A Queer Race: The Story of a Strange People — page 162: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A QUEER RACE. 159 rope, and nails. Mab absolutely insisted on carrying the second rifle, and she and Marian also carried the greater part of the provisions. Buttercup, as he proposed, car- ried the books in two bags, which he slung over his shoulder. He could have carried more, but, though strong, he was only a lad, after all, and i knew, from my experience as a volunteer and a pedestrian rambler, that a pack weighs a good deal heavier at the end of a march than at the beginning. My plan was to make straight for the seashore and fol- - low the coast until we came to the channel, then follow that until we found a ford. | Failing a ford, | meant to extemporize a raft. We got on better than I expected. ‘lhe tidal wave had opened a broad track down to the sea, and the sand on the shore, being firm and hard, made very good walk- ing. Despite the weight of literature which he bore on his back, Buttercup went gayly ahead. ‘he two women were splendid marchers, walking with an even, elastic tread, heads erect, shoulders well thrown back, and looking as if they could go on all day long. It was all I could do to keep up with them. We reached the creek in about three hours. It was very full, the tide being just then at its height. Ford- ing was out of the question; swimming, with our kit, rifles, and the rest, equally so; and I could see no suita- ble timber for raft-making. ‘So I proposed that we should strike inland for a few miles, in the hope that by » the time the tide ebbed we might find a practicable crossing. : Mab concurred; and after a short halt and an al-fresco | breakfast, we turned our backs to the sea, and followed, as well as we could, the course of the stream; but as its banks in many places were swampy and covered with al- most impenetrable brushwood, we had to make several detours, and for some time we got on very slowly. __ Shortly after we resumed our tramp, a bird, of which I did not take particular notice, flew out of a tree. — ‘That is a bad sign,” said Mab, who missed nothing. ‘A bad sign! Why?” | ‘‘Tyon’t you see that it is a magpie?” ‘‘Yos, it is rather like one. I did not know you had magpies in this part of the world.” (E(0) mm G ole) cS (E(0)