Swiss Family Robinson

with me, announced that they had been discovered.
    The whole family of our old sow, and she herself, were standing at bay, showing their teeth and grunting so savagely, that the dogs feared to approach them.
    I raised my gun and fired twice amongst the herd: two of the pigs fell, and the rest fled, followed by the dogs. I picked up the pigs, and calling back the pursuers, continued my way through the forest.
    A tree suited to my purpose was soon found; I marked it, and returned home.
    Ernest, who had remained at home, assisted me to flay the young porkers, and I handed them over to my wife to prepare for supper; by which time I hoped the other lads would have returned.
    Late in the evening we heard the sounds of trampling hoofs, and presently Jack appeared, thundering along upon his two-legged steed, followed in the distance by Fritz and Franz. These latter carried upon their cruppers game-bags, the contents of which were speedily displayed: four birds, a kangaroo, twenty musk-rats, a monkey, two hares and half a dozen beaver rats, were laid before me. Besides these, Fritz threw down, without a word of explanation, a bundle of thistles.
    The boys seemed almost wild with excitement at the success of their expedition, and presently Jack exclaimed:
    `Oh, father, you can't think what grand fun hunting on an ostrich is; we flew along like the wind; sometimes I could scarcely breathe, we were going at such a rate, and I was obliged to shut my eyes because of the terrific rush of air; really, father, you must make me a mask with glass eyes to ride with, or I shall be blinded one of these fine days.'
    `Indeed!' replied I, `I must do no such thing.' `Why not?' asked he , with a look of amazement upon his face.
    `For two reasons: firstly, because I do not consider that I must do anything that you demand; and, secondly, because I think that you are very capable of doing it yourself. However, I must congratulate you upon your abundant supply of game; you must have indeed worked hard.
    `Yet I wish that you would let me know when you intend starting on such a long expedition as this; you forget that though you yourselves know that you are quite safe, and that all is going on well, yet that we at home are kept in a constant state of anxiety. Now, off with you, and look to your animals, and then you may find supper ready.'
    Presently the boys returned, and we prepared for a most appetizing meal which the mother set before us.
    While we were discussing the roast pig, and washing it down with fragrant mead, Fritz described the day's expedition.
    They had set their traps near Woodlands, and had there captured the musk-rats, attracting them with small carrots, while with other traps, baited with fish and earthworms, they had caught several beaver rats, and a duck-billed platypus. Hunting and fishing had occupied the rest of the day, and it was with immense pride that Jack displayed the kangaroo which he had run down with his swift courser.
    Contributions to the garden had not been forgotten, and Fritz handed over to his mother several cuttings from cinnamon and sweet-apple trees. Finally, when all the other treasures had been displayed, Fritz begged me to examine his thistles which he had gathered, thinking, he said, that it was a plant used in the manufacture of wool.
    He was perfectly right, for I recognized it at once as the `fuller's teazle ', a plant whose sharp little thorns, which cover the stem and leaves, are used to raise the nap of cloth. We resolved to be up betimes the following morning, that we might attend to the preparation of the booty, and as I now noticed that the boys were all becoming extremely drowsy, I closed the day with evening devotions.
    The number of the creatures we killed rendered the removal of their skins a matter of no little time and trouble. It was not an agreeable task at any time, and when I saw the array of animals the boys had brought me to flay, I determined to construct a machine which would considerably lessen the labour .
    Amongst the ship's stores, in the surgeon's chest, I discovered a large syringe. This, with a few alterations, would serve my purpose admirably. Within the tube I first fitted a couple of valves, and then, perforating the stopper, I had in my possession a powerful air pump. The boys stared at me in blank amazement when, armed with this instrument, I took up the kangaroo, and declared myself ready to commence operations.
    `Skin a kangaroo with a squirt?' said they, and a roar