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

Made It Difficult To Judge Accurately Of

Their Numbers. They Dashed fearlessly Through And Over The Palings In

All Directions,  Some Rushing at The Eatables,  Some Scrambling on To The

Roof,  Where They Commenced tugging at The Wooden Pegs,  With A View To

Forcing an Entrance.

Part 3 Chapter 2 Pg 29

 

Gradually,  However,  As They Rambled over The Place,  All In turn Became

Besmeared with Our Bird-Lime On Head,  Paws,  Back Or Breast. The

Wretched predicament Of The Apes Increased every Instant.

 

Some Sat Down,  And With The Most Ludicrous Gestures,  Tried to Clean

Themselves. Others Were Hopelessly Entangled in stakes And Cordage,

Which They Trailed about After Them,  Looking the Picture Of Bewildered

Despair.

 

Others,  Again,  Endeavoured to Help One Another,  And Stuck Fast

Together: The More They Pulled,  And Tugged,  And Kicked,  The Worse

Became Their Plight.

 

Many Had The Gourds And Cocoanut Shells Lumbering and Clattering about

With Them,  Their Paws Having been Caught When They Sought To Obtain The

Rice Or Fruit We Had Put For Bait.

 

Most Ridiculous Of All Was The Condition Of One Old Fellow,  Who Had

Found A Calabash,  Containing palm Wine,  And,  Eagerly Drinking it,  Was

Immediately Fitted with A Mask,  For The Shell Stuck To His Forehead And

Whiskers,  Of Course Covering his Eyes; And He Blundered about,  Cutting

The Wildest Capers In his Efforts To Get Rid Of The Encumbrance.

 

Numbers Took To Flight; But,  As We Had Spread Bird-Lime On Several Of

The Trees Around,  Many Apes Found Themselves Fixed to,  Or Hanging from

The Branches,  Where They Remained in woeful Durance,  Struggling and

Shrieking horribly.

 

The Panic Being now General,  I Loosed the Three Dogs,  Whose Impatience

Had Been Almost Uncontrollable,  And Who Now Rushed to The Attack Of The

Unfortunate Monkeys,  As Though Burning with Zeal To Execute Justice

Upon Desperate Criminals.

 

The Place Soon Had The Appearance Of A Ghastly Battlefield; For We Were

Obliged to Do Our Part With The Clubs And Sticks,  Till The Din Of

Howling,  Yelling,  Barking,  In every Conceivable Tone Of Rage And Pain,

Gave Place To An Awful Silence,  And We Looked with A Shudder On The

Shocking spectacle Around Us.

 

At Least Forty Apes Lay Mangled and Dead,  And The Boys Began To Be

Quite Sad And Downhearted,  Till I,  Fully Sharing their Feelings,

Hastened to Turn Their Thoughts To Active Employment In removing and

Burying the Slain,  Burning the Stakes,  Cordage,  Bowls,  Everything

Concerned in the Execution Of Our Deadly Stratagem.

 

After That We Betook Ourselves To The Task Of Restoring order To Our

Dismantled cottage; And Seeking for The Scattered flock Of Sheep,

Goats,  And Poultry,  We Gradually Collected them,  Hoping to Settle Them

Once More Peacefully In their Yards And Sheds.

 

While Thus Engaged,  We Repeatedly Heard A Sound As Of Something heavy

Falling from A Tree. On Going to Look,  We Found Three Splendid Birds,

Caught On Some Of The Limed sticks We Had Placed loose In the Branches.

Part 3 Chapter 2 Pg 30

 

Two Of These Proved to Be A Variety Of The Blue Molucca Pigeon; The

Third I Assumed to Be The Nicobar Pigeon,  Having met With Descriptions

Of Its Resplendent Green,  Bronze,  And Steely-Blue Plumage; And I Was

Pleased to Think Of Domesticating them,  And Establishing them As First

Tenants Of A Suitable Dwelling near The Cave.

 

`First Tenants,  Father!' Said Fritz. `Do You Expect To Catch More Like

These?'

 

`Not Exactly Catch Them; I Mean To Practise A Secret Art. Much Can Be

Done By Magic,  Fritz!'

 

Further Explanation I Declined to Give.

 

In A Few Days,  Woodlands Was Once More Set In order,  And Everything

Settled and Comfortable,  So That We Returned without Further Adventure

To Falconhurst,  Where We Were Joyfully Welcomed.

 

Every One Agreed that We Must Go At Once To Tentholm,  To Make The

Proposed pigeon-House In the Rock. Several Other Things There Also

Requiring our Attention,  We Made Arrangements For A Prolonged stay.

 

My Plan For The Pigeon-House Was To Hollow Out An Ample Space In the

Cliff,  Facing towards Jackal River,  And Close To Our Rocky Home,

Fitting that Up With Partitions,  Perches And Nesting-Places; While A

Large Wooden Front Was Fitted on To The Opening,  With Entrance-Holes,

Slides,  Or Shutters,  And A Broad Platform In front,  Where The Birds

Could Rest,  And Walk About.

 

When,  After The Work Of A Few Weeks,  We Thought It Was Fit For

Habitation,  I Set The Other Children To Work At Some Distance From Our

Cavern,  And Summoning fritz:

 

`Now,  My Faithful Assistant,' Said I,  `It Is Time To Conjure The New

Colonists To Their Settlement Here. Yes,' I Continued,  Laughing at His

Puzzled look. `I Mean To Play A Regular Pigeon-Dealer'S Trick. You Must

Know Such Gentry Are Very Ingenious,  Not Only In keeping their Own

Pigeons Safe,  But In adding to Their Numbers By Attracting those Of

Other People. All I Want Is Some Soft Clay,  Aniseed and Salt,  Of Which

I Will Compound A Mixture,  Which Our Birds Will Like Very Much,  And The

Smell Of Which Will Bring others To Share It With Them.'

