Such Is Life

idad Pad., per Sa

f calling at the station again for some time. I gave him the K form, and he was moving away toward the barracks, when I asked him if he could let me have a bob's worth of flour and a bob's worth of tea and sugar. Without a word, he turned back to the store, and supplied the articles required, whilst I monologued pleasantly on the topics of the day. When I inquired where I would be likely to find a bit of grass, he glanced at my half-starved horses; and I honoured him for the evident accession of sympathy which dictated his ready reply. He informed me that the only available grass was to be found in the near end of Sam Young's paddock, and proceeded to give me directions that a child might

cord of Wednes

ous man. The country on all sides was as bare as the palm of your hand; and my horses, a quarter of a mile away, were nibbling at the stumps of cotton-bush

ch semi-combustibles as the plain afforded, I found myself slowly approached by a Chinaman, on a roan horse. And though it is impossible to recognise any individual C

scendingly. "You scoot-um lon

ied the early bird, i

s you padd

y paddock

me Sam

man. "You wantee glass you holse?- two-tl

" I replied. "Have-um drink o' tea, Paul? Ha

ck, all li-plul

tch-um tha

water in it. It was crossed by a shallow billabong which had been dammed when the dividing fence was erected; but the first flood in the Lachlan had burst an opening in the embankment, so that even at the end of the previous winter there was no water in the paddock, except a drop of sludgy stuff in the excavation. Hence the grass. There was no stock in the Trinidad, an

n," I remarked, packing

g-a good pl

without dignity "Convelt plully long time. '

the Trinidad; mentally placing Mr. Smythe, Bert, and myself, in one dish of the moral scale

mething splendid. Any island or peninsula of plain among the tall lignum would do for a ca

on when, with Pup reposing by my side, I finally settled down to an after-di

r line of inaction seemed to be my path of duty-even to the extent of unharnessing my mind, so that when any difficulty did arise, I might be prepared to meet it as a bridegroom is supposed to meet his bride. Therefore whenever my reasoning faculties obtruded themselves, I knapp'd 'em o' the coxcombs with a stick, and cry'

Tom?" conjectured

ng my eyes. "Tea in the quart-pot there. Wh

g for a bit

he wash. Thought you were o

t a ten-mile contract away on Poolkija, and he's going out with three horses and a dray-load of stores for himself. Dray stopped on the road for the last week, with his wife minding it. Horses supposed to be lost in the l

ing with yo

th it. Safe, too, from what I hear. Might get two goes at it, by taking the bullocks out at dayli

be here wh

the smoky horizon; so I addressed myself to the duties of the evening, which consisted in taking my horses and Pup to the wa

the fine crop of grass; and Thompson, with his two confederates, joined me. During daylight, I had made it my business to find a secluded place,

ound of subdued voices behind us notif

orses-fresh, by the way, only in respect of their new branch of industry, for the draft was

wel, also to slur the first syllable, whilst placing a strong accent on the second. But he had corrected me, just as promptly as Mr. Smythe would have done if I had called him Smith, and far more civilly. He had even softened the admonition by explaining that his strictness arose from a justifiable family pride, several of his paternal ancestors having be

to the bullock drivers' look of inquiry. And he a

th a billy in one hand and a small calico bag in the other. "I was makin' for her when when I hea

mok?" asked Donovan, while we w

lied the Dutchman. "I make der slow yourn

remarked Thompson, with real sincerity. "

o," commente

Sulphur-Burnin',

mstone-Reek do?

tic touch," proposed S

mée de

urn?" I asked. "Make it P

ner Rastling

Blazes," put in

der yoke. Bot I am brout of my name. Mit mine forefadders, it have s

son, purposely misconstru

e effect on anybody tha

y reason, it's n

ame, Domson," ar

was slung out of heaven; and it'll be going as strong as ever when we're

, however, the billies were taken off the fires, and spiritu

at dignified silence which backcountry men appreciate so highly, yet so unconsciously. Then the contemplative quiet of our

stily starting toward the dog. "That's visible to

ed her fellow-passengers till one of them remonstrated. 'I'm surprised that you don't like my dog,' says the lady; 'he's a real

induced by this unfathomable joke, Saunders resumed his place

dly, as he caressed the dog. "Never felt the thing that

. "Never know'd a man to have luck with a thing that he

where I met Cooper-you might remember it was dry, and frosty, and miserable, and the country as bare as a stockyard; and mostly everybody loafing on Kooltopa. Well, I dodged round by Yoongoolee, stealin

an to lie-down, I shifted the lot to an open place, so as to have them all together when they got full. I was in bodily fear of losing some of them among the lignum, in the dark; for it's a hanging-matter to duff in a horsepaddock

e (adj.) dog?

