After cutting up the animal into quarters he threw the head, the lower joints of the legs, and the offal, from the window.

The hide he carried, with the four quarters, into his kitchen, and there concealed it under the pile of straw which served for his bed.
When the dinner was over, and the usual carousal had begun, and he knew there was no chance of any of the freebooters coming into the room, he spread out the hide on the floor, cut off the edges, and trimmed it up till it was nearly circular in form, and then began to cut a strip two inches wide round and round till he reached the centre.

This gave him a thong of over a hundred feet long.

Tying one end to a ring in the wall he twisted the long strip until it assumed the form of a rope, which was, he was sure, strong enough to bear many times his weight.
This part of the work was done after the freebooters had retired to rest.

When he had finished cutting the hide he went in as usual and sat down with them as they drank, as he wished to appear contented with his position.