found that there were goats
running wild on the island, and
he often succeeded in shooting some
of them. But he saw that his powder and
shot would, in time, all be gone, and that
to have a steady supply of goat's flesh, he
must breed them in flocks. So he set a
trap to take some alive, and caught sev.
eral. He enclosed a piece of ground for
them to run in; and in time had a large flock
which furnished him with all the meat he needed.
For a long time he brooded over the idea of making a canoe out
of the trunk of a tree, and at last he succeeded in shaping with his

axe a rough vessel in which he sailed around the island.

Years and years of this lonely life passed away. Although
Crusoe had, to some extent, become contented with his solitary lot
yet at times a terrible sense of loneliness and desolation would
ro to the top of a hill

C
oS

come over him. Many times would. he
where he could look ‘out to sea in hopes
of catching sight of. a ship. Sometimes

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

he would fancy that, at a vast distance, he ~
spied a sail. He would
please himself with hope
of it, but after looking at ;
it steadily, till he was al
most blind, would
lose it quite. ‘Then
|
|
in an agony of misery \
and despair he would
sit down and weep and
sob like a child. |

But one day he saw a sight which, while it gave him cause for
alarm, served to turn his thoughts in a new channel. It was the
print of a naked foot upon the sand near the shore. It filled him
with a new fear, for *it showed that the island must sometimes be
visited by savages.

One morning, going out quite early, he could see the light of
a fire about two miles away. He stole up under the cover of trees
and bushes until he was near enough to observe what was going on.
He saw that five canoes were drawn up on the shore, while a
swarm of naked savages were dancing about a fire. Presently they
dragged two poor wretches from the boats. One of them was
knocked down at once, and several of the savages set to work to