A
monosyllable to him was a laborious sentence; four or five words a
speech. Once upon a time, it is said, a youthful German inadvertently
blundered into a railway carriage reserved for Moltke. The glare of the
great man brought three words of respectful apology for the intrusion.
The great man exclaimed with an air of exasperated boredom--"Insufferable
talker!"--of course, all in German. "Paddy," like Moltke, was,
averse from speech, unless when speech was absolutely vital. The
presence of a 10-foot crocodile of unknowledgeable ferocity was a vital
occasion. We hastily discussed in staccato whispers our plan of
campaign. It was arranged that we should assail the enemy at close
quarters. The calibre of the rifle was 22; its velocity most humble,
the bullet of soft lead. Unless it entered the eye of the crocodile,
and thence by luck its small brain, there was no hope of fatal effects.
Yet to take home such a rare trophy as a crocodile's skull, never
before known or heard of on the island, was a hope sufficient to evoke
and steady the instincts to be called upon as a necessary preliminary.
"Paddy" armed himself with weighty stones, and so manoeuvring to cut
off the creature's retreat to the sea, we silently and with the utmost
caution advanced.
Pages:
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299