e had met a singed possum he shouted back--

'Me eat a singed possum! I wouldn't eat a possum if he was singed,
roasted, boiled, or fried.'

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

'Not ett--met,' shouted Bill. 'I said, met a singed possum.'

'Why can't yer speak plainly, then,' said the Parrot. 'Have you got a
fill of tobacco on yer?'

He took out his pipe and scowled at Bill.

'Here you are,' said Bill. 'Cut a fill an' answer the question.'

'All in good time,' said the Parrot, and he added to Sam, 'You got any
tobacco?'

Sam handed him a fill, and he put it in his pocket. 'You ain't got any
tobacco,' he said scornfully to Bunyip Bluegum. 'I can see that at a
glance. You're one of the non-smoking sort, all fur and feathers.'

'Here,' said Bill angrily. 'Enough o' this beatin' about the bush.
Answer the question.'

'Don't be impatient,' said the Parrot. 'Have you got a bit o' tea an'
sugar on yer?'

'Here's yer tea an' sugar,' said Bill, handing a little of each out of
the bag. 'And that's the last thing you get. Now will you answer the
question?'

'Wot question?' asked the Parrot.

'Have yer seen a singed possum?' roared Bill.

'No, I haven't,' said the Parrot, and he actually had the insolence to
laugh in Bill's face.

'Of all the swivel-eyed, up-jumped, cross-grained, sons of a cock-eyed
tinker,' exclaimed Bill, boiling with rage. 'If punching parrots on the
beak wasn't too painful for pleasure, I'd land you a sockdolager on the
muzzle that 'ud lay you out till Christmas. Come on, mates,' he added,
'it's no use wastin' time over this low-down, hook-nosed
tobacco-grabber.' And leaving the evil-minded Parrot to pursue his
evil-minded way, they hurried off in search of information.

The next person they spied was a Bandicoot carrying a watermelon. At a
first glance you would have thought it was merely a watermelon walking
by itself, but a second glance would have shown you that the walking was
being done by a small pair of legs attached to the watermelon, and a
third glance would have disclosed that the legs were attached to a
Bandicoot.

They shouted, 'Hi, you with the melon!' to attract his attention, and
set off running after him, and the Bandicoot, being naturally of a
terrified disposition, ran for all he was worth. He wasn't worth much as
a runner, owing to the weight of the watermelon, and they caught him up
half-way across the field.

[Illustration]

Conceiving that his hour had come, the Ba