"Is--is that him?" said Jack, whose eyes looked round and large.
"Dat big bunyip," said a voice that made us start, for Jimmy had come up
from the dark camp unperceived. "Eat black fellow, white man, anyfing."
No one replied to Jimmy's piece of information, and we listened for some
minutes till a faint rustling, heard first by the black, who stood ready
to hurl his spear, made us all place a finger on the trigger.
But it was only caused by the dog, who soon after came into sight, with
his tail between his legs, and his hair bristling with terror.
He ran right to his master and stood behind him, shivering and whining,
as he stared in the direction from which he had come.
"Gyp see big bunyip!" cried Jimmy. "Gyp find a bunyip!"
"I say," said Jack; "it's my watch now. I s'pose you two are going to
lie down."
"Frightened, Jack?" I said maliciously.
"P'r'aps I am, and p'r'aps I ain't," said Jack stoutly. "I should say I
felt frightened if I was; but if you two were going to watch I wouldn't
go away and leave you with a big beast like that about. He must be a
big one or he wouldn't have frightened Gyp, who'll tackle old man
kangaroos six-foot high. You can go if you like, though."
This was a long speech for Jack Penny, who rubbed one of his ears in an
ill-used way.
"Jimmy, black fellow 'fraid um bunyip; oh, yes!" said my follower; "but
Jimmy no run away."
"We shall not leave you alone, Penny," said the doctor, smiling. "It
would not be fair."
So we stayed with him till day broke, and not having heard the slightest
sound to intimate the neighbourhood of danger, and the dog lying quite
still and content by his master, the doctor and I went to get a couple
of hours' rest, just as the forest glades were beginning to echo with
the screaming of birds of the parrot family, Jimmy bending over me and
poking me with the butt end of his spear, almost directly, so it seemed
to me, that I had lain down.
"Jimmy hungry," he said; "gimmy damper--brackfass. Come long."
"Did you hear the bunyip any more, Jimmy?" I said, yawning.
"No. Bunyip go sleep all a morning--all a day! Come a night.
How-wow!"
He put his head on one side and gave so marvellous an imitation of the
terrible cries I had heard during the night that I felt sure he must
know the creature.
"What is it makes that noise, Jimmy?" I said eagerly.
"Bunyip--big ugly fellow bunyip!" he exclaimed; and I felt so cross and
annoyed with his eternal bunyip that I was ready to kick him; but I
refrained, and went instead to the fire, where the doctor was waiting
breakfast, after sending Jimmy to wake me up.