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Updated: May 27, 2025
"What say you, Roger? We'll start away, and spend a month or so with them. We can take Mike with us, while Quambo will look after the hut, the cattle, and pigs." I was ready, of course; and so, as my uncle was a man of action, he determined to set off the next morning.
Sometimes we would look in; and we found it great fun to see Quambo, in the confined space of the cabin, coming the "double shuffle" bounding up and down, and whirling round and round, snapping his fingers and stamping his feet, until the perspiration streamed down his sooty cheeks.
Mike amused us that evening with a tune on his fiddle; and Quambo diverted us still more by a dance he performed to the music, which made Reuben, who was not addicted to laughing, almost split his sides. We agreed to have a long ramble into the forest next day, my uncle giving me leave of absence. He could not spare Mike, but he allowed Quambo to accompany us.
We had plenty of hard work, and were pretty well tired when the day's labours were over. Mike declared that the only drawback to his happiness was the loss of his fiddle, which he never expected to see again. "Dat am de cause ob my grief," observed Quambo, putting his hand to his heart. "If you did get it, would not we hab a dance!
He was telling us this, when the dogs began to yelp, and presently right ahead of us appeared a creature of the size of a large cat. "Dere a 'possum," exclaimed Quambo; and we hurried after it with the dogs. "Master 'Possum" was not going to be caught so easily, however. In an instant it was up a tree, and lost to sight amid the branches, while the dogs yelped around it.
Quambo proposed that we should light a fire in the neighbourhood, so that, did our enemy appear, we might be better able to attack him and defend ourselves. We followed the black's advice; but still nothing appeared. The dogs, however, showed they were convinced that some animal or other was concealed within the trunk.
The dogs leaped about, and yelped loudly. Quambo had thrown himself on the ground to watch the animal's proceedings; for the moment we had attempted to take aim, it had nimbly sprung round to the dark side, apparently watching us as eagerly as we were watching it. Mike on this hurried off to a little distance and lifted his rifle. He fired, and down came the opossum.
"Och, botheration! but the Ridskins have got it bad luck to the spalpeens! and sorra a one of thim can play a tune, or I would not mind it so much," answered Mike. "But you must try to get him back," observed Quambo; "if dey not play on him, dey not want him." "I'm mighty afraid it's burned, though," said Mike, with a sorrowful countenance.
Good food, however, was all I needed; and as our Indian friends had abundance of fish and game, I was soon well again. Just as I had recovered, we one evening saw a large canoe approaching the camp. Who should step out of it but Uncle Mark, accompanied by Reuben, Quambo, and several men! They had brought a quantity of goods to supply their Indian friends.
Here several rocks were seen rising out of it the waters rushing between them with great force, and forming a cataract, down which I should have thought it impossible for the strongest boat to make its way without being dashed to pieces. At this point we sat down on the bank to rest and take some refreshment, when Quambo pulled out his pipe.
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