nd wild sports would tempt it to leave us for the rocks of the sea
shore, where Fritz had first found it.

Each of my boys had now some pet to take care of, and, I may say, to
tease, for they all thought they had a fair right to get some fun out of
the pets they could call their own; but they were kind to them, fed them
well, and kept them clean.

In what I may term my spare time, which was when I left off work out of
doors, I made a pair of gum shoes for each of my sons, in the way I had
told Fritz it could be done. I do not know what we should have done had
we not found the gum tree, for the stones soon wore out the boots we
had, and we could not have gone through the woods or trod the hard rocks
with bare feet.

By this time our sow had brought forth ten young pigs, and the hens had
each a brood of fine chicks. Some we kept near us, but most of them went
to the wood, where my wife said she could find them when she had need to
use them.

I knew the time must now be near when, in this clime, the rain comes
down day by day for weeks, and that it would wash us out of The Nest if
we did not make a good roof to our house. Then our live stock would need
some place where they could rest out of the rain. The thatch for The
Nest was of course our first care; then we made a long roof of canes for
our live stock, and on this we spread clay and moss, and then a thick
coat of tar, so that it was rain proof from end to end. This was held up
by thick canes stuck deep in the ground, with planks made fast to them
to form the walls, and round the whole we put a row of cask staves to
serve for rails. In this way we soon had a barn, store room, and hay
loft, with stalls for the cow, the ass, and what else we kept that had
need of a place to live in.

CHAPTER X.

FRANK one day found some long leaves, to which, from their shape, he
gave the name of sword leaves. These he brought home to play with, and
then, when he grew tired of them, threw them down. As they lay on the
floor, 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 the
sheep and goats with. As he split them up to do this, I could not but
note their strength. This led me to try them, and I found that we had
now 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 to
us than this. Go at once and search for s