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

the Whole Stud.

 

The Ostrich Was Then Relieved of His Unusual Burden,  The Animals Were

Speedily Equipped,  And Lightfoot Bearing the Baskets And Hampers,  The

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Whole Party Mounted and Trotted forwards. Jenny Was Delighted with Her

Palfrey,  And Henceforward He Was Reserved for Her Special Use.

 

The Work At Falconhurst,  As I Had Expected,  Occupied us For Some Time

And It Was A Week Before We Could Again Return To Rockburg.

 

Yet The Time Passed pleasantly; For Though The Young Men Were Busy From

Morning to Night,  The Presence Of Their New Companion,  Her Lively

Spirits And Gay Conversation,  Kept Them In constant Good Humour.

 

When The Repairs Were All Finished we Remained yet A Day Or Two

Longer,  That We Might Make Excursions In various Directions To Bring in

Poultry From Woodlands,  Stores Of Acorns For The Pigs,  And Grass,

Willows And Canes,  To Be Manufactured during the Winter Into Mats,

Baskets,  Hurdles And Hen-Coops.

 

Many A Shower Wetted us Through During these Days,  And We Had Scarcely

Time To Hurry Back To Rockburg And House Our Cattle And Possessions

Before The Annual Deluge Began.

 

Never Before Had This Dreary Season Seemed so Short And Pleasant; With

Jenny Amongst Us The Usual Feeling of Weariness And Discontent Never

Appeared; The English Language Was Quickly Acquired by All Hands,

Fritz,  In particular,  Speaking it So Well That Jenny Declared she Could

Scarcely Believe He Was Not An Englishman. She Herself Already Spoke

French,  And Therefore Easily Learned our Native Language And Spoke It

Fluently Before We Were Released from Our Captivity.

 

 

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Many Wondrous Tales Were Told Or Read In turn By The Boys And Jenny

During the Long Evenings As We Sat Drawing,  Weaving and Plaiting in our

Rosy Study. In fact This Winter Was A Truly Happy Time,  And When At

Length The Rain Ceased and The Bright Sun Again Smiled upon The Face Of

Nature,  We Could Scarcely Believe,  As We Stepped forth And Once More

Felt The Balmy Breath Of Spring,  That,  For So Many Weeks,  We Had Been

Prisoners Within Our Rocky Walls.

 

All Was Once More Activity And Life; The Duties In field,  Garden And

Orchard Called forth The Energy Of The Lads,  Whilst Their Mother And

Sister Found Abundant Occupation In the Poultry-Yard And House.

 

Our Various Settlements And Stations Required attention. Falconhurst,

Woodlands,  Prospect Hill,  Shark And Whale Islands Were In turn Visited

And Set In order. The Duty Of Attending to The Island Battery Fell To

Jack And Franz.

 

They Had Been Busy All Day Repairing the Flagstaff,  Rehoisting the

Flag,  And Cleaning and Putting into Working order The Two Guns. Evening

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Was Drawing on And Our Day'S Work Over; The Rest Of Us Were Strolling

Up And Down Upon The Beach Enjoying the Cool Sea Breeze. We Watched the

Lads As They Completed their Work. They Loaded and Ran Out Their Guns

And,  Paddling off With An Empty Tub In the Cajack,  Placed it Out To Sea

As A Mark For Practice. They Returned and Fired,  And The Barrel Flew In

Pieces; With A Shout Of Triumph,  They Cleaned the Guns And Ran Them In.

 

Scarcely Had They Done So When,  As Though In answer To Their Shots,

Came The Sound Of Three Guns Booming across The Water From The

Westward.

 

We Stopped,  Speechless. Was It Fancy? Had We Really Heard Guns From A

Strange Ship? Or Had The Boys Again Fired? No! There Were The Lads

Leaping into Their Canoe And Paddling in hot Haste Towards Us. They,

Too,  Had Heard The Sound.

 

A Tumult Of Feelings Rushed over Us--Anxiety,  Joy,  Hope,  Doubt,  Each In

Turn Took Possession Of Our Minds. Was It A European Vessel Close Upon

Our Shores,  And Were We About To Be Linked once More To Civilized life?

Or Did Those Sounds Proceed from A Malay Pirate,  Who Would Rob And

Murder Us? What Was To Be The Result Of Meeting with Our Fellow Beings;

Were They To Be Friends Who Would Help Us,  Enemies Who Would Attack Us,

Or Would They Prove Unfortunate Creatures In need of Our Assistance?

Who Could Tell?

 

Before We Could Express These Thoughts In words The Cajack Had Touched

The Shore,  And Jack And Franz Were Among Us.

 

`Did You Hear Them? Did You Hear Them?' They Gasped. `What Shall We Do?

Where Shall We Go?'

