n'
along on his lonesome near out o' sight ahead. `Allah Crachty!' ses he,
`I might do a sleep while I's waitin' like dis,' an' as soon as Ou'
Sculpat comes up--`Is you goin' to get dere to-day, or is it to-morro'?'
ses he.

"But Ou' Sculpat he ain't got time for talkin'. He yust keep on
flip-a-flipperin' along de road, an' Hahsie he starts wid him agen.

"Well, dis time Hahsie gets clean out o' sight over de rise, till after
a while he comes tearin' back, head fust, an' his front legs havin all
dey can do to keep out o' de way o' de hind 'uns. `Look-a'-hyer, I's
been over de rise, an' dere'll be no honey left by de time we get dere
at dis rate.'

"`Ain't I a-comin'?' ses Sculpat.

"`Yes,' snort Hahsie, `an' so's good times--but when? We's a-gun' to
lose dat honey if we don't do sometin'. Here,' ses he, an' he hops
alongside Ou' Sculpat. `Gi'e me de fis'es an' I'll go on an' get de
honey till you come,' an' 'fore Ou' Sculpat can consider dat, Little
Hahsie snatches de fis'es off his back. `You keep comin' along till you
gets dere,' ses he, an' off he scoot wid his legs goin' yards long.

"`I'll come along in time,' ses Sculpat as Hahsie go over de rise.
`I'll keep on. I wants dat honey.'

"Well, he did keep on," concluded Old Hendrik. "He kep' on an' he kep'
on, over de rise an' over de veldt. An' he look about an he ax about,
but--he ain't never come along to dat honey yet. An' he never will."

CHAPTER TWELVE.

WHY THE TORTOISE HAS NO HAIR ON.

"But," demanded Annie of the old Hottentot, a couple of days later,
"after that horrid Little Hare cheated Old Tortoise over the little
twinkly fishes, what did Old Tortoise say next time he met him?"

"What did Ou' Sculpat say to Little Hahsie?" repeated Old Hendrik, with
a sudden wide open laugh. "Well, Ainkye, he said a lot; you may bet he
said a lot. He yust hatto say a lot 'cause what he ha' to say wahnt
true; an' when you hain't got de trufe to tell, den you has to use a
mighty lot o' words to make it stick."

"But surely Old Tortoise didn't believe that Little Hare after what he'd
done!" protested Annie.

"Oh, but you hain't never hear dat Little Hahsie talk when he's a mind
to butter some'dy down," rejoined Old Hendrik. "Ou' Sculpat's one o'
dese people what wants to know 'fore dey b'lieves anytin', an' he was
raungin' round for blood an' t'under lookin' for Little Hahsie. Well,
an' he meet him, an' de nex' ting you knows dey's yust ole