He had already got two forked twigs as a support for his spit, and, taking the ramrod from the gun, thrust it through the meat. He had ceased putting on fresh wood the moment he saw the others come from the forest. The fire soon sank down to a mass of glowing embers, over which he put the meat, the ends of the ramrod being supported by the forked twigs. He turned it round and round occasionally to prevent it from burning, and although he had himself been indifferent as to whether they could obtain means for cooking the junk, he felt a ravenous appetite as the odour of the meat rose. Just as he came to the conclusion that the meat must be cooked through, Wilcox and Joyce arrived. They stopped in amazement as their eyes fell on the fire. “Come on, Wilcox,” Stephen said with a laugh. “Don’t stand staring there. Dinner is ready, and I am only waiting for you to begin.” “I am downright famished,” the sailor said as he came up. “I would not have believed it if I had not seen it. How on earth did you manage it?” “Not by rubbing pieces of wood together, Wilcox, but by filling my watch-glass with water and using it as a burning-glass; it lit the wood in less than a minute; only it would not do, you know, unless the sun was right overhead, and I had to wait until twelve o’clock before I tried the experiment.” The meat was cut up into three huge portions, and using biscuits as plates they speedily set to work upon it. “You have pretty well got rid of the salt,” Wilcox said after his first mouthful. “It is well-nigh as good as roast meat. How did you do that, sir?” “It was in the well for seven or eight hours,” Stephen replied. “The water was running through it, so that it was as good as putting it into a river. Salt meat is best boiled, but as I had no pot to boil it in, I thought I would try and roast it; and, as you say, the water has got rid of the salt altogether.” “It is the best bit of meat that I have eaten since I left England,” Wilcox said. “Well, I don’t mind now if we stop here for another month. We have meat and biscuits, and I reckon, Mr. Stephen, that you will be able to think of some plan for making flap-jacks out of the flour, and we have found a cocoa-nut grove. So we shall be able to live like kings.”