ALMOST HUMAN 
i 
]8 
his haunches with that bewildered, haunted expression that follows a 
horrible nightmare. 
By this time Jacko had reached the Melrose Hotel. Not being 
accustomed to running, he was getting winded, and his weather eye told 
him that the keepers were getting uncomfortably close. What was he 
to do? At that instant he saw a terrace of small cottages with iron 
roofs, just beyond the hotel. He reckoned they were an ideal place of 
refuge. To climb the verandah post, run across it, and get on to the 
roof of the first cottage, was the work of seconds. Looking down at the 
keepers, he was sure he had won the day. After the manner of his 
kind he let out a tremendous “Ya-hoo!” with its accompanying waving 
of the arms. Doing this he found that the chain rattled on the roof 
and made a horrible din. This was much to his liking, and so he kept 
it up. In a moment a woman shot out of the front door to the middle 
of the road to discover what was happening overhead. The 
intelligent brute at once recognised cause and effect. So he went to 
the next roof and repeated the performance with the same result. 
Having the time of his life, he went along the whole row in this manner, 
and before he reached the end, every occupant of the terrace was on 
the road. By this time one of the keepers, with a lasso, was on the 
first roof. Jacko saw him coming, jumped down the end verandah post, 
and made off quickly — much refreshed by his pause and diversion. As 
he reached a tannery on Flemington road he discovered that his pursuers 
were gaining on him, and again he looked for a way of escape. Near 
by was a small two-roomed cottage occupied by a young man working 
in the tannery, and his elderly mother. The old woman was getting 
ready her son’s mid-day meal. She was bending over two pots on the 
fire, (one holding potatoes and the other a stew), when Jacko, standing 
on his hind feet, pushed open the door, and yelled “Ya-hoo!” The poor, 
terrified woman, notwithstanding that she was a sufferer from rheu- 
matism, gave one horrified look at the creature, and was out of her 
window like a shot. She rushed to the tannery, screaming: “Let yez 
all come, let yez all come! The devil’s at me front door!” 
Left undisputed master of his surroundings, Jacko determined to 
make the most of his few precious moments. Allured by the smell, and 
feeling hungry after his hard work, he at once investigated the pots on 
the fire. The potatoes were boiling, and as he could get them out 
in no other way, he tipped them on to the floor to cool. Then, finding 
the stew just as hot, he poured that over them. Knowing perfectly 
well that if he did not dihe at once the chances were all against his 
dining at all, he began to” expedite the” process of cooling by tossing 
the victuals into the air. He burnt both hands and feet in doing it. 
