"Now then," said I to the little Mother, "what are you and I to do with
ourselves."
_Schillie._--"Oh, I am perfectly comfortable, now that we are not to be
plagued with those girls. Let us sit down here, and now you shall talk
to me."
_Mother._--"I don't intend to do anything of the sort; I said, 'What
shall we do?' merely to know if you had any private business on hand.
Because if you have not, I have."
_Schillie._--"I have nothing in the world to do, and I have not the
least inclination to exert myself, and I won't allow you to do anything
either, in spite of your private business."
_Mother._--"Nevertheless, whether you help me or not, I am going to
build a little hut."
_Schillie._--"Good lack! if you are not mad to think of such a thing! I
am gasping with heat, and really melt away so fast, on the slightest
exertion, and have such indifferent dinners to make amends, that if the
captain does not arrive precisely to his date, my skin will be a bag
containing nothing but rattling bones."
_Mother._--"Don't distress yourself, you look very jolly yet, and if
those cannibals come, of whom Madame is so afraid, you will be the first
delicate morsel chosen, I am certain. But about this hut."
_Schillie._--"Don't, June, you will kill me outright if you mention such
hard work again. Let us go and botanize a bit. Did you ever see such a
fellow as this! He must be a plantain I think."
_Mother._--"Yes! these are the broad leaves that will roof our hut!"
_Schillie._--"You will drive me mad with your hut, who wants a hut? and
what is the good of putting ourselves into a fever, spoiling our hands,
and such like, merely for your whims. Let us go round that point, and
see if any turtle land on this island. I am sure it will be a blessing
to have something decent to eat."
_Mother._--"I shall be delighted to go, but I think we shall dirty our
hands much more slaughtering a great turtle than building a nice little
hut."
_Schillie._--"Now, Mrs. June, if you bother me any more about that hut,
I won't stir one finger to help you."
_Mother._--"Oh, so you will help me, well! that's all I want, so sit
down here while I tell you all about my hut."
She made some ineffectual efforts to escape, was very indignant,
stormed, and spluttered, and wound up by saying, "Well! now, my
Mistress, what do you wish me to do?" which was exactly the state into
which I had intended to bully her. "You know how hot we are in the tent
every night," said I. "Good me! and those horrid girls snoring and
talking, one worse than another, to say nothing of someone who shall be
nameless snoring like ten pigs." "That snorer is not me, I flatter
myself, so make no more remarks, but listen, you see I have brought you
to a very pretty little spot on the cliffs, and here are six or seven
nice little trees, that look so pliant and slender we can bend them into
any shape, but you are not listening."
_Schillie._--"I wonder what trees these are. They all seem to proceed
from the same mass of roots, and yet they are nearly in the form of a
square; leaves, shiny, dark, green, pinnated, I cannot make them out."
_Mother._--"What does it matter to us about their names and property, if
they will do for us to make our hut."
_Schillie._--"And how can you imagine that I can make a hut or live in
it, until I have found out the name of these trees."
So we were nearly coming to a rupture again, but waiting patiently until
she had exhausted every idea on the subject we set to work once more.
"You see these trees are in the form of a square already, and will just
mark out the size of our hut."
"Yes very well for me, but if our hut has a window you will have to lay
with your head out of it, or if a door with your feet ditto."
_Mother._--"Come don't be rude about my length of limb. The square is
quite seven feet this way, and we may make it double that the other way
by cutting down this one tree."
_Schillie._--"I wish I knew what those two trees are."
_Mother._--"Then we can twist these pliant sort of reeds in and out."
_Schillie._--"Reeds, June! those are not reeds, I wonder what these are?
They must be all of the same family, only these are young ones.
Something of the willow sort, I imagine."
_Mother._--"Well! we can twist them in and out between the stems."
_Schillie._--"Or perhaps they are a species of gigantic rush, but that
we shall know by the flower."
_Mother._--"Twist them in and out like basket work."
_Schillie._--"I wish you would cease with your twistings in and out, and
help me to guess what these things are."
_Mother._--"My dear, I have guessed long ago, and think I am quite right
too in my guess."
_Schillie._--"And why are you so unkind as not to tell me? you know how
anxious I am."
_Mother._--"I am quite surprised that you did not see at once, they are
only gigantic 'fighting cocks,' as we used to call plantain in our
youth."
_Schillie._--"You are the greatest----, well! I won't say what with your
fighting cocks. Come, go on about your blessed old hut."
_Mother._--"But it is not an old hut, inasmuch as it is not built yet,
or even begun, nor does it seem likely to be begun, as we have
quarrelled three times over merely of what it is to be made."
_Schillie._--"Then now I won't trouble you any more, I will think of
nothing but this hut, and will do whatever you bid me. But you must
promise me, that if I help you, that no one else is to share it with us.
I won't have any fidgety girls, or sick boys to come and wear one to
death with their nonsense."
_Mother._--"Pooh, pooh, you know who will be the first to invite them
in, however, I only mean it for us two."
So to work we set, and in a short time had so changed our relative
positions, that I was scolded for not working hard enough, and having
entered thoroughly into the business, she took the command, and I
willingly obeyed her sage orders. She had a capital head for
contrivance, and consequently treated some of my suggestions with scorn
and indifference. In fact, my notion of "twisting in and out" so often
mentioned, was immediately pronounced as a trap for musquitos,
scorpions, and such like. We were to have our hut made partly of boughs,
partly of sods, partly of mud. This was to keep it cool. Over all we
placed the large smooth plantain leaves and it really did not look
amiss, but something like the little round mushroom huts of the charcoal
burners. It took us four days to complete it. We told nobody until it
was finished; then, of course everybody wanted to sleep in it. The size
of the hut spoke the best answer. At each end we had nailed a strip of
sail-cloth, which served for the bed on which to lie, and, wrapped up in
a sheet, it was very cool and comfortable. Though Schillie was very
uneasy for the first hour, and, upon my remonstrating, muttered, half
asleep, "I wish I knew what these trees were."
We satisfied the eager wishers, by promising to help to make huts for
all who liked it, and, for the next week, as soon as school hours were
over, every minute was employed in this new business. Madame alone
preferred the tent, and soon had it to herself. From the sand the little
colony of huts looked quite picturesque, perched upon little green
knolls or terraces, and great improvements were made, so that ours
looked quite a little vulgar affair in comparison to the ornamented
mansions which soon appeared. The little ones had now good use for their
shells, and the tasteful Sybil and Serena ornamented theirs with fresh
flowers every day, and transplanted creepers and other things to train
all over their abode.
We found amongst our stores a packet of garden seeds, I having desired
the gardener before we left home to put some up, for I had heard that we
could grow mustard and cress, endive and parsley, and even lettuces on
board, and that it would be a very good thing for the children. Not
having specified what I really wanted, on opening the packet we found
every species of seed that a kitchen garden would require, and though we
laughed at the parcels of beans and peas, and other things impossible to
be grown on board, also carrots and turnips, yet they were most
opportune in amusing the young ones, for every one must have a garden
round their abode, and it was quite surprising to see how quickly the
seeds sprang up. In fact, we had so much to amuse us, that a month
passed ere we thought one week had gone, and the life we were leading
seemed to agree with us all, especially the children. Oscar's fine open
countenance bloomed with health, and he grew so manly and tall that we
treated him with great respect as the King of the Island, while the
small little delicate features of Felix were getting embrowned, fast
losing their delicacy; his beautiful starlike eyes were radiant with
health, and through the long dark eyelashes, so peculiar to that species
of deep grey eye, the pretty pink colour seemed to be fixing its
residence there at last.