Another
had on a very wide pair of trousers, braced up so short that each
little leg looked like the clapper in a bell. The third, buttoned up in
a pea-jacket which came down to his ankles, looked for all the world
like a walking portmanteau.
Amid much joking and laughter, my wife explained that she had been
washing all day, and while their clothes were drying, the boys amused
themselves by dressing up in things they found while rummaging the
sailor's chest, and had kept them on, that Ernest and I might see the
masquerade. It certainly amused us, but made me regret that so little
belonging to ourselves had been saved from the wreck, in consequence of
which the children had scarcely a change of linen.
Turning now to our new acquisitions, we excited great interest by
exhibiting each in turn; the large salmon, but more especially the
kangaroo, surprised and delighted everyone.
Fritz alone wore a look expressive of dissatisfaction, and I saw that
he was envious of his younger brother's success. Vexed that so noble a
prize had fallen to Ernest's gun, instead of his own, he treated it
rather slightingly; but I could see that he was struggling against his
jealous feelings, and he, after a while, succeeded in recovering his
good humour, and joined pleasantly in the conversation.
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