As we had cut square holes in the trunk of the tree all
the way up, and put in frames of glass that we got from the ship, my
wife could sit on the stairs, with Frank at her feet, and mend our
clothes. Each day I drove from the barn such beasts as could bear to be
out in the rain. That we might not lose them, I tied bells round their
necks; and if we found that they did not come back when the sun went
down, Fritz and 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 made cloth capes and hoods for us to wear. To make these rain
proof, I spread some of the gum on them while hot, and this, when dry,
had the look of oil cloth, and kept the head, arms, chest, and back
free from damp. Our gum boots came far up our legs, so that we could go
out in the rain and come back quite free from cold and damp.
We made but few fires, for the air was not cold, save for an hour or
two late at night, and we did not cook more than we could help, but ate
the dried meat, fowls, and fish we had by us.
The care of our beasts took us a great part of the day; then we made
our cakes and set them to bake in a tin plate on a slow fire. I had cut
a hole in the wall to give us light, and put a pane of glass in it to
keep out the wind, but the thick clouds hid the sun from the earth, and
the shade of the tree threw a gloom round our barn, so that our day
light was but short, and night came on far too soon.
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