Thus Io sang song after song. To Oscar each oneseemed sweeter than the last. Was the loving minstrel not charming the dark spirit of sorrow away? It was not till the sun was sloping towards the west that, the burdens being replaced on the mules, Io and Maha mounted again to the howdah.
“This has been such a happy day!” observed Io to her husband, as again the little cavalcade moved on.
But the day was not to close without its adventure. Thud, tired of his troublesome tat, asked Oscar to mount the animal. “You may bring the brute into order; I don’t mind walking a little. Perhaps I may find something to put into my specimen bag.”
But Thud soon became weary of walking. A stubble field afforded no materials for his museum, and the path was thickly covered with dust. The tat, ridden by Oscar, looked quiet enough, and Thucydides Thorn expressed a wish to try him again.
Oscar dismounted, and held the tat’s bridle to enable his companion to get up—a feat not very easily accomplished by Thud, who was awkward at mounting. But once in the saddle, the lad’s self-confidence revived; he resolved to show his mastery over the tat.
“I understand him now,” exclaimed the youth, shaking the rein and flourishing the whip. “I’ve a notion that an animal soon finds out what sort of man is on his back. My theory is—”
What Thud’s theory was remains amongst thingsunknown; for the tat made a sudden caper, first turning completely round, then darting with speed in the direction of Moulmein.
“Stop him! stop him!” cried Thud; and as the tat dashed past the loaded mules, one of the drivers tried to catch at the rein. The tat swerved, made a plunge, and Thud measured his short length on the dusty road!
“Oh, I trust that he is not hurt!” exclaimed Io, who was near the place where her brother had fallen, but who could not dismount without aid.
The reply came in a howl of mingled anger and pain from the prostrate rider. Oscar hastened to the spot where Thud, who had now raised himself to a sitting position, was roaring like a two-year-old child, and pressing his handkerchief to his mouth.