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Mary Grant Bruce. Norah of Billabong
Norah of Billabong
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I
BREAKING UP
A VERY tall boy came up the gravel path of Beresford House. It was “breaking up” day, and an unwonted air of festivity and smartness was evident, even to the eye of a stranger. The garden looked as though no leaf had ever been out of place, no sacrilegious footmark ever imprinted on the soft mould of its beds, where masses of flowers still bade defiance to the heat of an Australian December. The paths were newly raked; the freshly mown lawns were carpets of emerald, soft underfoot and smooth as bowling greens. Aloft, on the square grey tower, fluttered the school flag—a blue banner, with a device laboriously woven by the fingers of the sewing class, and indirectly responsible for many impositions, since it was beyond the power of the sewing class to work with its several heads so close together as the task demanded, and yet refrain from talking. It was a banner of great magnificence, and the school was justly proud of it. Only the sewing class regarded it with what might be termed a mingled eye
CHAPTER II
NIGHT IN THE CITY
JEAN, can you button me up?”
CHAPTER III
THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN
I’VE an idea,” Mr. Linton said, putting down his morning paper
CHAPTER IV
GOING HOME
WE haven’t too much time,” said Mr. Linton, looking at his watch
CHAPTER V
WALLY
BEFORE the homestead the lawn stretched smoothly away, its green expanse broken here and there by a gay flower bed or a mass of shrubbery. Tall palms tossed their feathery heads aloft, above lower growing roses and tumbling masses of creepers. The mellow brick of the house itself was half concealed beneath a mantle of ivy and Virginia creeper, while, on the verandah posts, masses of tecoma and bougainvillæa made a blaze of colour. Beyond the garden fence the water of the lagoon could be seen—a blue gleam, studded with lazily swimming waterfowl. Further off, the yellow grass seemed to tremble under a mist of shimmering heat
CHAPTER VI
THE CUNJEE CONCERT
THEY should be home, Murty,” said David Linton
CHAPTER VII
MORNING
NORAH!”
CHAPTER VIII
NOON
ALL aboard!”
quoted Mr. Linton, smiling. “Not fair to jibe at you, Wally, old man, when you earned your stripes in a good cause.”
CHAPTER IX
A LITTLE YELLOW FLAME
AS she had predicted, Mrs. Brown had not found idleness during the morning hours. The individual who is popularly supposed to supply mischief for unoccupied hands could never be said to number Brownie among his clients. Jim was wont to say that she was a tiringly busy person—with a twinkle in his eye. Her huge form moved with a quite amazing lightness, and she was rarely to be seen sitting still. On the infrequent occasions that she subsided into a chair she produced wool and needles from some unseen receptacle about her person, and knitted as though her life depended on it
CHAPTER X
MIDNIGHT
DUSK fell, and the stars came out to ride in a blue-black sky, before the sound of horses’ feet, galloping, floated to the quiet house at Billabong. Mrs. Brown came out on the verandah, one hand at her ear, listening
CHAPTER XI
THE BATTLE UNDER THE STARS
SARAH, the housemaid, was at the big bell of the station, ringing it wildly. Long after every man and woman on Billabong was awake and busy, Sarah continued to ring. She said afterwards that it seemed to ease her!
CHAPTER XII
BURNT OUT
A DROVER on the road with store cattle miles away saw the glow in the sky that night, and reported it next morning to a farmer driving in to Cunjee; and before noon half the township seemed to be out at the station
CHAPTER XIII
BEN ATHOL
A WEEK went by—a week of blinding heat, ending in a cool change, accompanied by a gale of wind that almost blew the tents and their occupants into the lagoon. Then the weather settled to glorious conditions, neither hot nor cold—long days of sunshine, and nights chilly enough to make the campers enjoy a fire by the water’s edge while they fished for their breakfast
CHAPTER XIV
ON THE TRACK
THEY camped that night half a mile off the road, in a paddock belonging to a station Mr. Linton knew well
CHAPTER XV
THE HOUSE BY ATHOLTON
IT was late in the afternoon of the third day, and in a cloud of thick dust the riders were hurrying along the road towards Atholton. Ahead they could see the scattered roofs of the little township, showing white among the trees; but everything was obscured by the dust that swirled and eddied, now tearing away before them in a cloud sixty feet high, or seeming to stand still all around them, blinding any vision for more than a few yards. Behind a leaden sky glowered through the dust clouds, or was revealed, darkly purple, when they rose for an instant to swirl and scurry, and grow dense again, as the shrieking wind came in a fresh gust
CHAPTER XVI
BEYOND THE PLAINS
THERE were no traces of storm when the girls awoke next morning. Mrs. Archdale came in with tea as soon as she heard their voices. Her face was quite smiling and happy
CHAPTER XVII
THE PEAK OF BEN ATHOL
OH!” said Jean, despairingly. “I wish to goodness I hadn’t been born fat!”
CHAPTER XVIII
THE WURLEY IN THE ROCKS
QUICK as they were, the black woman was quicker
CHAPTER XIX
THE LAST NIGHT
WELL, she’s a queer little atom,” said David Linton, surveying the treasure trove. “Strong and healthy, too, I should say, if one could see anything for stains and dirt. She’s inconceivably dirty. Has she made any remarks on the situation?”
CHAPTER XX
DOWN THE MOUNTAIN
THEY fixed a saddle-pad for Babs in front of Norah, and she rode proudly into Atholton. The horses did not make her afraid at all; indeed, she welcomed them with shouts of glee, appearing a little doubtful as to whether they were pets or things to eat—but in either case greatly to be desired. And when she was mounted before Norah, with one hand clutching a lock of old Warder’s mane and the other holding Norah’s finger, she had nothing left to wish for. She chuckled at frequent intervals; any object along the track, from a kookaburra to a lizard, moved her to little shouts of laughter, though it was painfully certain that she wished to devour the lizard. “I never saw such a merry baby,” said Jean
CHAPTER XXI
BACK TO BILLABONG
SO you’ll come?” David Linton asked
