Swiss Family Robinson

be cooked.'
    `Oh! I'll catch them fast enough,' he replied, and darted off to Rock House.
    While I was still puzzling my brains as to how I should set to work, he returned with his fishing apparatus in hand: a bow and arrow, and a ball of twine.
    At the arrow-head he had fastened a barbed spike, and had secured the arrow to the end of the string. Armed with this weapon, he advanced to the river's edge.
    His arrow flew from the bow, and, to my surprise, struck one of the largest fish in the side.
    `Help, father, help!' he cried, as the great fish darted off, carrying arrow and all with it. `Help! Or he will pull me into the water.'
    I ran to his assistance, and together we struggled with the finny monster. He pulled tremendously, and lashed the water around him; but we held the cord fast, and he had no chance of escape. Weaker and weaker grew his struggles, and, at length, exhausted by his exertions and loss of blood, he allowed us to draw him ashore.
    He was a noble prize, and Fritz and Ernest, who came up just as we completed his capture, were quite envious of Jack's success.
    Not to be behindhand, they eagerly rushed off for weapons themselves. We were soon all in the water, Fritz with a harpoon, Ernest with a rod and line, and I myself, armed like Neptune , with an iron trident, or more properly speaking, perhaps, a pitchfork. Soon the shore was strewn with a goodly number of the finest fish--monster after monster we drew to land. At length Fritz, after harpooning a great sturgeon full eight feet long, could not get the beast ashore; we all went to his assistance, but our united efforts were unavailing.
    `The buffalo!' proposed my wife, and off went Jack for Storm. Storm was harnessed to the harpoon rope, and soon the monstrous fish lay panting on the sand. We at length, when we had captured as many fish as we could possibly utilize, set about cleaning and preparing their flesh. Some we salted, some we dried like the herrings, some we treated like the tunny of the Mediterranean --we prepared them in oil.
    Of the roe of the sturgeon I decided to form caviare , the great Russian dish. I removed from it all the membranes by which it is surrounded, washed it in vinegar, salted it, pressed out all the moisture caused by the water-absorbing properties of the salt, packed it in small barrels and stowed it away in our storehouse.
    I knew that of the sturgeon's bladder the best isinglass is made, so carefully collecting the air-bladders from all those we had killed, I washed them and hung them up to stiffen. The outer coat or membrane I then peeled off, cutting the remainder into strips, technically called staples.
    These staples I place in an iron pot over the fire, and when they had been reduced to a proper consistency I strained off the glue through a clean cloth, and spread it out on a slab of stone in thin layers, letting them remain until they were dry. The substance I thus obtained was beautifully transparent, and promised to serve as an excellent substitute for glass in our window-frames.
    Fortunately, in this beautiful climate little or no attention was necessary to the kitchen garden, the seeds sprang up and flourished without apparently the slightest regard for the time or season of the year. Peas, beans, wheat, barley, rye and Indian corn, seemed constantly ripe, while cucumbers, melons, and all sorts of other vegetables grew luxuriantly. The success of our garden at Tentholm encouraged me to hope that my experiment at Falconhurst had not failed, and one morning we started to visit the spot.
    As we passed by the field from which the potatoes had been dug, we found it covered with barley, wheat, rye and peas in profusion. I turned to my wife in amazement. `Where has this fine crop sprung from?' said I.
    `From the earth,' she replied, laughing, `where Franz and I sowed the seed I brought from the wreck. The ground was ready tilled by you and the boys; all we had to do was to scatter the seed.'
    I was delighted at the sight, and it augured well, I thought, for the success of my maize plantation. We hurried to the field. The crop had indeed grown well, and what was more, appeared to be duly appreciated. A tremendous flock of feathered thieves rose as we approached. Amongst them Fritz espied a few ruffed grouse, and, quick as thought, unhooding his eagle, he started him off in chase, then sprang on his onager and followed at full gallop. His noble bird marked out the finest grouse, and, soaring high above it,