ombination of fish, flesh and fowl--as he dived in the quiet
waters, a train of small bubbles marking his track. She fished in deep
pools for the great, sleepy, hundred-pound cod-fish that sucked down
bait and hook, holus-bolus, and then were hauled in with hardly any
resistance, and lived for days contentedly, tethered to the bank by a
line through their gills.

In these amusements time passed pleasantly enough, and by the time
school-work was resumed Mary Grant had become one of the family.

Of Hugh she at first saw little. His work took him out on the run all
day long, looking after sheep in the paddocks, or perhaps toiling
day after day in the great, dusty drafting-yards. In the cool of the
afternoon the two girls would often canter over the four miles or so of
timbered country to the yards, and wait till Hugh had finished his day's
work. As a rule, Poss or Binjie, perhaps both, were in attendance
to escort Miss Harriott, with the result that Hugh and Mary found
themselves paired off to ride home together. Before long he found
himself looking forward to these rides with more anxiety than he cared
to acknowledge, and in a very short time he was head over ears in love
with her.

Any man, being much alone with any woman in a country house, will fall
in love with her; but a man such as Hugh Gordon, ardent, imaginative,
and very young, meeting every day a woman as beautiful as Mary Grant,
was bound to fall a victim. He soon became her absolute worshipper. All
day long, in the lonely rides through the bush, in the hot and dusty
hours at the sheep-yards, through the pleasant, lazy canter home in the
cool of the evening, his fancies were full of her--her beauty and her
charm. It was happiness enough for him to be near her, to feel the soft
touch of her hand, to catch the faint scent that seemed to linger in
her hair. After the day's work they would stroll together about the
wonderful old garden, and watch the sunlight die away on the western
hills, and the long strings of wild fowl hurrying down the river to
their nightly haunts. Sometimes he would manage to get home for lunch,
and afterwards, on the pretext of showing her the run, would saddle
a horse for her, and off they would go for a long ride through the
mountains. Or there were sheep to inspect, or fences to look at--an
excuse for an excursion was never lacking.

For the present he made no sign; he was quite contented to act as
confidant and adviser, and many a l