Mother.—"And you, Gatty."
"Oh," said Gatty, getting very red, and twisting her pocket handkerchief into a series of knots, "I don't know much about such things, but," seeing she must speak out, "perhaps stowing them away under a big tree would do."
Zoë.—"I think the same as Gatty, Mother, for it must be impossible for the heaviest rain to get through some of the thick trees out there."
Winny.—"I am not certain which plan I think best; but I will wait and hear what Mother thinks before I quite decide."
Lilly.—"I think digging a deep hole, and burying them in the sand would be the best."
Oscar.—"Just as if the rain would not go through the sand. You always think of such out-of-the-way things, Lilly."
Mother.—"But I do not think hers's such a bad idea, I think it a very good one for such a little girl; but what do you think best yourself?"
Oscar.—"I think we had much better put them all safe in the cavern in which we sleep, especially the powder and shot, because if that gets wet it is done for, and we can dry ourselves by a fire, and yet not be hurt."
Madame.—"Oh, my dear boy, you do not know how dangerous it is to get wet in this climate, and as for sleeping out all night, you would not be alive for one week."
Oscar.—"But it is of very great consequence, Madame, that we should preserve the guns, and powder, and shot. Supposing your friends, the savages, should come, how are we to kill them if I have no powder and shot, I should like to know."