Hornung Ernest William - A Bride from the Bush стр 9.

Take the beastly thing! she cried. It isnt half a whip! But you just hold on, and Ill show you what a real whip is!

She was out of the yard in a twinkling. The lout rubbed his eyes, scratched his

head, and whistled. Then a brilliant idea struck him: he fetched the coachman. They were just in time. The Bride was back in a moment.

Ha! two of you, eh? she exclaimed. Well, stand aside and Ill show you how we crack stock-whips in the Bush!

A short, stout handle, tapering towards the lash, and no longer than fifteen inches, was in her hand. They could not see the lash at first, because she held it in front of her in her left hand, and it was of the same colour as her dark tailor-made dress; but the Bride jerked her right wrist gently, and then a thing like an attenuated brown snake, twelve feet long, lay stretched upon the wet cement of the yard as if by magic. Swiftly then she raised her arm, and the two spectators felt a fine line of water strike their faces as the lash came up from the wet cement; looking up, they saw a long black streak undulating for an instant above the young ladys head, and then they heard a whiz, followed by an almost deafening report. The lash lay on the ground again, quivering. Coachman and stable-boy instinctively flattened their backs against the coach-house door.

That, said the Bride, is the plain thing. Smell this!

Again the long lash trembled over her head; again it cracked like a gun-shot somewhere in front of her, but this time, by the help of the recoil and by the sheer strength of her wrist, the lash darted out again behind her as it seemed, under her very arm and let out the report of a second barrel in the rear. And this fore-and-aft recoil cracking went on without intermission for at least a minute that minute during which the Judges shaving was interrupted. Then it stopped, and there was a fine wild light in the Brides eyes, and her breath came quickly, and her lips and cheeks were glowing crimson.

The phlegmatic lad was quite speechless, and, in fact, with his gaping mouth and lolling tongue he presented a rather cruel spectacle. But the coachman found an awestruck word or two: My soul and body! he gasped.

Ah! said the Bride, that is something flash, aint it though? I wonder I hadnt forgotten it. And now you have a try, old man!

Honest Garrod, the coachman, opened his eyes wide. He knew that this was Mrs Alfred; he had heard that Mrs Alfred was an Australian; but he could scarcely believe his ears.

No, miss no, mum thank you, he faltered. The miss came much more naturally than the mum.

Come on! cried the Bride.

Id rather not, miss mum , said the coachman.

What rot! said Gladys. Here thats it bravo! Now blaze away!

The old man had given in, simply because this extraordinary young lady was irresistible. The first result of his weakness was a yell of pain from the stable-boy; the poor lads face was bleeding where the lash had struck it. Rough apologies followed. Then the old coachman who was not without mettle, and was on it, for the moment took off his coat and tried again. After many futile efforts, however, he only succeeded in coiling the lash tightly round his own legs; and that made an end of it; the old man gave it up.

Show us some more, mum, said he. Ive got too old and stiff for them games, as if in his youth he had been quite at home with the stock-whip, and only of late years had got rusty in the art of cracking it.

Right you are, said Gladys, gaily, when her laughter was over she had a hearty, but a rather musical laugh. Give me the whip. Now, have you got a coin a sixpence? No? No odds, heres half a sov. in my purse thatll do as well; and you shall have it, either of you that do this side o Christmas what Im going to do now. Im going to show you a trick and a half!

Her eyes sparkled with excitement: she was rather over-excited, perhaps. She placed the coin upon the ground, retreated several paces, measured the distance with her eye, and smartly raised the handle of the stock-whip. The crack that followed was the plain, straightforward crack, only executed with greater precision than before. Then she had resembled nothing so much as an angler idly flogging a stream; the difference was that now, as it were, she was throwing at a rise. And she threw with wonderful skill; for, at the first crack, the half-sovereign spun high into the air and fell with a ring upon the cement; she had picked it up on the point of the lash!

It was a surprising feat. That she managed to accomplish it at the first attempt surprised no one so much as the Bride herself. This also added in a dangerous degree to her excitement. She was now in little less than a frenzy. She seemed to forget where she was, and to think that she was back on the station in New South Wales, where she could do what she liked.

Now that youve seen I can do that, she cried to

the lad, stand you with your back to the wall there, and Ill take your hat off for you!

The answer of the dull youth was astonishingly wise; he said nothing at all, but beat a hasty retreat into the safety of the saddle-room.