"It will be," said the little philosopher, "the first natural object for
our museum."
"Exactly," replied I; "and, when the establishment is fully arranged,
we will appoint you curator."
But, thinking my wife would grow uneasy at our protracted absence, we
returned by a direct road to the tent. Our two messengers arrived about
the same time, and we all sat down together to a cheerful repast. Every
one related his feats. Ernest dwelt on his discoveries, and was very
pompous in his descriptions, and I was obliged to promise to take Fritz
another time. I learnt, with pleasure, that all was going on well at
Falcon's Nest, and that the boys had had the forethought to leave the
animals with provisions for ten days. This enabled me to complete my
farmhouse. We remained four days longer, in which time I finished the
interior, and my wife arranged in our own apartment the cotton
mattresses, to be ready for our visits, and put into the houses the
fodder and grain for their respective tenants. We then loaded our cart,
and began our march. The animals wished to follow us, but Fritz, on
Lightfoot, covered our retreat, and kept them at the farm till we were
out of sight.
We did not proceed directly, but went towards the wood of monkeys. These
mischievous creatures assaulted us with showers of the fir-apples; but a
few shots dispersed our assailants.
Pages:
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230