He could burn the body, but it would take a long time to do
it well; somebody might come while he was at the work, and even the
ashes might betray his secret. There were shallow lakes and swamps,
but he could not put the corpse into any of them with safety: search
would be made wherever there was water, on the supposition that Baldy
had been drowned after drinking too freely of the gin he had brought
from Nyalong, and if the body was found, the appearance of the skull
would show that death had been caused, not by drowning, but by the
blows of that cursed axe. Nosey began to lay all the blame on the
axe, and said, "If it had not stood up so handy near the door, I
wouldn't have killed the man."
It was the axe that tempted him. Excuses of that sort are of a very
ancient date.
Luckily Nosey owned two horses, one of which was old and quiet. He
told Julia to fasten the door, and to open it on no account whatever,
while he went for the horse, which was feeding in the Rises hobbled,
and with a bell tied round his neck. When he returned he saddled the
animal, and Julia held the bridle while he went into the hut for the
body. He observed Baldy's pipe on the floor near the fire-place, and
he replaced it in the pocket in which it had been usually kept, as it
might not be safe to leave anything in the hut belonging to the
murdered man.
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