ends of the ramrod being supported by the forked twigs. He turned it
round and round occasionally to prevent it from burning, and although he
had himself been indifferent as to whether they could obtain means for
cooking the junk, he felt a ravenous appetite as the odour of the meat
rose. Just as he came to the conclusion that the meat must be cooked
through, Wilcox and Joyce arrived. They stopped in amazement as their eyes
fell on the fire.

"Come on, Wilcox," Stephen said with a laugh. "Don't stand staring there.
Dinner is ready, and I am only waiting for you to begin."

"I am downright famished," the sailor said as he came up. "I would not
have believed it if I had not seen it. How on earth did you manage it?"

"Not by rubbing pieces of wood together, Wilcox, but by filling my
watch-glass with water and using it as a burning-glass; it lit the wood in
less than a minute; only it would not do, you know, unless the sun was
right overhead, and I had to wait until twelve o'clock before I tried the
experiment."

The meat was cut up into three huge portions, and using biscuits as plates
they speedily set to work upon it.

"You have pretty well got rid of the salt," Wilcox said after his first
mouthful. "It is well-nigh as good as roast meat. How did you do that,
sir?"

"It was in the well for seven or eight hours," Stephen replied. "The water
was running through it, so that it was as good as putting it into a river.
Salt meat is best boiled, but as I had no pot to boil it in, I thought I
would try and roast it; and, as you say, the water has got rid of the salt
altogether."

"It is the best bit of meat that I have eaten since I left England,"
Wilcox said. "Well, I don't mind now if we stop here for another month. We
have meat and biscuits, and I reckon, Mr. Stephen, that you will be able
to think of some plan for making flap-jacks out of the flour, and we have
found a cocoa-nut grove. So we shall be able to live like kings."

The next morning Stephen was again left in charge of the fire, and the
other two started to fetch a fresh load of cocoa-nuts, saying that they
should be back by twelve o'clock, and should expect to find that he had
got something new for them. After putting a piece of meat into the well
Stephen made a fresh experiment. Fishing out a great lump of fat from the
cask, he first washed it carefully to get rid of the salt, then put it
into half a cocoa-nut shell, placed this on some hot embers and fri