Page:The Swiss Family Robinson, In Words of One Syllable.djvu/96

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THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON.

CHAPTER XIII.

We had now so much work to do, and the days and weeks came and went so quick, that I do not think we should have known the time of year had it not been for our log.

Some days were spent at the Cave, where we made our goods, ground our flour, stored our food, and kept our tame live stock. Then we had to take care of our crops on the fields near The Nest, and this took us two or three days in each month. Once in ten days at least we went to the Farm on the hill, and at the same time made a call at the Half Way House; so that there was not a day that we had not our hands quite full. Now and then we went out to hunt for sport or to add to our stock of beasts, which had grown so large that there were few we could name that had not been caught and brought home. We had birds of the air, fowls of the land, and beasts of all kins, from the great black ox of the plain to the small wild Rab-bit that came and made its hole close by our cave.

But there was one bird that we had not yet caught, though we had seen it two or three times in the woods. This was the Os-trich. Fritz found a nest with some eggs in it, and this led us to make a tour with