to
its nest.

The midshipmen were so amused that they could not tell how time passed,
until hunger and the hot sun reminded them that it was the time when
dinner would be ready; and passing through the "farm-yard," as Desmond
called it, they secured as many birds as they could carry and also
filled their pockets with the freshest-looking eggs they could find.
Desmond, giving a wink to Tom, put among them a couple from a nest over
which the mother bird had fought stoutly, and which certainly did not
look very fresh. "I can almost hear it croak," he said, placing an egg
to his ear. "I intend these as a _bonne-bouche_ for Billy. We won't
show the others, and will make him suppose that we especially favour him
by bringing these, knowing how fond he is of eggs."

Gerald kept to his intention. As nobody was in the hut when they got
back, they hid away all the eggs with the exception of two, which
Desmond so kindly selected for his messmate. Peter was engaged in
cooking, and having his stew ready, he shouted to announce the fact.

They hurried in, for all were hungry and eager again to begin work. Tom
and Desmond showed their birds, and described the numbers they had met
with.

"Did you bring any eggs?" asked the doctor; "they can be cooked at once,
and are likely to prove better flavoured than the birds themselves."

"Yes," said Desmond, "we brought as many as our pockets will hold, and
we will hand them over to Peter directly, but I want to give Billy some
first, as he is especially fond of eggs; he will value them the more if
he thinks that nobody else has them."

Saying this, he handed them to Peter to put them under the ashes.

"There," he exclaimed when Billy appeared, "we know how you like eggs,
and so we brought a couple, and whenever we go out again we will try and
find some more."

Billy watched the eggs eagerly, until Peter declared that they were
sufficiently cooked.

"Doctor, won't you have one?" asked Billy, politely, when Peter handed
them to him.

"No, thank you," answered the doctor; "I am content with this stew."

Billy very reluctantly felt himself called upon to offer an egg to Tom
and Desmond; but they both declined.

"Then I suppose I must eat them myself," said Billy, beginning to break
the shell. He went on until the operation was performed, when he
clapped the end into his mouth.

"Horrible!" he exclaimed, spitting the contents out. "If I haven't
bitten off a bird's head!"

"