Samuel B. Allison

“ He finally went to a point where he could see farther inland and soon caught sight of a crowd of about thirty savages. They were naked and dancing around and around in a circle. All the while they were singing and making hideous noises. There was a fire in the center of the ring of savages. "They are cooking their feast," thought Robinson. "Maybe I can surprise them while they eat and rush in and seize one." But this seemed too great a risk to run. He had no weapons but his bow and arrows, his lance and knife. What could he do against so great a number? ”

“ He found nothing. He found no trace of man. There was no road, no bridge, no field, no logs, not even a chip or shaving to show that the hand of man had been there.
But what was that? In the distance ran a herd of goats over the rocks. But no dog followed them and no shepherd. They ran wild on the island. They had perhaps been left there by some ship. As he came home he noticed the goat sorrowfully. The bandage had become dry. The goat might be suffering pain. Robinson loosened the bandage, washed the wound again and bound it up anew. ”

“ The moon shone clear in the heavens. As Robinson sat before the goat's bed he looked down on his new possession as lovingly as a mother on her child.
The next morning Robinson's first thought was, "I am no longer alone. I have a companion, my goat." He sprang up and looked for it. There she lay on her side, still sleeping.
[Pg 59]
As he stood and considered, the thought came to him that perhaps the goat had escaped from its keeper. There must then be some one living on the land. He quickly put on his shoes and his hat, took his parasol, and ran to the rock where he had found the goat. ”

“ But Friday, too, was lying on the ground. He had fainted from astonishment and fright. Robinson dropped his gun and raised the poor fellow up to a sitting position. He quickly recovered. He ran to get the rabbit. He examined it carefully. Robinson at last pointed out the hole the bullet had made and the mystery of the way the rabbit was killed was solved.
Robinson had lived alone so long that he had learned to love every living creature on the island. He never harmed anything except when he needed food. He had lived so quietly that the birds and animals did not fear him. ”

“ He thought that if he had such a person he would have someone to show him the way to reach the land.
The more he thought, the more anxious he became to see the savages on the island. He thought so much about it by day that he dreamed about it at night. One night he dreamed that the savages came, drew their boats upon the shore and began to prepare their feast. As he watched them one of their number broke away from his fellows and came straight toward his hiding-place. Robinson thought he rushed out, drove away those that followed the fleeing man and rescued him. ”

“ He had his cave in case of danger. He had his cellar in which to keep his meat. He would sit in the shade near the door of his bower and think of the many things he should be thankful for. But there was one hardship that Robinson could not get used to and that was the eating of raw food. "How fine it would be if only I could parch a few grains of corn in the fire! I could like live a prince," thought he, "if I had fire. I would grind some of my corn into flour and make some corn bread or cakes and cook rice." He did so long for roasted meat and determined again to make the attempt to get fire. ”

“ Now that Robinson had fire, he determined to try to make bread. He had seen the servants at home make bread many times, but he had not observed closely and knew next to nothing about the way bread is made. He knew he must in some way grind the corn into flour, but how could he do this? He had no mill nor any tools with which to crush the corn.
He first tried to find a stone large and hard enough out of which he might hollow a vessel or kind of mortar. He thought he could put the corn into this mortar and grind it by means of another stone or pestle. ”

“ But the weeds, shrubs, and vines sprouted as quickly, and before Robinson was aware, his corn was overgrown and choked out by a rank growth of weeds and vines.
"I see," said Robinson, "that I must thoroughly prepare the soil before planting my seed." But he had no spade and no other tool that would stand the strain of digging among tough matted roots. But he must succeed. He put a new handle in the stone hoe or pick he had already made. His mussel shell spade was worn out. He must set himself to fashion out another. ”

“ He imagined how pleasant it would be sitting in the boat sailing along with a gentle wind. "When the wind is favorable," he thought, "I will only have to steer with my paddle."
So he set about weaving a sail of his sisal fibre. To do this he had to make a much larger loom than he had yet used. ”

“ XX ROBINSON GETS READY FOR WINTER
There was one thing that troubled Robinson greatly. "What will become of me when the winter comes? I will have no fire to warm me. I have no clothing to protect me from the cold, and where shall I find food when snow and ice cover all the ground and when the trees are bare and the spring is frozen? It will be cold then in my cave; what shall I do? It is cold and rainy already. I believe this is harvest time and winter will soon be here. Winter and no stove, no winter clothing, no winter store of food and no winter dwelling. ”

