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"Well," said Lynton, "who is going to volunteer? Mr Brace wants that skin taken off. We must have a rope round the beggar's neck, throw one end over one of the branches of a tree, and then we can haul him up higher and higher as we peel him down from the head." "And suppose he begins to twissen himself up in a knot and lash out with his tail?" growled one of the men. "Bah!" cried Lynton.
"Yes, sir, it were all that; and when it was alive it must have been fifty foot at least." "Why, Dick?" "Cause they stretches out so, sir, just like worms in the garden at home do." "Gammon, Dick. Serpents don't stretch." "Don't stretch, sir! Just you wait till you get a thirty-footer twissen and twining round you, and see if they don't stretch."
Here, you just slip your hand into my jacket pocket and get out my knife. Open it, will you?" I followed out his instructions, and handed him the opened knife, when with one clever cut he divided the eel's backbone, and its writhings almost ceased. "There," continued Jem, taking hold of the line, "let's get you off. What a tangle! why, it's reg'lar twissen all about your ankles. I must break it.
My hand's 'bout cut in two, and my arm's 'bout pulled outer the socket, and one of my legs was twissen under me when I come down, I've had enough shark to last me half a lifetime." As the shuddering feeling of what Tom had escaped passed off, we both thought it would be better to say nothing about it.
If I didn't, he'd torture me and you too. Well, he does twissen about. Welsh eel's nothing to him." For the snake in its rage and pain kept twining about the pole, treating that as the cause of all its suffering. Morgan stood there full of excitement, but though longing to deliver a blow that should paralyse if it did not kill our enemy, I could not get the slightest chance.
"What have you two chaps been at?" cried Roff wonderingly. "The line's all twissen round his legs, and hold hard a minute till I get my knife. I must have that eel." "He's a two and a half pounder, he is," said Jem Roff as, after a bit of a struggle, he got tight hold of the writhing monster. "My word," he continued, holding it down, "he's a strong un!
"Then he must have caught at the rudder-chains as he was swept along the side," said the captain. "Why didn't the fellow hail us, instead of letting the boats go on such a fool's errand?" "Too much scared, sir," replied Mr Reardon. "Below there! Got him in the boat?" "Got him, sir, and we can't get him," said one of the men. "He's all twissen up round the chain in a knot somehow." "What?"
One wheel right off, the front all twissen, and the axle-tree bent. It'll be like making a new 'un. Tck!" "You wouldn't laugh like that, David, if you'd got it to pay for," said Tom.
Get well twissen!" cried Dave; and as the lad obeyed, the punt, already in motion, was for a short distance literally drawn by the strong fish in its desperate efforts to escape. "Let me come this time, young Tom Tallington!" cried Dave. "No, no; I'll help!" cried Tom. "But I shouldn't like you to lose this un, lads. Theer, go on and charnsh it.
"I don't care; you was quarrelling and got yourselves tangled up together, and the rope twissen round and round under one of them bits o' wood as goes acrost." "Yes, I know," I said excitedly, for the thought made me shudder. "Well, there you was; and the more you was pulled the tighter you was, just below the bottom of the ladder." "And what did you do, Ike?"
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