'
`That they will have to do, in whatever fashion we make the move,' said
I; `but bags and baskets we must have, to put things in, and if you
will turn your attention to providing those, I will set about the
bridge at once. It will be wanted not once, but continually; the stream
will probably swell and be impassable at times, and even as it is, an
accident might happen.'
`Well, well!' cried my wife, `I submit to your opinion; only pray set
about it without delay, for I long to be off. It is an excellent idea
to make a strong place among the cliffs here; the gunpowder especially,
I shall be delighted to see stored here when we go away, for it is
frightfully dangerous to keep so much as we have close to our
habitation.'
`Gunpowder is indeed the most dangerous and at the same time the most
useful thing we have,' said I, `and for both these reasons we must be
especially careful of it. In time I will hollow out a place in the rock
where we can store it safe from either fire or damp.'
By this morning's consultation we had settled the weighty question of
our change of abode, and also chalked out work for the day. When the
children heard of the proposed move their joy was boundless; they began
at once to talk of it as our `journey to the Promised Land', and only
regretted that time must be `wasted', as they said, in bridge-building
before it could be undertaken.
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