WOODONGA: A TRAGEDY OF STATION LIFE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 30, 4 February 1905, Page 11

WOODONGA: A TRAGEDY OF STATION LIFE.

(Aefhcf of " A Fight to a Finish," " in the Track of the Storm," etc)

CHAPTER HI. 1 A FSIB>"D IN" NEED- j T had dt> nc . t was ashamed to look behind mc Cm. I knew the man who had tried jfS the part of good angel to mc wxs JSngstiU. I could imagine the look fyHUdy blue eyes—partly of syoiS with iO3t a shade of contempts']w£Li look round: I had too-*- aov long he stood there, « ar to tefl the truth, I bad very soon JUtai him in the excitement, which fever. Lookmg back £ it bow I suppose the tendency was «T m v blocd, but at the time 1 thought ri nothing bet the bewildering chances iLt eoatniaed to ebb and flow on the toard. For a thne Moncneff wen: on steadily, and I had only to n tch and to follow him. Then the luck geemei to chanse. and the man with the on which MoncriefT thought he W improved began to win again. I had ogvOT known what excitement really was even the rush and tumult of the jacecoirse was tame beside this: I rasped the back of the chair into which had slipped at last, and Qμ on to it as one might to the bnlin a storm at sea. There was a pause at last, and the looked >ip with indrawn breaths that sounded like sobs. I donit know ] "Afl. gone ia he 1 Conioxmd him!" \ I looked like. bat. when Moncrieff ; looked at mc I started: his face was j gbasdy. thongh he tried to smile. Trettv ?c 0< l 50 tar -" c tnuttwed Jo himseif. as he gathered np the notes and gold beside him and pushed them bio his pocket. TVn he rose, and a> he so I noticed thac he glancpd. suspieoosly anraml- as if hi search of ?om<*-j^jy."-Ah. ? OQe iLe " on ' OTlTl<i him?" Je mntiered again, and a gleam of satisfaction came into his sunken eyes for a moment. I asked no question. I knew srho he meant. I went, with him to the buffet at the end of the room, and at his invitation joined him in a strong glass of brandy Kid soda, then we went back. But why ehould I recall it? Even now. when I think of it, the feeling—the ghastly, nicntniare feeling of that night—comes •over mc asram, with something of its Trfld. shuddering excitement. We went, back; thonsrh even then I felt as a man mfeht feel "who went to the mouth of ML After that first experience we played iritli varying fortunes. I think we must lave rested" for a few minutes at the end of each half hour, or thereabouts, but it never occurred to mc to look at my watch. At each pau?p I looked at Moncrieff, and accepted his silent invitation to go with him to tbs buffet, fueling each time more on *be fcslp of the brandy to keep mc going. At each call of the croupier to make rur game I put my hand into my poi.:k:et »Imost mechanically, acd pulled out iriiatever camp uppermost, for my next stake. Once we had liad a run of illluck, and I had seen 'MoncTieff's pile of money dwindle away till hardly any was left; and -when I put my hand into my own pocket I found nothing there but & single sovereign. At the moment Moncrief half turned, and looked in my face as if to aak a question. I bent forward with a strange sinking at my heart and ■whispered as I showed him the coin: "The last, Moncrieff; I've got fwo hundred in the bank, though." He rose to his feet. "YouVe srot that IO.U. for the two thousand with you* you? 1, "Yes," I said. "But that's no good, is it?" "Let mc have it and Fll see.' , I gave him the caTd. and saw him go tad speak for a few minutes to the quietlooking man who sat just behind the tronpier. Then he came bade. "Come en," lie said, "'-Tacobi will take your cheque as far as yon've got money in the bank, though he can't discount thai" I followed him mechanicaliv to the Ettle table where Tacobi had pens and ink, no doubt for just such occasions, end when I had answered the question, "which bank?" , saw him lav an open cheque book before mc. For a. single moment I hesitated and glanced at Moncrieff. I fancied I saw a half look of impatient contempt come into his glittering eyes, as he said. "Don't, unless you Want to. We can jn. I'm about cleaned oat too. If you do it I'll ask you u> lead mc a tenner." That settled it. At the moment i »Mt as if I owed Moncrieff everything I had won; could I refuse to lend him *ea pounds! I stooped and signed the cheque. '"But for how nroch. sir?" Tacobi askeii » he looked at it. I had forgotten to fill in the amount. 