Part 24 (1/2)

CHAPTER XVI

SUMMER IN THE SILVER WEST

Though it really was not so very long since we had said farewell to our friends in Scotland and the dear ones at ho that all ell, our letters brought us joy Not for weeks did we cease to read theain and talk about them

One of ht and that ofhis father and mother to let him come out to the Silver West and join us, and that they were yielding fast He meant, he said, to put the screw on a little harder soon, by running away and taking a cruise as far as Newcastle-on-Tyne in a coal-boat He had no doubt that this would have the desired effect of showing his dearly-beloved _pater et o abroad So ere to expect hiland, and winter with you'

Another letter of mine was from Irene M'Rae I dare say there must have been a deal of rohtful little ave me much pleasure, and I--I believe I carried it about with me till it was all frayed at every fold, and I finally stowed it away in my desk

Flora wrote to us all, with a postscript in addition to Dugald And ere to h to send for pa and ma and her

I did not see Townley's letter to aunt, but I know that much of it related to the 'Coila crime,' as we all call it now The scoundrel M'Rae had disappeared, and Mr Townley had failed to trace hiet tired It was as certain as Fate that as soon as the poacher spent his --he would appear again at Coila, to extortTownley had a watch set for him, and as soon as he should appear there would be an interview

'It would,' the letter went on, 'aid my case very much indeed could I but find the men who assisted him to restore the vault in the old ruin But they, too, are spirited away, apparently, and all I can do fails to find theood time is bound to come, and may Heaven in justice send it soon!'

Moncrieff had no letters, but I ahted to see us happy as if ere indeed his own brothers, and our aunt his aunt, if such a thing could have been possible

Butof our Coila Villa moved on apace, and only those situated as ere could understand the eager interest we took in its gradual rise At the laying of the foundation-stone we gave all the servants and workmen, and settlers, new and old, an entertainment We had not an ostrich to roast whole this tiuests under Moncrieff's biggest tent was one his cook ht well have been proud of After supper music couitars did not have it all their oay, having to give place every now and then to the inspiring strains of the Highland bagpipes That was a night which was long re built our furniture was being made This, like that in Moncrieff's mansion, was all, or mostly, Indian work, and manufactured by our half-caste Gauchos The wood chiefly used was algaroba, which, when polished, looked as bright as any, and quite as beautiful This Occidental furniture, as we called it, was really very light and elegant, the seats of the couches, fauteuils and sofas, and chairs being worked with thongs, or pieces of hardened skin, in quite a marvellous manner

We had fences to es to plant, and even trees Then there was the whole irrigation systerain and lucerne, after the soil had been duly ploughed and attended to All this kept us young fellows very busy indeed, for orked with the men almost constantly, not only as simple superintendents, but as labourers

Yes, the duties about an _estancia_, even after it is fairly established, are very varied; but, nevertheless, I know of no part of the world where the soil responds more quickly or more kindly to the work of the tiller than it does in the Silver West And this is all the reat part of the land hereabouts is by nature barren in the extre that sheep, if not first introduced into the _estancias_ of the Silver West by the Scotch, have at all events been elevated to the rank of a special feature of produce in the country by them Moncrieff had done ards actual size of body, but in regard to the texture of the wool; and it was his proudest boast to be able to say that the land of his adoption could already compare favourably with Australia itself, and that in the immediate future it was bound to beat that island

It is no wonder, therefore, that we all looked forward to our first great shearing as a very busy tireat wool harvest was, indeed, one of the principal events of the year Moncrieff said he always felt young again at the sheep-shearing ti Moncrieff's was sih Preparations were ht beforehand Indoors, ha tent was erected once more near and behind the mansion, for extra hands to the nuhbour settlers--they lived tenover to lend a hand, and all had to eat, andprospects ain, so they did his mother She was here, there, and everywhere; now in parlour or dining-roo orders, leading, directing, ay, and so, the servants, for few of the Gauchos, whether h to please old Jenny

Well, the sheds had to be cleared out, and a syste tiand pressing e _estancia_ was carried alot into the very best working order i, Moncrieff was fastidious to a degree

The sheep ashed the day before This was hard work, for no animal I know of is more obstinate than a sheep when it makes up its mind to be so

So the work commenced, and day after day it went e shearing, and yet in six days' time no less than 11,000 sheep were turned away fleeceless

And what a scene it was, to be sure!

I re old Parson McGruer's shearing a wonderful sight The old ot down to breakfast before eleven in the e scale Did he not own a flock of nearly six hundred--one shepherd's work--that fed quietly on the heath-clad braes of Coila? One shepherd and two collies; and the collies did nearly all the duty in sureat part of it in winter The shepherd had his bit of shi+eling in a clulen-foot, and at ti fro the braes, or standing, statue-like, on the hill-top, his roainst the horizon, and verywith the scene I never yet saw theHis life was alreen and eke, or in autulory of the heather To be sure, his pay was not a great deal, and his fare for the most part consisted of oatmeal and milk, with now and then a slice of the best part of a 'braxied' sheep

Here, in our home in the Silver West, how different! Every _puestero_ had a house or hut as good as the , why, the worthy Mr McGruer his in the Silver West lived far amekeeper, 'in a' braid Scotland'

But our shepherds had to run and to ride both Wandering over e, sheep learn to be dainty, and do not stay very long in any one place; so it is considered almost impossible to herd them on foot

It is not necessary to do so; at all events, where one can buy a horse for forty shi+llings, and where his food costs _nil_, or next to _nil_, one usually prefers riding to walking