Friday, December 13.—Towards the end of school there was a cry of "Sail, ho!" The ship is thought to be another whaler.
Last night I planted out nearly fifty sunflowers in one bed, so there ought to be a blaze of colour. Our wheat is coming on well. Miss Cotton has a supper to-night for the men who have been working for her. It was announced by Bob Green getting on to the roof of the house and shouting out.
The men returned this evening from the whaler, from which they have got more flour and material. Repetto got some material for us; but it is poor stuff and rather expensive.
CHAPTER XXV
Monday, December l6.—Every one is busy preparing for Christmas. There's much blueing and starching of clothes. We were up early as we have started house-cleaning.
Tuesday, December l7.—The kitchen was whitewashed before breakfast, and the passage this afternoon.
This time of year it is necessary to water the garden every night, the ground dries so quickly. The children come and do it for us and weed and sweep.
The larder is not altogether a success. Though it has a fair amount of ventilation it is rather stuffy.
Here is a list of some books which were given to William on the whaler the other day: Plutarch's Lives of Alcibiades and Coriolanus; Trips to the Moon, by Lucian; Voyagers' Tales, by Richard Hakluyt; Areopagitica, by Milton; Lives of English Poets, Banquet of Plato, and the Light of Asia, by Sir E. Arnold. One would hardly expect to find such books on a whaler.
Friday, December 20.—We are sitting in our "parlour," which is bespattered with whitewash and its furniture covered with sheets and paper, and must resign ourselves to a day or two of this mode of living, as parts of the room will most likely have to be whitewashed again. We hope the wind will veer round to the west, so that the room may dry. At present a north wind is blowing, which makes the walls oozy with damp and the atmosphere very steamy. We get a good deal of this unpleasant wind at this time of the year, together with heavy mists at sea.