“Feel frightened, sor?” whispered Tim, smiling in his face.
“No, I don’t think I’m frightened, because I wouldn’t let go on any account.”
“I know. I felt just like that the first time I saw one caught, and the men let me howld the line.”
“But it must be time to strike now.”
“Why, you talk as if you had a rod in your hand, and a fish had taken your bait,” cried Frank.
“Yes; it seems just the same.”
“Only it isn’t fishing: its reptiling. Give him plenty of time.”
“But why?”
“Because perhaps he hasn’t swallowed it, and is lying down there chewing it over in his jaws. If you pulled now, you might jerk it out of his mouth.”
Ned uttered a sigh, as if he were getting rid of a great amount of pent-up emotion while he stood there grasping the rough rope with both hands, waiting and feeling more impatient than he ever had before.