Part 9 (1/2)

And he had a good one under hiot in a swap because the ot a little flesh on his bones he looked soood for a poor man, and him honest,' as old M'Intyre said

But Jiot the horse in a fair deal, and had as ood mount as any one else--super or squatter, he didn't care who he was

And Mr Falkland took Ji for saying what he did The old --

'Ah, ye're a grand laddie, and buirdly, and no that thrawn, either--like ye, dick, ye born deevil,' looking at me 'But I misdoot sair ye'll die wi' your boots on There's a slint o'

yer e'e Ye'll be to dree yer weird, there's nae help for't'

'What's all that lingo, Mr M'Intyre?' called out Jiain 'Is it French or Queensland blacks' yabber? Blest if I understand a word of it But I didn't want to be nasty, only I aular shook on this old cart horse'

'Maybe ye bocht hih I'll no deny you I saw the receipt -lockit, Fish Rivercallant win haud o' hi,' answered Jim 'I'm not supposed to trace back every horse in the country and find out all the people that owned him since he was a foal He's et a better one'

'A contueneration,' said the oldhis head 'And yet he's a fine laddie; a gra-and laddie wad he be with good guidance It's the Lord's doing, nae doot, and we daurna fault it; it's wondrous in our een'

That was the way old Mac always talked Droll lingo, wasn't it?

Chapter 9

Well, aent to this townshi+p Bundah was the naot there It was the regular up-country village, with a public-house, a store, a pound, and a blacksmith's shop However, a public-house is not such a bad place--at any rate it's better than nothing when a fellow's young and red-hot for anything like a bit of fun, or even a change Some people can work away day after day, and year after year, like a bullock in a tea h I suppose they never enjoy themselves except in a cold-blooded sort of way But there's otherThey e

There's soe or kill themselves, and I suppose it's the sae of what's called honest labour, whichfor so a day to yourself, or doing anything you like, and saving up a trifle for your old age when you can't enjoy it I don't wonder youngsters break traces and gallop off like a colt out of a teairl even at a bush public, the daughter or the barmaid, and it's odd, nohat a difference that , a little noisy, rattling talk, a few sirl, a look at the last newspaper, or a bit of the tos fro hienerally a sly old spider who sucks us fellows pretty dry, and then don't care what becomes of us Well, it don't amount to much, but it's life--the only taste of it that chaps like us are likely to get And people may talk as much as they like; boys, and men too, will like it, and take to it, and hanker after it, as long as the world lasts There's danger in it, and h comes of it, but what of that? If a man wants a swim on the seashore he won't stand all day on the beach because he ainst a rock, or tired out and drawn under by the surf No, if he's a man he'll juh and the waters deep So it was very good fun to us, siht sound to soreen turf, along the plain, through the forest, gully, and over the creek

Our horses were fresh, and we had a scurry or two, of course; but there wasn't one that could hold a candle to Jiot over the ground in wonderful style He could ju fence or two, and he sailed over them like a forester buck over the head of a fallen wattle

Well, we'd had our lark at the Bundah Royal Hotel, and were coood spirits, but sober enough, when, just as ere crossing one of the roads that cah the run--over the 'Pretty Plain', as they called it--we heard a horse co best pace When we looked who should it be but Miss Falkland, the owner's only daughter

She was an only child, and the very apple of her father's eye, you ht, because she had taken a fancy to come doith her father a couple of times to see the shed ere all in full work

A shed's not exactly the best place for a young lady to coe now and then But every man liked and respected Mr Falkland, so we all put ourselves on our best behaviour, and the two or three flash felloho had no sense or decent feeling arned that if they broke out at all they would get so to remember it by

Butthat beautiful, delicate-looking creature stepping down the boards between the ts of shearers,like stea curiously and pitifully at the tired reat, soft, dark eyes and fair white face like a lily, we began to think we'd heard of angels from heaven, but never seen one before

Just as she ca to shear sheep and sheep with the 'ringer' of the shed, as next on our right, the wether he was holding kicked, and knocking the shears out of his hand, sent theht in, and though it didn't cut the sinews, as luck would have it, the point stuck out at the other side; out spurted the blood, and Ji to let out when he looked up and saw Miss Falkland looking at him, with her beautiful eyes so full of pity and surprise that he could have had his hand chopped off, so he told me afterwards, rather than vex her for a ether, for it was no joke in the way of pain, and the blood began to run like a blind creek after a thunderstorm

'Oh! poor fellow What a dreadful cut! Look, papa!' she cried out

'Hadn't so better be bound round it? How it bleeds! Does it painup like a schoolboy going to say his lesson 'That is, it doesn't s out hbour 'Here, boy; tar wanted for No