ghed aloud, but the
danger of choking was too great; he therefore laughed internally--an
operation which could not be fully understood unless seen. "'Splosions
of Perboewatan," may suggest the thing.

Sorrow, grief--whatever it was that habitually afflicted that monkey--
disappeared for the time being, while it devoted itself heart and soul
to dinner.

Feelings of a somewhat similar kind animated Nigel as he sat leaning
back with his mouth full, a biscuit in one hand, and a drumstick in the
other, and his eyes resting dreamily on the horizon of the still
tranquil sea, while the bright sun blazed upon his already bronzed face.

To many men the fierce glare of the equatorial sun might have proved
trying, but Nigel belonged to the salamander type of humanity and
enjoyed the great heat. Van der Kemp seemed to be similarly moulded,
and as for Moses, he was in his native element--so was Spinkie.

Strange as it may seem, sea-birds appeared to divine what was going on,
for several specimens came circling round the canoe with great
outstretched and all but motionless wings, and with solemn sidelong
glances of hope which Van der Kemp evidently could not resist, for he
flung them scraps of his allowance from time to time.

"If you have plenty of provisions on board, I should like to do that
too," said Nigel.

"Do it," returned the hermit. "We have plenty of food for some days,
and our guns can at any time replenish the store. I like to feed these
creatures," he added, "they give themselves over so thoroughly to the
enjoyment of the moment, and _seem_ to be grateful. Whether they are so
or not, of course, is matter of dispute. Cynics will tell us that they
only come to us and fawn upon us because of the memory of past favours
and the hope of more to come. I don't agree with them."

"Neither do I," said Nigel, warmly. "Any man who has ever had to do
with dogs knows full well that gratitude is a strong element of their
nature. And it seems to me that the speaking eyes of Spinkie, to whom I
have just given a bit of biscuit, tell of a similar spirit."

As he spoke, Nigel was conveying another piece of biscuit to his own
mouth, when a small brown hand flashed before him, and the morsel, in
the twinkling of an eye, was transferred to the monkey's already swollen
cheek--whereat Moses again became suddenly "'splosive" and red, as well
as black in the face, for his capacious mouth was inordinately full as
usual.

Clear w