CHAPTER XXIII 



Fixing up for Company 



There were many little things that had been 

 neglected about the house while the tree studies 

 were in progress, and;, besides, many things were 

 wearing out and had to be replaced. A few new 

 conveniences, also, had long been in the minds of 

 of the boys, who thought they might as well take 

 a week or two now and put everything in first class 

 shape before starting their menagerie. 



They made tables, chairs, and other furniture of 

 bamboo and some of the prettiest woods; baskets of 

 various sizes and shapes of split reeds and strips of 

 palm leaves; matting of rushes, corn husks, and the 

 leaves of several palms; dishes, forks, and spoons of 

 shells, wood, cocoanuts, calabash fruits, and gourds; 

 ropes and strings of lace-bark, bombax, agave, yucca, 

 wild cotton, and other fibers; beds of Florida moss; 

 pillows of silk-cotton; and hair-brushes of cocoanut 

 fiber. 



Better and more comfortable clothing was made 

 from bombax and lace-bark; while manv beautiful 

 beans had been discovered and collected for Edna's 



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