Page:The Swiss Family Robinson, In Words of One Syllable.djvu/60

48 took home with him, in the hope that he might tame it and teach it to speak.

Our path was now so clear that we could walk side by side with ease, and talk of what we had seen.

"How came you," said Fritz, "to know so much of the queer beasts, trees, and plants what we have found here?"

"When young," said I, "I used to read all the books that fell in my way; and those that told of strange lands and what was to be seen in them had for me as great a charm as they have for Ernest, who has read a great deal, and knows more of plants than you do."

"Well," said he, "I will do the same if I but get the chance. Can you tell what is the name of that huge tree on the right? It must be at least three score feet high. See, there are balls on the bark."

We went close to it, and found that these balls were of thick gum, which the sun had made quite hard. Fritz tried to pull one of them off, but felt that it clung tight to the bark, thought he could change its shape with his warm hands. "Look," said he, "I feel sure that this is the which we used to clean our school books with." I took a piece of it in my hand, and said, "To be sure it is. What shall we not find in this rich land?" I then told him how the men in the New World