Swiss Family Robinson

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 course.
    Late in the day Franz and his mother went out to provide for supper, but the child returned directly, exclaiming that we must hasten to the dove-cot to see something beautiful.
    Accordingly a general rush was made out of the cave, and we saw with delight that the third stranger also had returned with a lovely bride, and encouraged by the presence of the first arrivals, they soon made themselves at home.
    In a short time nest-building commenced, and among the materials collected by the birds, I observed a long grey moss or lichen, and thought it might very possibly be the same which, in the West Indies, is gathered from the bark of old trees, where it grows, and hangs in great tuft-like beards, to be used instead of horse-hair for stuffing mattresses.
    My wife no sooner heard of it, than her active brain devised fifty plans for making it of use. Would we but collect enough, she would clean and sort it, and there would be no end to the bolsters, pillows, saddles, and cushions she would stuff with it.
    For the discovery of nutmegs we had also to thank the pigeons, and they were carefully planted in our orchard. For some time no event of particular note occurred, until at length Jack, as usual, got into a scrape causing thereby no little excitement at home.
    He went off early on one of his own particular private expeditions.
    He was in the habit of doing this that he might surprise us with some new acquisition on his return.
    This time, however, he came back in most wretched plight, covered with mud and green slime; a great bundle of Spanish canes was on his back, muddy and green like himself; he had lost a shoe, and altogether presented a ludicrous picture of misery, at which we could have laughed, had he not seemed more ready to cry!
    `My dear boy! What has happened to you? Where have you been?'
    `Only in the swamp behind the powder magazine, father,' replied he. `I went to get reeds for my wickerwork, because I wanted to weave some baskets and hen-coops, and I saw such beauties a little way off in the marsh, much finer than those close by the edge, that I tried to get at them.
    `I jumped from one firm spot to another, till at last I slipped and sank over my ankles; I tried to get on towards the reeds, which were close by, but in I went deeper and deeper, till I was above the knees in thick soft mud, and there I stuck!
    `I screamed and shouted, but nobody came, and I can tell you I was in a regular fright.
    `At last who should appear but my faithful Fangs! He knew my voice and came close up to me, right over the swamp, but all the poor beast could do, was to help me to make a row; I wonder you did not hear us! The very rocks rang, but nothing came of it, so despair drove me to think of an expedient. I cut down all the reeds I could reach round and round me, and bound them together into this bundle, which made a firm place on which to lean, while I worked and kicked about to free my feet and legs, and after much struggling, I managed to get astride on the reeds.
    `There I sat, supported above the mud and slime, while Fangs ran yelping backwards and forwards between me and the bank, seeming surprised I did not follow. Suddenly I thought of catching hold of his tail. He dragged and pulled, and I sprawled, and crawled, and waded, sometimes on my reeds like a raft, sometimes lugging them along with me, till we luckily got back to terra firma. But I had a near squeak for it, I can tell you.'
    `A fortunate escape indeed, my boy!' cried I, `And I thank God for it. Fangs has really acted a heroic part as your