He broke off suddenly.
“Look, there’s a friend of mine!” he said gently. They were crossing a little gully, and a few yards on their right a big wallaby sat staring at them, gravely inquisitive. It certainly would not have been human nature if Jim had not longed for a gun; but the wallaby was evidently quite ignorant of such a thing, and took them all in with his cool stare. At length Wally sneezed violently, whereat the wallaby started, regarded the disturber of his peace with an alarmed air, and finally bounded off into the scrub.
“There you go!” said the Hermit good-humouredly, “scaring my poor beastie out of his wits.”
“Couldn’t help it,” mumbled Wally.
“No, a sneeze will out, like truth, won’t it?” the Hermit laughed. “That’s how Miss Norah announced herself to me to-day. I might never have known she was there if she hadn’t obligingly sneezed! I hope. you’re not getting colds, children!” the Hermit added, with mock concern.
“Not much!” said Wally and Norah in a breath.
“Just after I came here,” said the Hermit, “I was pretty short of tucker, and it wasn’t a good time for fishing, so I was dependent on my gun for most of my provisions. So one day, feeling much annoyed after a breakfast of damper and jam, I took the gun and went off to stock up the larder.
“I went a good way without any luck. There didn’t seem anything to shoot in all the bush, though you may be sure I kept my eyes about me. I was beginning to grow disheartened. At length I made my way down to the creek. Just as I got near it, I heard a whirr-r-r over my head, and looking up, I saw a flock of wild duck. They seemed to pause a moment, and then dropped downwards. I couldn’t see where they alighted, but of course I knew it must be in the creek.
“Well, I didn’t pause,” said the Hermit. “I just made my way down to the creek as quickly as ever I could, remaining noiseless at the same time. Ducks are easily scared, and I knew my hopes of dinner were poor if these chaps saw me too soon.
“So I sneaked down. Pretty soon I got a glimpse of the creek, which was very wide at that point, and fringed with weeds. The ducks were calmly swimming on its broad surface, a splendid lot of them, and I can assure you a very tempting sight to a hungry man.