in Captivity 153 



saying guiltily to his wife, " My dear, I fear I've sat 

 on our child ! " 



So that was the end of the baby — No ! I mean the old 

 fawn-coloured seal, and a very unsatisfactory end too. 



Sometimes the sea gives back her dead, but she never 

 did in this case, though experts declared she would. 



And the disappointment of the Slayer was great ! 

 " It was something to have hit him," was his only 

 means of comfort. 



Now, in the entrance-hall of the house in which 

 we were for a time staying, there were several old 

 seal-skins spread about on the stone flooring ; and, 

 walking over the largest of these a few days after this 

 seal hunt, it suddenly occurred to me that I would 

 give the Slayer a grand stalk, with plenty of excite- 

 ment to himself, and no harm to the seals. 



So I surreptitiously removed that big skin to a 

 play-room in the garden, fetched a bundle of straw 

 from the stables, and a bodkin with a ball of string 

 from the house, and proceeded to stuff that seal skin. 



Luckily a seal has no legs, and a shape which, 

 with a little punching about after the skin has been 

 sewn together and duly stuffed, will enable one to 

 make a very good imitation of a live one. 



Taking the skipper of the boats into my con- 

 fidence, I instructed him, when we were all away from 

 home, to carry that seal down to the sea, and, hoisting 

 him into one of the punts, place him on a rock in 

 view of the house when the tide was ebbing. 



After five o'clock tea, when we were all to be back 

 from one of our daily expeditions, the skipper was to 