'A hundred and seventv-iour. ,7 I stam*wred in my confusion, thinking a-t the moment of the balance I had calculated *nen I had drawn the last monpy I had Next moment I should have Bked to alter the amount to something tea: but already Jacobi ha,d written the Words, and pulling out a. drawn- he proenwd and handed over the notes. Iwas still looking at them. ratheT I daresay- whrn Moncrieff touched my arm. -'Come on." he said_<an you span , - v? t believe I've hit tt at lasf hJ/- ,1 *' I answered; "I've more here I meant to draw. *o you may -as ""ell hare it." ! as I handed hhn fire of thfl itotts. which he ekttuhftd eaeeriy. watch mc. and youll jrei it aIJ "lack m half an honr'Mie said, as he ?"rrkd back to secur- vis seat. I fol »wed him, sobered for the momer-t b? •We thought that I bad all my manej ® kand. It was true there 'was th< *«* for the big to : buz numehow thai quite the same thing. Then *yes went baok to the board, and th'f I??™? fed away. At any rate th< was done, I had burnt the boats ™a there was nothing to do but. go on. i don't know how lon- it lasted aftei at. W e had varying fortunes, ant. ™re than onoe we "resorted to the re wstunent buffet, but how often I hav< r, 0 Keollection. The oniv thing I re ttember dearly is MoncriefTs face as w, r«od m the hall while the quiet at wuaat ;jot our hats. The lamp shon, wx a his face, and it ghastly; bus wasnt that, after all, that feed it ii J/^ OTJ - Es 55 were on m c there was something in the start wade mc shudder. Then the doo: and we were ia the cool nii tton-t know what happened afte J* j* 0 ™ mnmtes after I wok«!, I fel «i had been th e subject of on <m ,W9U Z TMBKK nightmare, »© ironda

>my head ached. I groaned, and tried to go to sleep again. It was useless to try. for now the question came back, and would have an answer—was it a nightmare? I tossed, and groaned, but still the question was there; and each time it -was asked the doubt grew more insistent. At last I rang my bell, and when I had drunk the brandy and soda which the man brought I felt bold enough to ask a question. The man glanced at mc and gave a 4ight coug-h. ""Well, sir, I've heard as t weren't early." "And—and Mr. Monerieff," I continied. alter a moment's pause. "Is he all "iffht this morning?" "Mr. Moneriefi. sir—l don't know. sir. He didn't s?et "oute. not last night—so '"I wis late, I suppose, this morning?" the night porter says- Sir." Nor. get home How then had I got home myself? I let the man go, but the question remained only to render the confusion of my memories still more inextricable. At" last I gave it up; perhaps when I sa-w my companion of the night before thiDg3 might dear themselves; and I was sure to see him soon. I wa3 young and strong, and even the utterly unprecedented strain of the last night's dissipation passed off to a great extent by the time I hsd dressed and was ready to Venture downstairs. I was triad to know that the afternoon I was well advanced so that the luncheon I room was likely to be empty, and I made I my tit there feeling that I should be all the better of something to eat. My mind was still eonfnsed—perhaps benumber would express the fselinsr better —hut by this tim? I felt pretty sure I had made a a fool of myself in some way. Had I really jrone to a gambling house? Had I really taken part in the gambling , , as I seemed vaguely to remember? I groaned to myself as I sat waiting in the big empty room for the waiter to bring mc lunch. Money ? The thought Sashed across my mind for the first time. If I had been {rambling I had either lost money or won it. of course. I plunged my hand into my pocket —into a second—then a, third. In the last ther* « — ~ ="t1» note aiul -1 sovereigns; I pulled them out and stared at them, lue was for £5. Five pounds. an<l two—seven altogether. Tho