ut his
experience had never gone so far as holding the piece when it was fired;
and when, after being carefully shown how to take aim, he was treated to
a blank charge and pulled the trigger, the result was that I threw
myself on the ground and shrieked with laughter, while the doctor seated
himself upon a stump and held his sides, with the tears rolling down his
cheeks.

For at the flash and report Jimmy uttered a yell, dropped the rifle, and
turned and ran as hard as he could for the barn, never once looking
behind him.

A couple of minutes were, however, sufficient to let his fear evaporate,
and he came back waddy in fist, half shamefaced, half angry, and rubbing
his right shoulder the while.

"Don't do dat," he cried fiercely. "Don't do dat. Play trick, Mass
Joe. Play trick, Jimmy."

"I didn't," I cried, laughing. "Here; see me."

I took the rifle, put in a charge, and fired.

"There," I said, reloading. "Now, try again."

Jimmy had on only his curtailed trousers, into whose waistband he
cautiously stuck the waddy, the knob at the end stopping it from falling
through, and gingerly taking the rifle once more to show that he was not
afraid, he held it loosely against his shoulder and fired again.

The gun kicked more than ever, for it was growing foul, and, uttering a
yell, Jimmy dashed it down, snatched the waddy from his waistband, and
began belabouring the butt of the piece before we could stop him, after
which he stood sulkily rubbing his right shoulder, and scowling at the
inanimate enemy that had given him a couple of blows.

One or two more experiments with the piece, however, taught the black
its merits and demerits to such an extent that he was never so happy as
when he was allowed to shoulder the formidable weapon, with which he
would have liked to go and fight some native tribe; and his constant
demand to me was for me to put in an extra charge so that he might have
what he called "big-bang."

The doctor took care that we should both be well furnished with every
necessary in arms, ammunition, and camp equipments, such as were light
and would go into a small space. He got down from Sydney, too, a
quantity of showy electro-gilt jewellery and fancy beads, with common
knives, pistols, guns, and hatchets for presents, saying to me that a
showy present would work our way better with a savage chief than a great
deal of fighting, and he proved to be quite right in all he said.

Taken altogether