and
nursing her and answering her childish questions and telling her he
loves his little ownest every minute in the day, while the bills are
running up, and rent mornings begin to fly round and hustle and crowd
him.

"He's got her and he's satisfied; and if the truth is known he loves
her really more than he did when they were engaged, only she won't be
satisfied about it unless he tells her so every hour in the day. At
least that's how it is for the first few months.

"But a woman doesn't understand these things--she never will, she
can't--and it would be just as well for us to try and understand that
she doesn't and can't understand them."

Mitchell knocked the tea-leaves out of his pannikin against his boot,
and reached for the billy.

"There's many little things we might do that seem mere trifles and
nonsense to us, but mean a lot to her; that wouldn't be any trouble
or sacrifice to us, but might help to make her life happy. It's just
because we never think about these little things--don't think them worth
thinking about, in fact--they never enter our intellectual foreheads.

"For instance, when you're going out in the morning you might put your
arms round her and give her a hug and a kiss, without her having to
remind you. You may forget about it and never think any more of it--but
she will.

"It wouldn't be any trouble to you, and would only take a couple of
seconds, and would give her something to be happy about when you're
gone, and make her sing to herself for hours while she bustles about her
work and thinks up what she'll get you for dinner."

Mitchell's mate sighed, and shifted the sugar-bag over towards Mitchell.
He seemed touched and bothered over something.

"Then again," said Mitchell, "it mightn't be convenient for you to go
home to dinner--something might turn up during the morning--you might
have some important business to do, or meet some chaps and get invited
to lunch and not be very well able to refuse, when it's too late, or you
haven't a chance to send a message to your wife. But then again, chaps
and business seem very big things to you, and only little things to the
wife; just as lovey-dovey talk is important to her and nonsense to you.
And when you come to analyse it, one is not so big, nor the other so
small, after all; especially when you come to think that chaps can
always wait, and business is only an inspiration in your mind, nine
cases out of ten.

"Think of the trouble she