IN WHICH TARTLET¹ REITERATES² IN EVERY KEY THAT HE WOULD RATHER BE OFF.
When Tartlet learnt that there were not only bears in the island, but tigers too, his lamentations again arose. Now he would never dare to go out! The wild beasts would end by discovering the road to Will Tree! There was no longer any safety anywhere! In his alarm the professor wanted for his protection quite a fortification! Yes! Stone walls with scarps and counterscarps, curtains and bastions, and ramparts, for what was the use of a shelter under a group of sequoias? Above all things, he would at all risks, like to be off.
 
"So would I," answered Godfrey quietly.
 
In fact, the conditions under which the castaways on Phina Island had lived up to now were no longer the same. To struggle to the end, to struggle for the necessaries of life, they had been able, thanks to fortunate circumstances. Against the bad season, against winter and its[Pg 229] menaces, they knew how to act, but to have to defend themselves against wild animals, whose attack was possible every minute, was another thing altogether; and in fact they could not do it.
 
The situation, already complicated, had become very serious, for it had become intolerable.
 
"But," repeated Godfrey to himself, without cessation, "how is it that for four months we did not see a single beast of prey⁴ in the island, and why during the last fortnight have we had to encounter a bear and a tiger? What shall we say to that?"
 
The fact might be inexplicable⁵, but it was none the less real.
 
Godfrey, whose coolness and courage increased, as difficulties grew, was not cast down. If dangerous animals menaced their little colony, it was better to put themselves on guard against their attacks, and that without delay.
 
But what was to be done?
 
It was at the outset decided⁶ that excursions into the woods or to the sea-shore should be rarer, and that they should never go out unless well armed, and only when it was absolutely necessary for their wants.
 
"We have been lucky enough in our two encounters!" said Godfrey frequently; "but there may come a time when[Pg 230] we may not shoot so straight! So there is no necessity for us to run into danger!"
 
At the same time they had not only to settle about the excursions, but to protect Will Tree—not only the dwelling⁷, but the annexes⁸, the poultry⁹ roost, and the fold for the animals, where the wild beasts could easily cause irreparable disaster.
 
Godfrey thought then, if not of fortifying¹⁰ Will Tree according to the famous plans of Tartlet, at least of connecting the four or five large sequoias which surrounded it.
 
If he could devise a high and strong palisade from one tree to another, they would be in comparative security at any rate from a surprise.
 
It was practicable—Godfrey concluded so after an examination of the ground—but it would cost a good deal of labour. To reduce this as much as possible, he thought of erecting¹¹ the palisade around a perimeter¹² of only some three hundred feet. We can judge from this the number of trees he had to select, cut down, carry, and trim until the enclosure was complete.
 
Godfrey did not quail¹³ before his task. He imparted his projects to Tartlet, who approved them, and promised his active co-operation; but what was more important, he made his plans understood to Carefinotu, who was always ready to come to his assistance.
 
[Pg 231]
 
They set to work without delay.
 
There was at a bend in the stream, about a mile from Will Tree, a small wood of stone pines of medium height, whose trunks, in default of beams and planks¹⁴, without wanting to be squared, would, by being placed close together, form a solid palisade.
 
It was to this wood that, at dawn on the 12th of November, Godfrey and his two companions repaired. Though well armed they advanced with great care.
 
"You can have too much of this sort of thing," murmured Tartlet, whom these new difficulties had rendered still more discontented, "I would rather be off!"
 
But Godfrey did not take the trouble to reply to him.
 
On this occasion his tastes were not being consulted, his intelligence even was not being appealed to. It was the assistance of his arms that the common interest demanded. In short, he had to resign himself to his vocation¹⁶ of beast of burden.
 
No unpleasant accident happened in the mile which separated the wood from Will Tree. In vain they had carefully beaten the underwood, and swept the horizon all around them. The domestic animals they had left out at pasture gave no sign of alarm. The birds continued their frolics with no more anxiety than usual.
 
