them laugh. I need not say that we took
great care of it.

The next day we built it a house, with a space in front for it to walk
up and down, round which were put rails, so that it could not get out.
At first it was shy, and would not take any food, so that we had to
force some balls of maize down its throat; but in a short time it took
grain from the hands of my wife, and soon grew quite tame.

The boys now set to work to break it in for use. They taught it first
to bear them on its back. Then they put a pair of string reins in its
mouth, and made it turn which way they chose to pull, and to walk, or
run, or stand still, as it was bid. Thus, in a month from the time we
caught it, the boys made it take them on its back to and from the Farm
or The Nest, in less than half the time an ox would go; so that it came
to be the best steed we had to ride on.

The eggs we found in the nest were put in a warm dry place, and though
we scarce thought our care would bring live birds out of the shells,
we had the joy to hatch three of them, and this led us to hope that we
should ere long have a steed for each of our sons.

My work at this time was by no means light. Our hats and caps were all
worn out, and with skins of the musk cat I had to make new ones. The
bears' skins were laid in the sun to dry, and of these we made fur
coats, which would keep us warm when the cold wet nights came round, and
there were some left to serve as quilts or rugs for our beds.

I now tried my hand at a new craft. I dug some clay out of the bed of
the stream, and taught the boys to knead it up with sand, and some talc
that had been ground as fine as road drift. I had made a lathe with a
wheel, and by its aid the clay left my bands in the shape of plates,
cups, pots, and pans. We then burnt them in a rude kiln, and though at
least one half broke with the heat and our want of skill, still those
that came out whole more than paid me for my toil, and kept up my wife's
stock of delf. Some of the jars were set round with red and blue beads,
and these were put on a shelf as works of art, and kept full of long
dried grass.

The time was now at hand when we must reap our grain and store the ripe
crops that were still on the ground; and, in fact, there was so much to
be done, that we scarce knew what to do first. The truth must be told
that our wants did not keep pace with the growth of our wealth, for the
land was rich, and we had but a few mouths to fill.