ith me, I tell you; and we

o fleas on you?" s

the old fellow hadn't caught sight of the bullocks on account of the belt of lignum where I was planted; but he was making for an openish place, not twenty yards ahead of him, and when he got there it would be all up. So I grabbed hold of Monkey, and fired him at the horses. He was there! He went like a boomerang when I let him rip, and in two seconds he had the blood flying out of those horses' heels; and, of course, they streaked for the clear ground near the hut. As soon as I let the dog g

did n't you hunt for

n had seen a magpie steer, with a bugle horn, anywhere among the lignum; and when I got clear of the hut, I whistled till I was black in the face; and still no dog. I hunted everywhere; and st

ing the direction of his look, we discerned

lse comin', I wonder? Seems like as if people couldn't fine

most vigour o' the (adj.) law," remarked Donovan aloud, as the

added Stevenson. "Suppose we make an example of Cartwright? Oh, I beg your pardon!" Fo

e suppressed tone befitting time and place. "Seen samples o' your workin' plant, an' k

find it?" a

n' he follered me up this mornin', an' talked summons. But I ain't very fiery-tempered, the way things is jis' now

ved Thompson. "So long as you don't interfere wit

t; wherefore, if John didn't exactly rise in the estimation of

with wool?"

. Bullocks dead-beat. Left the wagon tarpolined at the Jumpin' Sandhill, a fortnit ago. Five gone

pper?" aske

y, an' reckoned I'd do till I foun

e fellows placed their ea

on rem

l perisher coming down with the last wool, and I was making for the Murray, by myself; stealing a bite of grass every night, and getting caught, altogether, five times between Hay and Barmah. Well, I knew there was rough feed in the Tin Hut Paddock; so

of some bullocks clo

u own

, by the same token,

s he. 'Court job, if

ompson. Go

'On second thoughts,

voice. Are n't you Baref

teams to-night,' says Bob. '

wagon, and have a d

ss. I'll just stop with these bullocks till it's

; but no more conscience than that kangaroo-dog of Tom's. He and Bat had been four or five years away north toward the Gulf, and had just com

rin' fool! Look behine you! Now there's a bob a-head, or a sum

leave him a safe subject of conversation among people situated as we were. Hence the well-concealed disquietude of the company was nothing in comparison with my own perplexity- which, I trust, was no less successfully disguised. For it was Bob himself who had just ridden

in',

ut general, response. Then B

ole

lockin' in a reservoy, with a new-chum weaver from Leeds for a mate, an' a s

ugh you gave me a fright,

you we

nd if I was d

s Bat?"

my own self, way out back, eight or ten months ago. Many's the time I wish I was with him, for I'm dog-tired of everything goin'. Best-hearted fell

en for a couple of minut

since you

cannia; an' a drover took charge o' them there; an' my orders was to come on to Mondunbarra. I been here goin' on for three

t you leave?"

ave without a

don't you git a settl

me; an' Smythe says his hands is tied on account o' M'Gregor, or else he'd dem soon give me the run. Nice way for a man to b

adv.) well after somebody?" asked Baxter, s

to engage any o' your sort, knowin' you'd loaf on the grass, an' most likely make a song about it, an' be the instigation of no end o' trouble watchin' the place. Well, them fourteen was put in Sling Ho's paddick for a fortnit before I come; an' I could on'y muster ten; an' me an' this mate o' mine we made a start with that lot-not knowin' which was nearsiders, nor off

blokes?" as

he dropped two out of his eighteen, comin' down from Mooltunya. Says one o' the Chinks laid him on to this bit o' grass. Two other fellers I met in the plain-strangers to me-they had the very same yarn. Them heathens think

on this paddick lately?"

