and took it
up to the house. Having killed the turtle, and cut it up, Juno, under
the directions of Ready, chose such portions as were required for the
soup; and when the pot was on the fire, Ready, Mr Seagrave, and William
set off with the cross-cut saw and hatchets, to commence felling the
cocoa-nut trees for the building of the outhouse, which was to hold
their stores, as soon as they could be brought round from the other side
of the island.

"I mean this to be our place of refuge in case of danger, sir," observed
Ready; "and therefore I have selected this thick part of the wood, as it
is not very far from the house, and by cutting the path to it in a
zigzag, it will be quite hidden from sight; and we must make the path
just wide enough to allow the wheels to pass, and stump up the roots of
the trees which we are obliged to cut down, otherwise the stumps would
attract attention."

"I agree with you, Ready," replied Mr Seagrave; "there is no saying
what may happen."

"You see, sir, it is often the custom for the natives, in this part of
the world, to come in their canoes from one island to another, merely to
get cocoa-nuts. I can't say that the other islands near us are
inhabited, but still it is probable, and we cannot tell what the
character of the people may be. I tell you this, but we had better not
say a word to Mrs Seagrave, as it may distress her."

Mr Seagrave agreed, and Ready continued:

"We are now near the spot, sir. You see, when we have got over this
hill, where the trees are so very thick, the fall in the ground will
assist in the concealment of the building. I should say we are very
near right where we now stand."

"How far are we now from the house? We must not be too distant."

"I reckon we are not 150 yards in a straight line, although the road
will, by its turning, make it double the distance."

"Then I think this spot will do very well."

"I'll just mark out the trees which are to stand, Mr Seagrave, and
those which are to be cut down, so as to leave about four feet of stump
standing."

As soon as they had planned the building, the axes and saw were in full
use, and tree after tree fell one upon the other. They worked hard till
dinner-time, and were not sorry at the prospect of sitting down to a
rich mess of turtle-soup.

"My dear William, and you too, Mr Seagrave, how very warm you are!"
said Mrs Seagrave; "you must not work so hard."

"Cutting down trees is very warm work,