n6 The Life Worth Living 



Some days we would get a half dozen — 

 oftener two or three. But the glorious 

 moonlit nights, with the chorus of birds 

 chattering and feeding about us, had their 

 compensations of soul peace and dreams. 



And then the dinners on board! Of 

 course, salt water gives a man an appetite 

 that balks at few things containing nourish- 

 ment for the human body, yet it is equally 

 true that one can live as royally on a yacht 

 in Tidewater Virginia as in the palace of a 

 king. And the way my wife cooks brant 

 and ducks and fixes diamond-back terrapin 

 on board a boat is a secret beyond the ken 

 of any hotel kitchen. 



This is how she says it is done. The birds 

 are dressed and placed to soak in salt water 

 five hours. Then they are rubbed thor- 

 oughly with salt and pepper, and basted 

 about two hours in a very hot stove until 

 so tender you can stick a fork into the breast 

 and turn it easily. 



