y pendulous, and Crusoe
sat before his master, looking at him with an expression that seemed to
say, "Couldn't you put a stop to this if you were to try?"

"This'll never do. I'll try to git up a fire," said Dick, jumping up in
desperation.

"Ye may save yerself the trouble," remarked Joe, drily--at least as
drily as was possible in the circumstances.

However, Dick did try, but he failed signally. Everything was soaked
and saturated. There were no large trees; most of the bushes were
green, and the dead ones were soaked. The coverings were slobbery; the
skins they sat on were slobbery; the earth itself was slobbery; so Dick
threw his blanket (which was also slobbery) round his shoulders, and sat
down beside his companions to grin and bear it. As for Joe and Henri,
they were old hands, and accustomed to such circumstances. From the
first they had resigned themselves to their fate, and wrapping their wet
blankets round them sat down, side by side, wisely to endure the evils
that they could not cure.

There is an old rhyme, by whom composed we know not--and it matters
little--which runs thus--

"For every evil under the sun
There is a remedy--or there's none.
If there is--try and find it;
If there isn't--never mind it!"

There is deep wisdom here in small compass. The principle involved
deserves to be heartily recommended. Dick never heard of the lines, but
he knew the principle well; so he began to "never mind it," by sitting
down beside his companions and whistling vociferously. As the wind
rendered this a difficult feat he took to singing instead. After that
he said, "Let's eat a bite, Joe, and then go to bed."

"Be all means," said Joe, who produced a mass of dried deer's meat from
a wallet.

"It's cold grub," said Dick, "and tough."

But the hunters' teeth were sharp and strong, so they ate a hearty
supper and washed it down with a drink of rain water collected from a
pool on the top of their hut. They now tried to sleep, for the night
was advancing, and it was so dark that they could scarce see their hands
when held up before their faces. They sat back to back, and thus, in
the form of a tripod, began to snooze. Joe's and Henri's seasoned
frames would have remained stiff as posts till morning; but Dick's body
was young and pliant, so he hadn't been asleep a few seconds when he
fell forward into the mud and effectually awakened the others. Joe gave
a grunt, and Henri exclaimed, "Hah