78

FREDERICK'S VICTORY.

course, darted towards the sheep which was then swimming in advance, but was checked by Frederick's well-directed fire; receiving the entire charge in its head, it beat a retreat. and swam towards the open. At intervals its white shining belly reappeared on the surface of the waves, and a long track of blood proved that he had been seriously, if not mortally, wounded.

HOME ONCE MORE!

79

We reloaded our muskets, to be ready for any event; but, whether the current carried the shark* out to sea, or whether it had plunged into the depths, we saw it no more. I took my place at the rudder, and, impelled by the auspicious breeze, our

boat made a rapid progress. I took care so to direct our course as to give the cattle an easy access to the shore, and after throwing off the ropes which held them to our craft, I allowed them full liberty to reach the land in their own way.

The evening was drawing near, yet none of our family were visible. I had begun to feel uneasy at their absence, when a succession of joyous shouts, and the sight of my children hastening to meet us, followed by their mother, dissipated my fears.

The shark belongs to a genus of cartilaginous fishes, which are found in almost every sea. They are characterized by their elongated form, which tapers gradually towards the tail; by the projection of the muzzle over the mouth; by their formidable apparatus of teeth, and almost incredible voracity. In the White Shark, which frequently attains the length of thirty-five feet, there are six rows of teeth in the upper, and four in the lower jaw; the teeth are triangular, sometimes two inches broad, serrated, and sharpedged. The varieties of the Squalida are numerous, and distinguished by expressive names, indicative of some peculiarity of aspect, as the Hammer-head, the Fox Shark, the Dog-fish, the Tope, the Por beagle, and the Cestracion. To the Scymnidae family belongs the Greenland Shark, which frequents the northern seas; to the Carcharide, the Blue and White Sharks, the latter of which inhabits the warmer regions of ocean; and to the Hamnida, the Basking Shark, which attains very formidable dimensions, but is cf a comparatively harmless character.

80

RUDLY'S EQUESTRIAN FEAT.

After the first transports of affection were somewhat moderated, and we had replied to a volley of questions, we released our poor animals from the apparatus with which they had so long been encumbered. The invention astonished my wife.

"I might long have puzzled my head," said she, "to devise a means of getting the cattle ashore, and yet I should never have thought of anything so simple and ingenious."

"Honour to whom honour is due," I replied; "I must acknowledge that the original conception was Frederick's."

My wife embraced her son in silence; but one could see how her mother's heart rejoiced in the success of her first-born.

Ernest and the others hastened to the boat, where they very loudly and eagerly admired the mast, the sail, and, above all, the flag! We afterwards proceeded to disembark our various treasures. Regular work never agreed very well with Rudly, and speedily quitting us, he undertook the task of completing the release of our cattle from their embarrassing burdens. He laughed heartily at the spectacle of our donkey, still looking doleful in his unaccustomed harness. Our little fellow's hands, however, were not strong enough to disengage him from the cordage; but, as he could not remain quiet, he leaped on the donkey's back, and by dint of his voice, his hands, and even his nails, contrived to stimulate the poor animal into a rapid trot, and direct him towards us.

I could not help laughing aloud at seeing the ass parade himself with his swimming-equipage; but as I did not approve of this somewhat irregular exercise, I hastened to remove the young gentleman from his steed. I was much surprised to see my Rudly belted round with a girdle made of yellow hairy skin, in which was thrust a couple of pistols.

Why, how now, Rudly? where did you obtain this brigandlike decoration?"

"It is my own manufacture," said he, with an air of selfsatisfaction; "but that is not all. Look at our dogs!"

Then I perceived that each of

our dogs was adorned with a

collar of the same kind of skin, which collar, bristling with large nails, had a most formidable, defensive appearance.

THE TWO BROTHERS.

81

"That is well done, my boy, if you both designed and executed it."

"I did it all myself; only mamma helped me a little in the cutting."

"But whence did you get the skin? Where did you find

needles and thread?"

"Frederick's jackal supplied us with stuff," said my wife; "as for needles and thread, surely you know that a good housekeeper is never without them! You men, you think only of great things; we women think of the little, which we often find of assistance in a thousand embarrassing circumstances. Now, do you understand the reason why I crowded so many different articles into what you called the Enchanted Bag, which, I hope, you will find useful on more than one occasion."

It was with considerable dissatisfaction that Frederick perceived the use which Rudly had so freely made of his jackal's splendid hide. He did his best to conceal his ill-humour, but it lent sharpness to the tone in which he complained of the nauseous odour emitted by his brother's girdle. He held his nose, while he said to Rudly,

"Be off with you, young flayer! "Whom do you call 'a flayer'? smell; you left it in the sun."

You will poison me!"

It is your jackal which you

"And, in fact, Frederick," said I, interposing, lest the discussion should grow too warm, "you ought to have thought of that before we left yesterday; we must throw the carcass in the sea, or it will prove a very disagreeable neighbour."

"We may devolve that task, I think, upon him who has so cleverly skinned it," he replied, and still with a dissatisfied air.

"Truly your answer is a very sensible one, and well worthy of my eldest son!" I said to him in a low voice, for I wished him to have the credit of recovering his temper. He understood me.

"Come, come!" he exclaimed, smiling good-humouredly; "it is certainly Rudly who is poisoning us at this moment; but if he will remove his brigand's belt while in our company, I will help him to drag down to the sea my poor jackal's carcass.'

This decision terminated the war of words. I clasped my son's

82

COOKING AN OMELETTE.

hands warmly, that he might see how pleased I was with the selfcontrol he had exhibited.

Meanwhile, we had arrived in the vicinity of our tent, and as I saw no preparations for supper, I told Frederick to bring us a Westphalian ham, which was still soaking in its pickle. Everybody laughed at the order; but their laughter was changed into exclamations of delight when Frederick returned with a fine ham hoisted on his shoulder.

"Oh, this is capital!" said my wife; "the sight of the ham makes one's mouth water; but before it can be cooked, it ought to remain in the open air until to-morrow. I have here some dozens of eggs which we collected in our excursion this morning; and if, as Ernest assures me, they are turtles' eggs, I can dish up an excellent omelette; for, thank God, there is no want of butter."

"Yes, papa; at least, they have all the appearance: they are white balls, with a shell like moistened parchment; we found them in the sand on the sea-shore."

"They are a treasure! And how did you make the discovery?” Oh," replied my wife, "that is a part of our chronicle of adventure, which I will relate to you by-and-by."

"Well, then, go now and prepare your omelette; you shall tell us your tale during the dessert. As for the ham, I can promise you, from the way in which it has been smoked, that the flesh is so tender we might eat it raw if we minced it into small pieces; still I do not doubt but that it will taste infinitely better when properly cooked. And now, my boys, while your mother is getting ready our supper, let us bring hither the remainder of our cargo."

Everybody accompanied me to the shore, and, with the help of their little but willing arms, the task was soon completed. We collected into one troop our domestic animals, some of whom still carried their floating-apparatus; having relieved them of their bonds, we returned to our tent, whither our manageress sunmoned us to partake of the finest omelette that was ever seen. The dish was served up on the lid of the butter-cask; the table