beautify the interior of the cabin.

Skins of lion and panther covered the floor. Cupboards and

bookcases lined the walls. Odd vases made by his own hand

from the clay of the region held beautiful tropical flowers.

Curtains of grass and bamboo covered the windows, and,

most arduous task of all, with his meager assortment of tools

he had fashioned lumber to neatly seal the walls and ceiling

and lay a smooth floor within the cabin.

That he had been able to turn his hands at all to such

unaccustomed labor was a source of mild wonder to him.

But he loved the work because it was for her and the tiny life

that had come to cheer them, though adding a hundredfold

to his responsibilities and to the terribleness of their situation.

During the year that followed, Clayton was several times

attacked by the great apes which now seemed to continually

infest the vicinity of the cabin; but as he never again

ventured outside without both rifle and revolvers he had

little fear of the huge beasts.

He had strengthened the window protections and fitted a

unique wooden lock to the cabin door, so that when he

hunted for game and fruits, as it was constantly necessary for

him to do to insure sustenance, he had no fear that any animal

could break into the little home.

At first he shot much of the game from the cabin windows,

but toward the end the animals learned to fear the strange

lair from whence issued the terrifying thunder of his rifle.

In his leisure Clayton read, often aloud to his wife, from

the store of books he had brought for their new home.

Among these were many for little children--picture books,

primers, readers--for they had known that their little child

would be old enough for such before they might hope to return

to England.

At other times Clayton wrote in his diary, which he had

always been accustomed to keep in French, and in which he

recorded the details of their strange life. This book he kept

locked in a little metal box.