?"

"No, thank you."

"Then I'm off."

With the jug partly emptied, Rifle was able to run to the open part,
where Man greeted him with:

"I say, what a while you've been. See some game over yonder?"

"No; but Tim thought there were savages in that bit of wood."

"What! and you two went to see?"

"Yes."

"You were stupid. Why, they might have speared you."

"Yes; but being a sentry, Tim thought we ought to search the trees and
see, and being so brave we went to search the place."

He was pouring out some tea in the mug as he said the above, and his
brother looked at him curiously.

"You're both so what?" cried Man, with a mocking laugh. "Why, I'll be
bound to say--" _glug_, _glug_, _glug_, _glug_--"Oh, I was so thirsty.
That was good," he sighed holding out the mug for more.

"What are you bound to say?" said Rifle, refilling the mug.

"That you both of you never felt so frightened before in your life.
Come now, didn't you?"

"Well, I did feel a bit uneasy," said Rifle, importantly; but he avoided
his brother's eye.

"Uneasy, eh?" said Man; "well, I call it frightened."

"You would have been if it had been you."

"Of course I should," replied Man. "I should have run for camp like a
shot."

Rifle looked at him curiously.

"No; you wouldn't," he said.

"Oh, shouldn't I. Catch me stopping to let the blacks make a target of
me. I should have run as hard as I could."

"That's what I thought," said Rifle, after a pause; "but I couldn't
turn. I was too much frightened."

"What, did your knees feel all shivery-wiggle?"

"No; it wasn't that. I was afraid of Tim thinking I was a coward, and
so I went on with him, and found it was only a black cockatoo that had
frightened him, but I was glad when it was all over. You'd have done
the same, Man."

"Would I?" said the lad, dubiously. "I don't know. Aren't you going to
have a drop yourself?"

Rifle poured the remains of the tea into the mug, and gave it a twist
round.

"I say," he said, to change the conversation, which was not pleasant to
him, "as soon as we get settled down at the farm, I shall vote for our
having milk with our tea."

"Cream," cried Man. "I'm tired of ship tea and nothing in it but sugar.
Hist! look there."

His brother swung round and followed the direction of Man's pointing
finger, to where in the distance they could see some animals feeding
among the grass.

"Rabbits!" cried the boy eagerly.

"Nonsense!" said