خونه غاری

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Cave House

We were very pleased when the storms ended. After those long weeks of rain, the sun shone again. We came out from our dark, smelly room and looked up at the bright sun. Around us the grass was green, and flowers were coming through. In our garden, the plants were coming up very well - but the birds saw them too! So Jack guarded them, with Flora’s help, and kept the birds away. We also put fishing lines across the plants to protect them from those little thieves.

We hung up our clothes in the sunlight to dry them. Then we started work on the Tree House. In a few days, we were able to leave our room at the foot of the tree and go back to our bright and happy home.

‘I can’t live through another winter like that,’ said my wife. ‘It will kill me. I’m sure that the first men, thousands of years ago, didn’t live in trees like monkeys. They lived in caves, and we must find one too.’

I knew that she was right. I went out and walked along the coast and looked at the hills near the sea. Some came straight down to the beach. Those were possible places for caves. I walked a long way, but I couldn’t see any big ones. I needed a large cave for my family.

I went back and told my wife and the boys. The caves weren’t large enough for us.

‘So,’ said Fritz, ‘if the caves aren’t big enough, we must make one bigger.’

‘You can try,’ I said, ‘but the rock’s very hard. I don’t know if it’s possible. I’ll take you to the best cave that I’ve found, above the beach. It was probably made by the sea, but the sea’s gone down and left it in the side of the hill. Bring the tools and we’ll try.’

So we went to the cave. We worked for a week, but we only made the cave six feet deeper. The rock was very hard. I thought about using gunpowder, but gunpowder was too important for us. I didn’t know what to do.

‘Shall we stop,’ I asked Fritz. ‘Shall we think of another idea?’

‘I think,’ said Fritz, ‘that the rock is getting softer. This piece here seems softer.’

Jack was the smallest, so he was working at the lowest part of the rock. One morning, he cried out, ‘I’ve done it! I’ve done it! I’ve made a hole right through the rock!’

‘Don’t be so silly,’ said Fritz. ‘I don’t believe you.’

‘But I have,’ said Jack, ‘I have!’

Fritz went to look. He soon came back, saying, ‘It’s true, Father. Jack’s right. I can’t understand it. Jack has made a hole in the rock and there’s nothing behind it.’

I was very surprised. I took a long piece of bamboo and put it through the hole.

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘there’s nothing behind there.’

‘Let’s make the hole bigger,’ said Fritz. ‘Then one of us can go through.’

I said, ‘That’s dangerous. If the hole’s very deep, you’ll fall. We must be very careful. Let’s make the hole a little bigger. Then I can put my head in and look.’

So we made the hole bigger and I put my head in. Suddenly, I felt very ill. I moved away.

‘You mustn’t go into the cave, boys - if it’s a cave,’ I said. ‘The air’s really bad and dangerous. I’m sure you can die in there. First, we must drive out the bad air.’

‘How can we do that,’ asked Fritz.

‘We must light a fire,’ I replied.

So we put burning grass and sticks into the hole, but the fire went out immediately.

‘Perhaps,’ said Ernest, ‘if we light a fire just in front of the hole, the hot air will pull the cold air out of the cave.’

‘Yes, that’s possible,’ I said. ‘But I think that will be slow - and, perhaps, dangerous. I think this time we should use some of our gunpowder.’

So I took some coconut shells, tied some rope round them and filled them with gunpowder. Then I lit one and threw it quickly into the cave. There was a very loud noise, and the bad air came out with the smoke. I did the same with two more coconut shells and then we tried to light a fire again.

This time the fire burned. It didn’t burn very well, but the smoke and hot air came out through the hole and soon the fire was burning better. At last, it began to burn brightly - as brightly inside the cave as in the open air.

‘Run to the Tree House,’ I said to Ernest. ‘Bring all the small pieces of wood that we’ve got. We can use them as lights when we go into the cave.’

While he was gone, we made the mouth of the cave bigger. Then we could see the walls that were nearest the doorway. Jack looked in and said, ‘The walls are covered with beautiful stones in lots of different colours. It’s wonderful!’

