s before, and Dick fed him well, but would give
him no food to carry to his master.

"No, no," he said; "he boasts that he can feed himself, let him do so.
If he starve, that's not my look-out, but you, poor brute, deserve being
cared for." At length, to Dick's surprise, Lord Reginald made his
appearance. At first Dick hoped he had come with overtures of peace,
but the young lord's haughty bearing and outrageous remarks convinced
him that there was little hope of their living on amicable terms
together.

"Let him go and live by himself as best he can," said Dick. "I should
have liked to have had a companion, but I would rather be without one
than be compelled to associate with so ill-tempered a fellow as he is."
And he went on boring holes and hammering on the planks of his house.
Next day Nep made his appearance, begging for food, which Dick gave him,
but though he had several pigeons, he would not send one by him.

Nep stayed on, hoping to get it, but Dick was determined that the young
lord should be made to feel his own helplessness. "If he want food for
himself, he must come and ask for it," he said; "he chose to despise my
former presents, and I intend to teach him which is the best man of the
two."

Dick soon got his hut roofed in, so that should rain come on, he would
be under shelter. He had still to make furniture for it, and to build a
storehouse and other conveniences.

Before commencing these operations, he bethought him of the best means
of securing a supply of provisions, so that he need not be interrupted
in his work.

During two or three excursions he had made through the valley, he had
seen the number of birds and animals inhabiting it. The pigs, he
thought, he could catch in pitfalls, though it might be a task of some
difficulty without an iron spade to dig them in hard ground, but he was
not to be daunted, and he determined to form some instrument with which
to accomplish his purpose.

Then he thought, "I ought to have a canoe to go out fishing, while the
fine weather lasts." As he wandered about, he looked out for a tree to
suit his purpose. He found one of sufficient girth and length, with a
perfectly straight trunk, though whether the nature of the wood was
suitable for a canoe, he could not ascertain, except by cutting it down.
He had often felled trees at home, but without an axe he could do
nothing. He went back to the carpenter's chest, in the hopes of finding
one. Searching