It is not wonderful, if during that night he was
heard to make a dismal groaning, and to complain that he was very ill.
He _said_, indeed, that it was _working_ too _hard_, had made him ill,
but his master thought it was _eating_ too _much_, for whenever he woke,
he found the boy gnawing a bone.
Next day, Wylie was not able to spend his whole time over the carcase,
for he had to go, and look for a lost foal; but the day after, it was
hard to get him away from the bones.
For some time the travellers lived upon dried horse flesh, with a
kangaroo, or a fish, as a little change. Wylie continued to eat
immoderately, though often rolling upon the ground, and crying out,
"Mendyat," or ill.
One night he appeared to be in a very ill-humor, and Mr. Eyre tried to
find out the reason. At last Wylie said in an angry tone, "The dogs have
eaten the skin." It seems he had hung the skin of a kangaroo upon a bush,
intending to eat it by-and-bye, and the wild dogs had stolen the dainty
morsel. Wylie was restored to his usual good-humor by the sight of some
fine fishes his master had caught. Next time the boy shot a kangaroo, he
took good care of the skin, folding it up, and hiding it.
One day he was so happy as to catch two opossums in a tree. His master
determined to see how Wylie would behave, if left entirely to himself.
He sat silently by the fire, while Wylie was cooking one opossum. The
boy, having got it ready for his supper, took the other to his sleeping
place.
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