you get hold of the loose end of the rope that's hanging from the post
with one hand, and the end of the line with the clothes on with the other,
and try to pull 'em far enough together to make a knot.
And that's about all you do for the present, except look like a fool.
Then I took off the post end, spliced the line, took it over the fork,
and pulled, while Mary helped me with the prop. I thought Jack
might have come and taken the prop from her, but he didn't;
he just went on with his work as if nothing was happening inside the horizon.

She'd got the line about two-thirds full of clothes, it was a bit short now,
so she had to jump and catch it with one hand and hold it down
while she pegged a sheet she'd thrown over. I'd made the plunge now,
so I volunteered to help her. I held down the line while she
threw the things over and pegged out. As we got near the post and higher
I straightened out some ends and pegged myself. Bushmen are handy
at most things. We laughed, and now and again Mary would say,
`No, that's not the way, Mr Wilson; that's not right;
the sheet isn't far enough over; wait till I fix it,' &c.
I'd a reckless idea once of holding her up while she pegged,
and I was glad afterwards that I hadn't made such a fool of myself.

`There's only a few more things in the basket, Miss Brand,' I said.
`You can't reach -- I'll fix 'em up.'

She seemed to give a little gasp.

`Oh, those things are not ready yet,' she said, `they're not rinsed,'
and she grabbed the basket and held it away from me.
The things looked the same to me as the rest on the line;
they looked rinsed enough and blued too. I reckoned that she didn't want me