He looked out upon his work with awe, stood and gazed spellbound, wondering if such a sea of flame could ever be stopped, fearing that it would spread out into the bush beyond, and run up into the forest and devour every tree until stopped by the mighty river itself.

As he looked, he heard some creature before him writhing in the blackened track of the fire, and presently he made it out--a great crocodile convulsively lashing its powerful tail.

Going near with cautious steps, he put it out of its misery with a ball under the forearm; then he went on over the scorched ground very slowly, for the burnt reeds were like sharp stakes to the feet.

And as he followed, the fire died out before him, and began to eat its way right and left, working back through the reeds against the wind.
Then he heard the report of a gun, and as he stepped from the burnt area on to the short grass that had offered no fuel for the fire, something came springing around him, and before he could pull trigger it was off with a yelp into the darkness under the canopy of smoke.

"Coo-ee--coo-ee! Compton--ahoy! Compton!" Compton croaked and hobbled on.
Then the creature yelped about him again, and his friends were shaking him by the hands.
"You know," he said with a croak, "I didn't mean to set fire to the place." "Thank God, my boy, you did," said Mr.Hume, fervently.