Philip knelt on the ribs of his foe, still holding one ear and one
hind leg. Then he proceeded with his speech, gasping for breath:
"And this is what happens to a poor man in Australia! Here have I
been fighting a wild beast of a pig for half an hour, just to keep
him alive, and all to oblige a cockatoo farmer, and small thanks to
me for that same. May all the curses--the Lord preserve us and
give us patience; I am forgetting the twelve virtues entirely."
Gleeson came at last with the cart and George Brown the Liar; the
pig's legs were again tied together, he was lifted into the cart and
covered with the rope net. Four other pigs were caught, and then the
hunters and dogs returned to the place in which the old boar had been
left. But he had broken or slipped his bonds, and had gone away. He
was tracked to the river, which was narrow but deep, so he had saved
his bacon for another day.
At the division of the game Philip declined to take any share. He said:
"Thanks, I have had pig enough for the present."
So there were exactly five pigs for the other five men.
Having been satiated with the pleasures of fishing and pig-hunting,
Philip was next invited to try the pursuit of the kangaroo. The
first meet of men and hounds took place at Gleeson's farm. McCarthy
brought his dogs, and Philip brought Sam, his revolver, and a club.
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