sper.

"Shut up, you duffer--he'll hear you!" Jim said. He raised his voice.
"Looking for us, Cecil?"

"Yes," Cecil drawled. "Uncle David asked me to find you. Fed
the--ah--poultry, Norah?"

"Yes, thank you," said that damsel.

"Awfully uninteresting things, fowls," said Cecil, turning and walking
back with them. "Noisy and dirty--I can't imagine you bothering your
head over them."

"They're not dirty when they're kept properly," Norah said, a little
warmly. "And I don't think any animal's uninteresting if you look after
it yourself. Of course, if you do nothing more than eat them--"

"I assure you that's all I care to do!" said Cecil. At this point, they
arrived at the door of the office, which was perhaps as well, and found
Mr. Linton half submerged in a sea of stock returns, books, and
bill-files.

"Oh, here you are," he said, smoothing the furrows out of his brow to
smile at Norah. "I had an idea I sent you for the others some time ago,
Jim."

Jim looked somewhat sheepish.

"Yes." He admitted, laughing. "Fact is, I--I got into a kerosene tin!"
He glanced at his left leg expressively.

"I see," said his father, with a smile. "Well, I don't know that it
matters--only a note has just come out from Anderson, and his chauffeur
is waiting for an answer. It seems Cunjee is playing Mulgoa in a great
cricket match on Thursday, and they're short of men. They want to know
if they can recruit from Billabong."

"Good business!" said Jim, joyfully, while Wally hurrahed below his
breath. "But will they let us play, Dad--Wal. and me?"

"Oh, they've fixed that up with the Mulgoa fellows," said his father.
"It's all right. They're kind enough to ask me to play, but it's out of
the question--even if I weren't approaching senile decay"--he smiled--"I
wouldn't be able to go. Mr. Darrell has a buyer coming to look at his
young stock on Friday, and he writes me that if I want any of them--he
knows I did want some--I can have the first pick if I am over at
Killybeg on Thursday. So that means I'll be away from Wednesday
morning--and I think this match will be as efficacious as anything else
in keeping you out of mischief during my absence!"

"I'm glad we'll have something!" Jim said, his grin belying his meek
voice. "Well, we'll have to see who can play."

"You two boys, of course," said his father. "And Cecil--do you play?"

"Not for worlds, thank you," said Cecil, hastily. "It's not in my
line."

"Oh," said his uncle