The toils of the day had made the boys tired,
and they were soon in a sound sleep, but my wife and I took it in turns
to watch through the whole night.
We were all out of bed as soon as light was in the sky, and set to work
to hoist up the planks that were to form the floor of our hut. These we
laid down on the branch, with their ends made fast to a cross piece of
wood that we had to fix to the trunk of the tree. Our nails were long,
and we drove each one of them home, so that we had no cause to fear the
strength of our work. By the time we had done this the day was far
spent, and we were all glad to lay by our tools and rest our limbs.
That night we lit our fires round the tree, tied the dogs to the roots,
and went up to sleep out of harm's way for the first time since we left
the ship. When the steps were drawn up we all felt that we were now
safe at last, and that we had brought the toils of the day to a good
end.
CHAPTER VII.
WE did not wake next day till the sun shone in upon us. I told my wife
and sons that as it was the Lord's day we would do no work. Our beasts
and birds had first to be fed. This was done by my wife, who then
brought us some hot milk, and made us sit down on the grass and take
it. When our meal was done, I got on a log in front of my sons, and we
all sang a psalm we knew by heart.
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