"Fetch your mother, Jack," I said as we stood at the mouth of the dark cave.
"And bring as many candles as you can.
We'll need some light to explore this place."
Jack jumped into the cart and urged Storm, the buffalo, to hurry.
He soon returned with my wife, Franz, and the two dogs.
Everyone was excited about our discovery.
"Are we really going to live here?" asked Franz. "Where will I sleep?"
"How big is this cave?" asked my wife.
"Let's light some candles and find out," I replied.
With our candles lit, we entered the cave and everyone fell silent.
The vast cave was like a crystal palace.
The candles cast a golden light on the walls, which sparkled like stars.
Great crystal pillars rose from the floor and hung from the ceiling.
"What are these crystals?" asked Ernest.
"Rock salt," I said. "And look at the floor. It's made of hard, dry sand.
We can live here without the slightest fear of getting wet during the rainy season."
We returned to Falconhurst with our minds full of wonder at our discovery.
All we talked about was our new house.
Our nest in the tree had seemed so safe and comfortable compared to Tentholm.
But now we decided to keep Falconhurst only as a summer residence.
So we set to work on the cave, which we named Rockburg.
The first thing was to provide light and air.
We cut openings in the rock, and fit them with a door and some windows we'd brought from the ship.
Then we divided the cave into rooms.
Our living space included areas for sitting, eating, and sleeping.
To the right were our kitchen and workshop. To the left were the stables.
Behind all this, in the dark recess of the cave, was our storage area.
We had learned from the last rainy season that we needed to have a proper fireplace and chimney.
Our stable arrangements were much better this time too.
And there was plenty of space in our workshop for the biggest project.
During this time we made frequent trips to Tentholm.
The shore provided us with plenty to eat: lobsters, crabs, and mussels.
But one morning there was an additional surprise for us.
The sea rolled and heaved, and rays from the sun lit up the water as if it were on fire.
"The sea is boiling!" exclaimed Jack.
"Why are there flashes of silver in the water?" asked Ernest.
"And what are those birds doing?" said Fritz.
Hovering over the water, hundreds of birds were screaming loudly.
Then they dove toward the water.
Meanwhile a shining, sparkling silver mass in the water rolled directly toward our shore.
"That's a shoal of herring," I said.
"Millions of these fish swim together.
Pursued by larger fish, they make for shallow waters near the shore.
And that's where we'll catch them."
We soon had a fishery in operation.
Jack and Fritz stood in the water with baskets and scooped up the fish.
After cleaning the fish, Ernest and I preserved them in barrels with layers of salt.
When the barrels were full, we rolled them away to the cool storage room at the back of our cave.
Now we had not only a place to live during the rainy season, but also some more food.
And our good fortune did not end with the herring.
About a month later, Jack spied another shoal of fish.
I ran down to the shore with him and realized that these big fish were sturgeon.
Jack was delighted with his discovery.
"These are proper fish!" he exclaimed. "Not like those puny herring.
How do you preserve these fish—salted or smoked?"
"Not so fast," I replied.
"Tell me how you're going to catch them, and I'll tell you how to preserve them."
"Oh, I'll catch them soon enough," he replied.
He darted off to Rockburg and returned with a bow and arrow and a ball of string.
After tying the string to the arrow, he advanced to the water's edge.
His arrow flew from the bow, and to my surprise struck one of the largest fish.
"Help! Father, help!" cried Jack as the fish darted away with the arrow.
"Help! Or he will pull me into the water!"
I ran to his side and together we struggled with the huge fish.
As soon as we landed it, Fritz and Ernest appeared.
Eager to participate, they rushed off for fishing equipment.
They returned and were soon in the water, Fritz with a harpoon and Ernest with a fishing rod.
After some time Fritz managed to harpoon a gigantic sturgeon.
But he couldn't land it even with our help.
"I'd hate to lose this fish." He panted. "It must be eight feet long."