. Way o' the world, I s'pose. Anyway, Smythe's gittin' a slant to come to an understandin' with M'Gregor about me; an' if it ain't satisfactory, there'll be bad feelin' between us. I want to be kep' at my own proper work, or else

egor an' Smythe," remar

o (individuals) is wors

he's got the heart to make a proper use o' what money travels his road. Comes-out a Christian. Then there's Smythe: his mind's so much took-up with the tuppenny-thruppenny things that he can't see the big thing when it's starin' him

the from Mondunbarra, as he d

fury, besides. That's M'Gregor's lay. By-'n'-by, Smythe'll be dreamin' about him all night, an' wishin' he was game to

to reverse the situati

him glad to s

ten M'Gregor. Bit of a Berryite, he was. Well-off for a selector, too; an' he done a big business back an' forrid to Vic. with cattle. Mixed lots, of course, with stags an' ole cows that no fence would hold. North of Ireland feller, name o' Moore, was managin' Wo-Winya at the time; an' M'Gregor was a good deal about the station, takin' a sort o' interest

remarked Stevenson. "I s

in the pig-sty. Next mornin', a warrant was served on Moore; but, of course, he was bailed. Then the Court-day come on; an' Tregarvis swore to a knowledge that a white bullock of his was among the Wo-Winya cattle; an' he give evidence about the findin' o' the skin, an' swore to the head he seen in the pig-sty. An' young Tregarvis, he swore he was watchin' with a telescope, an' seen a white bullock o' theirs yarded with some more, an' all the rest turnedout; an' he kep' his eye on that white bullock all the afternoon; an' he heard the shot, an' went up with his ole man an' the trooper; an' he seen the raw hide hangin' on the fence, an' the head in the pig-sty, an' a couple o' fellers hoistin' the carkidge on the gallus. When the magistrate asked Moore if he wanted to make a statement, he sa

ed?" suggest

he brands, of course; Treganis's beast havin' NT near-shoulder, an' JH conjoined under halfcircle off-ribs. I had him half-ways back to the paddick agen when Tregarvis thought he was identifyin' him in the killin'-yard. So he fell-in, simple enoug

do you reckon on bein' s

n, with a touch of

nce for swearers. Ain't ashamed to say I repented eight or ten months ago. Guarantee you fellers ain't heard no language out o' my mouth since I set down

e subject of his comment receded into the hazy ha

(person),"

nued, "Yes, I saw him put-through, till he must have felt a lot too tall in proportion to his cleverness." Another tentative pause. "But it took the very pick of uncivilisation to do it." A prolonged pause, while Thompson languidly filled and lit his pipe. Still the dignified indifference of the camp remained un

inted with Bob years ago, when he was making himself useful on Moogo

nsed to proceed without damage to his own dignity. "Dan's an old acquaintance of yours-is n't he? I heard your na

e sauntered along beside his team. He knew his own superiority here; his acquaintances knew it too

e was on his way down from that new place of M'Gregor's, where he's been; and he had come round by Kulkaroo to see one of t

someone coming in a hurry. No less than Webster himself-first time he had been in the hut since it

O'Connell's little girl-five or six years old.

ody

herever you can, and c

uple of days, will be wor

n,' says he; 'you'r

th my mare, so that he could find them at daylight by the sound of her bell. This started me and him together. He lent his second horse to one of the station chaps; and the three of us got to Goolumbulla j

ter the ewes. You know how thick the scrub is on Goolumbulla? Dan came in along with the rest, leaving his own place before daylight on the first morning. They swept the paddock th

eaming, and asking her mother strange questions. It appears that, up to this time, she had never said a word about the man that was found dead near their place, a couple of months befo

ng but watch; and during the night she got up several times to ask her mother questions that frightened the woman. The child did n't understand her father go

all billy with a lid, and half a loaf of bread. Then, putting everything together, the mother decided that she had gone into the scrub to look for her father. There was no help to be had nearer than the home-station, for the only other boundary man on that part of the run was away at the muster. So she cleared for the station-twelve mile-and got there about three in the

hree split out to catch whoever they could, and pass the word round. Dan got the news just before sundown. He o

and one to Mulppa, and two or three others to different fencers' and tank-sinkers' camps. But the

And there had been an old lubra and a young one camped within a mile of the station, and an old fellow and his lubra near one of the boundary men's pl

Seven of us by this time, for another of the Kulkaroo men had come up, and there were three well-si

us; and we happened to be going at a fast shog, and Bob riding a couple or thre

yet to Dan's p

ll-sinkers. 'We're just on the c

ast word was out of his mouth, he was twenty yards away along the little track. No trouble in following it, for she was runn

e had noticed this solitary horse's track striking away from the gate, out to the left; and she had followed it. However, half-a-mile brought us to a patch of har

rt vivty men dere, I ti

t they could n't get him to take any notice of the little girl's track. Never been trained to track children-and how were they going to make him understand that a child was lost? However, while two of the well-sinkers were p

and keep a general grasp of what's on ahead, besides spotting each track you pass. Otherwise, you'll be always turning back for a fresh race at it. And you must no more confine yoursel

account of rough grass, and dead leaves, and so forth. One thing in favour of Bob was that she kept a fairly straight course, except wh

t enough. We even found some crumbs of bread on the ground, and others that the

g it now and then, to give the fellows their latitude. This would be about two in the afternoon, or half-past; and we pushed along the tracks she had made only a few hours before, with good hopes of overtaking her before dark. The thing that

e enough, there lay the child's little coppertoed boots, where she had taken them off when her feet got sore,

