“Don’t you be in a hurry, sir!” growled Shaddy. “I’m going to show you places as beat this hollow.”
“Impossible, my man!” said Brazier.
“Well, sir, you wait and see. Bit o’ breakfast before we start?”
“Yes,” said Brazier, and the men just then stirred the fire together, and called from the shore that the water was boiling and the cakes in the embers baked.
The sensation of delicious comparative coolness after the storm as they sat under the trees, and the fragrance borne from myriads of flowering plants was so delightful to the senses that Rob looked with dismay at the idea of leaving the place for the present. The thirsty ground had drunk up the rain, and only a little moisture remained where the sun could not penetrate, while the sky was of a vivid blue, without a speck of cloud to be seen.
But, though Brazier did not notice it, there was a jarring element in the concord of that glorious morning, for the young Italian was heavy and gloomy, and hardly spoke during the alfresco meal.
“What’s that?” said Rob suddenly as there was a slight rustling among the boughs and undergrowth a short distance away.
“Might be anything, sir,” said Shaddy. “Some little animal—monkey praps. It won’t hurt us. Maybe it’s a snake.”
In spite of an effort to seem unconcerned, Rob could not resist the desire to glance at his comrade at the mention of the monkey, and, as he fully expected, even though he could not check it, there was Joe glaring at him fiercely.
Rob dropped his eyes, feeling that Joe fully believed he was doing it to annoy him, and that Shaddy had the same intention.