serve to keep us
from the next year's storms."

CHAPTER XI.

I CAN not tell how glad we all were when we at last saw a change in
the sky, and felt once more the warm rays of the sun. In a few days the
floods sank in the earth, and left the ground of a bright green hue; the
air grew warm and dry, and there were no more dark clouds to be seen in
the sky.

We found our young trees had put forth new leaves, and the seed we had
sown had come up through the moist ground. The air had a fresh sweet
smell, for it bore the scent of the bloom which hung like snow flakes on
the boughs of the fruit trees; the songs and cries of the birds were to
be heard on all sides, and we could see them fly from tree to tree in
search of twigs to build their nests. This in fact was the spring of the
year, when all things put forth new life; and we knew that the time was
now come when we could once more range the woods and till the soil, and
this made the boys leap for joy.

Some planks had been blown off the roof of The Nest, and the rain had
got in here and there; so our first job was to mend our house, and make
it fit to sleep in.

This done, Jack, Fritz, and I set out to Tent House. We found it in a
sad state. The storm had thrown down the tent, blown off some of the
sail cloth, and let in the rain on our casks, some of which held a store
of food. Our boat was still safe, but the raft of tubs had broken Lip,
and what there was left of it lay in splints on the shore.

Our loss in the storm had been so great that I felt we ought at once to
seek for some place on the rocks where we could put what was left.

We went all round the cliffs, in the hope that we might find a cave, but
in vain.

"There is no way but to hew one out of the rock", said Fritz, "we must
not be beat."

"Well said, Fritz," said Jack; "we have each an axe. Why not try this
cliff at once?"

I gave them leave to try, and we soon set to work at the rock. From this
spot we had a good view of the whole bay, and could see both banks of
the stream.

With a piece of chalk I made a mark on the side of the cliff, to show
the width and height that the cave should be cut. Then each took an axe
to try what kind of stuff our rock was made of. We found it a hard kind
of stone; and, as we were not used to this sort of work, we had not done
much when the time came for us to leave off.

We came back next day, and got on with more speed, though we thought
it would not take u