ateful, and ungenerous. I can
only say that it was a very sore subject, and that in my surprise I
thought of the past, and not the present. Believe me, I am very
sorry for what I said."

"That is quite enough, Mrs. Donald," Mr. Barker said heartily. "I
am very glad you have said what you have. I was sure that you
would, upon reflection, feel that whatever the old grievance might
have been, it could not weigh an instant against what you owe to
that young fellow now. Let us say no more on the subject. You were
shaken and not yourself, and I was wrong in taking you up so
sharply, under the circumstances."

Kate said nothing, but her face showed that she was greatly pleased
at her sister's change of tone.

"What is going to be done, Mr. Barker?" Mrs. Donald asked. "Of
course, the friends who came to our rescue cannot stay here; and
there is no chance of my husband being moved, for a long time."

"I am afraid not, indeed," Mr. Barker said. "Most of them will
leave this afternoon, in time to get back to their stations
tonight.

"I have been speaking with Captain Whitney, and he says that he
with his men will certainly stay here, for the present. He sent
off a messenger, last night, for six more of his men to join him
here; for he still hopes to get news from his native boy, which may
set him on the tracks of the bush rangers. You need, however, be
under no alarm; for I think there is no chance, whatever, of the
bush rangers returning.

"By the way, Whitney would like to speak to you, after breakfast.
He wants you to give him as minute a description as you can of the
fellows you saw. We have already descriptions of four or five of
them, given by men whom they have stuck up; but the band must have
increased lately, and any particulars might be useful."

Reuben came round in a quarter of an hour later. Mr. Barker fetched
him into the room where Mrs. Barker and Kate were sitting.

"Mr. Donald is no worse, I am glad to hear," he said, as he shook
hands with the two ladies.

"I see no change whatever," Mrs. Barker said. "He is conscious, but
does not speak much. He asked me, this morning, to tell you and all
your friends how deeply he feels indebted to you."

"His thanks are due to the settlers, rather than to me, Mrs.
Barker. They were volunteers, you know, while I was simply on duty.
We had, however, one common interest--to get here in time to save
the station and, above all, to catch and break up this gang of
scou