So severely had we dealt with our supper the previous night, that we had little to eat but the biscuits, which were so dry and hard, that, hungry as we were, we could not swallow much. Fritz and I took some cheese to help them down, while my wife and younger sons soaked theirs in water. Ernest roamed down to the shore, and looked about for shellfish.
Presently he returned with a few whelks. `Ah,' said he, `if we had but some butter.'
`My good boy,' I replied, `Your perpetual "if, if", quite annoys me; I would rather eat a bit of cheese with my biscuit at once, than think of ifs, which bring us so meagre a harvest. Why do you not sit down and eat cheese like the rest of us?'
`Not while I can get butter,' he said, `see here, father,' and he pointed to a large cask, `that barrel contains excellent salt butter. I made a little opening in it with a knife; and see, I got enough to spread nicely upon this piece of biscuit.'
`Really, Ernest,' I said, `we are indebted to you. I will open the cask.' So saying, I took a knife and carefully cut a small hole, so that I could extract the butter without exposing the mass of it to the effects of the air and heat. Filling a cocoanut shell with the good Dutch butter, we once more sat down, toasting our biscuits before the fire and spreading them with butter.
While we were thus employed, I noticed that the two dogs were lying unusually quietly by my side. I at first attributed this drowsiness to their large meal during the night, but I soon discovered that it arose from a different cause; the faithful animals had not escaped unhurt from their late combat, but had received several deep and painful wounds, especially about the neck. The dogs began to lick each other on the places which they could not reach with their own tongues, and my wife carefully dressed the wounds with butter from which she had extracted the salt by washing.
`One of the things we must not forget to look for in the vessel,' said Fritz, `is a spiked collar for each of the dogs, as a protection to them should they again be called upon to defend themselves and us from wild beasts.'
`Oh yes,' exclaimed Jack, `but I can make spiked collars, if mother will give me some help.'
`Try by all means, my little fellow,' said I, `and persuade your mother to assist you; and now, Fritz,' I continued, `we must be starting, for you and I are to make a trip to the wreck.'
`That I will, my boy,' she cried, `for I would like to see what new fancy has come into your head. And all of us must remember that we may make as many new inventions as we can think of. We cannot better employ your time, and if you produce something useful, you will be rewarded with the commendations of all.'