WE did not wake next day till the sun shone in upon us. I told my wife
and sons that as it was the Lord's day we would do no work. Our beasts
and birds had first to be fed. This was done by my wife, who then
brought us some hot milk, and made us sit down on the grass and take it.
When our meal was done, I got on a log in front of my sons, and we all
sang a psalm we knew by heart. Then I sought to teach them and spoke to
them thus:
"There was once on a time a Great King, who had two vast realms, the
Land of Light and Truth, and the Land of Night and Sloth. Those who
dwelt in the first were full of life and joy. The King held his court at
the Place of Rest where all was bright.
"This King had a land, not far off, where those for whom he had so much
love should dwell ere they went one by one to the Place of Rest. This
land was the Home of Earth. He gave to his Son the right to rule the
host that dwelt in the Home of Earth, and set forth to think what they
were to do, and all the ills that would come to them if they did not do
as they were bid.
"At first they were all glad to hear the way in which they were to live,
and the terms on which they could reach the Land of Light and Truth. Sad
to tell, they soon broke the King's laws, and paid no heed to what they
knew to be his will. Still there were a few who did as they had been
taught, and dwelt in peace, in the hope that they would please the King
and at last reach the place where he held his court.
"From time to time ships came to the Home of Earth, and at last a great
ship was sent, the name of which was The Grave, which bore the flag of
Death. To the good it was a sign of hope, but the bad were thrown by the
sight of it into a state of gloom. These ships were not seen till they
came close to the shore, and then the crew were sent forth to find those
whom they were told to seize. Some went back with them full of joy,
but most were seen to weep and mourn their fate. So soon as they were
brought in sight of the Great King, the Prince took those who had done
well, and put a white robe on them; but those who went their own way
when on the Home of Earth, he sent down to toil in deep, dark mines till
time shall be no more."
When my sons had heard my tale to the end they all knew what it meant;
I then drew from them their views of what they ought to do to please and
serve the Great King. We then sang a hymn; and my wife drew from her bag
the BIBLE, which I gave to one of the boys, who read from it in a clear,
loud voice. When this was brought to a close, we all knelt down on the
grass to pray, and to ask God to bless the means we took to learn His
will.
We did no work that day, but took a long stroll up the banks of the
stream.
The next day Ernest and Jack tried their skill with the bow, and brought
down some small birds that came to the great tree in quest of figs. I
gave them leave to kill what they could; for I knew if put in casks made
air tight with grease, they would keep for a time, and might prove a
boon, if our stock of food should get low.
When we sat down to dine, the thought struck me that it would be well to
give some name to each part of the land that was known to us. This was
at first the source of some fun, for Fritz said we should call the bay
where we had found the shell spoons by the name of Spoon Bay; but Jack,
who still had a mark on his toe where the crab gave him a pinch, thought
we ought to term it Crab Bay.
"If you will let me give it a name," said my wife, "I should wish to
know it by some term that will make us bear in mind how good God was to
lead our raft there, and I don't think Safe Bay will be a bad name for
it."
"So let it be," said I; and from that time Safe Bay had a name. "What
shall be the name of the spot where we spent our first night on shore?
You shall give that its name," said I to Fritz.
"Let us call it Tent House."
"That will do," said I. "And now for the spot at the mouth of Safe Bay,
where we found our planks?"
"Sharp Point," said Ernest. The place from which Fritz and I sought for
a trace of out ship mates was to be known as No Man's Cape. Then we had
the Boys' Bridge, which name I gave it from a wish to please my sons,
who had done so much to build it.
"But what shall we call the place which is most dear to us all?"
"Now, my dear," said I to my wife, "it is your turn. What shall we say?"
"Let us call it The Nest," said she; and with that I gave each of my
young birds a glass of sweet wine.
"Here's to 'The Nest,'" said I; "and may we live long to bless the day
and the means that brought us here."
When the heat of the day was past, I told my sons that I should be glad
to take a walk with them. My wife said that she should like to go with
us; so we left The Nest in charge of Turk, and bent our course to the
banks of the stream. On our way we went past some shrubs and rare herbs,
which my wife knew well how to make use of should we fall sick; and
Ernest found a large spot of ground on which grew a fine kind of
PO-TA-TO. At these the boys set to work with such zeal, that we soon had
a full bag of the ripe fruit. We then went on to Tent House, which we
found in the same state as when we left it to cross the stream on our
way to the great tree.
We found that our ducks and geese had grown so wild that they would not
come near us; so, while my wife and I went to pick up such things as we
thought we might take back with us, Ernest and Fritz were sent to catch
them, and to tie their legs and wings, and in this way we got them at
last to The Nest.