It was, in fact, high time to move homeward, and we thought it best not to encumber ourselves with the sledge and the greater part of its load, but to leave it until the next day. The ass was laden with the iguana and the bustard; and little Franz, tired as he was, looked in vain for a spare seat on its back. Our road home lay through a majestic forest of oak trees, beneath which lay numberless acorns, some of which we gathered as we went along; and at length, before night closed in, we all reached Falconhurst in safety. When supper was ready, we were thankful to recruit our exhausted strength by eating heartily of a piece of broiled iguana, with potatoes and roast acorns, which tasted like excellent chestnuts. CHAPTER VII AT FALCONHURST AGAIN--BAGGING A BUFFALO The first thing to be done on the following day was to return to the Calabash Wood, to fetch the sledge with the dishes, bowls, and baskets we had made. Fritz alone accompanied me. I desired the other boys to remain with their mother, intending to explore beyond the chain of rocky hills, and thinking a large party undesirable on the occasion. Passing through the wood of evergreen oaks, we observed our sow feasting on the acorns, evidently not a whit the worse for the fright we had given her the previous day--in fact, she appeared more friendly disposed toward us than usual, possibly considering us as her deliverers from the jaws of the savage dogs. Many birds tenanted this grove, and were undisturbed by our movements, until Fritz fired and shot a beautiful blue-jay and a couple of parroquets, one a brilliant scarlet, the other green and gold. Fritz was in the act of reloading his gun, when an unaccountable noise struck our ears, and put us instantly on the alert, because it appeared like the dull thumping sound of a muffled drum, and reminded us of the possible presence of savages.