“Go, eat. Your couch will be beneath the tree also. When you have eaten, sleep well, for to-morrow you will have to work—to work hard, boy.” Saying which, he went into the hut and closed the door.
The famishing lad did not need a second invitation to dine. He found a stool by the table and sat down and began his dinner. There were many joints and dishes which the waif had never seen before, but they were very nice. In the midst of his repast a fine-looking magpie came fluttering down from the tree, and perching on one end of the table, eyed our hero inquisitively.
“Hallo! Who are you?” said the boy.
“Never you mind, Jack Cochrane. Can I have something to eat?” [[346]]
“Of course you can,” answered the lad, after his first start of surprise. “What’ll you have? Here’s baked snails, stewed kangaroo, fried wallaby, native companion on toast, with a lot of other things.”
But the magpie without more ado perched himself upon a huge rabbit pie and began to help himself to its contents.
“Here, I say, old fellow, how do you know my name?” said Cocky, after a long pause, in which he had been staring wonderingly at the strange bird.
“I know most things,” replied the magpie, whetting his beak on the table-cloth, preparatory to an attack on another dish. “I know that you have got into a very dangerous place, and that if you do not get counsel and help you will assuredly lose your life.”
“That’s pleasant. But who will kill me?” said Cocky, laughing.
“The old man. He’s a terrible magician, Jack. It would have been better for you not to have come here.”