Ok, first, have you downloaded devx and kernel source for Puppy 431?
If you have, and have a frugal or full install, this should still work.
Go to
www.murga-linux.com/puppy.
Click on Additonal Software. CLick on Index. Click on Utility. Toward the end of that you will find a link to SFS_Installer.
Download that Pet file and click on it to install.
Then, when you want to compile something, click on the SFS_installer in the utility section of the menu and select the SFS file you want to install. No rebooting needed. When you want to remove the SFS file, use the Puppy Package Manager to remove it just like you would if you were removing a PET package. Still without rebooting.
After installing the devx SFS file, open a terminal and type either "make" or "gcc". to test.
Hope that helps.