The Germ Growers: An Australian story of adventure and mystery — John Shaqi
The Germ Growers: An Australian story of adventure and mysteryPotter, Robert
Science
The Germ Growers: An Australian story of adventure and mystery
Potter, Robert
Science fiction, Australian
I went about with him a good deal at one time on fishing and shooting
excursions and made myself useful to him, and except that he was
rather cruel to dogs and cats, and had a nasty habit of frightening
children, I do not know that I noticed anything particular about him.
Not, at least, until one day of which I am going to tell you. James
Redpath and I were coming back together to Penruddock, and we called
at a cottage about two miles from the village. Here we found a little
boy of about four years old, who had been visiting at the cottage and
whom they wanted to send home. They asked us to take charge of him and
we did so. On the way home the little boy’s shoe was found to have a
nail or a peg in it that hurt his foot, and we were quite unable to
get it out. It was nothing, however, to James Redpath to carry him,
and so he took him in his arms. The little boy shrank and whimpered as
he did so. James had under his arm some parts of a fishing-rod and
one of these came in contact with the little boy’s leg and scratched
it rather severely so as to make him cry. I took it away and we went
on. I was walking a little behind Redpath, and as I walked I saw him
deliberately take another joint of the rod, put it in the same place
and then watch the little boy’s face as it came in contact with the
wire, and as the child cried out I saw quite a malignant expression of
pleasure pass over James’s face. The thing was done in a moment and it
was over in a moment; but I felt as if I should like to have killed
him if I dared. I always dreaded and shunned him, more or less,
afterwards, and I began from that date to associate him with the
inhuman heroes of my Welsh stories.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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