catch him, Tim. You'll see. There, hold still."

As he spoke, Fred was busy tying the twine round the hen with ingenious
knots, till the poor bird looked as if it had been put in harness;
while, firmly secured in amongst the string bandages, and hidden by one
of the wings, the hook lay ready for the reptile, if it did not prove to
be too cunning to touch the bait.

"There!" cried Frank, at last; and he then said something to the Malays,
from whom a murmur that was a chorus of approval, arose.

"Are you going to throw it into the river close by where I saw the
monster!" whispered Ned.

"Throw it in? Why, it would drown the bird."

"Of course."

"Oh, I see you don't understand croc fishing," continued Frank, securing
a piece of the fibre twine to one of the legs of the hen, and another to
a stout peg of wood, leaving about five feet clear for the bird to move
about.

These preparations made, Frank took the bird under his arm, twisted the
rope twice about the hand which held the peg, and then, sticking a short
stout staff in his belt, he stooped down, and, keeping the tree in which
Ned had seen the monkey, between him and the water, he crept silently
forward, dragging the rope after him, till he was close up. Then,
taking the peg to which the hen was tethered, he drove it quickly and
firmly down into the ground, as near to the edge of the bank as he could
reach.

Ned watched him excitedly, and as he recalled his own adventure, he was
in dread lest the reptile should make a rush at the gaily-clad figure,
so occupied in his task that he would have been quite at the monster's
mercy.

Similar thoughts evidently troubled the Malays, for five of the men took
their spears from where they leaned, and stood some thirty feet behind
the lad, ready to rush forward to his help. But there was no need.
Frank worked quickly and well, driving the peg down into the ground with
the club, sufficiently tightly to keep the hen from getting free, but
not hard enough to prevent its being drawn by the reptile, supposing
that the twine did not break.

It was only a minute's work before the club was thrust back into his
waistband, and a quantity of the rope hauled down to the bank. Then the
lad trotted rapidly back, leaving the hen walking disconsolately up and
down with the hook beneath its wing, and dragging the loose rope here
and there; while, so little was the poor thing troubled, that it began
to scratch and peck about bene