sight of them seemed to have touched a spring, and memory answered it. Yes. like the sudden flash when the button is pressed, recollection blazed up in an instant, and it all came back: the place, the faces, the events, they were all before mc again. It was true, then: I had played, and I lost. As I leaned my face on my hands again it would have been a relief to groan, hat even that was denied mc now. ■Tan I gft. yo-u anything, 3ir?" It. -vv-iS the syrapflthi'tv; voice of the . waiter who had br'nishr the lunch, end now savv how unequal [ wa.s to tiie of oating it. I raised tny faov and glanced at him stupidly. The man started-•'C-ood God! What , the matter? Are ', you ill. sir?" he exclaimed. "No. no. my srood fellow. Get mc a . little brandy, will yon?" ' Before he got back I had gtit over the , I worst of the shock. It had been the i sight r>f money, and the sudden re- [ collection that it wm the last I had that had overcome mc. and a quick feeling at shame brought the blood to my cheek once more that so small a matter as . that should have done it. I was yorrag and strong; even thought it was true I had never worked in my life, surely I could work for a living as well as another. The man brotight the brandy *nd I y drank it. "You feel better now, sir." he said, looking mc over critically—no doubt , he was a good judge of such cases. "I , should try and eat something: it'll do - I you good."' t ' No I couldn't do that, for a fever of . impatience had come over mc: I must see Moncrieff. I didirt wait to ask my- , self how it was he hadn't come back I j with mc to the hotel —a hundred things i might have happened to explain that, ' j and I was utterly ashamed to admit it — [ i I had f orttotten them all, but I must see , ! h.im. There was the 1.0. U. for the big '. I bet to be cashed; and with the thought . j there came the question. "Where was . I it ?" Ye? . llonrrieff had it. He had ! i never reLumed it after he took it to 1 ' show Jacobi that it was safe to trust > i mc. Yes, I must see Mrmcrieff at once. j I picked up my hat and went OTit into [ j the wide hall that, ran east and west r j from side to side of the big hotel. There i jv7ao a draught ot cooler air here, and I a i leaned against a pillar and tried to " i think of the best way to find my last j j night's companion. As T did so I heard j I a voice I knew- speaking in the readj ing-room—it was his. 1 walked quickly - I along the '""H and turned in at the parte I ly open door to find myself face to face i '-with Moncrieff. i i He didn't look much the worse, and for c ! the first time I was conscious of a hot ; ! feeling of something like anger as I I i looked at him. He was still talking - j when I came in, and it seaned to Kie ! that when his eye oanght mine there was r ' not only no welcome in its look, but f ffven something hostile, in the cool glance ;. he gave mc. as if he were reckoning up c the effects of the folly of last night. •'Hallo.' , he said, after a moment or c two. "Yon there, Stevens; they told mc s you were taking it easy this morning. I c "don't know thac an hour or two more would have done you any harm. "iou [1 look a≤ Lf yoifd gone the pace last c nisht." _ I- -'You ought to know. Moncnen. v anyr body does,' , I said steadily, though I felt v the "hot blood come to my face at his c tone almost more than the words. '""But ,t the truth is I -wanted to see you. to ask v yon for that card." 'c " he said. :,i Card? TVhat c card, my dear 5. Somehow I kid expected it. '•The card on which was writieß. the !r acknowledgment for the two thousand d bet. I gave it you at Jacobi's last !• night, yon knotv." -c A slight change passed over the man's i»- dark, handsome fa-ce. and the man tc c j whom he had been talking looked at him. t- 1 but he didn't hesitate for more tlian s ie second. tt ■'Yes, 1 ' lie said, quietly, "I remember; n I cave it you back. He wouldn't disc, count it. you knew —and a devilish good re thiTg for you. 3 sr i It flashed on mc then, he had stolen it. I 1 looked >>"n straight in the face, and •r he never mo-red »n eyelash. That moment seemed a long one to mc, for 1 It must have thought fifty different things a- in t"h<» t™>- "Oh," I said, slowly, a , gv?e it back, did ywu? Perhaps jot re ,

