s and
wishes," replied Lord Reginald. "I let out a thought which has been in
my head for some days, and I would on no account try to raise hopes
which may never be realised."

Eager as Dick was to work at the boat, he was compelled to make
excursions in search of game, and he seldom returned without two or
three birds or a small deer. Besides opossums, he had occasionally
caught sight of a tiger-cat, which, however, was not of a size to make
him fear that it would venture to attack him, savage as it appeared
while climbing a tree or leaping from bough to bough. Though he had no
wish to interfere with the tiger-cat, he had a great fancy for catching
some of the pigs which scampered about beneath the trees, picking up
fruits and nuts, and digging for roots. His bolts, though capable of
penetrating the more delicate skin of the deer, glanced off the thick
hide of the pigs. He bethought him, therefore, after watching their
runs, that he would make a pitfall in which some might be caught without
difficulty. Finding the ground tolerably soft, he set to work
immediately with a wooden spade, and dug a hole four feet square and the
same in depth, which he covered over carefully with bushes and earth.
His success was greater than he expected, for the very next day, on
visiting the pit, he found two fat porkers grunting away at the bottom,
and tumbling over each other, in vain endeavouring to extricate
themselves from their prison. Running back to the hut for a rope, he
managed to get it with a slip-knot over the hinder leg of one of the
pigs, which he quickly hauled out. He took the precaution of having a
thick pointed stick in readiness, should the pig attempt to charge him.
At first the animal lay on the ground, astonished at the unusual
treatment it was receiving. Dick then getting his stick ready in one
hand and the rope in the other, gave a pull away from the hut. The pig
instantly jumped up and dashed off at full speed, in the direction Dick
wanted it to go. He followed, laughing, every now and then giving a
pull at the rope, which he kept as tight as he could, at the same time
holding his stick ready for his defence. With loud squeaks and angry
grunts, on it rushed towards Lord Reginald, who was quietly reading,
seated on the ground in the shade, while Dick shouted and laughed in
addition. The noise aroused the young lord, who started up with looks
of astonishment in his countenance. He was just in time to le