“ From his study of the woven cloth, Robinson saw he must have a firmer thread than the strips of bark gave alone. He separated his bark into long, thin strips. These he twisted into strands of yarn by rolling between his hands, or on a smooth surface. As he twisted it he wound it on a stick. It was slow, hard work. Of all his work, the making of yarn of thread gave him the most trouble. He learned to twist it by knotting the thread around the spindle or bobbin on which he wound it and twirling this in the air. ”

“ To dry the pots Robinson stood them in the sun a few days. When they were dry he tried to cook some soup in one of them. He filled it with water and put it on his stove or oven, but how sadly had he deceived himself. In a short time the water soaked into the clay and soon the pot had fallen to pieces.
"How foolish I am!" said Robinson to himself; "the pots have to be fired before they can be used." He set about this at once. He found two stones of equal size, placed them near each other and laid a third across these. He then placed three large pots upon them and made a hot fire under them. ”

“ Everything was put into the bower where rain could not harm it. By the time they had this done, night was coming on and they decided to do no more that day, but wait until the next day.
"We must work fast," said Robinson. "The first storm is likely to break the ship in pieces and destroy everything in it."
The next morning early they ate a hastily prepared breakfast and were off to the boat. Neither Robinson nor Friday stopped for their noonday lunch. "A storm is brewing," said Robinson, "the air is calm, the sky is overcast with clouds, the heat is oppressive. We must hurry." ”

“ Robinson began at once to write down the date for each day and the main thing he did or that happened on it. He called this his diary. He had now a better way of keeping time than on his tree calendar. He did not need it any more.
You have no doubt wondered how Robinson could work in his cave, especially at night without a light. The truth is, it was a great source of discomfort to him. At sunset he was in total darkness in his cave. During the day light enough streamed in from the open doorway. To be alone in total darkness is not pleasant. "If I only had fire!" ”

“ Soon a boat was lowered and in it three men rowed toward the shore. It was the captain himself and two sailors. The captain was astonished to find a man in the lonely island. Robinson told how it all had happened and how he would like to return home. To his unspeakable delight the captain told him that the ship was bound for New York and would take him along free of charge, but he must leave that day. The ship could not be delayed any longer. Of course Robinson would go. Friday was beside himself with grief. ”

“ The ventilation seemed good, but the walls were damp, especially in the rainy season. Then the water would trickle down through the cleft in spite of all he could do.
He resolved to build, if possible, a little cottage, or, as he called it, a bower, in the yard in front of his shelter. The hedge of thistles was growing and formed a fence that an animal could not get through. His screen of willows on the outside of this would soon hide him from view from the sea. He had the wall of rock and the hill behind him. ”

“ He kindled in this way the wood in his stove and soon had a hot fire.
The first thing he did in the way of cooking was to roast some rabbit meat on a spit or forked stick held in his hand over the fire. Nothing Robinson had ever eaten was to be compared to this.
"I can do many things now," thought Robinson. "My work will not be nearly so hard. My fire will be my servant and help me make my tools as well as cook my food. I can now cook my corn and rice." ”

“ But the nuts were very hard. How should he open them? He had brought along his sharp stone with which he had stripped off the inner bark. With this he forced off the thick outer shell. But now came the hard nut within, and how hard it was! Striking it was of no use.
Then he threw a great stone on the nut. The shell was crushed and a snow-white kernel lay before him. It tasted like almond. With astonishment Robinson saw in the middle of the nut a large empty space which must have been filled with fluid as the inside was wet. He wished that he had the juice to drink, for he was very thirsty. ”

“ The old ones would be hard to tame and difficult to teach. It was easy enough to find a nest in a hollow tree. He secured from the nest two birds just ready to fly. He made a cage for them out of willow rods. He placed the cage at the entrance of his cave and studied how he would feed them. Much to his surprise the parent birds discovered their young ones and brought them food and fed them through the open work of the cage.
When the birds were grown they rapidly learned to talk. Robinson took great delight in teaching them. ”

