le the others were
busy unloading, the German had cut some turf and built a rough
fireplace, and had soon a bright fire blazing.

'Shall we pluck the ducks?' Charley asked.

'I reckon we can manage quicker than that,' the Yankee said; and taking
up one of the ducks, he cut off its head and pinions; in another minute
he had roughly skinned it, and threw it to the German, who cut it up and
put the pieces into the frying pan. A similar process was performed with
the other ducks, a little pepper and salt shaken over them, and in a
wonderfully short time the first batch was ready. All drew round and sat
down on the grass; the tin plates were distributed, but were only used
by Mr. Hardy and his sons, the others simply taking the joints into
their hands and cutting off pieces with their knives. The operation of
skinning the fowls had not been pleasant to look at, and would at any
other time have taken away the boys' appetites; but their long ride had
made them too hungry to be particular. The result of this primitive
cooking was pronounced to be excellent; and after drinking a mug of tea,
all felt ready for work.

'What is to be done first, papa?'

'The first thing is to get these posts into the ground, and to get up a
wire fence, so as to make an enclosure for the animals at night. We will
put in five posts each side, at ten yards apart; that will take eighteen
posts. With the others we can make a division to separate the sheep from
the cattle. Unless we do this, some of them may take it into their heads
to start off in the night and return to their old home.'

A spot was soon chosen between the house and the stream on the right.
The distance was soon measured and marked; and while Hans carried down
the heavy posts one by one on his shoulder, the others went to work. The
soil was soft and rich, and the holes were dug to the required depth in
a shorter time than would have been considered possible. The wire was
stretched and fastened, and before sunset everything was in readiness.
The animals were driven in, and the entrance, which was narrow, was
blocked up with brushwood from the river. Then followed another
half-hour's work in getting up a small shelter with the cases and some
of the felting, for Mr. Hardy and his sons. By this time all were really
tired, and were glad when Hans summoned them to another meal, this time
of one of the sheep. Then Mr. Hardy and the boys, taking their mugs of
tea, retired into the shelter