low puddles
formed in every little hollow or depression, and there was the prospect
of a most miserable night if the storm should continue. Happily, this
did not prove to be the case; in about an hour after we had been aroused
by the first thunder peal, the clouds dispersed almost as suddenly as
they had gathered; the sun shone forth brightly; the trees and the grass
sparkled with raindrops, lustrous as diamonds, and the whole landscape
smiled in fresher beauty than ever.

This little occurrence, however, served as a seasonable hint to recall
to our minds the importance of contriving some kind of a dwelling to
afford us shelter in bad weather, and we resolved to lose no time in
setting about it. Accordingly, the day following that of the thunder
shower, as soon as we had returned from the beach, after taking our
regular morning swim, Arthur called a council, to deliberate and
determine upon the matter of house-building. The first thing was to fix
upon a site; the only objection to the level space at the top of the
hill, was its elevated position, exposing it to the full force of the
violent winds which prevail at certain periods of the tropical year.
But on that side from which the strongest winds blow, the spot was
protected by still higher land towards the interior, and the fine trees
of various kinds and sizes, (some of them evidently the growth of many
years), among which could be seen no prostrate trunks, showed, as we
thought, that nothing was to be feared from that source.

We, therefore, selected a smooth, open space, near the edge of the
terrace, commanding a view of the sea, through a vista of noble trees.
Max insisted, that, inasmuch as with our limited architectural resources
we could not make our house of more than one storey, we ought to build
in "cottage style," and make up for deficiency in height, by spreading
over a large surface. He then proceeded to mark out a ground-plan, upon
a scale that would have been shockingly extravagant, had we been in a
part of the world where the price of building-lots was to be taken into
consideration. A parallelogram, nearly forty feet long by twenty-five
in width, the narrower side fronting the sea, was the plan of the main
building. This was to be flanked by two wings, each some sixteen feet
square, which would serve to strengthen and support the principal
structure. "Upon this model," Max complacently observed, "he intended
one of these days to build his coun