ite off the tails of calves not old enough to kick off their
assailants.

* The Australian wild dog.

Kate clenched her little sunbrowned hand, and punched her father on his
mighty chest. "You rude man! You don't deserve any supper."

Late in the evening, as Forde and his host were walking to and fro
outside the house, and Kate was reading Aulain's letter in her room,
Gerrard was stretched out upon his bed, smoking his pipe, and talking to
himself.

"I wish I had never seen you, Miss Kate Fraser. And I wish Aulain, my
boy, that you were safely married to her. And I wish that there were two
more like you, Miss Kate--one for me, and one for the parson. And I wish
I was not such an idiot as to wish anything at all."

CHAPTER XI

Just as dawn broke, the deep note of a bell-bird awakened Kate from a
somewhat restless and troubled slumber; but quickly dressing, she took
up a bucket and set off to the milking-yard.

The ground and the branches of the trees above were heavily laden with
the night-dew, and in a few minutes her feet were wet through, and then,
ere she had walked half the distance to the yard, several long-legged,
gaunt kangaroo dogs, who were watching for their mistress, made a silent
and sudden rush to welcome her, leaping up and muddying her shoulders
with their wet paws, and making determined efforts to lick her hair and
face.

Presently a loud whistle sounded from somewhere near, and "Cockney
Smith" appeared driving before him two cows, and in an instant the dogs
darted off to him, and let the girl enter the yard in peace.

"Why, Miss Kate, them 'ere dorgs will bite the 'ed off'n you if you
don't use a whip on 'em when they get prancin' around like that," and he
lashed out at them with the whip he carried.

Kate laughed. "Poor doggies! they badly want a day's kangarooing, so I
must not mind their roughness. I think, Smith, if we can only find the
missing horses this week we'll have at least half-a-day's run with the
dogs on Sunday. To-day I am going with my father to Kaburie."

"Right you are, Miss!" said the young miner, who, like his mates,
revelled in a kangaroo hunt. "On'y yesterday near the claim, I seed an
old man kangaroo as big as a house, but er course, bekos I was on foot,
and hadn't got no dorgs with me, 'e took no more notice of me than if I
was a bloomin' howl. 'E just stood up on 'is 'ind legs, and looked at
me for about five minutes with a whisp o' grass hangin' outer 'i