Then his horse, shifting its
position, trod on his foot; and as he hopped round, nursing his stinging
toes, Dan found an illustration for his argument. "Some chaps," he said,
"'ud be thankful to have toes to be trod on"; and ducking to avoid a
coming missile, he added cheerfully, "But there's even an advantage about
having wooden legs at times. Heard once of a chap that reckoned 'em just
the thing. Trod on a death-adder unexpected-like in his camp, and when
the death-adder whizzed round to strike it, just struck wood, and the
chap enjoyed his supper as usual that night. That chap had a wooden
leg," he added, unnecessarily explicit; and then his argument being
nicely rounded off, he lent a hand with the pack-bags.
The traveller filled in Dan's evening, and Neaves' mate coming through
next day, gave the Quarters a fresh start and then just before that
sundown we felt the first breath of victory from the monsoon--just a few
cool, gusty puffs of wind, that was all, and we ran out to enjoy them,
only to scurry back into shelter, for our first shower was with us.
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