Page:Kangaroo, 1923.pdf/197

 "And so far in Australian history we have not had an earthquake that would capsize a tumbler of hot punch."

Why hot punch, thought Somers, why not hop bitters or ice-cream soda, which are much more Austral and to the point? But he had read this almost thrilling bit of journalism with satisfaction. If the mother earth herself is so unstable, and upsets the applecart without caring a straw, why, what can a man say to himself if he does happen to have a devil in his belly!

And he looked at the ocean uneasily moving, and wondered when next it would thrust an angry shoulder out of the watery bed-covering, to give things a little jog. Or when his own devil would get a leg up into affairs.