"Now then," said I to the little Mother, "what are you and I to do with ourselves."

Schillie.—"Oh, I am perfectly comfortable, now that we are not to be plagued with those girls. Let us sit down here, and now you shall talk to me."

Mother.—"I don't intend to do anything of the sort; I said, 'What shall we do?' merely to know if you had any private business on hand. Because if you have not, I have."

Schillie.—"I have nothing in the world to do, and I have not the least inclination to exert myself, and I won't allow you to do anything either, in spite of your private business."

Mother.—"Nevertheless, whether you help me or not, I am going to build a little hut."

Schillie.—"Good lack! if you are not mad to think of such a thing! I am gasping with heat, and really melt away so fast, on the slightest exertion, and have such indifferent dinners to make amends, that if the captain does not arrive precisely to his date, my skin will be a bag containing nothing but rattling bones."

Mother.—"Don't distress yourself, you look very jolly yet, and if those cannibals come, of whom Madame is so afraid, you will be the first delicate morsel chosen, I am certain. But about this hut."

Schillie.—"Don't, June, you will kill me outright if you mention such hard work again. Let us go and botanize a bit. Did you ever see such a fellow as this! He must be a plantain I think."

Mother.—"Yes! these are the broad leaves that will roof our hut!"

Schillie.—"You will drive me mad with your hut, who wants a hut? and what is the good of putting ourselves into a fever, spoiling our hands, and such like, merely for your whims. Let us go round that point, and see if any turtle land on this island. I am sure it will be a blessing to have something decent to eat."

Mother.—"I shall be delighted to go, but I think we shall dirty our hands much more slaughtering a great turtle than building a nice little hut."

Schillie.—"Now, Mrs. June, if you bother me any more about that hut, I won't stir one finger to help you."

Mother.—"Oh, so you will help me, well! that's all I want, so sit down here while I tell you all about my hut."

She made some ineffectual efforts to escape, was very indignant, stormed, and spluttered, and wound up by saying, "Well! now, my Mistress, what do you wish me to do?" which was exactly the state into which I had intended to bully her. "You know how hot we are in the tent every night," said I. "Good me! and those horrid girls snoring and talking, one worse than another, to say nothing of someone who shall be nameless snoring like ten pigs." "That snorer is not me, I flatter myself, so make no more remarks, but listen, you see I have brought you to a very pretty little spot on the cliffs, and here are six or seven nice little trees, that look so pliant and slender we can bend them into any shape, but you are not listening."

Schillie.—"I wonder what trees these are. They all seem to proceed from the same mass of roots, and yet they are nearly in the form of a square; leaves, shiny, dark, green, pinnated, I cannot make them out."

Mother.—"What does it matter to us about their names and property, if they will do for us to make our hut."

Schillie.—"And how can you imagine that I can make a hut or live in it, until I have found out the name of these trees."

So we were nearly coming to a rupture again, but waiting patiently until she had exhausted every idea on the subject we set to work once more. "You see these trees are in the form of a square already, and will just mark out the size of our hut."

"Yes very well for me, but if our hut has a window you will have to lay with your head out of it, or if a door with your feet ditto."

Mother.—"Come don't be rude about my length of limb. The square is quite seven feet this way, and we may make it double that the other way by cutting down this one tree."

Schillie.—"I wish I knew what those two trees are."

Mother.—"Then we can twist these pliant sort of reeds in and out."

Schillie.—"Reeds, June! those are not reeds, I wonder what these are? They must be all of the same family, only these are young ones. Something of the willow sort, I imagine."

Mother.—"Well! we can twist them in and out between the stems."

Schillie.—"Or perhaps they are a species of gigantic rush, but that we shall know by the flower."

Mother.—"Twist them in and out like basket work."

Schillie.—"I wish you would cease with your twistings in and out, and help me to guess what these things are."

Mother.—"My dear, I have guessed long ago, and think I am quite right too in my guess."

Schillie.—"And why are you so unkind as not to tell me? you know how anxious I am."

Mother.—"I am quite surprised that you did not see at once, they are only gigantic 'fighting cocks,' as we used to call plantain in our youth."

Schillie.—"You are the greatest——, well! I won't say what with your fighting cocks. Come, go on about your blessed old hut."

Mother.—"But it is not an old hut, inasmuch as it is not built yet, or even begun, nor does it seem likely to be begun, as we have quarrelled three times over merely of what it is to be made."

Schillie.—"Then now I won't trouble you any more, I will think of nothing but this hut, and will do whatever you bid me. But you must promise me, that if I help you, that no one else is to share it with us. I won't have any fidgety girls, or sick boys to come and wear one to death with their nonsense."

Mother.—"Pooh, pooh, you know who will be the first to invite them in, however, I only mean it for us two."

So to work we set, and in a short time had so changed our relative positions, that I was scolded for not working hard enough, and having entered thoroughly into the business, she took the command, and I willingly obeyed her sage orders. She had a capital head for contrivance, and consequently treated some of my suggestions with scorn and indifference. In fact, my notion of "twisting in and out" so often mentioned, was immediately pronounced as a trap for musquitos, scorpions, and such like. We were to have our hut made partly of boughs, partly of sods, partly of mud. This was to keep it cool. Over all we placed the large smooth plantain leaves and it really did not look amiss, but something like the little round mushroom huts of the charcoal burners. It took us four days to complete it. We told nobody until it was finished; then, of course everybody wanted to sleep in it. The size of the hut spoke the best answer. At each end we had nailed a strip of sail-cloth, which served for the bed on which to lie, and, wrapped up in a sheet, it was very cool and comfortable. Though Schillie was very uneasy for the first hour, and, upon my remonstrating, muttered, half asleep, "I wish I knew what these trees were."

We satisfied the eager wishers, by promising to help to make huts for all who liked it, and, for the next week, as soon as school hours were over, every minute was employed in this new business. Madame alone preferred the tent, and soon had it to herself. From the sand the little colony of huts looked quite picturesque, perched upon little green knolls or terraces, and great improvements were made, so that ours looked quite a little vulgar affair in comparison to the ornamented mansions which soon appeared. The little ones had now good use for their shells, and the tasteful Sybil and Serena ornamented theirs with fresh flowers every day, and transplanted creepers and other things to train all over their abode.

We found amongst our stores a packet of garden seeds, I having desired the gardener before we left home to put some up, for I had heard that we could grow mustard and cress, endive and parsley, and even lettuces on board, and that it would be a very good thing for the children. Not having specified what I really wanted, on opening the packet we found every species of seed that a kitchen garden would require, and though we laughed at the parcels of beans and peas, and other things impossible to be grown on board, also carrots and turnips, yet they were most opportune in amusing the young ones, for every one must have a garden round their abode, and it was quite surprising to see how quickly the seeds sprang up. In fact, we had so much to amuse us, that a month passed ere we thought one week had gone, and the life we were leading seemed to agree with us all, especially the children. Oscar's fine open countenance bloomed with health, and he grew so manly and tall that we treated him with great respect as the King of the Island, while the small little delicate features of Felix were getting embrowned, fast losing their delicacy; his beautiful starlike eyes were radiant with health, and through the long dark eyelashes, so peculiar to that species of deep grey eye, the pretty pink colour seemed to be fixing its residence there at last.