r
to us.

But the lapse of ten years had wrought a great change in our sons.
Frank, who was but a mere child when we first came, had grown up to be
a strong youth; and Jack was as brave a lad as one could wish to see.
Fritz, of course, was now a young man, and took a large share of the
work off my hands. Ernest had just come of age, and his shrewd mode of
thought and great tact was as great a help to us as was the strength and
skill of the rest.

To crown all, it was a rare thing for them to be ill; and they were free
from those sins which too oft tempt young men to stray from the right
path. My wife and I did our best to train them, so that they might know
right from wrong; and it gave us great joy to find that what we told
them sunk deep in their hearts, and, like ripe seed sown in rich soil,
brought forth good fruit.

I need not say that in the course of ten years we had made great strides
in those arts which our wants had first led us to learn. When we first
came the land near Tent House was a bare waste; now it bore fine crops,
and was kept as neat as a Swiss farm. At the foot of the hill by the
side of Rock Cave was a large plot of ground, which we laid out in beds,
and here we grew herbs and shrubs, and such plants as we used for food.
Near this we dug a pond, and by means of a sluice which led from the
stream, we kept our plants fresh in times of drought. Nor was this the
sole use we made of the pond; for in it we kept small fish and crabs,
and took them out with a rod and line when we had need of food, and time
to spare for that kind of sport. In the ground round the mouth of the
Cave we drove a row of strong canes, bound at the top to a piece of
wood, so as to form a fence, up which grew a vine, and, at each side,
plants that threw a good show of gay bloom crept up to meet it. Shells
of great size and strange shapes were got from the shore, and these we
built up here and there with burnt clay, so as to form clumps of rock
work, on which grew ferns and rare plants. All this gave a charm to our
home, and made the grounds round it a source of joy when, we laid by our
work for the day. In fact, we thought there was now scarce a thing to
wish for that we had not got.

Our cares were few, and our life was as full of joy and peace as we
could well wish; yet I oft cast a look on the sea, in the hope that
some day I should spy a sail, and once more greet a friend from the wide
world from which we had been so long