The Dragon's Eye by Dugald A. Steer Read Free Book Online Page A

creature, so food will have to suffice. I mixed up the onions and sausages overnight, so the onions should have taken on some of their smell. Throw them towards the mouth of the lair.”
    I did this and was not surprised to see Weasel’s head emerge from the hole, twisting about until she spied the parcel of onions, which she sniffed. She did not seem very pleased. In fact she came halfway out of her lair, padding to the left and right, arching her back and making a whining noise like an angry pig.
    â€œNow,” said Dr. Drake, “throw the parcel of sausages.”
    When the sausages landed, Weasel bent down and sniffed them, arched her back again, gave a sort of little whinny of pleasure, and gobbled them down in one go. Then she wriggled back into her lair.
    â€œNow that Weasel knows we mean her no harm, we may move just a little closer,” said Dr. Drake.
    We went over to examine one of the piles of bones and fur. It looked very much as though it had come from one of the rabbits.
    â€œWhat do you make of that?” he asked.
    â€œWell,” I suggested, “Weasel eats her food whole, so maybe she regurgitates what she can’t digest, like an owl?”
    â€œIndeed,” said Dr. Drake. “But you must be careful. Look.”
    And he pointed with his stick to several small round drops of purple goo that had dripped onto the bones.
    â€œThat is knucker venom. As well as being able to kill its prey by constriction, the knucker also has a highly venomous bite. If you were to accidentally touch that venom with unbroken skin, it would not do much damage, but if it were to get into a cut or into your mouth or eyes, then you would have a problem. A small amount would most likely not kill you, but it would be a rather nasty experience and you would be incapacitated for several weeks.”
    On the third day, Dr. Drake took me to the lair while Weasel was out hunting. He had brought a long coil of rope with a weight and a net on the end. He asked me to cast it into the mouth of the lair and see what I could bring out.
    â€œRemember that we do not have much time,” he said. “We do not want to be caught stealing from a dragon’s lair.”
    I threw the weight down into the hole. It took the rope and the net with it. Although the rope was long, there was a jerk, as if the weight had fallen down a vertical shaft.
    â€œDon’t let go,” said Dr. Drake as nearly the whole of the rope disappeared down the hole. I gradually pulled it back out, hand over hand. The net must have caught something, for it felt heavy. At last I pulled the net out of the hole and dumped out its contents. I don’t know what I had expected to find — treasure, perhaps, or maybe more rabbit bones, but all I found were several old glass bottles and about ten clay pipes.
    â€œAll right,” said Dr. Drake. “Now you must put it back.”
    And so I used my stick to push the bottles and pipes back down the hole. Then Dr. Drake opened his leather bag and took out three more old-looking clay pipes and one of his empty linctus bottles and laid them near the mouth of the lair.
    â€œThe knucker will know we have been here, so perhaps leaving her some gifts will make up for it,” he said.
    When we were on the way back home, Dr. Drake asked, “What do you make of that, Daniel?”
    I didn’t know what to answer.
    â€œThat knuckers like to smoke and drink?” I said, smiling.
    â€œDear me, Daniel,” said Dr. Drake, laughing. “Knuckers may be stupid in dragon terms, but they are not that stupid. The important thing to learn is that all dragons love to hoard treasure. Now, knuckers aren’t very particular about what they hoard. They will take almost any small objects that humans leave lying round, as long as they can drag them into their lair. And all Weasel has managed to find is an old rubbish heap.”
    On the fourth day, Dr. Drake announced that Darcy and