“But I said a prehensile upper lip, Dinny,” cried Dick.
“Shure I heard what ye said, Master Dick. I know. And a pretty rampaging baste he was. Wirra! If ye’d seen him foight. If ye’d heard him roar, and saw how I battled wid him till I’d laid him low wid tin bullets in his jacket. Ah, it was wonderful. But ye shall see the baste.”
“Yes, I want to see him, Dinny,” said Jack.
“Shure an’ I’ll be glad to take ye, Masther Jack, as soon as it’s light. But he was a brave baste, and fought well; and I felt sorry-like when I seen him go down.”
“Did you though, Dinny?”
“Shure an’ I did, Masther Dick, for I says to myself, ‘Ye’re a brave boy, an’ I dessay ye’ve got a mother somewhere as is very proud of ye, just as I’ve got wan meself. But I must shute ye,’ I says, ‘for the sake of the gintlemen wid the waggon, and the mischief ye’ve done,’ and so I did; an’ there he lies, Masther Dick, stretched out on his side; and pace to his ashes. I’ve done.”
“Well, boys,” said Mr Rogers, speaking for the first time for some minutes, “I think we ought to congratulate ourselves upon the great accession we have discovered in Dinny. In future he shall accompany us in our attacks upon the lions and other furious beasts. I should not think of going after elephant now without Dinny.”
That gentleman’s face was a study, as he listened to his master’s words. His nostrils twitched, his brows grew full of wrinkles, and his jaw dropped, letting his pipe fall from his lips; and though he picked it up directly after, the tobacco had gone out, and Dinny looked as if all the enjoyment had gone out of his life.
Beyond the roaring of a lion or two, the night passed off very quietly, and as soon as it was broad day Chicory stood ready to lead the party to see the rhinoceros.
“Come, Dinny, aren’t you ready?” cried Dick.