I CAN not tell how glad we all were when we at last saw a change in
the sky, and felt once more the warm rays of the sun. In a few days the
floods sank in the earth, and left the ground of a bright green hue; the
air grew warm and dry, and there were no more dark clouds to be seen in
the sky.
We found our young trees had put forth new leaves, and the seed we had
sown had come up through the moist ground. The air had a fresh sweet
smell, for it bore the scent of the bloom which hung like snow flakes on
the boughs of the fruit trees; the songs and cries of the birds were to
be heard on all sides, and we could see them fly from tree to tree in
search of twigs to build their nests. This in fact was the spring of the
year, when all things put forth new life; and we knew that the time was
now come when we could once more range the woods and till the soil, and
this made the boys leap for joy.
Some planks had been blown off the roof of The Nest, and the rain had
got in here and there; so our first job was to mend our house, and make
it fit to sleep in.
This done, Jack, Fritz, and I set out to Tent House. We found it in a
sad state. The storm had thrown down the tent, blown off some of the
sail cloth, and let in the rain on our casks, some of which held a store
of food. Our boat was still safe, but the raft of tubs had broken Lip,
and what there was left of it lay in splints on the shore.
Our loss in the storm had been so great that I felt we ought at once to
seek for some place on the rocks where we could put what was left.
We went all round the cliffs, in the hope that we might find a cave, but
in vain.
"There is no way but to hew one out of the rock", said Fritz, "we must
not be beat."
"Well said, Fritz," said Jack; "we have each an axe. Why not try this
cliff at once?"
I gave them leave to try, and we soon set to work at the rock. From this
spot we had a good view of the whole bay, and could see both banks of
the stream.
With a piece of chalk I made a mark on the side of the cliff, to show
the width and height that the cave should be cut. Then each took an axe
to try what kind of stuff our rock was made of. We found it a hard kind
of stone; and, as we were not used to this sort of work, we had not done
much when the time came for us to leave off.
We came back next day, and got on with more speed, though we thought
it would not take us less than six months to make the cave, if our work
were done at the same rate each day.
At the end of five or six days we had got through the face of the rock,
and we found the stone soft. In a day or two more we came to what was
but hard clay, which gave way at a slight blow from the axe.
"We need not fear now," said I, "for we shall soon have a hole as large
as we want."
With the earth we took out we made a ridge in front of the cliff. The
boys now got on so well, and dug so much out, that I had hard work to
throw up the earth on the bank.
One day, as Jack stuck his pick in at the back of the cave, which was
now more than eight feet from the front, a great mass of the rock fell
in, and he cried out, "Look here! I have got through."
"Through what?" said I. "Not through your hand, I hope."
"No, no, but through the rock."
At this, Fritz set up a loud laugh.
"Why not say through the world at once, and push your crow bar in till
you reach EU-ROPE, which, Ernest says, lies in a straight line from our
feet. I should like to have a peep down, such a hole, for I might thus
get a sight of our dear Swiss home."
Fritz and I went up to the wall and found that Jack was right, for he
had come to a clear space. His first thought was to jump in; but as I
knew that there might be foul air in the cave, I would not let him risk
his life.
The boys then set fire to some dry grass, and thrust it in the hole, but
it went out at once, which was a sure sign that the air was not fit to
breathe.
I knew that we had brought from the wreck a box full of fire works,
which were used on board to make signs to ships far out at sea. I sent
Fritz to Tent House for these, though I thought that they might be too
damp to make use of. When he came back, I set light to some of them,
and threw them in the hole. They flew round, and threw out a stream of
sparks that lit up the cave. When these were burnt out, we put in a heap
of straw and threw a light on it. This was now soon in a blaze, and gave
us a clear view of the cave; but it was too deep for us to see the end.
Our joy was so great that we sent Jack off home to The Nest to tell the
good news, and to bring back some wax lights. I did not deem it safe for
us to go in the cave in the dark, for there might be pools or deep dry
pits in the ground.
Fritz and I had just thrown up on the bank the last spade full of earth
that had been dug out, when we heard a loud shout. We got up on the top
of the cave, and saw that Jack had brought back a tribe at his heels.
The large cart, drawn by the cow and the ass, came on at a slow pace,
led by Jack on a black ox, and in it were my wife, Frank, and Ernest.
By the help of a flint and steel I soon lit some of the wax lights, and
gave one to each. I went in first and led the way, and the rest kept
close at my back. We had not gone on more than a few steps when we came
to a dead stop, struck with awe at the grand sight that met our view.
The walls and roof of the cave were lit up, as it were, with star-like
gems, while some hung down like glass drops from the roof, and some rose
up from the ground at its sides like blocks of spar. I broke off a piece
and put it on my tongue.
"What does it taste like?" said Jack.
"I find," said I, "that we are in a cave of rock salt."
"We shall not have to scrape the rocks to get our salt now," said
Ernest, "for there is more here than would serve a whole town for a
lifetime."
When we went back to The Nest that night we laid out a plan for our new
home, for there could be no doubt that the cave was the best place for
us to dwell in, though we should still sleep in The Nest when we went on
that side of the stream.
The next day we all set to work; the floor of the cave was quite smooth,
and the walls dry, so that we could build at once. We first cut holes in
the sides of the rock to let in the light, and then brought frames and
panes of glass from The Nest, and put them in. We then brought all the
planks and wood we could find, and built a strong wall in the midst of
the cave. On the right side of this wall we made three rooms, two of
which were to be used as bed rooms, and one to take our meals in. On the
left side was a room for my wife to cook in, one to work in, to which
we gave the name of the shop, and a place with stalls in it for our live
stock. At the back of these was a store house, where we could keep our
stock of food and the whole of our spare goods.
I need not say that it took us some months to do all this, nor that we
had to toil hard day by day, from morn till night, ere we got to the end
of our task; but the end did come at last, and then the joy we felt that
we had done all this with our own hands more than paid us for our toil.