FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169  
170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   191   192   193   194   >>   >|  
scared away the bees coming back, and those coming out into pouring forth faster and faster, till there was quite a cloud darting about above that of the blinding wood smoke. Then a few cleverly directed strokes of the axe made a big opening through the bark, the axe was thrown down, and the black's arm thrust in right up to the shoulder, and his hand drawn out bearing a great cake of honeycomb. This he deposited in the bucket, pausing now and then to give the smoking wood a wave, or to hold it inside the opening, to drive out the bees before bringing out more and more comb, till the bucket was pretty well full. And now the most difficult task seemed to await the black; but he held on again with his legs, untied the waist cloth, rested the bucket on his chest, while he knotted the cloth ends together again, and slipped it over his head. Then, taking the smoking wood from where he had placed it inside the hole, he threw it down and descended safe and triumphant, to begin cleaning his sticky hands after the fashion of a cat, before bearing the bucket back to the station, where Mrs Braydon gave him a lump of damper for a reward. CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. LEATHER SPEAKS OUT. Another day, it seemed as if Sorrel felt with his master, and took him straight to a fresh part of the great sheep run, near where the vast gorge was fenced at its edge with mighty trees, beneath one of which Leather was seated, looking hard and stern. Nic was very thoughtful that day. There was something he wanted to ask the convict, but he always shrank from satisfying his curiosity; and this time he showed that he had something upon his mind so plainly, that Leather after their abrupt salutations had passed, said: "Not well, sir?" "Yes, quite well. Why?" "Looked queer, sir." "Oh, nothing," said Nic hastily, for he had made up his mind to question the man, and now the opportunity had come he felt that he could not speak. "I was thinking about you a little while ago, sir." "About me? Why?" "You were saying the other day that you had seen so few snakes. I've seen four this morning. Two of them are poisonous; you may as well have a shot at them." "How do you know that they are poisonous?" "Partly from the bad character they have, sir, partly from the shape of the head." "Let's see, I've heard something about that before: poisonous snakes have a spade-shaped head, haven't they?" "That's what they call it,
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169  
170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   191   192   193   194   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
bucket
 

poisonous

 

smoking

 
inside
 
snakes
 
Leather
 

faster

 

coming

 

opening

 

bearing


convict
 
abrupt
 

shaped

 

satisfying

 

showed

 

plainly

 

curiosity

 

shrank

 

beneath

 

mighty


seated
 

thoughtful

 

salutations

 
wanted
 

partly

 
fenced
 
thinking
 

morning

 

Looked

 

opportunity


Partly

 

question

 
character
 
hastily
 

passed

 
Braydon
 

pausing

 

deposited

 

honeycomb

 

difficult


bringing

 

pretty

 
shoulder
 

darting

 
pouring
 
scared
 

blinding

 

thrown

 
thrust
 

cleverly