ou have introduced the subject, to take stock of all
the stores we have, and Master Snowball must be instructed to be not
quite so lavish in his display at dinner-time as he was yesterday."

"Sorry I spoke," said Mr Lathrope, rather chop-fallen at the way in
which his suggestion had been taken. "I didn't want you to cut short
the vittles, but only to kinder kalkerlate!"

"I'm just doing that," replied the other, "and we'll see what we've got
to depend upon at once."

As the American had remarked, they were just twenty-seven souls in all:
_Imprimis_, Captain Dinks--whose wound evidently was progressing
favourably, for he had lost all those feverish symptoms that were
apparent the day previous and was now in a sound sleep, after eating
some thin soup which Snowball had concocted for him by Mr Meldrum's
direction--Mr McCarthy, Adams, Frank Harness, Ben Boltrope the
carpenter, and Karl Ericksen the rescued Norwegian sailor, besides
Snowball and thirteen others of the crew of the _Nancy Bell_, making
twenty of those belonging to the ship; while, of the passengers, there
were six--Mr Meldrum, Kate, Florry, Mrs Major Negus and her son and
only hope Maurice, and lastly, though by no means least, Mr Lathrope--
the grand total, with the stewardess, who must not be forgotten, coming
exactly to seven-and-twenty.

Now, to feed all this large family, they had brought ashore on the raft
three barrels of salt beef and four of pork, six hams uncooked, besides
the one which Frank had removed from the steward's pantry along with the
round of spiced beef on his visit to the ship in search of the cat; some
four dozen eight-pound tins of preserved meats and vegetables; about a
couple of hundredweight of flour; five bags of biscuit; a few bottles of
spirits; and sundry minor articles, such as pickles and salt, and one or
two pots of preserves--not a very considerable amount of provender,
considering the number of souls to be supplied, and the length of time
Mr Meldrum thought it wise to estimate that the provisions would have
to last.

Just as they were rolling back the casks under the shelter of the tent,
Maurice Negus rushed up to Mr Meldrum in company with Florry, both of
the children being intensely excited evidently about something they had
seen or heard.

"Oh crickey!" cried out the former before he had quite got up to the
party, so as to have the first voice in the matter,--"Do come! There's
an awful long thing just crawled ou