 

`I Can Easily Get You Those Things,  Father.'

 

`I Shall Want Some Oil Of Aniseed besides,' Said I,  `To Put On The

Pigeon-Holes,  So That The Birds' Feathers May Touch It As They Pass In

And Out,  And Become Scented with What Will Attract The Wild Pigeons.

This I Can Obtain By Pounding aniseed; Therefore,  Bring me The Mortar

And Some Oil.'

 

When This Was Strongly Impregnated with The Aromatic Oil From The

Seeds (For I Did Not Purpose To Distill It In regular Style),  I

Strained it Through A Cloth,  Pressing it Strongly: The Result Answered

Part 3 Chapter 2 Pg 31

My Purpose,  And The Scent Would Certainly Remain For Some Days.

 

All My Preparations Being completed,  The Pigeons Were Installed in

Their New Residence,  And The Slides Closed. The European Birds Were By

This Time Quite Friendly With The Three Beautiful Strangers; And When

The Other Boys Came Home,  And Scrambled up The Ladder To Peep In at A

Little Pane Of Glass I Had Fixed in front,  They Saw Them All

Contentedly Picking up Grain,  And Pecking at The `Magic Food',  As Fritz

Called it,  Although He Did Not Betray My Secret Arts To His Brothers.

 

Early On The Third Morning i Aroused fritz,  And Directed him To Ascend

The Rope Ladder,  And Arrange A Cord On The Sliding door Of The

Dove-Cot,  By Which It Could Be Opened or Closed from Below. Also He

Poured fresh Aniseed oil All About The Entrance,  After Which We

Returned,  And Awoke The Rest Of The Family,  Telling them That If They

Liked to Make Haste,  They Might See Me Let The Pigeons Fly.

 

Everybody Came To The Dove-Cot,  Understanding that Some Ceremony Was To

Attend The Event,  And I Waved a Wand With Mock Solemnity,  While I

Muttered a Seeming incantation,  And Then Gave Fritz A Sign To Draw Up

The Sliding panel.

 

Presently Out Popped the Pretty Heads Of The Captives,  The Soft Eyes

Glanced about In all Directions; They Withdrew,  They Ventured forth

Again,  They Came Timidly Out On `The Verandah',  As Little Franz

Expressed it; Then,  As Though Suddenly Startled,  The Whole Party Took

Wing,  With The Shrill Whizzing sound Peculiar To The Flight Of Pigeons,

And Circling above Us,  They Rose Higher,  Higher,  Finally Darting quite

Out Of Sight.

 

While We Were Yet Gazing after Them,  They Reappeared,  And Settled

Quietly On The Dove-Cot; But As We Congratulated ourselves On A Return

Which Showed they Accepted this As A Home,  Up Sprang The Three Blue

Pigeons,  The Noble Foreigners,  For Whom Chiefly I Had Planned the

House,  And Rising in circles High In air,  Winged their Rapid Way Direct

Towards Falconhurst.

 

Their Departure Had Such Air Of Determination And Resolve About It,

That I Feared them Lost To Us For Ever.

 

Endeavouring to Console Ourselves By Petting our Four Remaining birds,

We Could Not Forget This Disappointment,  And All Day Long The Dove-Cot

Remained the Centre Of Attraction.

 

Nothing,  However,  Was Seen Of The Fugitives Until About The Middle Of

Next Day; When Most Of Us Were Hard At Work Inside The Cavern,  Jack

Sprang In full Of Excitement,  Exclaiming:

 

`He Is There! He Is Come! He Really Is!'

 

`Who? Who Is There? What Do You Mean?'

 

`The Blue Pigeon,  To Be Sure! Hurrah! Hurrah!'

 

Part 3 Chapter 2 Pg 32

`Oh,  Nonsense!' Said Ernest. `You Want To Play Us A Trick.'

 

`Why Should It Be "Nonsense"?' Cried i. `I Fully Believe We Shall See

Them All Soon!'

 

Out Ran Everybody To The Dove-Cot,  And There,  Sure Enough,  Stood The

Pretty Fellow,  But Not Alone,  For He Was Billing and Cooing to A Mate,

A Stranger Of His Own Breed,  Apparently Inviting her To Enter His

Dwelling; For He Popped in and Out At The Door,  Bowing,  Sidling,  And

Cooing,  In a Most Irresistible Manner,  Until The Shy Little Lady

Yielded to His Blandishments,  And Tripped daintily In.

 

`Now,  Let'S Shut The Door. Pull The Cord And Close The Panel!' Shouted

The Boys,  Making a Rush At The String.

 

`Stop!' Cried i. `Let The String alone! I Won'T Have You Frighten The

Little Darlings. Besides,  The Others Will Be Coming--Would You Shut The

Door In their Faces?'

 

`Here They Come! Here They Come!' Exclaimed fritz,  Whose Keen Eye

Marked the Birds Afar,  And To Our Delight The Second Blue Pigeon

Arrived,  Likewise With A Mate,  Whom,  After A Pretty Little Flirtation

Scene Of Real And Assumed modesty On Her Part,  He Succeeded in leading

Home.

 

The Third And Handsomest Of The New Pigeons Was The Last In making his

Appearance. Perhaps He Had Greater Difficulty Than The Others In

Finding a Mate As Distinguished in rank And Beauty As Himself. However,

We Fully Expected them,  And The Boys Talked of The Arrival Of `Mr. And

Mrs. Nicobar' As A Matter Of