Luckily, Briant and Moko returned before the turtle reached the sea.
Two spars were then run underneath it, and with a great effort he was pitched over on his back. Then he was a prisoner, for he could not turn over on to his feet. And just as he was drawing in his head, Briant gave him such a crack with the hatchet, that he died almost immediately.
"Well, Costar, are you still afraid of this big brute?" asked Briant.
"No! No! Briant, for he's dead."
"Good!" said Service, "but you daren't eat him!"
"Can you eat him?"
"Certainly."
"Then I'll eat him, if he's good," said Costar, licking his lips at the thought.
"It is good stuff," said Moko, who was quite within the truth in saying that turtle meat was quite a dainty.
As they could not think of carrying away the turtle as a whole, they had to cut it up where it was. This was not very pleasant, but the boys had begun to get used to the occasionally disagreeable necessities of Crusoe life. The most difficult thing was to break into the carapace, for its metallic hardness turned the edge of the axe. They succeeded at last in driving in a cold chisel between the plates. Then the meat, cut away in pieces, was carried to the schooner. And that day the boys had an opportunity of convincing themselves that turtle soup was exquisite, to say nothing of the grilled flesh which Service had unfortunately let burn a little over too fierce a fire. Even Fan showed in her way that the rest of the animal was not to be despised by the canine race.
The turtle yielded over fifty pounds of meat — a great saving to the stores of the yacht. In this way the month of March ended. During the three weeks since the wreck all the boys had done their best preparing for a long stay on this part of the
