Come, come, my lads, I will have no disputes, said I. Fritz, you are to blame in ridiculing your brother for the mistake he made. Ernest, you are also to blame for indulging that little peevishness of yours. But as to the animal, you all are right and all are wrong; for he partakes at once of the nature of the dog, the wolf, and the fox; and for his skin, it is really of a golden tint! The boys in an instant became friends; and then followed questions, answers, and wonder in abundance.
And now, my boys, let me remind you, that he who begins the day without first addressing the Almighty, ought to expect neither success nor safety in his undertakings. Let us therefore acquit ourselves of this duty before we engage in any other occupation. Having finished our prayers, the next thing thought of was breakfast; for the appetites of young boys open with their eyes. Today their mother had nothing to give them for their morning meal but some biscuit, which was so hard and dry, that it was with difficulty we could swallow it. Fritz asked for a piece of cheese to eat with it, and Ernest spied about the second cask we had drawn out of the sea, and which was standing in our kitchen, to discover whether, as we had all imagined, it also contained some Dutch cheeses. In a minute or two he came up to us, joy sparkling in his eyes. Papa, said he, if we had but a little butter spread upon our biscuit, do you not think it would improve it?
That indeed it would; but—if,—if; these never-ending ifs are but a poor dependence. For my part, I had rather eat a bit of cheese with my biscuit at once, than think of ifs, which bring us so meagre a harvest.
Ernest.—Perhaps though, the ifs may be found to be worth something, if we were to knock out the head of this cask.
Father.—What cask, my boy? and what are you talking of?
Ernest.—I am talking of this cask, which is filled with excellent salt butter. I made a little opening in it with a knife; and see, I got out enough of it to spread nicely upon this piece of biscuit.
That glutton instinct of yours for once is of some general use, answered I; and justice requires that I should also commend, with moderation, the excellence of your nose. But now let us profit by the event. Who will have some butter on their biscuits? The boys surrounded the cask in a moment, while I was in some perplexity as to the safest and most speedy method of getting out its contents. Fritz proposed taking off the topmost hoop, by which means one of the ends could be got out. But this I objected to, observing, that we should be careful not to loosen the staves, as the great heat of the sun would not fail to melt the butter, which would run out, and thus be wasted. The idea occurred to me, that I would make a hole in the bottom of the cask, sufficiently large to take out a small quantity of butter at a time; and I immediately set about manufacturing a little wooden shovel, to use it for the purpose. All this succeeded vastly well, and we sat down to breakfast, some biscuits and a cocoa-nut shell full of salt butter being placed upon the ground, round which we all assembled, and none of us failing from time to time to wish for a fairy’s wand, to have enabled us to add a little milk from the cow, or from some cocoa-nuts, to quench our thirst. We however toasted our biscuit, and while it was hot applied the butter, and contrived, without the fairy’s wand, to make a hearty breakfast.
Our dogs allowed us to finish our meal in tranquillity. They were sleeping by our side; but I did not fail to remark, that their late encounter with the jackalls had not concluded without their receiving several wounds, which I now, for the first time, observed in various parts of their body, and principally round their necks. Fearing that the heat might bring on inflammation, I desired Jack, the valiant, to wash a small quantity of the butter thoroughly in fresh water, and then to anoint the wounds with it while they continued sleeping. This he effected with much skill and tenderness. The dogs awoke, but did not attempt the least resistance, seeming to be sensible of the benefit he was conferring on them; they themselves assisted the cure, by frequently licking the parts; so that in a few days they were as well as before.
One of the things we must not forget to look for in the vessel, said Fritz, is a spiked collar or two for our dogs, as a protection to them, should they again be called upon to defend themselves from wild beasts, which I fear it is too probable will be the case.
Oh! says Jack, I can make some spiked collars, if mamma will give me a little help.