Work immediately began. Godfrey, very properly did[Pg 232] not want to begin carrying until all the trees he wanted had been felled. They could work at them in greater safety on the spot.
 
Carefinotu was of great service during this toilsome task. He had become very clever in the use of the axe¹⁷ and saw. His strength even allowed him to continue at work when Godfrey was obliged to rest for a minute or so, and when Tartlet, with bruised¹⁸ hands and aching limbs, had not even strength left to lift his fiddle¹⁹.
 
However, although the unfortunate professor of dancing and deportment had been transformed into a wood-cutter, Godfrey had reserved for him the least fatiguing²⁰ part, that is, the clearing off of the smaller branches. In spite of this, if Tartlet had only been paid half a dollar a day, he would have stolen four-fifths of his salary!
 
For six days, from the 12th to the 17th of November, these labours continued. Our friends went off in the morning at dawn, they took their food with them, and they did not return to Will Tree until evening. The sky was not very clear. Heavy clouds frequently accumulated over it. It was harvest weather, with alternating showers and sunshine; and during the showers the wood-cutters would take shelter under the trees, and resume their task when the rain had ceased.
 
On the 18th all the trees, topped and cleared of branches,[Pg 233] were lying on the ground, ready for transport to Will Tree.
 
During this time no wild beast had appeared in the neighbourhood of the river. The question was, were there any more in the island, or had the bear and the tiger been—a most improbable event—the last of their species?
 
Whatever it was, Godfrey had no intention of abandoning his project of the solid palisade so as to be prepared against a surprise from savages²¹, or bears, or tigers. Besides, the worst was over, and there only remained to take the wood where it was wanted.
 
We say "the worst was over," though the carriage promised to be somewhat laborious²². If it were not so, it was because Godfrey had had a very practical idea, which materially lightened the task; this was to make use of the current of the river, which the flood occasioned by the recent rains had rendered very rapid, to transport the wood. Small rafts could be formed, and they would quietly float down to the sequoias, where a bar, formed by the small bridge, would stop them. From thence to Will Tree was only about fifty-five paces.
 
If any of them showed particular satisfaction at this mode of procedure, it was Tartlet.
 
On the 18th the first rafts were formed, and they arrived at the barrier without accident. In less than three days[Pg 234] on the evening of the 25th, the palisade had been all sent down to its destination.
 
On the morrow, the first trunks, sunk two feet in the soil, began to rise in such a manner as to connect the principal sequoias which surrounded Will Tree. A capping of strong flexible branches, pointed²³ by the axe, assured the solidity of the wall.
 
Godfrey saw the work progress with extreme satisfaction, and delayed not until it was finished.
 
"Once the palisade is done," he said to Tartlet, "we shall be really at home."
 
"We shall not be really at home," replied the professor drily, "until we are in Montgomery Street, with your Uncle Kolderup."
 
There was no disputing this opinion.
 
On the 26th of November the palisade was three parts done. It comprised among the sequoias attached one to another that in which the poultry had established themselves, and Godfrey's intention was to build a stable inside it.
 
In three or four days the fence was finished. There only remained to fit in a solid door, which would assure the closure of Will Tree.
 
But on the morning of the 27th of November the work was interrupted by an event which we had better explain[Pg 235] with some detail, for it was one of those unaccountable things peculiar²⁴ to Phina Island.
 
About eight o'clock, Carefinotu had climbed up to the fork of the sequoia³, so as to more carefully close the hole by which the cold and rain penetrated²⁵, when he uttered a singular cry.
 
Godfrey, who was at work at the palisade, raised his head and saw the black, with expressive²⁶ gestures, motioning to him to join him without delay.
 
Godfrey, thinking Carefinotu would not have disturbed him unless he had serious reason, took his glasses with him and climbed up the interior passage, and passing through the hole, seated himself astride of one of the main branches.
 
Carefinotu, pointing with his arm towards the rounded angle which Phina Island made to the north-east, showed a column of smoke rising in the air like a long plume............