Swiss Family Robinson(fiscle part-3 of 2), Johann David Wyss [acx book reading .TXT] 📗

We Once More Landed,  That We

Might Possess Ourselves Of The Magnificent Skins Of The Lion And

Lioness,  Whose Visit,  Fatal To Themselves,  Had Caused such A Commotion

During the Night.

 

In About A Couple Of Hours We Returned to The Yacht,  Leaving the

Part 3 Chapter 8 Pg 127

Flayed carcasses To The Tender Mercies Of The Birds Of Prey Sure To Be

Attracted to Them.

 

`Homeward Bound,' Sang Out The Boys,  As They Cheerily Weighed anchor,

And Prepared to Stand Out To Sea. I Could See,  Though He Did Not

Complain,  That Poor Jack Had Not Yet Recovered from The Boar'S Rough

Treatment,  And Moved very Stiffly.

 

`You Must Pilot Us Through The Channel In the Reef,  This Time,  Fritz,'

Said I; Adding,  In a Lower Tone,  `And Then Is It To Be "Farewell",  My

Son!'

 

`Yes,  Dear Father--Au Revoir!' Returned he,  Brightly With A Glance Full

Of Meaning,  While He Threw Into His Canoe A Cushion And Fur Cloak.

 

`Thanks,  Fritz! But I'M Going to Honour Them With The Care Of My

Battered bones In the Yacht Here. You Are Awfully Considerate Though,

Old Fellow,' Remarked jack,  Not For A Moment Doubting that His Brother

Expected him To Return,  As He Came,  Beside Him In the Cajack.

 

Fritz Laughed,  And Commended his Decision. Then,  Springing into His

Skiff,  He Led the Way Towards The Open Sea.

 

We Followed carefully And Soon Passed the Reef; After Which The Boys

Were Very Busy With The Sails,  Putting the Vessel On The Homeward

Course,  When,  Waving his Hand To Me,  Fritz Turned in the Opposite

Direction,  And Quickly Vanished behind The Point,  Which I Afterwards

Named cape Farewell.

 

When Missed by His Brothers,  I Said He Had A Fancy To Explore More Of

The Coast,  And If He Found It Interesting,  He Might,  Instead Of Only A

Few Hours,  Remain Absent For Two Or Three Days.

 

Towards Evening,  We Sailed into Safety Bay.

 

 

 

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My Wife And Franz,  Though Somewhat Startled by The Unexpected absence

Of Fritz,  Were Delighted to See Us Return Safely,  And Listened with

Eager Interest To Our Adventures. My Wife Shuddered,  And Scarcely

Suppressed an Involuntary Scream As She Heard Of Our Desperate

Encounter With The Lion And His Mate. Jack'S Danger And Providential

Escape,  Too,  Made Her Tremble; And So Pale Did He Still Look,  That She

Could Scarcely Believe He Was Uninjured.

 

Tears Came Into Franz'S Eyes When He Heard Of The Sad Death Of Poor Old

Juno; And He Inquired most Tenderly Whether Her Remains Had Been

Brought Back,  That They Might Be Interred near The House Which Had Been

Her Home For So Many Years.

Part 3 Chapter 9 Pg 129

 

Next Day He Saw Her Buried carefully; And Ernest,  At His Request,

Produced an Epitaph,  Which Was Inscribed upon A Slab Of Stone Above Her

Grave.

 

    'Juno

 

    'A Servant True Lies Here:

 

    'A Faithful Friend,

 

    'A Dog,

 

    'To All Most Dear;

 

    'Who Met Her End

 

    'Fighting right Bravely In her Master'S Cause.

 

The Flesh Of The Wild Boar And The Truffles Were Handed over To My

Wife,  Who Received them With Delight,  Promising us Therefrom Many A

Savoury Dish. She Would Fain Have Had The Boar'S Head Too; But My Word

Was Pledged to Ernest That It Should Adorn His Museum,  And,  Though My

Lips Watered to Taste It Baked in hottentot Fashion,  I Would Not Break

My Promise. This Splendid Head,  Therefore,  Together With The Lions'

Skins,  We Carried to The Tannery On Whale Island,  Where They Were

Cleaned and Dressed.

 

Five Days Passed,  But Fritz Still Remained absent. I Could Not Conceal

My Anxiety,  And At Length Determined to Follow Him. All Were Delighted

At The Proposal,  And Even My Wife,  When She Heard That We Were To Sail

In The Pinnace,  Agreed to Accompany Us.

 

The Boat Was Stored,  And On A Bright Morning,  With A Favourable

Breeze,  We Five,  With The Dogs,  Stepped aboard,  And Ran For Cape

Minster.

 

Our Beautiful Little Yacht Bounded over The Water Gaily,  And The

Bright Sunshine And Delicious Sea-Breeze Put Us All In the Highest

Spirits. The Entrance Of The Archway Was In sight,  And Thither I Was

Directing the Boat'S Course.

 

Suddenly,  Right Ahead,  I Saw A Dark And Shadowy Mass Just Below The

Surface Of The Water. `A Sunken Rock,' I Thought To Myself,  `And Yet It

Is Strange That I Never Before Noticed it.'

