FRIDAY
PUSS, JUNIOR, and Tom Thumb enjoyed their supper at Crusoe Castle better than any meal they ever had. "Even when I visited the Man in the Moon, the cheese wasn't as good as this," said Puss.
"Glad you like it," said Mr. Crusoe, "I made it myself from goat's milk. I have some fine goats, let me tell you. I made me this coat from an old Nanny goat. Do you wonder how Crusoe could do so?"
"Well, I suppose there are no tailors on Crusoe Island," said Tom Thumb.
"I've never met any," replied Mr. Crusoe with a laugh. "I've never met anybody so far except goats and kids, parrots and monkeys, ducks and drakes, snakes and lizards."
"Where did you get Snoozer and Caromel and Caroline?" asked Puss.
"They came off the ship with me when it was wrecked," said Mr. Crusoe. "That is, I brought them off the next day when I went out on the raft to the wreck. And they've been with me ever since."
"Oh, by the way," Puss, Junior, suddenly exclaimed. "Is Friday here?"
"Oh, yes," cried Tom Thumb, "where is Friday?"
Mr. Crusoe got up and walked over to a tall pole and looked over carefully the notches cut into the wood. "Let me see," he said. "To-day is Thursday. Yes, that's right; Friday will be here to-morrow."
"You've made a mistake, Mr. Crusoe," said Puss, with a laugh.
"Have I," he replied, looking over his wooden calendar carefully a second time.
"I don't mean the day," said Puss. "I mean your man Friday."
"Oh, you mean my black man Friday," said Mr. Crusoe. "Oh, I gave him a holiday. He'll be here to-morrow."
"I'm very anxious to see him," said Tom Thumb.
"He'll be surprised when he sees you, too," said Mr. Crusoe, with a grin. "He's never seen a white man but me."
By this time it was quite dark, so Mr. Crusoe lighted some very nice home-made candles and stuck them here and there in the cave. They gave a very soft light. The waves on the beach murmured gently, and pretty soon Snoozer was snoring and Caromel and Caroline were fast asleep on an old sack in a corner.
"Let us turn in," said Mr. Crusoe, showing Puss and Tom a very comfortable hammock. In a short time everybody was sound asleep and snoring away in Crusoe Cave.