`Come, my boy,' I said, `no one must be idle here, even for a moment;
you will have riding practise enough hereafter; dismount and come and
help us.'
Jack was soon on his feet. `But I have not been idle all day,' he
said, `look here!' and he pointed to a belt round his waist. It was a
broad belt of yellow skin in which he had stuck a couple of pistols and
a knife. `And see,' he added, `what I have made for the dogs. Here,
Juno, Turk,' the dogs came bounding up at his call, and I saw that they
were each supplied with a collar of the same skin, in which were
fastened nails, which bristled round their necks in a most formidable
manner.
`Capital, capital! my boy,' said I, `but where did you get your
materials, and who helped you?'
`Except in sewing,' said my wife, `he had little assistance, and as for
the materials, Fritz's jackal supplied us with the skin, and the
needles and thread came out of my wonderful bag. You little think how
many useful things may be had from that same bag; it is woman's duty
and nature, you know, to see after trifles.'
Fritz evidently did not approve of the use to which his jackal's hide
had been devoted, and holding his nose, begged his little brother to
keep at a distance. `Really, Jack,' he said, `you should have cured the
hide before you used it, the smell is disgusting, don't come near me.
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