"Dessay, my lad, dessay; but it's werry wonderful here. Look along that
hollow place where the big fir trees is growing."

"Lovely, Jem. What a beautiful home it would make."

"Say, Mas' Don, let's make our fortunes."

"How?"

"Let's set up in trade, and deal in wood. Lookye yonder, there's fir
trees there, that if we cut 'em down and trimmed 'em, they'd be worth no
end o' money in Bristol, for ships' masts."

"Yes, Jem," said Don drily; "and how are you going to get them there?"

"Ah!" said Jem, scratching his head. "Never thought of that."

There was half an hour's drowsy silence. The sun shone down with
glorious power, and the lizards rustled among the large stones. From
the forest behind there came the buzz of insects, and the occasional cry
of some parrot. Save for these sounds all was wonderfully still.

And they sat there gazing before them at the hundreds of acres of
uncultivated land, rich in its wild beauty, unwilling to move, till Don
said suddenly,--

"Yes, Jem; this is a lazy land. Let's be up and doing."

"Yes, Mas' Don. What?"

"I don't know, Jem; something useful."

"But there arn't nothing useful to do. I couldn't make a boat, but I
think I could make a hogshead after a fashion; but if I did, there arn't
no sugar to put in it, and--"

"Look, Jem!"

"What at, Mas' Don? Eh?" he continued as he followed his companion's
pointing hand. "Why, I thought you said there was no beasts here."

"And there are none."

"Well, if that arn't a drove o' cattle coming down that mountain side,
I'm a Dutchman."

"It does look like it, Jem," said Don. "It seems strange."

"Look like it, Mas' Don? Why, it is. Brown cattle, and you can see if
you look at the sun shining on their horns."

"Horns! Jem!" cried Don, excitedly; "they're spears!"

"What?"

"And those are savages."

"So they are!" cried Jem. "Why, Mas' Don, that there don't mean a
fight, do it?"

"I don't know, Jem. But they can't see us, can they?"

"No. These here bushes shades us. Let's creep back through the wood,
and go and tell 'em down below. They don't know, p'r'aps, and we may
get there first."

"We must," said Don quickly. "Jem, I'm sure of it. You can see the
spears quite plainly, and perhaps it's a war-party out from some other
tribe. Quick, lad, quick! We can get there first."

"And if it's a false alarm, they'll laugh at us, Mas' Don."

"Let them. They won't laugh if there's danger in the