 

I Put Down The Helm In a Moment,  But A Catastrophe Seemed inevitable.

We Surged ahead! A Slight Shock,  And All Was Over! The Danger Was

Passed!

 

I Glanced astern,  To Look Again At The Dangerous Spot; But The Rock Was

Gone,  And,  Where But A Moment Before I Had Distinctly Seen Its Great

Green Shadow,  I Could Now See Nothing.

 

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Before We Had Recovered from Our Amazement,  A Shout From Jack

Surprised me.

 

`There Is Another,' He Exclaimed,  `To Starboard,  Father!' Sure Enough,

There Lay,  Apparently,  Another Sunken Rock.

 

`The Rock Is Moving!' Shouted franz; And A Great Black Body Emerged

From The Sea,  While From The Upper Extremity Rushed a Column Of Water,

Which,  With A Mighty Noise,  Rose Upwards,  And Then Fell Like Rain All

Around. The Mystery Was Explained; For,  As The Great Beast Emerged yet

Further From The Water,  I Recognized,  From Its Enormous Size And Great

Length Of Head,  The Cachalot Whale.

 

The Monster Was Apparently Enraged at The Way We Had Scratched his

Back; For,  Retreating to A Short Distance,  He Evidently Meditated a

Rush Upon Us.

 

Fearful Stories Occurred to Me Of The Savage Temper Of This Whale,  How

He Has Been Known To Destroy Boat After Boat,  And Even To Sink Great

Ships,  And With A Feeling of Desperation I Sprang To One Of The Guns.

Jack Leaped to The Other,  And Almost Simultaneously We Fired. Both

Shots Apparently Took Effect; For The Whale,  After Lashing the Water

Violently For A Few Seconds,  Plunged beneath Its Surface,  And

Disappeared.

 

We Kept A Sharp Look-Out For Him,  For I Was Unwilling to Lose Such A

Valuable Prize And,  Reloading,  Stood Towards The Shore,  In which

Direction He Was Apparently Making. Presently We Again Sighted him In

Shallow Water,  Lashing fearfully With His Tail,  And Dyeing the Waves

Around Him With Blood. Approaching the Infuriated animal As Nearly As I

Dared,  We Again Fired.

 

The Struggles Of The Whale Seemed for A Few Moments To Become Even Yet

More Frantic,  And Then,  With A Quiver From Head To Tail,  He Lay

Motionless--Dead!

 

The Boys Were About To Raise A Cry Of Victory,  But Checked the Shout

Upon Their Very Lips; For Darting behind A Rock They Espied a Canoe

Paddled by A Tall And Muscular Savage,  Who Now Stood Up In his Skiff

And Appeared to Be Examining us Attentively. Seeing that We Were

Standing towards Him,  The Swarthy Native Seized his Paddle And Again

Darted behind A Rock. An Awful Thought Now Took Possession Of Me. There

Must Be A Tribe Of Blacks Lurking on These Shores,  And Fritz Must Have

Fallen Into Their Hands.

 

We,  However,  I Determined,  Should Not Be Easily Taken; And Our Guns

Were Loaded and Run Out.

 

Presently A Dusky Face Appeared,  Peeping at Us From A Lofty Rock: It

Vanished,  And We Saw Another Peeping at Us From Lower Down.

 

Then Again The Skiff Put Out As Though To Make A Further Reconnoitre.

All,  Even Jack,  Looked anxious,  And Glanced at Me For Orders.

 

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`Hoist A White Flag,' Said I,  `And Hand Me The Speaking-Trumpet.' I

Seized the Instrument And Uttered such Peaceable Words In the Malay

Language As I Could Recall: Neither The Flag Nor My Words Seemed to

Produce Any Effect,  And The Savage Was About To Return To The Shore.

 

Jack Hereupon Lost Patience,  And In his Turn Took Up The Trumpet.

 

`Come Here,  You Black Son Of A Gun,' He Exclaimed. `Come On Board And

Make Friends,  Or We'Ll Blow You And Your--'

 

`Stop! Stop! You Foolish Boy,' I Said. `You Will But Alarm The Man,

With Your Wild Words And Gestures.'

 

`No! But See,' He Cried,  `He Is Paddling towards Us!'

 

And Sure Enough The Canoe Was Rapidly Approaching.

 

Presently A Cry From Franz Alarmed me. `Look! Look!' He Shrieked. `The

Villain Is In fritz'S Cajack. I Can See The Walrus' Head.'

 

Ernest Alone Remained unmoved. He Took The Speaking-Trumpet: `Fritz,

Ahoy!' He Shouted. `Welcome,  Old Fellow!'

 

The Words Were Scarcely Out Of His Mouth When I,  Too,  Recognized the

Well-Known Face,  Beneath Its Dusky Disguise.

 

In Another Minute The Brave Boy Was On Board,  And In spite Of His

Blackened face Was Kissed and Welcomed heartily. He Was Now Assailed

With A Storm Of Questions From All Sides: Where Had He Been? What Had

Kept Him So Long,  And Why Had He Turned blackamoor?

 

`The Last Question,' Replied he,  With A Smile,  `Is The Only One I Will

Now Answer; The Others Shall Be Explained when I Give A Full Account Of

My Adventures. Hearing guns