" I interposed.

ain track of the little stocking-foot, only a few hours old, and would wag his tail, and bark, to show that he knew whose track it was; and all the time showing the greatest distress to see Da

nly made another half-mile or three-quarters, at the outside-before night was on. I daresay there might be about twenty-five of us by this time, and eighteen or twenty horses, and two or three buggies and wagonettes.

as out again. But, do what we would, it was slow, slow work; and Bob was the only one that could make any show at all

alf-amile, one of the Kulkaroo men came galloping through

illy at the fence of Peter's paddock, where she crossed

hed us to where a couple of chaps were standing over a little billy, with a lump of bread beside it. She had laid them down to get through the fen

tockings were off by this time. But in sixty or eighty yards this pad run into another, covered with fresh sheep-tracks since the little girl had passed. Nothing for it but to spread out

rcling round for miles, without making any headway; and so the time passed till about three in the afternoon. Then up comes Spanker, with his hat lost, and his face cut and bleedi

traight again, at another angle. Very rarely-hardly ever-we could see what signs the lubra was following; but she was all right. Uncivilised, even for an old lubra. Nobody could yabber with her but Bob; and he kept close to her all the time. She began to get uneasy as night came on, but there was no help for it. She went slower and s

hing in the scrub; and finding it was only one of the other chaps, or some sheep. Thunder and lightning, on and off, all night; even two or three drops of rain, toward morning. Once I heard the howl of a d

low walk, listening and dozing in the saddle, when I heard a far-away call that sounded like 'Dad-dee!'. It seemed to b

nything?

nded like 'Daddy!' I

is way,' says I; and eac

nd still listening. Then another call came through the stillness of the scrub, faint, but beyond mistake, 'Dad-de-e-e!'. There was n't a trace of terror in the tone; it was just the v

ut to their right-not in front. Of course, the lubra would n't leave the track, nor Bob, nor the

re again,' says Bob. 'Gett

l; but we knew that we were close on her at last. By this

Bob. We could hear some of the chaps coo-e

e," muttered Saun

little girl was likely to answer a strange voice. At last, however, the lubra stopped, and p

rned off at an angle to the right, and run the track- not an hour old-toward where we had heard the second call. We were crossing fresh horse-tracks every few yards; and never two minutes but what somebody turned-up to ask the

ggested, with

to be a bilby-hole close in front, and she fell in the sort of trough, with her head down the slope; and that was the end of her long journey. It would have taken a child in

too late. We coo-eed, and the chap with the bell kept it going steady. Then all ha

old; and she had walked nothing less than t

familiar with such episodes of new settlement; and, for that very reason, his last remark came as a confirmation rath

r Rory take

, like a wounded animal; then he sat down on the bilby-heap, with her o

es by thunder and lightning in earnest, and the storm was on us with a roar. And just at

d from Dan, and laid her there, spreading the other half of the blanket over her. Then he thanked all hands, and made them welcome

eyes from the little shape under the soaking wet blanket. Hard lines for him! He had heard her voice ca

in consecrated ground, at Hay. So we boiled a pot of gas-tar to the quality of pitch, and dipped long strips of wool-bale in it, and wrapped them tight round the coffin,

the end, Spanker sent Ward, one of the narangies. I happened to camp with them four nights ago, when I was coming down from Kulkaroo, and they were getting back to Goolumbulla. However," added Thompson, with

with the poor fellow whe

olic priest in Hay sympathised very strongly with him, he told me, but could n't read the service over the child, on account of her not being baptised. So Ward read the service. His people are English Catholics. Most likely Spanker thought of this when he sent Ward. Dan didn't seem to be as mu

nson, with strong feeling in his voice. "Suppose that

silence for

I was puttin' up a bit o' fence on Grundle-hundred an' thirty-four chain an' some links-forty-odd links, if I don't disremember. Top rail an' six wires. Jist cuttin' off a bend o' the river, to make a handy cattle-paddi

