"We shall not have to scrape the rocks to get our salt now," said
Ernest, "for there is more here than would serve a whole town for a
lifetime."

When we went back to The Nest that night we laid out a plan for our new
home, for there could be no doubt that the cave was the best place for
us to dwell in, though we should still sleep in The Nest when we went
on that side of the stream.

The next day we all set to work; the floor of the cave was quite
smooth, and the walls dry, so that we could build at once. We first cut
holes in the sides of the rock to let in the light, and then brought
frames and panes of glass from The Nest, and put them in. We then
brought all the planks and wood we could find, and built a strong wall
in the midst of the cave. On the right side of this wall we made three
rooms, two of which were to be used as bed rooms, and one to take our
meals in. On the left side was a room for my wife to cook in, one to
work in, to which we gave the name of the shop, and a place with stalls
in it for our live stock. At the back of these was a store house, where
we could keep our, stock of food and the whole of our spare goods.

I need not say that it took us some months to do all this, nor that we
had to toil hard day by day, from morn till night, ere we got to the
end of our task; but the end did come at last, and then the joy we felt
that we had done all this with our own hands more than paid us for our
toil.


CHAPTER XII.