Bunyip Land: A Story of Adventure in New Guinea

by George Manville Fenn

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

  HOW THE DOCTOR GAVE JIMMY HIS PHYSICS.

  I could not move for a few moments, the terrible cry and the shrieksthat followed seemed to rob me of all power; but overcoming thisparalysing feeling at last, I ran towards where poor Jimmy lay, thethought flashing upon my mind that the doctor must be performing someoperation to try and save the poor fellow's life.

  I was quite right, as I found when I reached the spot, followed by allthe little camp: the doctor was performing an operation, and theAustralian was upon his knees now, his feet then, capering about, andappealing for mercy.

  For the instrument with which the doctor was performing his operationwas the stout cane I had previously seen in his hand, one that he hadcut in the jungle, and then sent me away so as to spare my feelings andkeep me from witnessing the painful sight.

  To my utter astonishment Jimmy was apparently free from all traces ofhis late ailment, and catching sight of me he bounded to me, gettingbehind me to avoid the hail of blows that the doctor was showering uponhis unprotected person.

  "Doctor!" I shouted.

  "The dose to be repeated," he said, "when necessary," and he reachedround me with the cane, giving Jimmy two or three very sharp cuts. "Seehow this takes down the swelling. For outward application only. Onedose nearly certain to cure."

  "What are you doing?" I cried.

  "Doing? Performing a wonderful cure. Hasn't Jimmy here been horriblyill, and alarmed the whole camp?"

  Every time he could he gave Jimmy a smart cut, and the black shriekedwith pain.

  "How are you now, my man?" he said mockingly.

  "Jimmy quite as well. Ever so better. All rightums. Tank you better,"yelled the black, and he sheltered himself again behind my back.

  "Doctor," I said, surprised and angry at what seemed horrible cruelty.

  "Give him some more?" he said laughing. "Of course I will," and hetried to reach round me, but I caught hold of the cane, and Jimmy tookadvantage of the cessation of hostilities for a moment to run for somedistance and then climb up a tree, in one of the higher branches ofwhich he settled himself like a monkey, and sat rubbing himself andlooking down at the danger from which he had escaped.

  "There, Joe," said the doctor, laughing; "it has made me hot. That's asgood a cure as the Queen's physician could have made."

  "How could you be so brutal to the poor wretch?" I said indignantly.

  "Brutal! Ha! ha! ha! My indignant young hero!" he cried. "Here areyou going to take up the cudgels in the rascal's behalf. Don't you seethere was nothing the matter with the artful black ruffian."

  "Nothing the matter!" I said. "Why, wasn't he dangerously ill?"

  "Dangerously full," said the doctor, clapping me on the shoulder. "Iwas obliged to give him a lesson, Joe, and it will do him good for allour trip. I suspected the rascal from the very first, but I havestudied medicine long enough to know how easy it is to be deceived byappearances; so I gave Master Jimmy the benefit of the doubt, andtreated him as if he was really very ill, till I had made assurancedoubly sure, and then I thrashed him."

  "What! do you really mean, doctor--" I began.

  "It could not very well have happened with an Englishman, Joe. WithMaster Jimmy there, it was different."

  "But was he not very ill?"

  "You saw him run and climb that tree; you heard how he yelled. Now whatdo you think? Could a dying man do that?"

  "N-no," I faltered. "What does it all mean, then?"

  "Pig!" said the doctor, smiling; "the gluttonous dog ate till he couldnot stir. He had as much as anybody else, and then waited his chance,and when every one was lying down he began upon the store of driedstrips."

  "Jimmy terribull sorry, Mass Joe," came from up the tree.

  "He behaved like a boa constrictor, and then alarmed us all horriblyinstead of confessing the truth. Why, my dear boy, do you suppose Ishould have been so cruel to a sick man?"

  "You black rascal!" I cried, looking up at Jimmy, who howled like adog.

  "Jimmy come down now! Never do so no more."

  "Only let me have a turn at you," I said, and he immediately began toclimb higher.

  "Here, you come down, sir," I shouted.

  For answer he climbed higher and higher till he was pretty well out ofsight among the small branches in the top of the tree.

  "All right!" I said, "I can wait;" and I walked away with the doctor,horribly annoyed at the waste of time, but wonderfully relieved atmatters being no worse.

  I never knew, but I suspect that Jimmy stopped in the top of the treetill it was dark and then slunk down and hid himself amongst the bushesclose up to the watch-fire.

  At all events he was busy the next morning working away as if nothinghad been wrong overnight. He showed himself to be most active inputting things straight, making up the loads, and every now and thenglancing furtively first at one of us and then at the other.

  "Oh, I do like Jimmy, that I do," said Jack Penny to me, and then hethrew himself down and began to laugh heartily, shutting his eyes androlling himself gently to and fro till he declared that he felt better,and got up.

  "I don't care about laughing when I'm standing up," he said seriously,"it waggles my back so."

  When breakfast time came, for we had a seven or eight mile walk first inthe cool of the early morning, we made a halt and the rations wereserved out by the doctor, who gave me a look and handed each black hisportion in turn, but omitted Jimmy.

