Sissy,
six years old, was present; she inspected the blackfellow and the
ducks, and listened. Leura said he wanted to sell me the ducks, but
not for money; he would take old clothes for them. He was wearing
nothing but a shirt and trousers, both badly out of repair, and was
anxious to adorn his person with gay attire on the morrow. So I
traded off a pair of old cords and took the ducks.
Next day we had two guests, a Miss Sheppard, from Geelong, and
another lady, and as my house was near the lake, we did our
picnicking inside. We put on as much style as possible to suit the
occasion, including, of course, my best native wine, and the two
ducks roasted. Sissy sat at the table next to Miss Sheppard, and
felt it her duty to lead the conversation in the best society style.
She said:
"You see dose two ducks, Miss Sheppard?"
"Yes, dear; very fine ones."
"Well, papa bought 'em from a black man yesterday. De man said dey
was black ducks, but dey was'nt black, dey was brown. De fedders are
in de yard, and dey are brown fedders."
"Yes, I know, dear; they call them black ducks, but they are brown--
dark brown."
"Well, you see, de blackfellow want to sell de ducks to papa, but
papa has no money, so he went into de house and bring out a pair of
his old lowsers, and de blackfellow give him de ducks for de lowsers,
and dems de ducks you see.
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