a-tried to get up as usual, but fell back upon her bed, faint and dizzy. Her brows ached. She had alternations of burning heat and icy coldness. There came a

to return the answer that she had caught cold, and was staying in bed for the present, but would no doubt be quite well

then the CLOP-CLOP of their feet as they were ridden past her end of the house to the Gully crossing. There were two h

connected the sound of his horses' departing feet with the thud of Sir Luke Tallant's hal

mistress' bed to await her awakening. Much later in the day, on the return of Mr Ninnis and the other men from their cattle-muster, finding the bag still unto

it happened that for the time being, she was quite un

ep his accusations for an opportunity when he ran less risk of being worsted. He meant to wait until McKeith's return. Meanwhile what he had not been prepared for was Willoughby Maule's departure with the mailman before he himself came back from an unsuccessful hunt af

self on the man-hunt. He did not know the country at the head of the gully, where he concluded that Wombo was hiding, and los

English as they weeded the front garden; Tommy Hensor's voice when he brought the cook a nestful of eggs some vagrant hen had laid in the grass-tussocks, the men going forth with the

bores. She felt herself reasoning quite collectedly on this subject, until the roar of beasts turned into the roar of the mighty Atlantic, breaking against the cliffs below Castle Gaverick.... She saw the green waves-real as the heaving backs of the cattle-alive, leaping.... And she herself seemed tossed on their crest... she saw and felt the cool embrace of the wave-fairies she had once tried to paint for Jo

ll, had come down partly from curiosity, partly from genuine humanity to see what m

and had caught cold, and I thought Mr McKeith would w

n bed, for the moment

u to trouble, Mrs Hensor. I would have sen

to trouble myself down here-what with Mr Ninnis wanting extra cooking, and Mr Harris in such a rage over Wombo's getting away-I'm wondering if you heard anything last night, of that, Lady Bridget? And Harr

master will be here to-mor

e he thought you'd be too busy doing things with Mr Maule to bother over the station affairs, and that Mr

hard to control the muscles of her face, and not to betray her mortificat

one,' she said, feeling t

Lady Bridget, I'd take a dose of laudanum, and get myself into a perspiratio

r tedious and less dangerous. Lady Bridget's case was the sharp, short kind demanding prompt treatmen

l work, days in the shearing-shed, sharp fighting with a second conflagration-fortunately put out before much damage had

d the various medicines he had found efficacious. For never was a better doctor for malarial fever than Colin McKeith-he had had so much experience of it. When tow

o weak however, that her bones felt like water and her face

not strength to fling them off. It felt frightfully warm for the time of year and the air that came in through the open French window seemed to be b

f his figure as he bent forward, with his hands on the railings and his eyes apparently strained towards the horizon, reminded her o

d faintly

ifying. She could not realise her own share in the catastrophe she felt was impending. She could not believe that Colin could change so much in less than ten days. Everything had come about with such incredible swiftness. His face looked haggard, ravaged. The cheeks seemed to have fall

boy he had beheld the mutilated bodies of his father, mother, sist

magination that which he held dearest seemed to be lying foully murdered before his eyes. She,

asped. 'What i

cally, as if there were no soul behind. He laughed

tor might have done-all without a word,

ggie. After a few minutes he came back with a tumbler of beaten egg a

the glass to her lips until she had drunk every drop of the mixture. All this with no show of tende

have been ill. What w

he answere

rain.... I got a

u could have done what you wanted without that.' The bitte

the pillow and straightened himself, looking down on her, still with that dread

me.... I'm go

slightly but hardened again. 'I won't talk to you. I won'

on't und

onger. You've got to take the brandy, eggs and milk till you feel sick of it. To-day you'll have slops. I've told Maggie about preparing your food, if the fever comes back-it wo

-YOU? What

be me-I'm

way-what

he turned and l

-and the heat so s

on Moongarr. It's been burning since two o'clock this morning.

was hotter than ever. The fire seemed still a long way off, but there was nothing to stop the flames if once they reached the great plain. The course of the river, here at best a mere string of shallow waterholes, was quite dry. The rain of the other night had been too insignificant and local t

un-blistered. The swarms of flies, mosquitoes in the veranda offended her. She disliked the cattle dogs mooching round with hanging jaws and slavering tongues. The ferocious chuckle of a great grey king-fi

e Bush. He resembled it. He too could be strong and sweet and tender as the great blossoming white cedar down by the lagoon, as rills of running water making

tdress, to throw a piece of lace over her dishevelled head, to pull up the linen sheets which had been rolled clumsily to th

ted and spurred, and stood as before l

ve told Mrs Hensor to come down and

on't have that woman in my room. How

you can order her out if you don't want her. The

you comi

got things to do-

nner seemed to conve

ack-boy. If you want to know I wi

nd his laugh sound

conversation with Harris this morning. I know EVERYTHING; and

d repeated dully: 'How

on't imagine, do you, that

spirit, 'certainly the

the veranda and was

e's ready, sir, a

as if he were going to speak to his wife. But he thought better o

urely he would understand that she must have sent Maule away. What more can a wife do in the case of an over-insistent lover? And how should a husband expect an explanation when he had literally thrown her into her lover's a

rather for Maule than for C

and they might have become reconciled. But now, his vile temper, his insupportable manner, his dominant egoism made any attempt of conciliation on her part impossible. She had a temper too-she told herself, and her anger was righteous. And she also had an egoism that wouldn't allow itself

ge, until the reappearance of Mrs Hensor. Then, the new effort she made in sending away the woma