"Let us capture the bird alive," he said, and we laughed at his words, thinking that he meant to ridicule us.
"I am serious," he said, "for I believe that it is possible."
"Let us know how," cried Murden; "and if your plan succeeds, the best supper that can be obtained in Ballarat shall reward your ingenuity!"
"For how many?" inquired Fred.
"For the party, and Mr. Brown."
"That will cost you more than five pounds; but as you are anxious for the bird, I will try and devise a way of relieving your purse."
Fred, as he spoke, uncoiled his long halter,—a rope that we used to hitch the horses to during the daytime, so that they could wander over considerable ground, and feed upon the dried grass,—and made a running knot in one end, and thus formed a slip-noose, like the Mexican's reatta.
"What next?" we asked.
"Why, I want both of you to follow my example, and if you get near enough to the bird, to throw the rope over its neck, and see that one end of it is made fast to the pommel of the saddle."
"Why, that is the way that the Spaniards capture ostriches," Murden said.