lusks, which were easily caught by hand.

But we must confess that the pot--of all the pieces in the battery of
the cook undoubtedly the most essential--the simple iron pot, was
wanting. Its absence could not but be deeply felt. Godfrey knew not how
to replace the vulgar pipkin, whose use is universal. No hash, no stew,
no boiled meat, no fish, nothing but roasts and grills. No soup appeared
at the beginning of a meal. Constantly and bitterly did Tartlet
complain--but how to satisfy the poor man?

Godfrey was busied with other cares. In visiting the different trees of
the group he had found a second sequoia of great height, of which the
lower part, hollowed out by the weather, was very rugged and uneven.

Here he devised his poultry-house, and in it the fowls took up their
abode. The hens soon became accustomed to their home, and settled
themselves to set on eggs placed in the dried grass, and chickens began
to multiply. Every evening the broods were driven in and shut up, so as
to keep them from birds of prey, who, aloft in the branches, watched
their easy victims, and would, if they could, have ended by destroying
them.

As for the agoutis, the sheep, and the goats, it would have been useless
then to have looked out a stable or a shelter for them. When the bad
weather came, there would be time enough to see to that. Meanwhile they
prospered on the luxuriant pasturage of the prairie, with its abundance
of sainfoin and edible roots, of which the porcine representatives
showed genuine appreciation. A few kids had been dropped since the
arrival in the island, and as much milk as possible was left to the
goats with which to nourish their little ones.

From all this it resulted that the surroundings of Will Tree were quite
lively. The well-fed domestic animals came during the warm hours of the
day to find there a refuge from the heat of the sun. No fear was there
of their wandering abroad, or of their falling a prey to wild beasts, of
which Phina Island seemed to contain not a single specimen.

And so things went on, with a present fairly comfortable perhaps, but a
future very disquieting, when an unexpected incident occurred which
bettered the position considerably.

It was on the 29th of July.

Godfrey was strolling in the morning along that part of the shore which
formed the beach of the large bight to which he had given the name of
Dream Bay. He was exploring it to see if it was as rich in shell-fish as
the coa