A Little Bush Maid, page 39 by Mary Grant Bruce
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ods. You boys have got your strong knives, haven't you?"
They had, and immediately scattered to work. The ponies having been tied securely under a grove of saplings, the search for rods began, and soon four long straight sticks were obtained with the necessary amount of "springiness." Then they hunted for a suitable camping-ground, where lunch might be eaten without too much disturbance from flies and mosquitoes, and gathered a good supply of dry sticks for a fire.
"Billy ought to bless us, anyhow," Jim grinned.
"Yes, oughtn't he? Come along and see if he's coming." They ran out upon the plain, and cheerful exclamations immediately proclaimed the fact that Billy and the old packhorse had at length made their appearance in what Wally called the "offing."
Billy soon clattered up to the little party, the hobbles and quart pot jingling cheerfully on old Polly's back. He grinned amiably at the four merry faces awaiting him in the shade of a wattle tree.
"This feller pretty slow," he said, indicating Polly with a jerk of his thumb. "You all waitin' for tackle?"
"Rather," said Jim. "Never mind, we've got everything ready. Look sharp and shy down the hooks, Billy--they're in that tin, and the lines are tied on to it, in a parcel. That's right," as the black boy tossed the tackle down and he caught it deftly. "Now, you chaps, get to work, and get your lines ready."
"Right oh!" said the chorus, as it fell to work. Billy made a swift incursion into the interior of the pack, and fished up a tin of worms and some raw meat, Wally being the only one to patronize the latter. The other three baited their hooks with worms, and, all being in readiness, made their way down the steep bank at a place where a little cleft gave easier access to a tiny shelving beach below. Here a great tree-trunk had long ago been left by an unusually high flood, and formed a splendid place to fish from, as it jutted out for some distance over the stream. Norah scrambled out like a cat to its farth