The Saltires were apologetic about their leader's actions, for he had seemed to have recovered from the original attempt to aquire the rabbit fur to being his usual self. I assured them that it was an ideal opportunity to redesign the gardens and that the military were always happy to have something to fire off and if the target was moving it was all to the good.

The young chefs brought in wood to light a fire in the hearth, and there was a slight reduction in the cold, but it was still possible to see our breath when we sat down to dinner.

We did try to get the captain to eat, but when placed in a chair he flowed off it to the floor, and giggled.

Daphne rose to make a speach after dinner, and she was most entertaining, so it was rather alarming when, as the sporrans were carried in for the men to make their choice, they lept to their feet and sent chairs clattering. I have never seen a man sober up so rapidly as the Captain did when he realised that there was irridescent white fur in the room. It was quite painful to watch him, and many of the others, try to decide which one to pick - all the more so as I had a daylight simulating lamp brought in so they could see the blue of the darker fur.

I was asked how I had obtained the fur of the animal they called the acryli-beast, which was believed to be extinct. I explained that it was being hunted in the northenmost parts of the former soviet union but some had been captured and moved far enough south to make study easier, and the two forms of the adult fur had been discovered, and not long after that the first litters had been born and the beautiful soft fibre the young ones grew was noted.

When I took the men who had made their choice out to the workshop to have their names engraved I found that everything was covered in a light fall of snow beneath a clear moonlit sky, they exclaimed, and I have to say it was a very pretty sight. We returned to find that a few more choices had been made, so I went back with them.

The poor captain was entirely unable to choose between the two, and several others were in the same state. I am perhaps a little harsh in only giving them one, and not telling them that arctos fur sporrans will be for sale shortly. I was, however, really rather fond of that gazebo.

Although not planned, after dinner we danced, for it was too cold to sit around, even with the fire throwing out quite a heat. I confiscated the sporrans still unselected and put them under lock and key until morning.

The security team promised to stand guard to prevent any further incidents, but I moved the young buck from his pen into our wash house just to be sure he was safe.