Well, you know now, said Jack. What do the others say about it?
Yes, youre captain, Jack, said Mike and Peggy together. Ay, ay, sir!
Nobody said any more. Nora and Peggy washed up in the lake and cleared the things away neatly. They put some more wood on the fire to keep it burning, because Jack said it was silly to keep on lighting it.
Then they ran off to join the boys in the willow thicket.
Jack had been busy. He had chopped down some willow saplings - young willow-trees - with his axe, and had cut off the longer branches.
Well use these to drive into the ground for walls, said Jack. Wheres that old spade, Mike? Did you bring it as I said?
Yes, here it is, said Mike. Shall I dig holes to drive the sapling trunks into?
Yes, said Jack. Dig them fairly deep.
So Mike dug hard in the hot sun, making holes for Jack to ram the willow wood into. The girls stripped the leaves off the chopped-down trees, and with Jacks knife cut off the smaller twigs. They trimmed up the bigger branches nicely.
Everyone worked hard until the sun began to go down. The house was not yet built - it would take some days to do that - but at any rate there was a fine roof, and part of the wall was up. The children could quite well see how the house would look when it was done - and certainly it would be big, and very strong. They felt proud of themselves.
"Well do no more to-day, said Jack. We are all tired. Ill go and see if there are any fish on my line.
But, alas! there were no fish that night!
Theres some bread left and a packet of currants, said Peggy. And some lettuces and margarine. Shall we have those?
This food question is going to be a difficult one, said Jack thoughtfully. Weve plenty of water - we shall soon have a house - but we must have food or we shall starve. I shall catch rabbits, I think.
Oh, no, Jack, dont do that, said Nora. I do like rabbits so much.
So do I, Nora, said Jack. But if rabbits were not caught, the land would soon be overrun with them, you know. You have often had rabbit-pie, havent you? And I guess you liked it, too!
Yes, I did, said Nora. Well, if you are sure you can catch them so that they are not hurt or in pain, Jack, I suppose youll have to.
You leave it to me, said Jack. I dont like hurting things any more than you do. But I know quite well how to skin rabbits. Its a mans job, that, so you two girls can leave it to Mike and me. So long as you can cook the rabbits for dinner, thats all you need worry about. And ever since Peggy said she wished we had a cow and some hens, Ive been thinking about it. I believe we could manage to get them over here on to the island - then we would be all right!
Mike, Peggy, and Nora stared at Jack in amazement. What a surprising boy he was! However could they get a cow and hens?
Hurry up and get the supper, girls, said Jack, smiling at their surprised faces. Im hungry. Well think about things to-morrow. Well have our meal now and a quiet read afterwards, then to bed early. To-morrow well go on with the house.
Soon they were munching bread and margarine, and eating lettuce. They saved the currants for another time. Then they got out books and papers and sprawled on the soft heather, reading whilst the daylight lasted. Then they had a dip in the lake, threw on their clothes again, and settled
down for the night in their heathery beds.
Good-night, everyone, said Mike. But nobody answered - they were all asleep!
Willow House is Finished
All morning the four children worked hard at the house. Jack cut down enough young willows to make the walls. Mike dug the holes to drive in the willow stakes. He and Jack drove them deeply in, and the girls jumped for joy to see what fine straight walls of willow the boys were making.
The willow stakes were set a little way apart, and Jack showed the girls how to take thin, supple willow branches and weave them in and out of the stakes to hold the walls in place, and to fill up the gaps. It was quite easy to do this when they knew how, but they got very hot.
Mike went up and down to the spring a down times that morning to fetch water! They all drank pints of it, and were glad of its coldness. The sun was really very hot, though it was nice and shady in the green willow thicket.
It begins to look like a house now, said Jack, pleased. Look, this front gap here is where we shall have the door. We can make that later of long stakes interwoven with willow strips, and swing it on some sort of a hinge so that it opens and shuts. But we dont need a door at present.
That day all the walls were finished, and the girls had gone a good way towards weaving the stakes together so that the walls stood firmly and looked nice and thick.
In the olden days people used to fill up the gaps with clay and let it dry hard, said Jack. But I dont think theres any clay on this island, so we must stuff up the cracks with dried bracken and heather. That will do nicely. And the willow stakes we have rammed into the ground will grow, and throw out leaves later on, making the wall thicker still.