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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.

NIGHT IN THE CITY

J EAN, can you button me up?”

THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN

I ’VE an idea,” Mr. Linton said, putting down. his morning paper.

W E haven’t too much time,” said Mr. Linton,. looking at his watch.

B EFORE 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.

THE CUNJEE CONCERT

T HEY should be home, Murty,” said David. Linton.

A LL aboard!”

quoted Mr. Linton, smiling. “Not fair to jibe at you,. Wally, old man, when you earned your stripes in a. good cause.”

A LITTLE YELLOW FLAME

A S 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.

D USK 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.

THE BATTLE UNDER THE STARS

S ARAH, 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!

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.

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.

T HEY camped that night half a mile off the. road, in a paddock belonging to a station Mr.. Linton knew well.

THE HOUSE BY ATHOLTON

I T 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.

BEYOND THE PLAINS

T HERE 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.

THE PEAK OF BEN ATHOL

O H!” said Jean, despairingly. “I wish to. goodness I hadn’t been born fat!”

THE WURLEY IN THE ROCKS

Q UICK as they were, the black woman was. quicker.

W ELL, 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?”

DOWN THE MOUNTAIN

T HEY 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.

BACK TO BILLABONG

S O you’ll come?” David Linton asked.

Norah of Billabong

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