1 8 Three Young Crusoes 



cept of hardened clay, and there was nothing that 

 would ordinarily be called attractive; but to the 

 tired and homeless little wanderers it seemed like a 

 paradise. 



Not a human being was discovered anywhere, 

 without or within, although they knocked loudly and 

 shouted at the top of their voices. It evidently did 

 not occur to them that the owners of the house 

 might be dangerous savages. Beyond the house, 

 they found the kitchen, with its peculiar earthen 

 stove and its rough walls hung with seeds and 

 bunches of vegetables. A small bedroom adjoined the 

 kitchen, evidently intended for the cook. There was 

 no diningroom, but between the house and the kitch- 

 en, under a royal palm, there was a large table with 

 benches fastened in the ground at its sides. 



'* I wonder where the spring is," said Edna. Then, 

 for the first time, they noticed the thick, thorny 

 hedge of spurge which separated the house from the 

 garden and grove, making a large, square yard. In 

 the corner of the yard near the grove, shaded by a 

 clump of cocoanut palms, they found the spring, 

 with a cosy bench beside it, and the boys made 

 Edna sit down until she had drunk all the water she 

 could. 



