Yes, yes, said Jack, holding up one of his claws; you may well wonder at his size: this was the frightful claw which seized my leg, and I believe that if I had not had on my thick sea pantaloons, he would have bit it through and through; but I have taught him what it is to attack me: I have paid him well.
Oh, ho! Mr. Boaster, cried I, you give a pretty account of the matter. Now mine would be, that if I had not been near, the lobster would have shown you another sort of game; for the slap he gave you in the face compelled you, I think, to let go your hold. And it is well it should be thus; for he fought with the arms with which nature had supplied him, but you must have recourse to a great stone for your defence. Believe me, Jack, you have no great reason to boast of the adventure.
Ernest, ever eager about his meals, now bawled out that the lobster had better be put into the soup, which would give it an excellent flavour; but this his mother opposed, observing, that we must be more economical of our provisions than that, for the lobster of itself would furnish a dinner for the whole family. I now left them, and walked again to the scene of this adventure, and examined the shallow. I then made another attempt upon my two casks, and at length succeeded in getting them into the shallow, and in fixing them there securely on their bottoms.
On my return, I complimented Jack on his being the first to have procured us an animal that might serve for our subsistence, and I promised him for his own share, the famous claw which had already furnished us with so lively a discussion.
Ah! but I have seen something too that is good to eat, said Ernest; and I should have got it if it had not been in the water, so that I must have wetted my feet——;
Oh, that is a famous story, said Jack; I can tell you what he saw,—some nasty muscles: why, I would not eat one of them for the world.—Think of my lobster!
That is not true, Jack; for it was oysters, and not muscles, that I saw: I am sure of it, for they stuck against the foot of the rock, and I know they must be oysters.
Fortunate enough, my dainty gentleman, cried I, addressing myself to Ernest; and since you are so well acquainted with the place where these shell-fish can be found, you will be so obliging as to dismiss your fears about wetting your feet, and to return and procure us some. In such a situation as ours, every member of the family must be actively employed for the common good, and not be afraid of wetting his feet. Take example by Fritz and your father: they bear a greater evil, the scorching heat of the sun, without complaining.
I will do my best with all my heart, answered Ernest; and at the same time I will bring home some salt, of which I have seen immense quantities in the holes of the rocks, where I suppose it is dried by the sun. I tasted some of it, and it was excellent. Papa, is it not left there by the sea?
No doubt it is, Mr. Reasoner, for where else do you think it could come from? You would have done more wisely if you had brought us a bag of it, instead of spending your time in such profound reflections upon an operation so simple and obvious; and if you do not wish to dine upon a soup without flavour, you had better run and fetch us a little immediately.