Page 116 - English Class 07

There was just room enough for Nakoo to get between the legs of the cot. It was not long

before Nakoo dozed off too.
The score reached 140. Only six runs were needed for victory. Ranji decided to do it in style

and he drove the ball hard and high towards the banyan tree. Thump! It struck Nakoo on

the jaw and loosened one of his teeth. Nakoo lunged forward , tail thrashing and jaws
snapping. The cot, with the manager still on it, rose with him. Crocodile and cot were now
jammed together, and when Nakoo rushed forward, he took the cot with him.

The bank manager woke up to find the cot lunged forward : make a sudden powerful
pitching violently from side to side. forward movement
pitching : moving
“Help!” he shouted.

“Help!”

The boys scattered in all directions, for the crocodile was now advancing down the wicket,
knocking over stumps and digging up the pitch. As he went he swallowed a sun hat and a
glove. A batsman’s pad was caught up on his tail.

“Come on, boys, help!” the bank manager shouted hanging onto the cot. “Get me off !” The
cot remained firmly attached to the crocodile, and so did the bank manager.

The problem was solved when Nakoo made for the river and plunged into its familiar water.
The bank manager tumbled into the water and scrambled up the bank, while Nakoo made

for the opposite shore.
When on their way back home, Sheroo offered a return match the following week, none of
the grown-ups seemed to be free.

— Ruskin Bond

Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He is considered
to be an icon among Indian writers and children’s authors and a
top novelist. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof,
when he was seventeen which won John Llewellyn Rhys
Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then, he has written several
novellas, over 500 short stories, as well as various essays and
poems, all of which have established him as one of the best-loved
and most admired chroniclers of contemporary India.
Surf the internet and find out the stories written by Ruskin Bond. Read
some stories and enjoy!

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