Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven Prey

Amidst the cheers of the children, the raft finally landed.For children, every little change in daily life will make them feel fresh.Toni was bouncing on the bank of the river; Evanson and Jenkins ran quickly to the lake; Costa grabbed Moko and asked, "Didn't you promise to cook us a good meal?" "Yes, but I'm afraid you won't be able to eat it," Moko said. "why?" "Because I don't have time to cook at all today." "What! You don't cook?" "Yes, but there must be something to eat for dinner, and we can have bustard just in time."

After Moko finished speaking, he smiled, showing his white teeth. The little one gave Moko a playful punch and then sprinted to join his mates.At this point Bryant told them not to run too far. "Why don't you go play with them?" Bryant asked his brother. "I don't want to go, I'd rather stay here!" Jack replied. "You should move around," Bryant said. "I'm worried about you, Jack. Is there something you're hiding from me? Are you sick?" "No, I have nothing!" Jack always answered in such a tone, which made Bryant very angry.He made up his mind that one day Jack must make things clear, even if his stubborn brother loses his temper, he will get to the bottom of it.

But if he wants to spend the night in the French cave at present, he must hurry up and do things. Before moving into the cave, those who have never been to the cave must be led to visit.When the raft was safely moored in a bend of calm water away from the rapids of the river, Bryant immediately asked his companions to follow him.Moko brought the lamps used on sailboats, and the flames on the lamps emitted extraordinarily bright light due to the refraction of the glass mirror. First, the boys had to clear the entrance of the cave, where Bryant and Donagan had placed some twigs.On the one hand, it is convenient for them to find, on the other hand, it is to prevent others and wild animals from entering the cave.

After removing the branches from the hole, the children bent over and crawled in through the narrow hole.under bright light.The cave looked much better than the previous time when it was lit with candles made of resin. "Hmmm! We're well suited to live here," said Baxter, surveying the cave; "Yes!" Garnett exclaimed, "if we stack the beds like we do on a boat!" "Why stack it?" Wilcox asked. "We can put the beds side by side on the floor." "That way," Webb said, "we'd have less room to maneuver." "Well," Bryant told him, "you don't expect to be in the cave! Can you find us a better place, Webb?"

"No! But!" Sovis interrupted him, "the most important thing now is that we have a place to shelter from the wind and rain. Nor does Weber mean that he wants to find a high-end villa with a living room, bedroom, dining room, smoking room and bathroom.” "That's impossible," said Cross. "Is there a place to cook here?" "Yes, you can cook outside." Moko replied. "It's going to be inconvenient in bad weather," Bryant suggested. "We're supposed to move the stove into the hole tomorrow." "Should we be cooking in the same cave we're going to eat and sleep in?" Donagan exclaimed with disdain.

"Yes, you can use smelling salts to get rid of the smell, Master Donagan!" Sauvis said.Laughed out loud. "I'll be when the time comes, man!" Donagan said, frowning. "Don't argue! Don't argue!" Gordon intervened. "Whether things are good or bad, we must decide immediately! If the smoke stove is placed in the cave for cooking, it will help everyone to keep warm. As for the matter of digging another cave in the rock in the future, we can postpone it until winter. But now We can only make do with the Frenchman’s lair and move in as soon as possible.”

They quickly moved the beds in and placed them neatly on the sand in the cave.As they were used to living in small cabins, they didn't find it inconvenient even though it was very narrow. In this way, the rest of the day passed again.They placed the large boat table in the center of the hole, and Garnett and his friends spread a tablecloth on it. Moko and Sauvis had already done their job well.They set up a stove or two between two large rocks at the foot of the cliff, and burned dry wood that Webb and Wilcox had gathered under the trees.About six o'clock they had hot soup and patties ready, which gave off a delightful aroma after being left on the fire for a few minutes.12 (common bird) birds on skewers.Under the pure fire, the oil dripping from the bird's body dripped into the roasting pan, making Costa just want to grab it and eat it, while Tori and Evanson flipped the roast (together with the bird) )bird.The little fan followed them around with great interest.

