Page:The Swiss Family Robinson, In Words of One Syllable.djvu/58

46 beasts will stand still if you play an air on a pipe. So I crept near, and made a low sound with my lips, while I held in my right hand a stout stick, to which I had tied a cord with a noose, and in my left hand a slight wand. It soon woke from its sleep, but did not seem to fear us. I saw it first move its tail, and then draw its head from side to side, as if to look where the sound came from. I then threw the noose round its neck, drew it tight, got on its back with a leap, and thrust the wand up its nose, which is the sole part of the beast whee there are no hard scales. It bled at once, and was soon dead, nor did it seem to feel any pain. Our prize, which was near five feet long, was no slight weight to lift. I got it at last on my back; while Jack, in his fun, held up my train, which was, of course, its long tail, and thus we went back to the gourd tree, where we found the rest quite safe.

It took us a long time to reach The Nest that night. My wife did her best to dress some of the flesh of the land crab, but it was tough, and did not taste so nice as the soup made from the beast that we had caught by the nose.