He would hear the dinner bell ring, and
would exclaim:
"Bless my napkin ring! I can't come now. I have to fix up this
electrical register first."
And so it would go. Eradicate and Boomerang, his mule, were the only
ones who ate regularly, and they always insisted on stopping at
exactly twelve o'clock to partake of the noonday meal.
"'Cause ef I didn't," explained the colored man, "dat contrary mule
ob mine would lay down in de dust ob de road an' not move a step,
lessen' he got his oats. So dat's why we has t' eat, him an' me."
"Well, I'm glad there's some one who's got sense," murmured Mrs.
Baggert. Eradicate and Boomerang were of great service in the
hurried work that followed, for the colored man in his cart brought
from town, or from the freight depot, many things that Tom needed.
The young inventor was very enthusiastic about his proposed trip,
and at night, after a hard day's work in the shop, he would read
books on African hunting, or he would sit and listen to the stories
told by Mr. Durban. And the latter knew how to tell hunting tales,
for he had been long in his dangerous calling, and had had many
narrow escapes.
"And there are other dangers than from elephants and wild beasts in
Africa," he said.
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