CHAPTER XVII 



A SUPPOSITION 



"T ET us suppose ourselves, my friends, in the 

 I J heart of a desert country, left to shift for our- 

 selves, without any of the resources that come with 

 civilization. To defend life and procure food are 

 our constant great care. Around us extend endless 

 dark woods where roar, howl, bellow a thousand fe- 

 rocious animals that would tear us to pieces with 

 their claws or quarter us with their horns if they took 

 us by surprise. To shelter ourselves from their at- 

 tack, we have to choose between the refuge of a 

 grotto, the mouth of which we close with fragments 

 of rock rolled painfully into place, and the hollow 

 trunk of an old tree, or, better, its large branches, if 

 we can manage to climb up to them. ' ' 



"It is the story of Robinson Crusoe on his Island, " 

 Emile interrupted. 



' ' Not quite. I am supposing our state much worse 

 than his. Robinson Crusoe had at his disposal a 

 quantity of things saved from the shipwreck tools 

 of all kinds, formidable weapons, guns, powder, and 

 shot. We have nothing, absolutely nothing but our 

 ten fingers. ' ' 



"Not even a knife to cut a stick with?" asked 

 Emile. 



150 



