.

 

Ernest Looked rather Mysterious,  And Hinted that He Might Have News Of

Them Next Morning.

 

Just Then A Bird Alighted on The Dove-Cot,  And Entered. I Could Not

See,  In the Failing light,  Whether It Was One Of Our Own Pigeons Or An

Intruder. Ernest Started up,  And Said He Would See That All Was Right.

 

In A Few Minutes He Returned with A Scrap Of Paper In his Hand. `News,

Father! The Very Latest News By Pigeon-Post,  Mother!'

 

`Well Done,  Boys! What A Capital Idea!' Said I,  And Taking the Note I

Read:

 

`Dearest Parents And Ernest,

 

`A Brute Of A Hyaena Has Killed a Ram And Two Lambs. The Dogs Seized

It. Franz Shot It. It Is Dead And Skinned. The Pemmican Isn'T Worth

Much,  But We Are All Right. Love To All.

Part 3 Chapter 7 Pg 104

 

`Fritz

 

`Woodlands,  15Th Instant

 

`A True Hunter'S Letter!' Laughed i. `But What Exciting news. When Does

The Next Post Come In,  Ernest?'

 

`Tonight,  I Hope,' Said He,  While His Mother Sighed,  And Doubted the

Value Of Such Glimpses Into The Scenes Of Danger Through Which Her Sons

Were Passing,  Declaring she Would Much Rather Wait And Hear All About

It When She Had Them Safe Home Again.

 

Thus The Winged letter-Carriers Kept Us Informed from Day To Day Of The

Outline Of Adventures Which Were Afterwards More Fully Described.

 

On Approaching the Farm At Woodlands,  The Boys Were Startled by

Hearing,  As They Thought,  Human Laughter,  Repeated again And Again;

While,  To Their Astonishment,  The Oxen Testified the Greatest

Uneasiness,  The Dogs Growled and Drew Close To Their Masters,  And The

Ostrich Fairly Bolted with Jack Into The Rice Swamp.

 

The Laughter Continued,  And The Beasts Became Unmanageable.

 

`Something is Very Far Wrong!' Cried fritz. `I Cannot Leave The

Animals; But While I Unharness Them,  Do You,  Franz,  Take The Dogs,  And

Advance Cautiously To See What Is The Matter.'

 

Without A Moment'S Hesitation,  Franz Made His Way Among The Bushes With

His Gun,  And Closely Followed by The Dogs; Until,  Through An Opening in

The Thicket,  He Could See,  At The Distance Of About Forty Paces,  An

Enormous Hyaena,  In the Most Wonderful State Of Excitement; Dancing

Round A Lamb Just Killed,  And Uttering,  From Time To Time,  The Ghastly

Hysterical Laughter Which Had Pealed through The Forest.

 

The Beast Kept Running backwards And Forwards,  Rising on Its Hind

Legs,  And Then Rapidly Whirling round And Round,  Nodding its Head,  And

Going through Most Frantic And Ludicrous Antics.

 

Franz Kept His Presence Of Mind Very Well; For He Watched till,

Calming down,  The Hyaena Began With Horrid Growls To Tear Its Prey; And

Then,  Firing steadily Both Barrels,  He Broke Its Foreleg,  And Wounded

It In the Breast.

 

Meanwhile Fritz,  Having unyoked the Oxen And Secured them To Trees,

Hurried to His Brother'S Assistance. The Dogs And The Dying hyaena Were

By This Time Engaged in mortal Strife; But The Latter,  Although It

Severely Wounded both Floss And Bruno,  Speedily Succumbed,  And Was Dead

When The Boys Reached the Spot.

 

They Raised a Shout Of Triumph,  Which Guided jack To The Scene Of

Action; And Their First Care Was For The Dogs,  Whose Wounds They

Dressed before Minutely Examining the Hyaena. It Was As Large As A Wild

Part 3 Chapter 7 Pg 105