"I reckon we can manage quicker than that," the Yankee said; and
taking up one of the ducks, he cut off its head and pinions; in
another minute he had roughly skinned it, and threw it to the
German, who cut it up and put the pieces into the frying pan. A
similar process was performed with the other ducks, a little pepper
and salt shaken over them, and in a wonderfully short time the
first batch was ready. All drew round and sat down on the grass;
the tin plates were distributed but were only used by Mr. Hardy and
his sons, the others simply taking the joints into their hands and
cutting off pieces with their knives. The operation of skinning the
fowls had not been pleasant to look at, and would at any other time
have taken away the boys' appetites; but their long ride had made
them too hungry to be particular. The result of this primitive
cooking was pronounced to be excellent; and after drinking a mug of
tea all felt ready for work.
"What is to be done first, papa?"
"The first thing is to get these posts into the ground, and to get
up a wire fence, so as to make an enclosure for the animals at
night. We will put in five posts each side, at ten yards apart;
that will take eighteen posts. With the others we can make a
division to separate the sheep from the cattle.
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