rising meekness, and the day passed calmly,
enlivened by an enthusiastic cricket practice in the evening; after
which she was called into requisition at the piano, and played to an
audience stretched on basket chairs and lounges on the verandah
outside. Finally the performer protested, coming out through one of the
long windows for a breath of cooler air.

"Well, then, it's bed," said Jim, yawning prodigiously. "Norah, the men
are going to drive in, with our playing togs, to-morrow; would you
rather go in the buggy?"

"I'd rather drive, thanks, Jim."

"Thought so. Then hurry off to bed, for we're going to make an early
start." Jim paused, looking up at the star-filled sky. "And I give you
all warning, it's going to be a caution for heat!"

CHAPTER XIV

CUNJEE v. MULGOA

I remember
What it was to be young, and glad, and strong,
By a creek that rippled the whole day long.
M. FORREST.

There was no doubt whatever that the heat was, as Jim had prophesied,
"a caution." Pretty little Mrs. Anderson, walking down to the cricket
ground at Cunjee, between Jim and Cecil, inwardly wondered what had
made her come out of her cool, shaded house to encounter so scorching a
sun--with nothing ahead but a bush cricket match. However, Cunjee was no
more lively than other townships of its class, and even a match was
something. Besides, her husband was playing, and the Billabong
contingent, who did not seem to mind the heat at all, had arrived full
of most infectious high spirits, filling her house with a cheerful
atmosphere of youth and jollity. Norah had at once succumbed to the
charms of the baby, and as the baby seemed similarly impressed with
Norah, it had been hard to remove him from her arms even for purposes
of nourishment for either. She had quite seriously proposed to take him
to the match, and had been a little grieved when his mother hastily
vetoed the proposition. As mother of three babies, Mrs. Anderson knew
precisely their worth at an entertainment--particularly on a hot day.

Even Cecil was more than usually inclined to be--if not happy, at least
less bored; although he had begun the day badly, and considered himself
scarcely on speaking terms with Jim. This attitude was somewhat
difficult to sustain, because Jim himself ignored it cheerfully, and
addressed to his cousin whatever remarks came into his head--which Cecil
privately considered a demeanour showing the worst of taste.

Bobs had