I looked into the cave. Jack was right. The walls were covered with things that looked like stones.

‘That’s very strange,’ I said. ‘What are they?’

Then Ernest came back from the Tree House, bringing the wood. I went into the cave first. I wanted to be sure that the air was good. I looked at the stones. Some were lying on the floor because of the gunpowder. I took one and tasted it. It was salt. Salt!

‘Look, boys,’ I cried. ‘We’ll never have to look for salt again! Next winter we’ll have plenty of salt, and we’ll have meat through all the bad months.’

We looked round the cave. It was very big. I saw that we could make a room at one end for all our things, with a bedroom next to it. We could have another big room as a kitchen and sitting room.

‘But,’ I said, ‘there’s one thing that we must make now. I don’t think this end of the cave is very far from the outside air. I’ll hit the rock inside the cave. I want you, Fritz, to go outside and listen. Tell me where you hear me most clearly. Put a stick there to show the place.’

So Fritz went out and I started to knock on the inside of the cave wall in different places. After a time, he came back and said, ‘I’ve found the best place. I can hear you quite well.’

‘Ah,’ I said. ‘Then we’ll make a hole through there from the outside. We need fresh air in the cave. It’ll be hard work, but we must do it.’

It was hard work, but after two days Fritz was able to put bamboo through the hole. The other end of it came into the cave. Then we made the hole bigger from inside the cave.

‘Now,’ I said, ‘we can make a fireplace, with a hole for the smoke.’

So we started work, using stones and earth. We made a good fireplace, with a hole for the smoke.

‘Now,’ I said, ‘we’ll see if this idea really works.’

So we lit a fire, but the smoke came out into the cave. I saw that the boys were very sad. They thought that all their work was for nothing.

‘No,’ I said, ‘don’t worry. When the hole gets warm, the air will go up it. It’ll be all right. Keep the fire going for two days, and it’ll work very well.’

And that was what happened. On the second evening, the air began to go up the hole and it took all the smoke out of the cave.

‘Now,’ I said, ‘we don’t have to fear the next winter.’

My wife was very pleased. She said, ‘Now I can cook and dry your clothes, and we can sit round a nice bright fire on winter evenings. We’ll be very happy.’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘but we’ll have to do a lot more work. Next winter we’ll have more animals. We must build a farm between the Tree House and the cave. Then the animals can live there in the summer and winter.’

‘And we’ll need a lot more food,’ said Fritz.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘We can use the plough to make fields, and we must grow lots of vegetables. To work! To work!’

So we all had a very busy summer. We put lots of salt meat, dried fish and coconuts in the cave. When the end of the year came, we added potatoes and sweet potatoes. Then we made a hut at the farm, and put dried grass and other food in it for the animals. We built a small hut there for someone to live in. They could look after the farm at night and drive away wild animals.

‘What are we going to do about clothes,’ asked my wife.

‘The boys’ clothes are in a terrible state, and the clothes from the sailor’s box aren’t very useful. When we found them, they were full of sea water. Now they’re falling to pieces. They’ll be all right for another year, but not longer. I must make cloth.’

‘How can you make cloth,’ said Fritz. ‘From what? We’ve only got two sheep.’

‘There are plants,’ I said, ‘that we can use for cloth.’

I won’t tell you about all our problems with those plants. But in the end, my wife was able to make cloth. It wasn’t very good and it wasn’t very white, but she was happy. But until then the boys wore animal skins. They caught the animals, and we now had plenty of salt. So we prepared the skins, and my wife was able to make clothes out of them.

So the year passed - our second year on the island. The boys were getting big and strong. Fritz was now nearly sixteen, and Ernest was fourteen. I thought about the future.

One evening, I said to them, ‘You two are the oldest. Soon I’ll have two fine, strong men to help me in our work on the island. As I become older, you’ll be able to do the harder work. Jack is a quick learner and he can help your mother. Little Franz isn’t very helpful yet, but he’s a good little boy and doesn’t give us much trouble. Yes, we’re very lucky.’