t. He loosened them and
puckered them to no purpose. "Anyway," he thought, "I am now well
protected from the cold, when it does come."

[Illustration: ROBINSON IN HIS NEW SUIT]

XXI

HOW ROBINSON LAYS UP A STORE OF FOOD

Now for the food. Could Robinson preserve the meat? He had often heard
his mother tell about preserving meat in salt. He had even eaten salt
meat, pickled meat. But where could he get salt?

One day when the wind blew hard the water was driven upon the shore and
filled a little hollow. After a few days the ground glistened white as
snow where the water had been. Was it snow? Robinson took it in his
hands and put it in his mouth. It was salt. The sun had evaporated the
water in the hollow--had vaporized it--and the air had drunk it up. What
was left behind? Salt. Now he could get salt as long as he needed it.

He took cocoanut shells and strewed salt in them. Then he cut the rabbit
meat in thin strips, rubbed them with salt, and laid them one on the
other in the salt in the shells. He covered it over with a layer of
salt. He put over each shell the half of a larger one and weighted it
down with stones. After a period of fourteen days he found the meat
quite red. It had pickled.

But he did not stop here. He gathered and stored in his cellar cocoanuts
and corn in such quantities that he would be supplied for a whole
winter. It seemed best to catch a number of rabbits, build a house for
them and keep them. Then he could kill one occasionally and have fresh
meat. Then it came to him that goats would be much better, for they
would give milk. He determined immediately to have a herd of goats. He
made a string or lasso out of cocoa fibre.

Then he went out, slipped up quietly to a herd of goats and threw the
lasso over one. But the lasso slipped from the horns and the goat ran
away. The next day he had better luck. He threw the lasso, drew it tight
and the goat was captured. He brought it home. He rejoiced when he saw
that it gave milk. He was happy when he got his first cocoanut shell
full of sweet rich milk. His goat herd grew. He soon had five goats. He
had no more room in his yard. He could not provide food enough. He must
let them out. He must make another hedge around his yard so that the
goats could get food and yet be kept from going away. He got stakes
from the woods and gathered them before his cave. He sharpened them and
began to drive them in the earth. But it rained more and more