There must then be some one living
on the land. He quickly put on his shoes and his hat, took his
parasol, and ran to the rock where he had found the goat.
He called, he sought, he peered about to see if some shepherd were
there somewhere. He found nothing. He found no trace of man. There
was no road, no bridge, no field, no logs, not even a chip or shaving
to show that the hand of man had been there.
But what was that? In the distance ran a herd of goats over the rocks.
But no dog followed them and no shepherd. They ran wild on the island.
They had perhaps been left there by some ship. As he came home he
noticed the goat sorrowfully. The bandage had become dry. The goat
might be suffering pain. Robinson loosened the bandage, washed the
wound again and bound it up anew. It was so trustful. It ran after
him and he decided always to protect it.
"I will always be your shepherd and take care of you," he said.
XIX
ROBINSON BUILDS A HOME FOR HIS GOAT
But the goat was a new care. Wild animals could come and kill and
carry Robinson's goat away while he slept, and if the goat got
frightened while he was hunting it would run away.
"I will have to make me a little yard in front of my cave," he said,
"for my goat to live in." But from whence must come the tools? He had
neither hatchet nor saw. Where then were the stakes to come from? He
went in search of something. After hunting for a long time he came
upon a kind of thistle about two feet higher than himself, having at
its top a red torch-like blossom.
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