THE IIS'LAKD PASSAGE. 49 



duck," exclaimed our princess, "it you do not I shall 

 haye to leave the table." 



That last threat was too much, Seth could not 

 bear to be ranked as an obstruotiye when he was ac- 

 complishing a culinary triumph which was to delight 

 our gustatory nerves and establish forever his repu- 

 tation as a cookist. He turned a reproachful face 

 towards the party without showing the slightest sign 

 of discontinuing his fell work, and with an air of 

 bitter rebuke retorted upon us. 



" This is the first time that I have done any cook- 

 ing. All the rest of you have cooked as much as 

 you liked. I have stood to one side and got out of 

 the way and never had a chancCj and now the very 

 instant I cook a little duck you all make a fuss. I 

 don't think it's fair. I did want a piece of duck for 

 my breakfast and I picked out the smallest one for 

 fear somebody would think I was greedy, and now 

 you ask me to throw it overboard ; it is almost done, 

 and if you will only have patience for a few moments 

 I will be through." 



His manner was more impressive than even his 

 words, and no one had the heart to reply. We tearfully 

 held our napkins to our noses to keep out the smoke 

 and smell as well as we could, we coughed and choked, 

 but we allowed him to finish. Unfortunately Seth 

 believes in cooking a duck to a chip, and hence he 

 was occupied longer than he had promised, but 

 he was through at last, and then not only was he 

 happy in the vindication of his culinary knowledge, 

 but he had the satisfaction of bringing our ingrati- 



