a flock of birds which were flying in and
out of the cave. They had not been there before, nor had I seen them
about. They must have come during the night. I thought if I could catch
one I would eat it, but I decided it was useless to try to catch them,
they darted about so swiftly. By and by I felt sure that this was so,
for I could see that the birds were swallows, and there came into my
mind a vivid picture of the high beams of my father's barn, away in
Vermont, when I was a boy, and the barn swallows flashing like arrows
through the star-shaped openings far up in the gable ends.

Two of the birds had lighted on the wall opposite me, clinging to the
rock. I wondered what they were doing there. Perhaps I could catch
them. I would try. I found that I could rise, and that I was much
stronger than I had thought. Even a hope of food seemed to give me
strength. I crept towards the birds and put out my hand. The birds
flew, and dodging me swept out into the sunlight. I was near enough
the side of the cave now to see what they had been doing. Fastened
to the rock was the beginning of what was to be a nest.

Once, years before that, I had been the guest of honor at a ten
course Chinese dinner. After the tiny China cups of fiery liquor,
which was the first course, had been drunk, the servant brought on
what looked to me like fine white sponges boiled in chicken broth. My
host told me that this was birds' nest soup, the most famous dish of
China, made of material worth its weight in gold. It came back to
me now that he had added that the best nests were gathered in the
Philippine Islands. Little did I imagine then what that scrap of
table conversation might one day mean to me.

I pulled the nest down and ate it. It looked like white glue, and
tasted like beef jelly. I looked for another, and found it and ate
it. There were no more. I drank my fill of water, when I could get it,
which took some time, and then I lay down and went to sleep. I felt as
if I had eaten a full meal. When I woke I could almost have danced,
I felt so strong and well again. In my new strength I even tried to
reach the bag of cocoanuts, but they hung just as far off as ever,
and that was so far no breeze quite swung them within my reach. No
matter! While I had slept, the birds had been at work, and half a
dozen half-formed nests were glued to the rocks in easy reach. They
grew like mushrooms in the night. I pulled down two and ate them. For
dinner I ha