Page:The Swiss Family Robinson - 1851.djvu/405

382 only asked and obtained the skins, to recompense him for the loss of his son. They returned home in triumph, Canda following them with bitter cries, tearing her face with a shark's tooth. From observation of these circumstances, I concluded that Canda must be the mother of my little protégé. My heart sympathized with her, and I even made some steps forward to restore him; but the sight of the savage crowd, with their tattooed bodies, filled me with such terror, that I retreated involuntarily to the grotto, where my children, alarmed by the noise, were hiding themselves.

"'Why do the people ery out so?' said Sophia, 'they frighten me. Don't let them come here, mamnm, or they may carry Minou away.'

"'Certainly,' said I; 'and I should have no right to forbid them. I think they are his friends who are distressed at losing him; I wish I could restore him to them.'

"'Oh, no! mamma,' said Matilda. 'Pray don't give him back; we like him so much, and we will be his little mammas. He will be far happier with us than with those ugly savages, who tied him up like a parcel in the bark, with the moss which pricked him so much; he is much more comfortable in my apron. How he moves his legs as if he wanted to walk; Sophia and I will teach him. Do let us keep him, mimi.'

"Even if I had decided, it was now too late; the savages had passed on to some distance. I, however, explained to Matilda the beauty of the divine precept, 'Do unto others as you would they should do unto you;' asking her how she would have liked to be detained by the savages, and