Danny Dunn on a Desert Island Read Online Free PDF Page B

jungle.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Back to the Stone Age
    When Joe and Dr. Grimes had gone, the Professor and Danny climbed up to a ledge on the fringe of the forest. Here there was a kind of pocket of earth where some coarse grass grew, and from this point they could look down upon the beach and over the tumbled expanse of smooth rocks.
    â€œMost of that is lava flow,” the Professor explained. “This island obviously is an extinct volcano.”
    â€œWell, I hope it doesn’t decide to go back in business,” said Danny. Then, more seriously, he added, “Oh, I wanted to ask you something, Professor Bullfinch.”
    â€œWhat is it, Dan?”
    â€œWell, is the duel between you and Dr. Grimes still on?”
    Professor Bullfinch glanced at him in surprise. “The duel? Why, I’d forgotten all about it.”
    â€œI know we’re all on the same island, but—”
    â€œIt isn’t a game any more, Danny,” the Professor said soberly, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
    â€œI know that.”
    â€œIt may be very serious indeed.” He gave a little snort. “I am just remembering all the things we thought were basic and necessary when we were planning the trip. Now we’re without anything.”
    â€œThen you mean we’d better forget about the duel?” Danny asked, a little sadly.
    Professor Bullfinch said, “Hmm. I didn’t say that. It might make our wits sharper, you know. Give us something to aim for, each day. Keep us on our toes, as you might say. I think perhaps—well, I think perhaps we ought to do it, provided Dr. Grimes is willing, of course.”
    Danny brightened. “Swell! That’s great. Now let’s make a shelter that’ll show how good you are.”
    The Professor surveyed the ledge. It was protected on one side by a ridge, or hump, of boulders, and at its back rose the tree-covered hill.
    â€œI thought,” he said, “of a modest little place. Four bedrooms, perhaps, and a sort of common room which could be made into a laboratory—”
    Danny raised his eyebrows. “That would take a lot of lumber. And I’m not sure we could get it done by tonight…”
    â€œEr—no, perhaps not. A single room, then, with four bunk-beds.”
    â€œWe can’t make beds, Professor. We’d need a saw and a plane, and bedsprings, and mattresses. And even putting up four walls and a roof would be a lot of work.”
    The Professor scratched his nose thoughtfully. “I may be a bit too ambitious,” he admitted, with a sigh. “I am thinking too far ahead. I suppose a simple lean-to would be best.”
    â€œThere are some thin, tall young trees growing up on the hill,” Danny said. “But even that will be hard to do without an ax.”
    Professor Bullfinch sat down on a rock, and absently put his empty pipe between his teeth. “Wish I’d thought to fill my pockets with tobacco,” he said. “Look here, Dan. Do you remember our talk about tools before we started this trip?”
    â€œYes, I do.”
    â€œIt strikes me that we’re back at the beginnings of mankind. Robinson Crusoe had the tools he’d saved from the wreck, but we have almost nothing. A couple of pocketknives, some rope, and some fishhooks. We’re almost where Stone Age men started. And we have the same equipment they had.”
    â€œWhat equipment did Stone Age men have?”
    â€œTheir hands, my boy. And stone and wood. You see, most animals can live in only one kind of environment. Monkeys live in trees and are good climbers; moles live in the ground and have built-in shovels for digging. But men can live anywhere at all, because they have hands and memories and imaginations. So they can invent tools to help them adapt to any sort of surroundings. We can survive here by inventing tools.”
    Danny nodded slowly. “Invent a housebuilding tool?”
    â€œOf