g obliged
to go on short allowance. It was well worth while, besides, to turn
Prospect Heights into a kitchen-garden, defended by its deep belt of
creeks, and to remove them to the meadows, which had no need of
protection against the depredations of quadrumana and quadrupeds.

On the 15th of November, the third harvest was gathered in. How
wonderfully had the field increased in extent, since eighteen months
ago, when the first grain of wheat was sown! The second crop of six
hundred thousand grains produced this time four thousand bushels, or
five hundred millions of grains!

The colony was rich in corn, for ten bushels alone were sufficient for
sowing every year to produce an ample crop for the food both of men
and beasts. The harvest was completed, and the last fortnight of the
month of November was devoted to the work of converting it into food
for man. In fact, they had corn, but not flour, and the establishment
of a mill was necessary. Cyrus Harding could have utilised the second
fall which flowed into the Mercy to establish his motive power, the
first being already occupied with moving the felting mill; but after
some consultation, it was decided that a simple windmill should be
built on Prospect Heights. The building of this presented no more
difficulty than the building of the former, and it was moreover
certain that there would be no want of wind on the plateau, exposed as
it was to the sea breezes.

"Not to mention," said Pencroft, "that the windmill will be more
lively and will have a good effect in the landscape!"

They set to work by choosing timber for the frame and machinery of the
mill. Some large stones, found at the north of the lake, could be
easily transformed into millstones; and as to the sails, the
inexhaustible case of the balloon furnished the necessary material.

Cyrus Harding made his model, and the site of the mill was chosen a
little to the right of the poultry-yard, near the shore of the lake.
The frame was to rest on a pivot supported with strong timbers, so
that it could turn with all the machinery it contained according as
the wind required it. The work advanced rapidly. Neb and Pencroft had
become very skilful carpenters, and had nothing to do but to copy the
models provided by the engineer.

Soon a sort of cylindrical box, in shape like a pepperpot, with a
pointed roof, rose on the spot chosen. The four frames which formed
the sails had been firmly fixed in the centre beam, so as