FICKLENESS OF FOKTUXE. 267 



it may be all right ; and a little extra age won't in- 

 duce nie to part with it." So saying, he dipped in the 

 spoon. " Eli ! Oh, Lord ! a regular knoek-downer ! 

 Rotten to the last extent ! " And he hurled the now 

 objectionable article far from him. 



" Well, come ! that makes all square, at any rate ! " 

 growled Mackenzie. " Your goddess is only in a 

 humbugging mood, after all. And how about the 

 votive offering of the emptied shell, Norman ? 

 Really, you ought to have scooped out the contents, 

 in order to fulfil your vow. Mine is a good one, 

 1 am happy to say ; and so is Hawkes's." 



Norman had in the meanwhile cautiously opened 

 his second egg, which, on being submitted to a 

 searching olfactory test, gave indubitable symptoms 

 of its also being anything but desirable food. 



" Sold ! as I am a sinner ! '" he ejaculated with 

 disgust, as he threw it after its companion. " The 

 goddess is fickle with a vengeance. Just fancy my 

 having the luck to secure the two, and those two 

 being the bad ones!" And Norman was obliged 

 to turn to some cold pea-fowl, amidst the derisive 

 laughter of his comrades. 



After a good nap during the heat of the day, the 

 sportsmen arose, much refreshed, and with some 

 slight abatement in the prominent parts of the ten- 

 derness induced by their rough night lodging 



