CHAPTER X.
FRANK one day found some long leaves, to which, from their shape, hegave the name of sword leaves. These he brought home to play with, andthen, when he grew tired of them, threw them down. As they lay on thefloor, Fritz took some of them in his hand, and found them so limp,that he said he could plait them, and make a whip for Frank to drive thesheep and goats with. As he split them up to do this, I could not butnote their strength. This led me to try them, and I found that we hadnow a kind of flax plant, which was a source of great joy to my wife.
"You have not yet found a thing," she said, "that will be of more use tous than this. Go at once and search for some more of these leaves,and bring me the most you can of them. With these I can make you hose,shirts, clothes, thread, rope; in short, give me flax, and make me aloom and some frames, and I shall be at no loss for work when the raincomes."
I could not help a smile at my wife's joy when she heard the name offlax; for there was still much to do ere the leaves could take the shapeof cloth. But two of the boys set off at once to try to find some moreof the flax.
While they were gone, my wife, full of new life, and with some show ofpride, told me how I should make the loom by means of which she was toclothe us from head to foot. In a short time they came back, and broughtwith them a good load of the plant, which they laid at her feet. She nowsaid she would lay by all else till she had tried what she could make ofit. The first thing to be done was to steep the flax. To do this we tookthe plant down to the marsh, tied up in small bales, as they pack hempfor sale. The leaves were then spread out in the pond, and kept downwith stones, and left there in that state till it was time to take themout and set them in the sun to dry, when they would be so soft that wecould peel them with ease. It was two weeks ere the flax was fit forus to take out of the marsh. We spread it out on the grass in the sun,where it dried so quick that we took it home to The Nest the same day.It was then put by till we could find time to make the wheels, reels,and combs which my wife said that she would want to turn our new foundplant to its best use.
We now made haste to lay up a store of canes, nuts, wood, and suchthings as we thought we might want; and took care, while it was stillfine, to sow wheat, and all the grain we had left in our bags was soonput in the ground. The fear that the rain might come and put a stop toour work led us to take our meals in haste, and to make the days as longas we could see. We knew the rain was close at hand, for the nights werecold; large clouds could be seen in the sky, and the wind blew as we hadnot felt it since the night our ship had struck on the rock.
The great change came at last. One night we were woke up out of oursleep with the noise made by the rush of the wind through the woods,and we could hear the loud roar of the sea far off. Then the dense stormclouds which we had seen in the sky burst on us, and the rain came downin floods. The streams, pools, and ponds on all sides were soon full,and the whole plain round us met our view as one vast lake. By goodluck, the site of our house stood up out of the flood, and our group oftrees had the look of a small isle in the midst of the lake.
We soon found that The Nest was not built so well as we thought, for therain came in at the sides, and we had good cause to fear that the windwould blow the roof off. Once the storm made such a rush at it that weheard the beams creak, and the planks gave signs that there was morestrain on them than they could bear. This drove us from our room to thestairs in the trunk, on which we sat in a state of fear till the worstof the storm was past. Then we went down to the shed we had built on theground at the root of the tree, and made the best shift we could. Allour stores were kept here, so that the space was too small to hold us,and the smell from the beasts made it far from a fit place for six of usto dwell in; but it was at least safe for a time, and this was of coursethe first thing to be thought of. To dress our food we had to make afire in the barn, and as there was no place to let out the smoke, it gotdown our throats and made us cough all the day long.
It was now for the first time that my wife gave a sigh for her old Swisshome. But we all knew that it was of no use to grieve, and each set towork to do all he could to make the place look neat and clean. Some ofour stores we took up the stairs out of our way, and this gave us moreroom. As we had cut square holes in the trunk of the tree all the wayup, and put in frames of glass that we got from the ship, my wife couldsit on the stairs, with Frank at her feet, and mend our clothes. Eachday I drove from the barn such beasts as could bear to be out in therain. That we might not lose them, I tied bells round their necks; andif we found that they did not come back when the sun went down, Fritzand I went out to bring them in. We oft got wet through to the skin,which gave us a chill, and might have laid us up if my wife had not madecloth capes and hoods for us to wear. To make these rain proof, I spreadsome of the gum on them while hot, and this, when dry, had the look ofoil cloth, and kept the head, arms, chest, and back free from damp. Ourgum boots came far up our legs, so that we could go out in the rain andcome back quite free from cold and damp.
We made but few fires, for the air was not cold, save for an hour or twolate at night, and we did not cook more than we could help, but ate thedried meat, fowls, and fish we had by us.
The care of our beasts took us a great part of the day; then we made ourcakes and set them to bake in a tin plate on a slow fire. I had cut ahole in the wall to give us light, and put a pane of glass in it to keepout the wind, but the thick clouds hid the sun from the earth, and theshade of the tree threw a gloom round our barn, so that our day lightwas but short, and night came on far too soon. We then made use of ourwax lights, and all sat round a bench. My wife had as much as she couldwell do to mend the rents we made in our clothes. I kept a log, Inwhich I put down, day by day, what we did and what we had seen; andthen Ernest wrote this out in a neat, clear hand, and made a book of it.Fritz and Jack drew the plants, trees, and beasts which they had found,and these were stuck in our book. Each night we took it in turns to readthe Word of God, and then all knelt down to pray ere we went to bed.Ours was not a life of ease, it is true, but it was one of peace andhope; and we felt that God had been so kind to us that it would be agreat sin to wish for what it did not please Him to grant us.
My wife did all she could to cheer us, and it was no strange thing forus to find that while we were out in the rain with the live stock, shehad made some new dish, which we would scent as soon as we put our headsin at the door. One night it was a thrush pie, the next a roast fowl,or some wild duck soup; and once in a while she would give us a grandfeast, and bring out some of all the good things we had in store.
In the course of our stay in doors we made up our minds that we wouldnot spend the next time of storm and rain, when it should come round, inthe same place. The Nest would serve us well in that time of year whenit was fine and dry, but we should have to look out for some spot wherewe could build a house that would keep us from the rain the next timethe storms came.
Fritz thought that we might find a cave, or cut one out of the rocks bythe sea shore. I told him that this would be a good plan, but would takea long while to do. By this time the boys were all well used to hardwork, and they thought they would much like to try their skill at somenew kind of work.
"Well," said I, "we will go to the rocks round Tent House the first fineday that comes, and try to find some place that will serve to keep usfrom the next year's storms."
The Swiss Family Robinson, Told in Words of One Syllable Page 9