By seven o'clock the boys were all gathered around the table in the middle of the hole.The cave is now a restaurant and dormitory for the children.The benches, folding chairs, and wicker chairs from the boat were all brought in.This meal is a hearty one.There are hot soup, steak, roast goose and bird, biscuits instead of bread, boiled water, brandy, some cheese, and a few glasses of sherry for dessert, which really satiates these children who have not eaten for several days Enough to drink. Because after a tiring day, after eating and drinking, the children only think about going to sleep.But due to the influence of religious ideas, Gordon proposed to visit the cemetery of the Frenchman Baoding, because they now occupy his residence.As night fell, the end of the lake could no longer be seen, but the lake reflected the last rays of the sun.They finally found the small mound where Baoding was buried and the wooden cross standing beside the mound.

At nine o'clock, with the exception of Donagan and Wilcox, who were to keep watch, everyone went to bed.They built a great fire at the entrance of the cave, in order to scare off the dangerous intruders. The next day, the 9th of May, and during the next three days the whole crew was busy unloading the raft.Fog from the westerly wind suggests a period of rain and snow.Temperatures rarely rise above freezing these days.Therefore, everything must be moved into the cave as soon as possible. Because the task was very urgent, those hunters did not go hunting for several days.That afternoon, Moko lit the stove in the cave and happily announced that it was burning so well that he could cook even in bad weather.

For the next week, Donagan, Webb, Wilcox, Cross, and Garnett and Sauvis had a lot of hunting every day, which was a joy.One day they walked along the edge of the lake for about half a mile among the birch and beech trees not far from the cave.Traces of human activities can be seen everywhere.Holes were dug in the ground and covered with branches.Because the pit is too deep, animals fall into it and cannot climb out.Judging by the shape of the holes, they must have been dug many years ago.One of the pits still contained some animal bones, probably because the hunters hadn't discovered the animals in the pit at the time.

