The Swiss Family Robinson

The Swiss family were on a ship in the Pacific. "Can we explore downstairs?", asked little Franz. "OK", said Mother.

Franz's older brothers Hans and Ernst went with him. In the dark rooms under the deck, they saw dogs, horses, and a lot of boxes and barrels.

At the same time, their oldest brother, Fritz, spoke to some children on the deck. "We're going to live in Australia", said a Scottish girl, Jenny Montrose, excitedly.

Suddenly the sky went dark. Father stopped writing his journal. "There's going to be a storm", he told Fritz. "Find your brothers and bring them to our room".

In bed that night, the Swiss family listened to the storm. Big waves hit the ship noisily. "Are we going to be all right?", Ernst asked his Father. "I don't know", Father answered.

Up on the deck, the ship's men were tired. They couldn't see in the rain. "Oh, no! Rocks!", one of them cried. Just then, there was a terrible noise at the front of the ship.

Father ran to the deck. When he came back, his face was white. "Everybody's getting into the ship's boats", he said. "Be quick!"

But when the family arrived on the deck, there was no boat for them.

When they went to their room, Mother cried, "The ship's going down. I can feel it!"

"I saw some barrels downstairs", Fritz said. "Let's make a raft with them. Then we can leave the ship on that".

Father and the older boys went downstairs for the barrels. When Ernst opened the door to one room, two dogs ran out. Fritz and Father found barrels, tools, and rope, but they couldn't make the raft in the storm. So they waited for the morning.

Back in their room, Mother gave some bread to the boys.

"Are we all going to die tonight?", Father thought.

The next morning, the weather was better. The Swiss family went up on the deck. The front of the ship was under the water, but they were near an island.

The older boys brought the barrels up from downstairs. Father brought some tools and made the barrels into a raft with ropes and wood.

That afternoon, the raft was ready. Father and the boys put it into the sea. Then the family took their things, and they got on it. But the waves were big and their raft was very little. Could it carry them all to the island?

When they moved away from the ship, Franz said, "Look! The dogs are in the water behind us. Ernst quickly pulled them on to the raft.

"Rocks", Father cried suddenly. "Go left!"

Big waves hit them, and water went over the raft. But slowly the island came nearer.

Mother was very happy when they arrived at the beach. The boys wanted to explore the cliffs and tall trees near them. "OK", said Father, "but don't go far".

After that, Mother began looking for wood. But just then, she heard Hans. He was in the water near some rocks.

"Ouch!", he cried. "Something's got my leg!"