40 JUNGLE ISLAND 



and nothing could have been better for removing 

 these woody thorns. It did not take long to 

 clear them off as high as we could reach, although 

 they had a milky juice that spattered unpleasantly 

 into our faces as we worked. 



We started driving the spikes early the next 

 morning. Linder could drive the first one stand- 

 ing on the ground, and he easily sunk it half its 

 length into the soft wood, leaving a good seven- 

 inch step. Then his troubles began. He did not 

 want to climb, he did not want to work. He 

 wanted a ladder to stand on, or an auger to bore 

 holes for the spikes, or anything he could think 

 of that we didn't have. The job "humbugged" 

 him, he said, and I knew what he meant, even if I 

 had never heard the word used that way before. 

 Finally he decided that he could go on if he had 

 a long pole for a sort of ladder. 



While he was away looking for his pole, I drove 

 the next spike two feet above the first. Then I 

 tied myself to the second spike and stood on the 

 lower one while I drove the third, two feet higher. 



Linder's pole turned out to be convenient to 

 use for one foot while the other was on a spike. 

 We went on up the tree, driving spikes turn and 

 turn about until we had reached the top of the 

 pole. The work went slowly. My muscles were 

 soft, and Linder was badly frightened when he 

 was off the ground. It was still harder when we 

 had to stand with both feet on one spike. We 



