The youths had all ceased to be afraid , when they were startled by a low rushing sound behind them , and , looking round , saw that the pool was slowly rising , and the spot where they had landed the Bunyip was quite covered . ` What could it be ? ' they asked one of another ; ` there was not a cloud in the sky , yet the water had risen higher already than they had ever known it do before . ' For an instant they stood watching as if they were frozen , then they turned and ran with all their might , the man with the Bunyip running faster than all . When he reached a high peak over-looking all the plain he stopped to take breath , and turned to see if he was safe yet . Safe ! why only the tops of the trees remained above that sea of water , and these were fast disappearing . They must run fast indeed if they were to escape . So on they flew , scarcely feeling the ground as they went , till they flung themselves on the ground before the holes scooped out of the earth where they had all been born . The old men were sitting in front , the children were playing , and the women chattering together , when the little Bunyip fell into their midst , and there was scarcely a child among them who did not know that something terrible was upon them . ` The water ! the water ! ' gasped one of the young men ; and there it was , slowly but steadily mounting the ridge itself . Parents and children clung together , as if by that means they could drive back the advancing flood ; and the youth who had caused all this terrible catastrophe , seized his sweetheart , and cried : ' I will climb with you to the top of that tree , and there no waters can reach us . ' But , as he spoke , something cold touched him , and quickly he glanced down at his feet . Then with a shudder he saw that they were feet no longer , but bird 's claws . He looked at the girl he was clasping , and beheld a great black bird standing at his side ; he turned to his friends , but a flock of great awkward flapping creatures stood in their place He put up his hands to cover his face , but they were no more hands , only the ends of wings ; and when he tried to speak , a noise such as he had never heard before seemed to come from his throat , which had suddenly become narrow and slender . Already the water had risen to his waist , and he found himself sitting easily upon it , while its surface reflected back the image of a black swan , one of many . Never again did the swans become men ; but they are still different from other swans , for in the night-time those who listen can hear them talk in a language that is certainly not swan 's language ; and there are even sounds of laughing and talking , unlike any noise made by the swans whom we know . The little Bunyip was carried home by its mother , and after that the waters sank back to their own channels .
The side of the pool where she lives is always shunned XXXXX everyone , as nobody knows when she may suddenly put out her head and draw him into her mighty jaws .
as before by if of on than that till with