"I"m coming," he answered; and, with no lagging footsteps, he quickly hastened towards the left cliff, where in front of the hut he could see Master Eric had made the most elaborate preparations in his power for the promised feast. The lad had even gone so far as to spread the piece of tarpaulin which the skipper had given them, on the ground in lieu of a tablecloth!
Everything looked charming.
Eric had arranged some plates and a couple of dishes round the tarpaulin with great artistic effect, and a carving knife and fork before the place where he motioned Fritz to seat himself. The lad"s own position, as host, was in front of a large mess tin which was covered with a cloth. A most agreeable odour filled the air, albeit the faint smell as of burnt meat somewhat struck Fritz as Eric proceeded to take off the covering cloth with a flourish.
"Well, Monsieur Cuisinier, what is the bill of fare?" asked the elder brother with a gratified smile, the unaccustomed smell of a hot dinner almost making his mouth water before he knew what he was going to have.
"Roast beef to begin with," announced Master Eric pompously.
"Himmel!" exclaimed Fritz, "roast beef! How have you managed to provide that?" His heart sank within him as he asked the almost unnecessary question; for, quickly came the answer he feared.
"Oh," said Eric in an off-hand way, "I opened the cask Captain Brown gave us and roasted a piece over the fire."
"But, that was salt meat!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Fritz in consternation.
"Well, what matter?" rejoined Eric; "I suppose it was as good to roast as any other. Besides, we didn"t have any fresh."
Fritz heaved a sigh of despair.
"Let us try it, anyhow," he said in a melancholy tone, and Eric having, carved off with extreme difficulty a k.n.o.b--it could be called nothing else--of the black ma.s.s in the mess tin he had before him, handed the plate containing it over to Fritz, who, sawing off a fragment, endeavoured to chew it unsuccessfully and then had finally to eject it from his mouth.
"Good heavens, Eric!" he exclaimed, "it"s as hard as a brickbat, as salt as brine, and burnt up as thoroughly as a piece of c.o.ke. How could you even think of trying to roast a bit of salt junk? Why, your own experience of the article on board ship should have told you better!"
"Well, I know it is tough when boiled; but I fancied it might be better roasted for a change. I"m very sorry, old fellow, but, still, we haven"t come to the end of our resources yet; I have got another dish to surprise you."
"I hope not in the same way!" said Fritz with a shudder. "What is the other string to your bow, eh, Mr Cook?"
"A stew," replied Eric laconically.
"Ho, that sounds better," said his brother, the complacent look which had stolen over his face on sitting down to the banquet now returning again in the expectation of having something savoury at last. "A stew, eh? Why, that used to be my favourite dish at home; don"t you remember, laddie?"
"Yes, I remember," responded Eric, not quite so joyously as his brother evidently expected; "but," he added hesitatingly, "you"ll find this a little different, because, ah, you know, ah, I hadn"t got all the proper things. Still, it"s very nice, very nice indeed!"
The amateur cook brought out the last words with great earnestness, as if wishing to impress Fritz with the fact that, although the dish might not be quite what he expected, yet it would be certainly "tasty"--that is, according to his notions!
It was; for, hardly had Fritz tasted a spoonful of it, than he spat it out again, making the most terrible faces.
"Why, this is worse than the other!" he cried rather angrily. "What on earth have you made it of. Eric?"
"Well, I put in some pork and the tinned oysters--"
"That mixture would be almost enough to settle one!" said Fritz, interrupting him. "Anything else?"
"Oh, yes. As there were only a few potatoes left from those we used for planting in the garden I put them in; and, as I had no other vegetables, I also shook in some preserved peaches, and--"
"There, that will do," shouted Fritz, quite put out at having his expected dinner treat spoilt in such a fashion,--"salt pork, pickled oysters, and preserved peaches,--good heavens! The stew only wanted some cheese to be added to make it perfect."
"I did put some in," said Eric innocently.
This naive acknowledgment quite restored Fritz"s good humour, and he burst out laughing; his anger and disgust dispelled at once by the comical confession.
"If ever I let you cook for me again," he observed presently when he was able to speak again, "I"ll--yes, I will eat a stewed penguin, there!"
Eric laughed, too, at this; although he remarked, wisely enough, "Perhaps you might have to eat worse than that, old fellow!"
"I don"t know what could be," said Fritz.
"Nothing!" curtly replied Eric, the truism silencing his brother for the moment and setting him thinking; but he presently spoke again to the point at issue.
"Is there nothing left for us to eat?" he asked. "I"m famishing."
"There"s the cheese and some raw ham if you can manage with those," said Eric sadly, quite disheartened at the failure of all his grand preparations for giving his brother a treat.
"Capitally," replied Fritz, "fetch them out, and let us make a good square meal. We can have some coffee afterwards. Next time, laddie,"
he added to cheer up Eric, "I dare say you"ll do better."
The lad was somewhat relieved at his brother taking the matter so good- humouredly, and quickly brought out the cheese and ham, which with some biscuits served them very well in place of the rejected viands; and, soon, the two were chatting away together again in their old affectionate way as if no misunderstanding had come between them, talking of home and old familiar scenes and recollections of Lubeck.
While they were yet sitting in front of the hut, over their coffee, the setting sun cast the shadow of the cliff right before their feet; and, at the very edge of the craggy outline, they perceived the shadow of something else which was in motion.
This somewhat aroused their attention and made them look up towards the heights above the waterfall.
What was their astonishment, there, to see a large animal, which, in the strong light behind it from the descending orb, appeared almost of gigantic proportions.
The beast appeared to be right over their heads; and, as they looked up, it seemed as if about to jump down on them!
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
THE WILD GOATS.
"Ach, Himmel! What is it?" exclaimed Eric, getting closer to his brother, who also was at first a bit frightened.
"I sure I don"t know," said Fritz, quite perplexed for the moment; but he was soon rea.s.sured, for the animal, which had hitherto presented itself end on towards them, so that its head and body were humped up together, now turning sideways, its change of position enabled him better to judge of its proportions. "Pshaw!" he cried out, "it"s only a goat, after all!"
"A goat?" repeated Eric, still surprised, not catching at once the meaning of the word.
"Yes; don"t you remember that young Gla.s.s said there was a flock of goats on the tableland above the cliff?"
"Oh, I recollect now," said Eric, his mind quite relieved. For the moment, he really believed that some terrible monster inhabited the desert island besides themselves; and thought that this unknown animal might possibly sally forth as soon as the sun set and darkness reigned, in search of its prey, when he and Fritz would fall victims to its rapacity. "I did not understand you at first."
"Well, it"s all right now, brother, so you need not be afraid. I cannot wonder at your alarm, however for I was startled, I must confess.
Fancy, me, a soldier, to show such want of nerve! Why, I"m as bad as you were the other morning when the penguins attacked you!"
"Don"t say any more about that, please," pleaded Eric, whose fright of the birds was still a standing joke with Fritz. "I"m sure when they rushed at me so fiercely they seemed quite as awful as the sight of that big brute up there on the cliff, who looked just as if he were going to leap down on us."
"Very well, we"ll let the matter drop, then," said the other, laughing.