“Hadn’t we better go back to the river?” said Rob. “Perhaps I should be able to shoot a duck if I saw one swimming about.”
“Daresay you would, my lad,” said the old sailor drily, “send the arrow right through one; but what I say is, if the ’gators want a duck killed they’d better kill it themselves.”
“I don’t understand you,” said Rob.
“Understand, my lad? Why, suppose you shoot a duck, it will be on the water, won’t it?”
“Of course!”
“Then how are you going to get it off?”
“I forgot that,” said Rob. “Impossible, of course.”
“Come on, then, and don’t let’s waste time. We’ll keep along here and get some fruit, perhaps, and find birds at the same time.”
Their journey through the forest was very short before they were startled by a sudden rush and bound through the undergrowth. So sudden was it that both stopped short listening, but the sound ceased in a few moments.
“What’s that?” whispered Rob.