f faces and pulling of hats down over eyes, and great
working of knives and forks; also sounds like men trying not to laugh.

"Why couldn't you play a trick on another man's darg?" said Curry.
"It's no use tellin' me. I can see it all as plain as if I was on the
board--all of you runnin' an' shoutin' an' cheerin' an' laughin', and
all over shearin' and ill-usin' a poor little darg! Why couldn't you
play a trick on another man's darg?... It doesn't matter much--I'm
nearly done cookie' here now.... Only that I've got a family to think of
I wouldn't 'a' stayed so long. I've got to be up at five every mornin',
an' don't get to bed till ten at night, cookin' an' bakin' an' cleanin'
for you an' waitin' on you. First one lot in from the wool-wash, an'
then one lot in from the shed, an' another lot in, an' at all hours
an' times, an' all wantin' their meals kept hot, an' then they ain't
satisfied. And now you must go an' play a dirty trick on my darg! Why
couldn't you have a lark with some other man's darg!"

Geordie bowed his head and ate as though he had a cud, like a cow,
and could chew at leisure. He seemed ashamed, as indeed we all
were--secretly. Poor old Curry's oft-repeated appeal, "Why couldn't you
play a trick with another man's dog?" seemed to have something pathetic
about it. The men didn't notice that it lacked philanthropy and logic,
and probably the cook didn't notice it either, else he wouldn't have
harped on it. Geordie lowered his face, and just then, as luck or the
devil would have it, he caught sight of the dog. Then he exploded.

The cook usually forgot all about it in an hour, and then, if you asked
him what the chaps had been doing, he'd say, "Oh, nothing! nothing! Only
their larks!" But this time he didn't; he was narked for three days,
and the chaps marvelled much and were sorry, and treated him with great
respect and consideration. They hadn't thought he'd take it so hard--the
dog shearing business--else they wouldn't have done it. They were a
little puzzled too, and getting a trifle angry, and would shortly
be prepared to take the place of the injured party, and make things
unpleasant for the cook. However, he brightened up towards the end of
the week, and then it all came out.

"I wouldn't 'a' minded so much," he said, standing by the table with a
dipper in one hand, a bucket in the other, and a smile on his face. "I
wouldn't 'a' minded so much only they'll think me a flash man in Bourke
with tha