"We’ll do no more to-day,” said Jack. “We are all tired. I’ll go and see if there are any fish on my line.”
But, alas! there were no fish that night!
“There’s some bread left and a packet of currants,” said Peggy. “And some lettuces and margarine. Shall we have those?”
“This food question is going to be a difficult one,” said Jack thoughtfully. “We’ve plenty of water - we shall soon have a house - but we must have food or we shall starve. I shall catch rabbits, I think.”
“Oh, no, Jack, don’t do that,” said Nora. “I do like rabbits so much.”
“So do I, Nora,” said Jack. “But if rabbits were not caught, the land would soon be overrun with them, you know. You have often had rabbit-pie, haven’t you? And I guess you liked it, too!”
“Yes, I did,” said Nora. “Well, if you are sure you can catch them so that they are not hurt or in pain, Jack, I suppose you’ll have to.”
“You leave it to me,” said Jack. “I don’t like hurting things any more than you do. But I know quite well how to skin rabbits. It’s a man’s job, that, so you two girls can leave it to Mike and me. So long as you can cook the rabbits for dinner, that’s all you need worry about. And ever since Peggy said she wished we had a cow and some hens, I’ve been thinking about it. I believe we could manage to get them over here on to the island - then we would be all right!”
Mike, Peggy, and Nora stared at Jack in amazement. What a surprising boy he was! However could they get a cow and hens?
“Hurry up and get the supper, girls,” said Jack, smiling at their surprised faces. “I’m hungry. We’ll think about things to-morrow. We’ll have our meal now and a quiet read afterwards, then to bed early. To-morrow we’ll go on with the house.”