Our spoons were now ready, and gathering round the pot we dipped them in, not, however, without sundry scalded fingers. Ernest then drew from his pocket the large shell he had procured for his own use, and scooping up a good quantity of soup he put it down to cool, smiling at his own foresight.
“Prudence should be exercised for others,” I remarked; “your cool soup will do capitally for the dogs, my boy; take it to them, and then come and eat like the rest of us....”
By this time the sun was sinking beneath the horizon, and the poultry, which had been straying to some little distance, gathered round us, and began to pick up the crumbs of biscuits which had fallen during our repast. My wife hereupon drew from her mysterious bag some handfuls of oats, peas, and other grain, and with them began to feed the poultry. She showed me at the same time several other seeds of various vegetables. “That was indeed thoughtful,” said I; “but pray be careful of what will be of such value to us; we can bring plenty of damaged biscuits from the wreck, which, though of no use as food for us, will suit the fowls very well indeed.”
The pigeons now flew up to crevices in the rocks, the fowls perched themselves on our tent pole, and the ducks waddled off, cackling and quacking, to the marshy margin of the river. We, too, were ready for repose, and having loaded our guns, and offered up our prayers to God, thanking Him for His many mercies to us, we commended ourselves to His protecting care, and as the last ray of light departed, closed our tent and lay down to rest.
NOTES
Cooper, J. F., born in New Jersey, 1789; died, 1851. He followed the sea for five years, after three years at Yale. His first novel, “Precaution,” was published when he was thirty. His chief books are “The Spy,” “The Pilot,” “The Last of the Mohicans,” “The Prairie,” “Red Rover,” “The Bravo,” “The Pathfinder,” “The Deerslayer,” “The Two Admirals,” “Wing and Wing,” and “Satanstoe,” all of them either sea-tales or tales of frontier life.
Bullen, F. T., English author and lecturer, born, 1857; educated at a dame’s school; started life as errand-boy; from 1869 to 1883 was at sea in all capacities up to and including chief mate, then clerk in the English meteorological office until 1899. In addition to “The Cruise of the Cachalot,” he has written “Idylls of the Sea,” “The Log of a Sea Waif,” “The Men of the Merchant Service,” “With Christ at Sea,” and many articles, poems, and sketches.
Cleveland, R. J., was the brother of the great-grandfather of Grover Cleveland; born in Salem in 1740; died about 1786; when sixteen years old was seized by a press-gang in Boston streets, and served for several years on board an English frigate under William Trelawney, afterwards Sir William, Governor of Jamaica. He was long occupied in the merchant service; and when the Revolution broke out he, with his brig Pilgrim, captured over fifty British prizes. His “Narrative of Voyages and Commercial Enterprises” was not published until 1842, and it was republished at once in England, and went through three editions here.
Cupples, George, born in Berwickshire, Scotland, 1822; died, 1901. Son of a Scottish clergyman. He had a strong desire to go to sea: at sixteen he was apprenticed as a sailor, and made a voyage to India and back. After studying art and divinity, on his return, he devoted himself to literature, and besides “The Green Hand,” he wrote “The Two Frigates” and some other books, and contributed largely to magazines.