on the top
of the cave, and saw that Jack had brought back a tribe at his heels.
The large cart, drawn by the cow and the ass, came on at a slow pace,
led by Jack on a black ox, and in it were my wife, Frank, and Ernest.

By the help of a flint and steel I soon lit some of the wax lights, and
gave one to each. I went in first and led the way, and the rest kept
close at my back. We had not gone on more than a few steps when we came
to a dead stop, struck with awe at the grand sight that met our view.
The walls and roof of the cave were lit up, as it were, with star-like
gems, while some hung down like glass drops from the roof, and some rose
up from the ground at its sides like blocks of spar. I broke off a piece
and put it on my tongue.

"What does it taste like?" said Jack.

"I find," said I, "that we are in a cave of rock salt."

"We shall not have to scrape the rocks to get our salt now," said
Ernest, "for there is more here than would serve a whole town for a
lifetime."

When we went back to The Nest that night we laid out a plan for our new
home, for there could be no doubt that the cave was the best place for
us to dwell in, though we should still sleep in The Nest when we went on
that side of the stream.

The next day we all set to work; the floor of the cave was quite smooth,
and the walls dry, so that we could build at once. We first cut holes in
the sides of the rock to let in the light, and then brought frames and
panes of glass from The Nest, and put them in. We then brought all the
planks and wood we could find, and built a strong wall in the midst of
the cave. On the right side of this wall we made three rooms, two of
which were to be used as bed rooms, and one to take our meals in. On the
left side was a room for my wife to cook in, one to work in, to which
we gave the name of the shop, and a place with stalls in it for our live
stock. At the back of these was a store house, where we could keep our
stock of food and the whole of our spare goods.

I need not say that it took us some months to do all this, nor that we
had to toil hard day by day, from morn till night, ere we got to the end
of our task; but the end did come at last, and then the joy we felt that
we had done all this with our own hands more than paid us for our toil.

CHAPTER XII.

OUR fields near Tent House had by this time brought forth good crops of
wheat, maize, beans, and peas; but as the work of the Cave had for some
week