"It is getting near the noonday hour, and time for me to be thinking of preparing dinner!" "All right, laddie, go on and I will follow you soon," replied the other, but, still, without making any move from his seat on the shingle.
"Mind, and don't forget the potatoes," cried Eric, who was already half- way towards their hut.

"I shall want them soon!" "All right," replied the other, but the mention of the potatoes, which had been an anxious consideration with Fritz all along, seemed to have the effect of banishing his sad reflections; for, in another minute, he, with his bundle on arm, followed Eric up the incline that led to the cottage.
Considering all things, the two had a capital Christmas dinner.

Indeed, Eric, the cook, so greatly distinguished himself on this occasion that he blotted out all recollection of his previous mishaps when undertaking a similar role.
What say you to a splendid ham, one of those given them by Captain Brown; green peas, fresh and tender and dressed to perfection; and, new potatoes?
Many a person might have a worse meal on a warm summer day, like it was this anniversary of the festival on Inaccessible Island! Nor was this all; for, after the more substantial portion of the feast, Eric introduced a wonderfully savoury compound in the confectionery line, which he had manufactured with some care.

This consisted of flour and sugar made into a thick paste, with some of those very preserved peaches which had figured so prominently in the despised stew that had been Eric's first essay in cooking, placed within the envelope, the compound being then boiled in a saucepan until thoroughly done.
During the early months of the new year, the brothers had little to do save attending to their garden, digging up the remaining potatoes when ripe, and then storing them in a corner of their hut.

They also cleared some more land and planted out the little seedling cabbages in long rows, so that in time they had a fine show of this vegetable, which was especially valuable as an antiscorbutic to the continuous use of salt meat,--now their main nutriment with the exception of a few birds which Fritz brought down occasionally with his fowling piece.
Once or twice they went round the promontory in their boat, in pursuit of stray single seals; but, the animals were so shy that only a long shot could be had at them.