Frank thought he could make a "planked shad" out of the new fish. The next morning he tried his hand at amateur cooking, and his effort was fairly successful. The fish was split and nailed to one side of a short plank taken from an old boat on the shore. In this position it was exposed to the fire, and properly seasoned while the cooking process went on. When it was served up both the Doctor and Fred were unanimous in declaring it delicious, and proposed that Frank should be installed as cook for the remainder of the excursion. The young gentleman declined the proffered honor, and said he could not have the heart to throw their Arab _cuisinier_ out of employment. The fact was he had been baked nearly as much as the fish he had prepared, and was in no mood for repeating the experiment. "Well," said Fred, "if you won't accept the office of cook I'll tell you what I'll do. We'll 'turn and turn about,' as they say at home, and I'll cook the fish at the next camp." "All right," Frank responded. "I'll agree to take turns with you until you are tired of the business." With this understanding the topic of conversation was changed. During the day more fish were obtained, and when they halted at night Fred proceeded to try his hand at cooking. He told Abdul to bring several flat-topped stones and heat them in the fire. The stones were taken from the water, as they were cleaner than those on dry land, the latter being covered with moss and other tropical products. "Now I'll show you how we used to cook fish in the Adirondacks," said Fred, with a dignified air. "You will find the flavor delicious, provided the fish are good for anything, to start with. "When the stone is hot we brush off all the ashes and lay the fish upon it, first wrapping it in a leaf. Another and smaller stone laid above it will bake the fish in a way that is superb, and preserves all the flavor." [Illustration: FRED'S EXPERIMENT IN COOKING FISH.] The stones were duly heated, and the fishes were spread out according to Fred's directions. The coffee-pot was in front of the fire, and the frying-pan was sizzling in the old-fashioned way, when suddenly there was an explosion that sent Fred and his trout in different directions, put Frank to a hasty flight, overturned the coffee-pot, and made a mess of things generally. Luckily nobody was hurt, though there was quite a scare all around. The negroes who witnessed the performance were of the impression that the white men were trying some new experiment in keeping with the telephone and the magic lantern, and therefore took the explosion as a matter of course. They were less moved by the incident than were the white men--perhaps in consequence of having been farther from the fire at the moment of the explosion. "How did it happen?" said Fred, in open-mouthed wonder, as soon as he had gathered himself together.