There _were_ sharks there, after all, so
we'll have to find another place for bathing. Oh, and I shot an
elephant. What would you like to do now?
JILL. Just let's lie here and see what happens. (What happens is that
a cassowary comes along.) Oh, what a lovely bird! Is it an ostrich?
(The cassowary sniffs the air, puts its beak to the ground and goes
off again.)
OLIVER. Silly! It's a cassowary, of course.
JILL. What's a cassowary?
OLIVER. Jill! Don't you remember the rhyme?
I wish I were a cassowary
Upon the plains of Timbuctoo
And then I'd eat a missionary--
And hat and gloves and hymn-book too!
JILL. Is that all they're for?
OLIVER. Well, what else would you want them for?
(A MISSIONARY, pith-helmet, gloves, hymn-book, umbrella, all
complete--creeps cautiously up. He bears a strong likeness to the
curate, the REVEREND SMILAX.)
MISSIONARY. I am sorry to intrude upon your privacy, dear friends, but
have you observed a cassowary on this island, apparently looking for
something?
OLIVER. Yes, we saw one just now.
MISSIONARY (shuddering). Dear, dear, dear. You didn't happen to ask
him what was the object of his researches?
JILL. He went so quickly.
MISSIONARY (coming out of the undergrowth to them).
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