tamed the £ 50 you borrowed at the same time?" I suppose there could have been no dcubt about the tone of my question; tiers was certainly none as to what I 'meant by it. His" face flushed darkly, and the man who had been talking to him started and looked at inc. , Moncrieff made a half step towards mc, and for an instant I thought he meant to strike me—rthen he controlled I himself. The flush died out cf his cheek, :as he turned with a. contemptuous mofcron towards his companion, and said lightly. "L«fs be going , , Jones. The youngster isc"c himself r?L and no wonder. He was as drunk as Chloe last night. I stuck to him till Tie got quarrelsome, and I had to pay a fellow to bring him home. Take my advice: never let one of these boys persuade you to show them round. That fello*. will believe as long as he fives, I daresay, that I owe him that fifty."' He turned on his heel as he was speaking, and before I had recovered from the shock of his cool repudiation he had left the room followed by his friend. I stood staring after them for a minute, and then it dawned on my mind what it meant to Eβ. _^^ -The T muttered. ~The Infernal scoundrel!" I muttered. "The will believe him rather than mc." I think I almost staggered, a? I looked raenely for a seat. Then I felt a strong hand laid firmly on my arms, and a voice said quietly, "Yes. my young friend. I believe you. I looked"up: it was the man I had seen at .Tirobi's the night before. CHAPTER IV. LESTJE OF WOODONGA. "That you, Horton? Glad to see you occupants. It was a big hsarty voice, that somehow save the impression of warmheartedness and a hot temewr at the same time, and went well with the appearance of the rather tall and very broad-shouldered man. with the irongrey hair and blue eyes, who stood under thp shelter of the little shed that did duty for the railway station at Toonsgatta. "Tbajik tou. Mr Leslie. All w«ll on the ran, I "hope?" was the reply of my companldn. the tall man with the dark face and the steady blue eyes, whom I had first seen at Jaeobi's. "Oh, yes. Horton; pretty so-so. I don't just fan<*y tht* look of some of the south hill flock, and Challenger's a bit off his f-ed this last day or two; but 1 don't think it's intich." "I'm giao to hear it, sir; and up at the house —all well, I hope?" I thought a shadow passed across the open face of the master of the Woodoonga. station, and his voice didn't sound quitf so free as he replied: "Yes, yea: all right, I believe. But come along: I'vb got the horses down at Wafckhi's. You've got your friend there, I suppose." No dcubt Mr Leslie had seen mc. for I had been watching him through the window with all the Interest with which one naturally looks at a man on whom his future seems to depend. So far 1 was satisfied, and prepared to follow my corn-panics from the railrw.d car, of ■vhkh he and I hid been r -Le last; twe bark again. I had beena mere than !T.cky so far. md I felt it the moment as if there could be no doubt my luck was going to continue. Fortune rmild hardly havf gone frrrtheT indeed than when she brought about that meeting in the reading rooiH at Menzies , Hotel on that afternoon, now four days ago. I had never seen Charles Horton at the hotel hefoTC. and the accident that he should bar? been reading behind the screen, equally tm known to MenrrisfF and myself, when we had our quarrel, seemed little less ban a miracle. I didn't ask myself afc first—l didn't venture to ask HoTton at all —why he had so strong a feeling against Moncrieff that he was ready to stand up for a complete stranger —most likely for anybody— great a fool he might have shown himself, in apposition to him. There could be no ioubt of the fact, however. I had thought it all over many times in the l ast three days, and especially on our twelve hours' journey by the very deliberate train that made its way to Toomgatta, almost the last point yet reached by the up-country railroad. Since I had so far recovered from my