was assisted in escaping by one of the bushrangers who was tired of life
on the road and desirous of leaving it. The officer was able to promise
him immunity from punishment in return for his service in aiding the
latter's escape."

"That reminds me of a story I heard not long ago," said Harry.

"A lawyer in Australia was once defending a man whose family antecedents
and record were anything but good. Ignoring this, he made a most
touching plea about the gray-haired parents in England waiting to
celebrate Christmas with their returned wanderer. The jury found the man
guilty, however, and the judge, after sentencing him, remarked that the
learned counsel would have his wish; the convicted client was going to
the same prison where father and mother were already serving sentences.
Their Christmas would be passed under the same roof."

Other stories were told during the course of the evening, but we have no
room for any more of them. When the last story was given, the youths
looked at their watches and were surprised to find the hour so late.
They immediately retired to their room and slept soundly, or at least
Ned did. Harry said he was disturbed somewhat by dreams of snakes,
bushrangers, unruly cattle, and horses, and of being lost in the bush.
Evidently the disturbance was not serious, as he was out at an early
hour with Ned to investigate the place and learn the peculiarities of an
up-country station in Australia. Here is what he wrote concerning what
he saw and heard before the announcement of breakfast:--

"The sights and sounds were not altogether unlike those of a farm in New
England, but there were many more of them, in consequence of the greater
size of the station. A farm in New England covering two or three hundred
acres of ground would be considered a large one. This station covers an
area ten miles square, or one hundred square miles. They have five
thousand head of cattle upon it and more than one hundred horses. Most
of the cattle, in fact, nearly all of them, are fully half wild. The
domesticated ones comprise a few yokes of oxen and a small herd of milch
cows, and even the cows are nowhere near as tame as the same animals
would be in New England. We went out to the milking yard and witnessed
the operation of milking three or four cows which had been driven in
from the paddock. Not one of the creatures would stand quietly to be
milked, as a well-mannered cow should do, and each one had to be driven,
led,