 

`Oh,  Fritz,' Continued my Youngest Son,  `It Must Be A European Ship. We

Shall Find Her. We Shall See Our Fatherland Once More,' And,  In an

Emotion Of Joy,  He Grasped his Brother'S Hands.

 

Till Then I Knew Not What A Craving for Civilized life Had Been

Aroused in the Two Young Men By The Appearance Of Their European

Sister.

 

All Eyes Were Turned towards Me. What Would I Advise?

 

`At Present,' I Said,  `We Can Do Nothing,  For Night Is Drawing on. We

Must Make What Preparation We Can,  And Pray For Guidance.' In the

Greatest Excitement We Returned to The House,  All Talking eagerly,  And

Till Late No One Could Be Persuaded to Retire To Rest.

 

Few Slept That Night. The Boys And I Took It In turn To Keep Watch From

The Verandah,  Lest More Signals Might Be Fired,  Or A Hostile Visit

Might Be Paid Us. But About Midnight The Wind Began To Rise,  And Before

We Reassembled to Discuss Our Plans A Fearful Storm Was Raging; So

Terrific Was The Sea That I Knew No Boat Could Live,  And Had A

Broadside Been Fired at The Entrance Of The Bay We Should Not Have

Heard It Through The Howling of The Blast.

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For Two Days And Two Nights The Hurricane Continued,  But On The Third

Day The Sun Again Appeared,  And,  The Wind Lulling,  The Sea Went Rapidly

Down. Full Of Anxiety I Readily Complied with The Boys' Desire To Put

Off To Shark Island And Discharge The Guns; For Who Could Tell What Had

Been The Result Of The Gale; Perhaps The Vessel Had Been Driven Upon

The Rocky Shore Or,  Fearing such A Fate,  She Had Left The Coast And

Weathered the Storm Out At Sea; If So She Might Never Return.

 

With These Thoughts I Accompanied jack And Franz To The Fort.

One--Two--We Fired the Guns And Waited.

 

For Some Minutes There Was No Reply,  And Then An Answering report

Rolled in the Distance. There Was No Longer Room For Doubt; The

Strangers Were Still In the Vicinity,  And Were Aware Of Our Presence.

We Waved the Flag As A Signal To Those On Shore That All Was Well,  And

Quickly Returned. We Found The Whole Family In a State Of The Greatest

Excitement,  And I Felt It Necessary To Calm Them Down As Much As

Possible,  For Neither Could I Answer The Questions With Which I Was

Besieged,  Nor Could I Conceal The Fact That The Visit Of The Vessel

Might Not Prove So Advantageous As They Expected.

 

Fritz And I At Once Prepared to Make A Reconnaissance; We Armed

Ourselves With Our Guns,  Pistols And Cutlasses,  Took A Spy-Glass,

Seated ourselves In the Cajack And,  With A Parting entreaty From My

Wife To Be Cautious,  Paddled out Of The Bay And Round The High Cliffs

On Our Left. For Nearly An Hour We Advanced in the Direction From Which

The Reports Of The Guns Seemed to Proceed. Nothing could We See,

However,  But The Frowning rocks And Cliffs,  And The Waves Beating

Restlessly At Their Base. Cape Pug-Nose Was Reached,  And We Began To

Round The Bluff Old Point.

 

In A Moment All Our Doubts Were Dispelled,  And Joy And Gratitude To The

Great Giver Of All Good Filled our Hearts. There,  In the Little

Sheltered cove Beyond The Cape,  Her Sails Furled,  And Anchor Dropped,

Lay A Brig-Of-War With The English Colours At Her Masthead.

 

With The Glass I Could Discern Figures Upon The Deck And,  Upon The

Shore Beyond,  Several Tents Pitched under The Shelter Of The Trees,  And

The Smoke Of Fires Rising amongst Them. As I Handed the Glass To Fritz,

I Felt A Sudden Misgiving. `What,' Said I To Myself,  `Can This English

Vessel Be Doing thus Far From The Usual Track Of Ships?' And I Called

To Mind Tales Of Mutinous Crews Who Have Risen Against Their Officers,

Have Chosen Some Such Sheltered retreat As This; Have Disguised the

Vessel,  And Then Sailed forth To Rob And Plunder Upon The High Seas.

 

Fritz Then Exclaimed,  `I Can See The Captain,  Father,  He Is Speaking to

One Of The Officers,  And I Can See His Face Quite Well; He Is English,

I Am Certain He Is English,  And The Flag Speaks The Truth!' And He Put

The Glass Again In my Hand That I Might See For Myself.

 

Still Keeping under The Shelter Of The Cliff,  I Carefully Surveyed the

Part 3 Chapter 10 Pg 144

Vessel. There Was No Doubt That Fritz