pid disappearance of their companions
subsequently, although each discharge of the sportsmen's guns laid many
of them low.

Indeed, they might have shot the lot had not Mr Meldrum observed that
they had secured enough; besides which, the two sailors who accompanied
the party said they could not cram any more into the sacks they had
brought. Thereupon all set about counting the spoil, and found that
they had bagged no less than sixty-three brace.

These, with five wild ducks--Mr Lathrope bringing down a pair right and
left, on their way back, in a fashion which amply retrieved his
character as a shot, and Frank securing the odd one--were the nett
result of the day's sport, in addition to the little sheathbill; and the
shooting party returned to the house under the cliff as well satisfied
with their own prowess as the home party were to welcome them,
especially as they were now so plentifully provided with what all had
been longing for since the last sheep had been washed overboard the
_Nancy Bell_ when she was off the Cape--fresh-meat!

That very day Mr Lathrope had a pie made for his own special
delectation by Snowball as a sort of _amende honourable_ for the
darkey's laughter at Colonel Crockett's celebrated rifle, which had come
to such a deplorable and dangerous end; and, for some time after, the
entire community of "Penguin Castle," with the exception of the penguins
themselves, feasted upon bunnies _ad libitum_, until they could say, as
did the servants of that parsimonious nobleman who fed them without
change on similar fare:--

"Of rabbits young and rabbits old,
Of rabbits hot and rabbits cold,
Of rabbits tender and rabbits tough,
Thank the Lord, we've had enough!"

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.

A CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION.

In spite of the abundance of their supply of rabbits, however, Mr
Meldrum would not allow them to be prodigally wasted.

Wisely "providing for a rainy day," he caused a considerable quantity to
be split open and cleaned; and, after the skin was removed, had them
rubbed over with dry salt, of which fortunately they had plenty. The
carcasses were subsequently hung up on lines across the general room,
adjacent to the fireplace, the warmth of which in a short time cured
them like hams, so that they would keep for weeks, and even months if
not required for culinary purposes earlier--as, it eventually turned
out, they were.

It was a lucky thing that the shooting party went on