a ferry boat for the use of natives and others when 

 the river was up, at half a crown a trip. The business 

 ran itself and went strong during the summer floods, 

 but in winter when the river was low and fordable 

 it needed pushing; and then Furley's boatman, an 

 intelligent native, would loiter about the drift and 

 interest travellers in his crocodile stories, and if they 

 proved over-confident or sceptical, would manoeuvre 

 them a little way down stream where, from the bank, 

 they would usually see a big crocodile sunning him- 

 self on a sand spit below the drift. The boys always 

 took the boat. One day some police entered the 

 store and joyously announced that they had got him 

 " bagged the old villain at last ! " ; and Furley 

 dropped on a sack of mealies groaning out " Glory, 

 Boys ! The ferry's ruined. Why, I've preserved him 

 for years ! " 



The other crocodile incident concerns " Lying Tom " 

 brave merry-faced blue-eyed Tom ; bubbling with 

 good humour ; overflowing with kindness ; and full 

 of the wildest yarns, always good and amusing, but so 

 steep that they made the most case-hardened draw 

 a long breath. 



The name Lying Tom was understood and 

 accepted by every one in the place, barring Tom 

 himself; for, oddly enough, there was another Tom 

 of the same surname, but no relation, and once when 

 his name cropped up I heard the real Simon Pure refer 

 to him as " my namesake the chap they call Lying 

 Tom." To the day of his death Tom believed that 

 it was the other Tom who was esteemed the liar. 



380 