“ But his longing for meat was still very great. "I will try to make a bow and arrow," he said. No sooner said than done. He bent a long piece of tough, young wood and stretched between the ends a cord twisted out of the fiber taken from the cocoanut shell. He then sought for a piece of wood for arrows. He split the ends with his flint knife and fastened in splinters of stone. At the other end he fastened on some feathers found on the ground. The arrows flew through the air with great swiftness. "They will go far enough," thought Robinson, "if I could only hit anything." ”

“ The care for so much crop, its harvesting and storing away, kept them very busy for the season. Robinson not only did this, but also increased his flock of goats by catching kids and putting them in his pasture. He gathered, too, all the grapes he could and dried them on the branches of trees.
At the end of the harvesting season, they made ready their boat. They filled it with all the bread it could well carry. They put in raisins and fresh water. Robinson gave the Spaniard and Friday's father each a musket and plenty of powder and bullets. ”

“ But the bird that interested Robinson most was the parrot. There were several kinds of them. They flew among the trees with great noise and clatter and shrieking. Robinson determined if possible to secure one for a pet. "I can teach it to talk," he said, "and I will have something to talk to." As soon as he returned home he set about catching one. He noticed that a number were in the habit of visiting an old tree near the shelter every morning. ”

“ Robinson soon found that he must have a store of corn and wild rice for food during the rainy seasons. He, however, knew nothing about planting and harvesting, nor preparing the ground for seed.
He had it all to learn with no teacher or books to instruct him. He found a little space near his dwelling free from trees and thought he would plant some corn seed here. He did not know the proper time for planting. He thought because it was warm, seed would grow at any time. ”

“ Before the men could get a boat into the sea, and get into it, the ship gave a lurch to one side as though about to sink. All the men jumped for one boat. It was overburdened. The wind tossed it about. The sea soon filled it and it went down and all were lost.
Robinson and Friday remained on the shore all night. They watched to see if they could not help some poor sailor that might cling to a plank and be blown on shore. They saw no one.
At last they lay down, but they could not sleep. Many times they sprang up and ran about for fear that some poor [Pg 147] fellow would need their help. ”

“ When yet a considerable distance away they could hear the savages yelling and screaming. Some of them were dancing their war dance. Their faces and bodies were painted to make them look terrible to their enemies. They were dancing around their prisoners with hideous cries and gestures. They could now see the prisoners plainly. One had a beard and was plainly a white man. Robinson was surprised and determined to save him [Pg 158] at all risks.
"Get your gun ready to fire," he said to Friday, "and when I say the word let us run forward yelling and firing our guns over their heads. ”

“ ROBINSON AND FRIDAY SAILING THE BOAT
"When we had the boat in the water, Friday showed great skill in rowing or paddling it. He had managed boats ever since he was old enough, but he did not know how to handle a sail or rudder. He learned very quickly, however, to sail and steer the boat and soon was perfectly at home in it.
"We made our boat safe by keeping it in the little cove at the mouth of the creek. I had Friday to fetch rocks and [Pg 143] build a dock or place for landing. But the rainy season was now coming on and we must wait for fair weather. ”

“ He had to climb over many rocks and pierce many thickets. At each step he saw a rich growth of plants, stems, leaves, flowers, but nothing to eat, no fruits, or nuts. At length he came to a tree as high as a small church steeple. Then he thought of what his father had once said about the trees in strange countries. "Many are as tall as a church steeple and the nuts are as big as one's head." He looked again. Yes, there they hung among the leaves, concealed high above in the crown [Pg 46] ! But so high, it was well that Robinson had learned to climb while on board the ship. ”

“ Friday, the dog, and the parrot lived in it, dearly beloved and cared for by their master the rest of their days. In the home there is a young Robinson who loves to hear his father read from his diary of the wonderful things that happened on the island. ”

“ But he could not drag them to his cave on account of the thorns sticking in him. He thought a long time. Finally, he sought out two strong poles or branches which were turned up a little at one end and like a sled runner. To these he tied twelve cross-pieces with bark. To the foremost he tied a strong rope made from cocoa fiber. He then had something that looked much like a sled on which to draw his thistle-like brush to his cave. But for one day he had done enough. The transplanting of the thistles was hard work. His spade broke and he had to make a new one. ”