story of Borneo to know that there were
neither lions nor tigers in the island. Had it been on the neighbouring
island of Sumatra, or some desert coast of the mainland--in Malacca,
Cochin-China, or Hindustan--he might have dreaded exposing them to the
attack of tigers. But as there was no danger of encountering these
fierce creatures on the shores of Borneo, he told the children to stay
under the tree until he and the others should return.

The young people were by this time rather tired of remaining in a
recumbent position. It was that to which they had been too long
constrained while in the boat, and it felt irksome; moreover, the
oyster, wonderfully restoring their strength, had brought back their
wonted juvenile vigour, so that they felt inclined for moving about a
bit. For a time they indulged this inclination by walking to and fro
around the trunk of the tree.

Soon, however, weariness once more came upon them, and they desired to
have a seat. Squatting upon the ground is an attitude only easy to
savages, and always irksome to those accustomed to habits of civilised
life, and to sitting upon chairs. They looked about for something upon
which they might sit but nothing appeared suitable. There were neither
logs nor large stones; for the beach, as well as the adjacent shore, was
composed of fine drift sand, and no trees seemed to have fallen near the
spot.

"I have it!" exclaimed Henry, after puzzling his brains a bit, his eye
guiding him to a settlement of the difficulty. "The shells--the big
oyster shells--the very things for us to sit upon, sister Nell."

As he spoke, he stooped down and commenced turning over one of the
shells of the immense bivalve--both of which had been hitherto lying
with their concave side uppermost. It was nigh as much as the boy,
still weak, could do to roll it over, though Helen, seeing the
difficulty, laid hold with her little hands and assisted him.

Both the huge "cockles" were speedily capsized; and their convex
surfaces rising nearly a foot above the level of the ground, gave the
young people an excellent opportunity of getting seated.

Both sat down--each upon a shell--laughing at the odd kind of stools
thus conveniently provided for them.

They had not been long in their sedentary attitude, when a circumstance
occurred which told them how unsafe a position they had chosen. They
were conversing without fear, when Henry all at once felt something
strike him on the