wild burst of dissipation that I was able to think matters over quietly. I could remember with tolerable clearness tl] that tuid happened that rriijht at ■Tacobvs. and the interference if Korten both with Moncrieff and myself 3tood out clearly among the irtrident3. He knew the man well— so nrarh was evident — ' and it was what ho kn>*w of him that marie him so ready to brh>ve my version of what had frappmed. though, except tbe cheque, which had b"PT> duly cashed early the next day. T hadn't a oartacle of evidence to show that I was right and Moncrieff wrong. It needed J no evidence with Horton. He had dot i I only believed vac hot bnrl acted on bis . 'belief at once. Half an hours quiet talk . jhad ended in his offprir.jr to take mc with ihira to the run on —bich he was artinsr ias manager, and do hip best to find me> ' sortie sort of a billet rhfre. ?nnce that ! ! talk we had nrdtirer of us mentioned J MbncriefTs name, and I at least hadn't ■ i seen the man. . J "'Come aJonz. and fetch yerrr traps." 1 ■ had been Horton's last direction fco mc. ; j as he leaped out of the car, acd thp next r! moment was engaged in an animated , 1 talk, carried on in a low tone, vrith his ; i employer- It lasted only for a minute i ' nr two, and I had barely had time to t ! grianoe around, with an amused sense 1 of -novelty, at the primitive *hpd-KVe • I'rraildine. wffh its brurh alcns the wall, s I and its office like a ser.try-box ar. one [lend. wTien the conference *»ndcd. ! "And this. T suppose, if the yowßty feti , low you mentioned in your tiMpgTain. ; ' Barter intrex'"tee us. Horton. Just aT- ! rived from Bomc hav<*n'(: yn'V ho *<\<\- ■ J i»d. holding orrh a hi?, sinewy hand. anH ; I lookin* mc np and down, i.ts jf be vrere ; ! somehow taking my measure with his : j eye. : "Yes," T said, puttine my hand in his, [which held it with ridiculous ease, "I : had barely been a fortnight on shorf* Vbrn I had the gcod luck to meet with Hortcn here." ! "(rorjd luck* Well, I hope «=n. ymms; I rr.vn." he answered, with a. ready smile : '■'thrrncTi rf he cets you on the run yon mi?bt think differently. He's a dcvii to 5 make work, they tell me—a devil. J fiir—a fieri!." , . "T don't krrow nTiieh slwnt vsrorlc. I'm i afraid. Mr Leslie, but 111 be giad to I'<»-m. if T can-get the clia-nce. ,, ; j "Hood, sir, good—very good '•' h< , tp--\"'<p& with emphasis; indeed. T b?gnn to 1 no-pceive that the owner of Woodoon^a T?.nn aJ"wav3 spoke with emphasis when • >- PTJoke at aIL "Bnt. look heTe. Horton. i whafs' his name? Seems a iikebr sort - of a ywrogster, too. Why th« devil don't f yon tell mc his name, roan?" 5 Mr companion hastened to introdaße i mc, "ignoring •fixe fact tk«tte deiey in • jfrwng so iwwl beat caased eatinfy fey hi»

employer's giving him no chance to get c Lα a word. / ( "Stevens, eh—Stevens? Good name, a ' too. Used' to know Stevenses down m ■« Yorkshire when I vras a boy. Had a | thundering bis old Louse —bail a ji within half a "mile of the vicarage; Lam- * prey Hall, they called it, thoagfa I.never « could find any lampreys —looked for them often ennnsli. too-" •'Lamprey Kail, sir." I exclaimed: x '*why, that's my graad-tracle's place, near \ i Beechroft.' r \l j "Tout grand-uncle, ah.'. Come, that's! J queer." he said, giving mc J- . keen,) searching lock out of his bTne eyes; g ■"■'that's queer: bat, then cost things ax=- ~ : mcc to leak at them. However, it's ~ time we were {roin£. Train cm hovrr late. jis usual, and a long ride before dinner. -, , ! And he turned away sbrnptly. and j c marched out of the shed, muttering to j c himself, as he went, thoujrb. quite audi-1 f bly, "Stevens, eh? Looks like it, too; Jj but queer—devilish, queer." t j Bbrton glanced at mc and smiled, as . he followed him, and I brought up the j rear, feeling sometio-w as I went thxit r there was more truth hi Mr Leslie's via-??? of lifo than I would have be- . lieved even half an hour before, and almost inclined to echo his curiously j muttered words: -'"Queer —devilish f queer!" l Toonigatta was <?videntlv a station ] and little more as yet. There was a j rough-looking