uthority on fencin',"

ht-me, an' Tom, an' Cunningham, the cove that was engaged to cart the stuff on-to the line. Decent, straight-forrid chap, Cunningham is, but a (sheol) of a liar when it shoots him. Course, some o' you fellers knows him. Meejum-size man, but one o' them hard, wiry, deepchested, deceivin' fellers. See hi

he's dead now," observ

e end to examine the line o' soft ashes that divided the bend off o' the plain-an' har'ly a sign o' traffic across it yet. Had n't went, not fifteen chain, before I bumps up agen the kid's tracks, plain as A B C, crossin' out towards the plain. Coo-ees for Cunningham; shows him the tracks; an' the two of us follers the line o' ashes right to the other end, to see if the tracks come back. No (adj.) tracks. So we tells the missus; an' she clears-out for the plain, an' me after her. Cunningham, he collars h

e; she's dead long ago

ches myself up on a big ole black log that was layin' about a chain past the tracks, an' I set there for a minit, thinkin' like (sheol). You would n't call it a big log for the Murray, or the Lower Goulb'n, but it was a fair-size log for the Murrumbidgee. I seen some whoppin' redgums in Gippsland too;

is over too,"

med to come from the bank o' the river. Away I goes; hunts roun'; lis'ns; calls 'Hen-ree!'; lis'ns agen. Not a sound. Couple o' the station hands happened to come roun'

I heard it.' An' before the word was out o'

you are!

are you blatherin

ear the (adj.

ar it. But for an' all, they parted, an' rode roun' an' roun', as slow as they could crawl, stoppin' every now an' agen

u are agai

a oath out of him. Fearful feller to swear, he was. I disremember his name jis' now; but he'd bin on Grundle ever since he bolted from his ole man's place, in Bullaro

rposed Helsmok; "he have yo

sion that he could n't shift; an' at long an' at last we had to chop him out, like a bees' nest. Turned out after, that the little (stray) had foun' himself out of his latitude when night come on; an' he'd got gumption enough to set down where he was, an' wait for mornin'. He'd always bin told to do that, if he got lost. But by-'n'-by he heard 'Hen-ree! Hen-ree!' boomin' an' bellerin' back an' forrid across the bend in the dark; an' he thought the boody-man, an' the bunyip, an' the banshee, an' (sheol) knows what all, was after him. So he foun' this holler log, an' he thought he could nt git fur enough into it. He was about seven year

rved; "he's gone al

Stevenson, in a voice that

found dead; but the most fearful thing of all is for a youngster to be lost in the bush, and never found, alive o

the search?" replied Tho

ng on the Upp

eems to me the most likely thing that could have happened to him was to get jammed in a log, like that other little chap. Then aft

a mile and a half from home; and I got cross with the poor little fellow, and gave him two or three hits; and he started home by himself, crying. He turned round and looked at me, just before he got out of sight among the trees; and that was the last that was ever seen of h

t last we thought we must have passed him on the way. No alarm yet, of course; but I was choking with grief, to think how I'd tre

ay there would be about thirty. Next morning, my father offered ?100 reward for him, dead or alive; and five other men guaranteed ?10 each. Next day, my father's reward was doubled; and five other men put down the

iting for the news he might bring. And, time after time, he took stray bones to the doctor; but they always turned out to belong to sheep, or kangaroos, or some other animal. Of course, he neglected the place

earch; and there was neither interest nor principal forthcoming, so the mortgagee- Wesleyan minister, I'm sorry to say-had to sell us off to get his money. We had three uncles; each of them took one of us youngst

changed his position, then mutt

his shoulder at me, without a word of anger; and he walked up aga

from the irrevocable past, proclaiming their exemption from that moral statute of limitations which brings self-forgiveness in course of time. For an innate Jehovah sets His mark upon the Cain guilty merely of bullying or terrifying

set my mind at work in troubled calcu

e Murdoch's body was a necessary incitement among th

smok. "I tink dey all ascleep. I

ng alone in the bush! Nature's precious link between a squalid Past and a nobler Future, broken, snatched away from her allotted place in the long chain of the ages! Heiress of infinite hope, and dowered with latent fit

ight before. And how many memories and associations would confront him when he returned to his daily round of life! How many reminders that the irremediable loss is a reality, from which there can be no awakening! How many relics to be contemplated with that morbid fascination for the re-quickening of

than poor Mary. The armed procession-the Dead March-the cap and sword on the coffin-seemed so imposing that I forthwith resolved to be a trooper

