98 Three Young Crusoe s 



on moonlight nights and on special occasions when 

 a fire had been made in the yard, so it was no wonder 

 William grew excited when he saw all that light- 

 wood. 



As soon as he got home with a bundle of it, he 

 split some and put it in the kitchen to start the fire 

 with, and then stuck a big bamboo post in the ground 

 near the table and filled the hollow end at the top 

 with several sticks, which he intended to light when 

 it began to get dark. For little torches to carry a- 

 round, he split several sticks into fine slivers at one 

 end, leaving the lower end for a handle. 



The lightwood was a great success and was ex- 

 tremely useful. It was also very exciting to go 

 through the forest at night with torches and get a 

 close view of the night life, or to float on the water 

 in the canoe with a bright light at the bow and 

 watch the fishes while they were dazzled. 



Candles 



One discoverv sometimes leads to another. Hen- 

 ry was out alone one day and discovered a tree with 

 berries on it that were covered with wax like those 

 he had seen used for making bayberry candles; so 

 he took home as many as he could carry and boiled 

 them, causing the wax to melt and rise to the top. 



