“I am sure that Frank forgot to post the letter we wrote, asking them to send the animals to us,” Jenny answered merrily.
“What, Frank, did you forget?” asked Fritz. “A thoughtful, attentive fellow like you?”
“No,” said Frank, “it was Jenny who forgot to tie a note to her albatross’s leg before he flew off.”
“How thoughtless of me!” the young woman exclaimed.
“But it is not certain that the postman would have taken the letter to the right address,” Dolly said.
“Who knows?” Frank replied. “Everything that is happening now is so extraordinary.”
“Well,” said Captain Gould, “since we can’t count upon Storm or Grumbler or Whirlwind or the onager, the best thing we can do is to trust to our own legs.”
“And to step lively,” John Block added.
They started with the firm intention only to halt at mid-day. From time to time James and Frank and the boatswain carried Bob, although the child wanted to walk. So they lost no time crossing the forest.
James and Susan Wolston, who knew nothing of the marvels of New Switzerland, were filled with constant admiration of the luxuriant vegetation, which is far finer than that of Cape Colony.