e shoulder. A glance at the setting moon showed that I had been asleep, and that it was long past midnight. He

emerges from its murky depths, and causes a transient eddy in the interminabl

do no goot yoos now. I gone 'way roun' der liknum, und der bullock und

rampling of hoofs. We headed for the sound, and presently found ourselves meeting three or four dozen of mixed bullocks and horses convoyed by five mounted Chinamen. We stood aside to let them pass. By this time, an advancing daylight enabled me to recognise the roan horse of Sam Young

li! Missa Smyte talkee you bimeby! Hak-i-long-see-ho! You lescue Walligal Alp bullock-eh? You killee me, by

mok!" chanted another yel

ou tellee me lah wintel

sa Smyte wakee you up-t

-sling

approach. "Yomp off dem olt crocks, every man yack of you, und swelp mine Gott! I weel ponch der

sing the Turanian horde, and adapting my speech to the understanding of our lowest types: "My word!" I exclaimed admiringly, "you take-um budgeree rise out-a whitepeller, John! Merrijig you! Borak you shift-um that peller bullock; borak you shift-um that peller y

lully whool! Lum-la-no-sunhi-me!" And the raiders went on their way, warbling remarks to each other in

as just getting on his feet, and feeling for his pipe. Cartwright was still asleep. It seemed a pity to disturb him. Sharply whetted to this form of self-indulgence by hardsh

Gosh, what a slant I'd 'a' had at that (fellow)'s horsepaddick, if I'd on'y knowed! Cut-an'-dried, I b

tches. "Now, who would have suspected it, from his manner last night? B

But in respect of deliberate deceit, most men are to be trusted. By

," he suggested. "May as w

-to both

nt after them, making a slight detour to secure the four horses. But we were just in time to discern a Chinese patrol tailing the same beasts toward a larger detachment, which was moving in the direction taken by the earl

r. Smythe and Bert. Also, 7 bullocks and 3 horses left their bones in the paddock, as evidence of the bitter necessity which had prompted this illegal invasion of pastoral leasehold. There were (including myself) 23 claimants, present in person, or arriving by twos or threes. A few of these were ludicrously abashed; others were insolent; but the large majority observed a fine nonchalance, shading dow

sting experiences to me as to anyone else in the cast: first, a thrill of dismay, altogether apar

ound the same leg. Early in the reception, whilst treating for them, I was fairly disconcerti

brought me to the camp; and my anxiety was dispelled. The chaps had hung their tucker-bags on some adjacent lignum, out of reach of the wild pigs, but at a height accessible to Pup. The absence of the owners, though d

quents rode slowly through and through the mob, each vainly trying to identify and count his own; while now and then one would pass out to overbear some encroaching pagan by loud-spoken interrogations respecting a bay mare with a switch tail, or a strawberry bullock with wide horns-such ostentati

x months' untiring work on a well-selected piece of myall. Helsmok had all along been pained by the incongruity of such a gem in such keeping; and now having discharged his trespass-liability, the iron-wristed Hollander politely borrowed this jewel from its clinging owner, and so recovered his horse without difficulty. Then, when the

t- was taking little interest in anything except the shillings he col

a splitting headache. We can do without you now." Alas! what doth

en Barefooted Bob stalked up, bearing an unmistakable

message last night,

hether it was las' night or this morni

didn't yo

. "P'r'aps you'll be so good as to inform me if my

al to your employ," re

f of goin' partners with opium an' leprosy. Same time, mind you, I'd be turnin' dog on the station if I took advantage o' your message, to

ts, sort his papers, examine his horse's legs, and

I was wrong," he re

stworthy-ru

may co-exist with any degree of ignorance or error," I replied. "I

iment. Don't forget to call round at my camp,

cks here, Bob?"

did n't know half-a-dozen beasts on the station; and Bob (as he af

re you working?" he added, with sudden suspicion-his idea evidently bei

workin' t

' about it!" snapped Smyth

d he slowly strode towar

"This paddock must be cleared within fifteen minu

the paths of Donovan and Baxter, in their still more arduous and long-drawn task. At last the eagle-eye of the squatter counted Bob's ten, accompanied by his spare horse, as he tailed the lot toward his c

oundrels had the answer of a good conscience touching the transaction. They maintained, with manifest sincerity, that Smythe's repudiation of the bullocks, and his subsequent levy of damages upon them as strangers and trespassers, gave themselves a certain right of trov