weatherboard house, not j •l hundred yards from the shed we had j i jiist left, dignified by ths possession of i no less than thro* brick chiniuevs, which j more even than its size and rambling ■ construction distinguished it from three or four others that were dotted about in no particular order, and possessed only great chimneys of timber at on< end. from which wreaths of blue saiokf curied up into the fresh, sunny arr of the afternoon. We followed Mr Leslie t<j the rambling buil-Jiag , ■with the chimney?, which I concluded by a sort oi instinct oust be th? inn or housp of entertainment. Half a, dozen stout posts sunk in the ground in front of the dwr. to two of which horses were hitched, confirmed the impression, even before Mr Leslie turned to us and remarked, "Donnelly's got nothing in the place that wouldn't poison a foenna, or I'd ask you to have something. As rt i≤. th-e sooner we're moving T,he better. Jacky there's got Tomcat; I made him bring; him over /or you—ride, can't you?' , he added, look ing at mc again, witi a irueslioii ia his eyes. "Oh. ye?, sir. a little: though. I neve - tried a, tom-cat before,"' I said with a laugh. "(jocd, good, youll do," ne replied with a pleasant laugh, a≤ he whi^tl"! , . twice in a peculiar way that sounded like a sort of dog call. He was answered at once by the appearance from .he other side of the house of a short black man. or boy—l tcooldn't gups* ■which—with a. head of tangled-looking black hair which looked positively hugu compared with his body and legs. vA a pair of small eyes that looked out of the tangle spark ling like fiia. monds. He was leading a horse. whi<*b a/t tne first glance I recqenised as Tomrat, from something about his appear--.T>ce which I couldn't possibly have explained. "Tea, that's him," Mr Leslie said, -'arcing s; — ■• ::s if m n<rt.e the im-~.r--:•=•—n h.-> -r-id~. '"Th-t\- To—.-r.-t ""\--a*: ,- 1 Prl bring him al--g. Nothing Ift? V—inning a.* you men t.n go on — nothing , . And if you phonld sro off instead—wrll, the gTTDimd's soft, and Hortou here c*n manage him. Try him." I laid down the saddle bags, in which at Hortou's suggrstion I had broutrht a few necessaries, and went up to the horse. t2&rng the bridle from the hand A the black who grinned ast mc. showtag an knonense of wMte teeth. Tben I laid nrv ha-nd ori the horse's neck as if I ware jro'mg to pan bim, au.i thnn, by a trick I had learned years before from a stableman at my grami ancle's, who had served an ship on a Tesas ranch, jumped into the saddle. It was a surprise to Tom-cat, sjid hardly lese I think to his owner. The horse gave a quick start, and looked backwards over his shoulder with a glance half-frightened and half-vicious and then stood still. The owner merply laug-hed, as he remarked. '"(>ood devilish good! Yes. one of the old lot. and no mistake. He'll do, Horton, e-h ? What d'ye think? But it's queer— j devilish queer."* He was still expressing bis views in 3. half-muttered running accompaniment while he unhitched his horae —a fine, tall, high-bred looking animal — from the post aa-d mounted in a leisurely fashion. Then he glanced at. the bJack. who stood watching him like a dog. his head a little to one side, his <?srs moving and twitching while he waited. "Ho. you there.' 7 his master sho-uted. ".Jacky make-a.-mn home. Jacky no stay nmke-wdriak. Qrriek:" The great eer? sav-e an extra twitch. I r,he huge head beat forrrard. and next moment Jacky ha«i ."tarteii, at a krag. gliding , - trot, which irresistibly snirgssted a hound nraajiig on a hot scent. Horton paased up toe saddle-bags I hud dropped, unhitched his hor?e from the post and mounted with a quiet readiness thai spumed to belong to the man—and then -we started. We folio-w----ed in the direction raken by ..Tacky. So far as I could sne there was no road visioie after w<? had got away from the few scattered henses, and there werrs I ao fences of any sort to interfere : with us. Toan-ea.t hesitated for a moj merit when the others started, ss if no;t ; q.uite sure -wheoner the momeait might ; not have arrived for him to assert himself and settle tic question of supre- ! ma.cy between us: thrn he decided : against it, and followed t-hr; others at : the rong easy pzee, knewn in AastraJia ! its th.