They left Henderson to his horticulturing and walked on till they met a Parrot who was a Swagman, or a Swagman who was a Parrot. He must have been one or the other, if not both, for he had a bag and a swag, and a beak and a billy, and a thundering bad temper into the bargain, for the moment Bill asked him if he had met a singed possum he shouted back-- " Me eat a singed possum! I wouldn't eat a possum if he was singed, roasted, boiled, or fried." " Not ett--met," shouted Bill. "I said, met a singed possum." "Why can't yer speak plainly, then," said the Parrot. "Have you got a fill of tobacco on yer?" He took out his pipe and scowled at Bill. "Here you are," said Bill. "Cut a fill an' answer the question." " All in good time," said the Parrot, and he added to Sam, "You got any tobacco?" Sam handed him a fill, and he put it in his pocket. "You ain't got any tobacco," he said scornfully to Bunyip Bluegum. "I can see that at a glance. You're one of the non-smoking sort, all fur and feathers." "Here," said Bill angrily, "Enough o' this beatin' about the bush. Answer the question." "Don't be impatient," said the Parrot. "Have you got a bit o' tea an' sugar on yer?" "Here's yer tea an' sugar," said Bill, handing a little of each out of the bag. "An that's the last thing you get. Now will you answer the question?" "Wot question," asked the Parrot. "Have yer seen a singed possum?" roared Bill. "No, I haven't," said the Parrot, and he actually had the insolence to laugh in Bill's face. "Of all the swivel-eyed, up-jumped, cross-grained, sons of a cock-eyed tinker," exclaimed Bill, boiling with rage. "If punching parrots on the beak,wasn't too painful for pleasure, I'd land you a sockdolager on the muzzle that ud lay you out till Christmas. Come on, mates," he added, "it's no use wastin' time over this low-down, hook-nosed, tobacco-grabber. "And leaving the evil-minded Parrot to pursue his evil-minded way, they hurried off in search of information. The next person they spied was a Bandicoot carrying a watermelon. At a first glance you would have thought it was merely a watermelon walking by itself, but a second glance would have shown you that the walking was being done by a small pair of legs attached to the watermelon, and a third glance would have disclosed that the legs were attached to a Bandicoot. They shouted, "Hi, you with the melon!" to attract his attention, and set off running after him, and the Bandicoot, being naturally of a terrified disposition, ran for all he was worth. He wasn't worth much as a runner, owing to the weight of the watermelon, and they caught him up half-way across the field. Conceiving that his hour had come, the Bandicoot gave a shrill squeak of terror and fell on his knees. "Take me watermelon," he gasped, "but spare me life." "Stuff an' nonsense," said Bill. "We don't want your life. What we want is some information. Have you seen a singed possum about this morning?"