THE loud ringing of a bell awoke everyone in Crusoe Castle. Puss,
Junior, jumped out of his hammock and little Tom Thumb yawned and asked
in a sleepy voice, "Who's ringing the door-bell?" Then Mr. Crusoe picked
up the ladder and went outside and, placing it against the fence,
climbed up to the top, and after that he pulled up the ladder and then
let it down on the outside. All this time Snoozer stood below wagging
his tail, while Mr. Crusoe's two cats, Caromel and Caroline, purred and
rubbed against the calendar pole. Pretty soon a curly-headed black face
appeared above the wall.
"Black man Friday," whispered Tom Thumb.
"Bow-wow!" yelped Snoozer, and in a few minutes Mr. Crusoe and his man
Friday climbed down the ladder.
"This is my good man Friday," said Mr. Crusoe. So Puss and Tom Thumb
shook hands with him, which seemed to please him immensely.
"Glum-glum. Blum-blum!" he cried, smiling and showing a row of very
white teeth.
"That's 'Howdy! Pleased to meet you,' in his language," said Mr. Crusoe.
"He can talk very little English yet. I've had little time to devote to
his education so far."
"But who rang the bell?" asked Puss, Junior.
"Why, Friday did, of course," replied Mr. Crusoe. "Come over here and
I'll show you," and he led Puss to the rear of the cave.
"I brought this bell from the wreck," explained Mr. Crusoe. "After
Friday came to me I tied a rope to it. At the other end of the rope I
fastened a door-knob. When I go out Friday usually stays in. And when I
ring the bell he lets down the ladder to me. And when he's out he rings
the bell, just as he did this morning, and I let the ladder down to
him."
"What do you do when both of you go out?" asked Puss. "Does Snoozer
attend to the ladder?"
"No, no," replied Mr. Crusoe. "We hide the ladder in the woods nearby.
Then when we come back we get it out and stand it up against the wall
and climb up."
"Supposing someone should come across the ladder and make a call while
you're out?" asked Tom Thumb.
"Well, I don't know whether they'd think of that if they just happened
to find the ladder," answered Mr. Crusoe.
"Well, supposing they did," said Tom Thumb.
"Caesar's Ghost!" cried Mr. Crusoe. "Suppose we don't do any more
supposing! I've been so long alone that I've forgotten how to play that
game. Let's all go down to the beach and get some fresh soft clams for
breakfast. Start the water boiling, Friday, we're going to have steamed
clams for breakfast." And then Mr. Crusoe climbed up the ladder, with
Puss and Tom Thumb close at his heels.