« stockTaaTi's canter. It wa= all ne-x to mo. The spring ! rains had brn?n lit;', and as far a-s T I Tmild set? the (wuntry lookrj like long Itiw waves of hroaxe-green colour that moved and Tfhispsred at the touch of t*ie breszp that followed ns r.cros=s the j plains. T?»erß tm not a trc-e. nor a j patch of the b-rigJrter green I had been accustomed to. bet there ■were Sewersgenerally of bright colours, that peeped from among the «:».«■ i»g grass that reached the horse r s knees, and there was a feeling of freedom and extent abonrt it ill that more than made up : for th« ramt of fhe familiar beantiM j of hczne. I I was too busy making the acquaintance oi nsy new cormtry to care » talk. ' and my ermastia-iaiis didn't interrupt ! me— perte-ps they iradei-stood. At hxst Mr Leslie, wfc*> had steadily led the way I for fully an hour, pulled up his borsa J on. the top oi a swell in the land i rather higher than any we had. come ! to. and turn-ed to mc as we came up. "Here," he saitL, with a sweep of his hand that seemed, to take ia half the horizon, "Here. Stevens, you get the firss look at Woodaongk Hot much like Yorkriure, e&r , "But where?" I asked hesitatingly, ias I glanced, around. "I don't ace any ; buildings, sir." He laughed —a jolfy, J contented laogh, vith a. ■coach of pixde iin it. 'TXo, sir, -wrre as* m fifes olSt

roontry now, you know. We'll not :atch sight of anything but grass for . mother half hour yet. The house is . aver there where you see the rising , jround,"' and be pointed as he spoke a j tittle to the left, where the sun was t, beginning to get low on the horizon, i . md covered the country with a golden ''. aase that was dazzling. My eyes, no J j ioubt, were stronger than his, and | tvhen I had faced the sunshine fer ai ' tew seconds i made out the figures of ! K"3ia.t I took to be two horsemen coming towards us across the higher ridge . to which he had pointed. '' ""No. sir. it isn't much like York- ! shire." I said, "bat it's splendid of the ' •art. I suppeso i.hra?e tiro horsemen ' are .rerning from Woodoo-ngn.." ' "Horsemen?" ho said —-"horsemen? 1 There can't be any of our people coming out so late as this. I wonder who it *an be." he added, cat.-hing sight of the ' Sgures at last. Then he glanced quick- ' ly over his shoulder at Horton, who was ' riding last of the pa-rty. and then back 2.gain: then he mattered. "C'aa't be, you know—can't be. after wiiat I said Ho. confound it, can't be." He gave his bridle an impatient pull as he spoke, which his horse evidently ; interrupted to mean a hint to quicken ' cis pa-re, and stretched himself oat into a jrsßop which ours made haste to imi- : tate. Mr Leslie's eyes had, after all, I began to suspect, been better than mine, for it very soon dawned on m c that the riders we had seen were not men. but two girb who came towards us at a dashing pace, shining like fairsfs in the glow of the level sunlight, which surronnded them like a halo. It was evident he had recognised them. iad for some reason which I could no r of course comprehend was annoyed that they should have come. Per ap ; t was the want of an escort. I arg-ied, for these were, of course, the two Mi- - s Leslie Horton had mentioned, who. iJor>g with their father's sistfr. forme 1 the family at Woodoonga.—at asnv rate it was plain enough he was vexed. H? never looked behind him again nor =poke during the quarter of an hour or so while the two parties were closing up. I ha.i never sep-n two better rideT3 than thf=e girls, nor indeed two that -were better mounted, and I couldn't ts-ke my eves off them as they oams dashing along , , side by side, oat of rhe sunny haze. "Ton here, giris?" was the greeting of their father, as we came within hailing distance. "Oh yps. papa, and isn't it just fun We caught and saddled the horses ourselves too. for you forgot to tell To-m. and he wasn't to br> found. Oh, Mr Horton. how are you?" (To be Continued next Saturday.) ===== I