Page:Rowland--The Mountain of Fears.djvu/243

  fat-head, d'ye think I'm goin' to give good food to a dog?'

"He had carelessly dropped the boat-stretcher beside him, and before he could lay down the eggs it was in my hand. There is an etiquette, Doctor, to be observed even upon a desert island, and if Lentz had not grasped the other end of the stick I fancy that Dixie could have had Deshay's share.

" 'We must not qvarrel [sic],' said Lentz; 've haf troobles enough alretty. Der hound found der eggs; gif him von or two.'

"Deshay growled, but I had frightened him, and he did as he was told, giving Dixie two of the eggs. The dog ate one of them, the other he carried to Claud; I saw Claud give it to Deshay.

"For ten days this thing went on. Every day or two Dixie would find a nest of eggs, but at the end of that time he could find no more, and after two days of hunger Deshay, backed by one of the sailors, demanded that he be killed. We were all fairly [ 227 ]