"At any rate, these must be the bones of larger animals," said Wilcox, jumping into the pit and picking up the already whitish bones. "It was a tetrapod because it had four claw bones," Weber added. "Could it still be a five-legged animal?" Sovis protested. "It's definitely a sheep bone or a calf bone." "You're always making fun of people!" Cross muttered. "Well, stop mocking people!" Garnett said. "It's obvious," Donagan explained, "that the animal is huge. You can tell by the skull, the jaws, and the teeth. Sauvis says it's a sheep bone and a calf bone, and laughs at the mistake." , but if this animal can come back to life, he probably won't be able to laugh anymore." "Yes! Yes!" Cross always defended everything his cousin said. Webb asked Donagan, "You think it's a carnivorous bone?" "Yes, absolutely." "Is it a lion? Or a tiger?" Cross suddenly became nervous. "If it's not a lion or a tiger," Donagan replied, "it's probably a cougar or a panther." "We've got to be on our toes," Webb said. "Then we can't risk going too far," echoed Cross. "Did you hear, little girl?" Sauvis said to his dog. "There are wild beasts on this island." Xiao Mi barked wildly as if nothing had happened. The boys set off back to the cave. "Good idea!" said Wilcox. "If we cover the pit with fresh bushes, maybe we can catch animals too." "You can do it if you want, Wilcox," said Donagan, "but I want to shoot 'em out in the open air and not set a hole to trap them." Despite what Donagan had said, Wilcox decided to use his natural instinct to set traps and put his idea into practice.In fact, he's pretty good at it.His companions helped him cut twigs from neighboring trees, which he skillfully set up over the mouth of the pit, thus completely concealing the pit.Of course, this is the simplest trap, but people in the pampas often use it to catch prey. To make it easier to identify the location of the trap, Wilcox snapped off branches from surrounding trees.Then they all went back into the cave. The last few hunts have not yielded much.There are many birds and animals on the island.Donagan tried to grab Wu from behind, but couldn't.They are extremely unwilling to waste ammunition for shooting a bird, which is too uneconomical.Gordon had also said some nasty things about wasting ammunition.Although Donald Gan was responsible for this matter, his friends felt as uncomfortable as he did. On subsequent searches, they discovered two useful plants.These two plants were discovered by Bryant when he first came to the lake.One is wild celery, which thrives in wetlands; the other is cress, whose young roots are very effective against septicemia.These two kinds of wild vegetables can be mixed in all foods, and eating them is good for health. Because the lakes and rivers were not yet frozen, they sometimes caught some pike or squat.These fish are delicious, just don't let the bones get stuck in your throat while eating them.One day, Evanson reeled in such a large trout that he almost tore the fishing line. At the same time they sent people several times to check the trap.Although they threw a large piece of meat into the trap as bait, no animals were caught. But on May 17, the trap really worked.At the time, Bryant and several others were looking in the woods near the cliff to see if they could find another cave near the Frenchman's Cave to use as a storage room. As they approached the trap, they heard a cry in the distance. Bryant turned quickly into the bushes, and soon after, Donagan unhurriedly followed.Others followed a few yards behind them, ready to fire.Xiao Mi pricked up her ears, cocked her tail and continued walking. When I was still 20 yards from the trap, the call sounded again.Some animal fell through the branches above the trap. Not knowing exactly what animal fell into the trap, the children braced themselves for defense. "Grab it, Mi, grab it!" Donagan said, patting Mi.Little Mi barked and rushed over without fear. "Isn't that a cougar?" Webb asked. "It's not a jaguar, is it?" Cross asked. "Neither," said Donagan, "an ostrich!" They finally figured out that it was an ostrich.But this kind of ostrich has a small body, its head is a bit like a goose, and the thin feathers wrapped around its body are like gray and white wool, which shows that this is a huge and special ostrich on the South American grassland.It is very different from the African ostrich.It should be said that this ostrich can be called a giant on the island. "We should catch it alive!" suggested Wilcox. "Of course!" Sovis also said. "That's not easy," Cross said. "Let's try it out." Bryant made a decision. The reason why this ostrich black could not escape was that its wings could not fly as high as the ground; its feet could not stay on the soil walls around the trap.Wilcox jumped into the trap at the risk of being pecked by the ostrich.But he thought of a way to cover the ostrich's head with his coat.In this way, he would not be pecked by the ostrich, and he easily tied the ostrich's feet with two or three handkerchiefs. After one foot of the ostrich was tied to the other foot, the children pulled it hard , and pulled the ostrich to the ground. "Finally caught it," Webb said. "What do you do when you catch it?" Cross asked. "That's very simple," Sovis said without thinking as usual, "We can take the ostrich to the cave and tame it to ride a horse. I will take care of it like a friend." Although Sovis said so, it is doubtful whether he can do what he said.But it was still easy to bring the ostrich back to the cave, so I had to do it first. Gordon was taken aback when he saw the ostrich, because he had another mouth to eat.But when he remembered that the ostrich was only vegetarian, he secretly liked it again.The children surrounded the ostrich happily.Although the ostrich is tied with a long string, the children still dare not get too close.When they heard that Sovis was going to tame the ostrich to be used as a horse, the children argued for them to ride too. "Okay, as long as you are obedient." Sauvis replied.In the minds of children, he has become a hero. "We definitely dare to ride," Costa said. "What do you dare, Costa?" Sauvis asked him. "Do you dare to ride this vicious ostrich?" "As long as you protect me from behind, I can support you." "Do you remember that time when you rode on the back of a turtle?" "That's two different things," countered Costa. "The ostrich doesn't go into the water." "But it's going to go up in the air!" said Toney. The two little guys walked away while talking. As you can imagine, after everything was moved into the cave neatly and orderly, Gordon and his friends had to arrange their daily life.To keep everyone occupied, special care must be taken not to leave little ones alone.Because children have no strength, and there is no suitable work for them.Why not let them go on with the lessons they learned at Charmain's? “We have textbooks for them to keep learning,” Gordon said. “We can teach them what we have learned, and we should also pass on what we have learned.” "Yes," Bryant replied, "someday when we leave this island and go back to our friends and relatives, we can tell them we didn't waste our time." A proposal was made to draft a work-study plan.After the plan is unanimously agreed by everyone, it must be strictly followed.Such children cannot go out every day when it is frozen in winter.They are eager to make good use of this time of winter.The cave was too small and inconvenient, so they decided to dig it bigger at once.