"What is the good of pressing them, father?" inquired Ernest.
"It is in order to express the sap, which contains poison. The dry pith is wholesome and nourishing. Still, I do not mean to taste my cakes, until I have tried the effect on our fowls and the ape."
By this time our supply of roots being reduced to damp powder, the canvas bag was filled with it, and tying it tightly up, I attempted to squeeze it, but soon found that mechanical aid was necessary in order to express the moisture. My arrangements for this purpose were as follows: A strong, straight beam was made flat on one side, smooth planks were laid across two of the lower roots of our tree; on these we placed the sack, above the sack another plank, and over that the long beam; one end was passed under a root near the sack, the other projected far forward. And to that we attached all the heaviest weights we could think of, such as an anvil, iron bars, and masses of lead. The consequent pressure on the bag was enormous, and the sap flowed from it to the ground.
"Will this stuff keep any time?" inquired my wife, who came to see how we were getting on. "Or must all this great bagful be used at once? In that case we shall have to spend the whole of to-morrow in baking cakes."
"Not at all," I replied; "once dry, the flour in barrels will keep fresh a long time. We shall use a great deal of this, however, as you shall see."
"Do you think we might begin now, father?" said Fritz. "There does not seem the least moisture remaining."
"Certainly," said I. "But I shall only make one cake to-day for an experiment; we must see how it agrees with Master Knips and the hens before we set up a bakehouse in regular style."
I took out a couple of handfuls of flour for this purpose, and with a stick loosened and stirred the remainder, which I intended should be again pressed. While an iron plate, placed over a good fire, was getting hot, I mixed the meal with water and a little salt, kneaded it well, and forming a thickish cake, laid it on the hot plate, when one side presently becoming a nice yellow-brown color, it was turned and was quickly baked.
It smelt so delicious that the boys quite envied the two hens and the monkey, who were selected as the subjects of this interesting experiment, and they silently watched them gobbling up the bits of cake I gave them, until Fritz turned to me, saying, "Suppose the cake is poisonous, what effect will it have on the creatures? Will they be stupefied, or will they suffer pain?"