t rounds of the ladder; and
was able to assist Henry in descending, which he did without further
difficulty or danger.

No great harm had happened to him; he had received only a few scratches
and skin-wounds, that would soon yield to careful treatment and the
surgical skill which his father possessed, along with certain herbal
remedies known to Saloo.

They were soon restored to their former state of equanimity, and thought
nothing more of the little incident that had just flurried them, except
to congratulate themselves on having so unexpectedly added to their
stock of provisions the bodies of two great birds, each of respectable
size; to say nothing of the fat featherless chick, which appeared as if
it would make a very _bonne bouche_ for a gourmand.

As we have said, Saloo did not think any more of ascending the
durion-tree, nor they of asking him to do so. Its fruits might have
served them for dessert, to come after the game upon which they were now
going to dine.

But they were not in condition to care for following the usual fashion
of dining, and least of all did they desire a dinner of different
courses, so long as they had one sufficiently substantial to satisfy the
simple demands of hunger. The two hornbills promised, each of them, a
fair _piece-de-resistance_, while the fat pult was plainly a titbit, to
be taken either _hors d'oeuvres_, or as an _entree_.

They were not slow in deciding what should be done with the stock so
unexpectedly added to their larder. In a trice the cock bird was
despoiled of his plumage; the hen having been well-nigh dismantled of
hers already. The former was trussed and made ready for the spit, the
latter being intended for the pot, on the supposition that boiling might
be better for her toughness. Murtagh had taken to finishing the
plucking of the hen, while Saloo set about divesting the old cock of his
feathers.

The chick needed no plucking, nor even to be singed. Its skin was as
free of covering as the shell of the egg lately containing it. It was
tender enough to be cooked in any way. It could be boiled over the
embers, and would make a nice meal for the two young people, and
doubtless greatly benefit their strength.

When the bodies of the old birds were unmasked of their feathery
envelopment, it was seen that they were much smaller than supposed; and,
moreover, that the hen was by many degrees larger in size and fatter
than the cock. It was but natural, and