  The latter stood disconsolately looking on for some minutes in the hopethat he was to be remembered after all; but when he saw everybody busyat work eating and himself utterly neglected, he walked slowly away somedistance from where we were seated and, laying his head against thetrunk of a tree, let out a series of the most unearthly howls.

  "Oh, I say!" exclaimed Jack Penny.

  "Pleasant," said the doctor, going on with his breakfast; and seeingthat he was observed, and that his howls were having some effect, Jimmydisplayed the utter childlike disposition of a savage by redoubling hiscries.

  "If he don't stop directly I shall go and talk to him with this," Isaid, snatching up a stick.

  "How--aw--ooo!" cried Jimmy, and I jumped to my feet, when he becamesilent, and I resumed my place.

  Jimmy watched us eagerly for a few minutes, when, left half starvedhimself, and unable to bear the neglect when others wereenjoying themselves, the howls burst out again followed by aself-commiserating--"Poor Jimmy, Mass Joe not care poor Jimmy nevernow."

  No one took any notice, and we went on eating grilled turkey and damperand drinking coffee, and all the time I was rather enjoying myimportance and the fact of being able to control, boy as I was, a stoutpowerful fellow like Jimmy and make him as obedient as a dog.

  "Poor old Jimmy cut handums. Ebber so sorry, poor Jimmy. Go and diehimself. Haw--ow!"

  "I say," said Jack Penny, "he couldn't dye himself any blacker, couldhe, Joe Carstairs?"

  "Have some more coffee, Joe?" said the doctor aloud. "Here, give me apiece more turkey."

  "Poor Jimmy go starve a deff," was the next that met our ears, and ithad such an effect upon Jack Penny that some of his coffee got into hiswindpipe and he choked and coughed and laughed till he was obliged tolie down.

  "If I was to cough much like that I should break my back," he said,sitting up and wiping his eyes. "Poor old Jimmy? I do like him. He_is_ a one."

  Jimmy stood watching the disappearing food, then he sat down. Then helay at full length; but no one took the slightest notice, for the blackswere selfishly busy, and we were keeping up the punishment for the falsealarm to which our follower had subjected us.

  At last this attack upon Jimmy's tenderest part--his appetite--grew tobe more than he could bear, and he sat up in the squatting attitude somuch affected by savages.

  "Ah!" he exclaimed dolefully, "poor black fellow--poor Jimmy!" and thisstarted Jack Penny off laughing once more, which so exasperated Jimmythat he sprang up as sharply
as if stung, and ran in a rage to where hisblack companions were eating their food.

  "Here, hi! you black fellow, Jimmy done wid him. Jimmy gib boomerang.You no fro down wallaby."

  He held out his curious hard-wood weapon to Ti-hi, who took it, gazingat him wonderingly, while Jimmy glanced at us to see if we were about torelent and give him some breakfast.

  "Jimmy going," he said at last, loud enough for us to hear; but we paidno heed.

  "Jimmy going; nebber come back no more," he said in a louder voice; butno one turned a head.

  "Jimmy go jump river. Big bunyip crocodile come eat poor Jimmy. All umvery sorry. No see poor Jimmy not nev more."

  He glanced at us again, but we were laughing over our breakfast, thoughnot so busy but that we were able to see the black fold his arms andstalk away, evidently under the impression that we should start up andarrest him; but no one moved.

  "Big water bunyip glad get black fellow," he said, as loudly as hecould, and with a scornful look at us.

  "Here, suppose we go," said the doctor, rising.

  "Go?" said Jack, getting up slowly, "where to?"

  "To see Jimmy feed the crocodiles. Come along, lads."

  Jimmy stopped short with his jaw dropped, and nearly beside himself withrage. He seemed to be completely staggered at our cool way of takingthings, and at last he ran off like the wind, rushed back again with hiseyes flashing, and slapping his legs as he darted upon Ti-hi, waddy inhand.

  "Gib boomerang Jimmy, black tief fellow," he roared. "Take a boomerang.Jimmy boomerang. Tief fellow tole a boomerang."

  Snatching it from Ti-hi's hand he made believe to strike him with thecurious weapon and then rushed off with it into the bush.

  "Well, Joe," said the doctor, "do you think the crocodiles will dine onblackbird?"

  I shook my head.

  "What do you say, Jack Penny, eh?"

  "Jimmy won't jump in, I know," drawled Jack.

  "You're right," said the doctor; "he'll come back before long hungry asa hunter, and regularly tamed down or I'm no judge of character."

  "Yes," I said, "and he'll bring back something he has killed so as totry and make friends. That's how he always did at home."

  "Well," said Jack Penny solemnly, "I hope he will. I like Jimmy, hemakes me laugh, and though it hurts my back I like laughing. It does megood. I never used to have anything to laugh at at home. Father usedto laugh when he kicked me, but it never seemed funny to me, and I neverused to laugh at that."

  "Well, Jack Penny, I dare say the black will give you something to laughat before long, for I don't suppose it will be long before he is back."