er; and Marmot's fellow-townsmen lavished praise upon him
for his astuteness, as they saw the last of the angry crowd depart.

Some few stayed. Tony stopped Peters, and Palmer Billy stayed too,
arguing vigorously against their tardiness in starting, till he calmed
down and understood.

"This makes six times I've been bluffed by sharks, and I've only half
killed one," he said savagely. "We'll strike it again before we've done,
boys, and if a shark gets at me then--well, he can have it, that's
all."

CHAPTER XII.

RIVAL ISSUES.

A mile from Barellan homestead, and running through a patch of scrub,
there was a long, level stretch of land, so smooth of surface and so
free from timber that it was almost as if it had been purposely cleared
and levelled to afford a track for a gallop. The scrub was dense on
either side, the undergrowth of shrubs and bushes reaching up to the
lower branches of the big trees, and forming a thick wall of vegetation,
which made the track a closed-in avenue, silent, save for the scream of
cockatoos and parrots as they flew from side to side, and shady. Ailleen
had chanced upon it during the first few weeks of her residence at
Barellan, and since she had discovered it she had gone there daily for a
ride through the quiet, still coolness of the bush. At first it had been
an outlet for the grief she felt, and which did not diminish by being
kept to herself. Her horse, the companion of many an hour while she
lived at the school cottage, was doubly a companion on such an occasion;
and, with the reins hanging loose on his neck, he carried her through
the bush till the rush of the wind past her ears, the scent of the
eucalypt in her nostrils, and the bright gleam of the sunshine all
around, drove from her mind the gloomy memories which weighed upon it.
Always had she gone alone, persistently declining Dickson's offers to
accompany her until he had ceased to make them, and always riding to
that one long stretch of level land, a gallop over which was as a tonic
to her mind and body. It was there she sought consolation for the hurt
which had come to her by the continued absence of Tony. Without
suspecting that he had taken offence at her action when she had waved
him to keep quiet, she was surprised to see him ride off, but expected
that he would come out to the station again the next day. As the days
went by and there was no sign of him, she began to wonder. Then Dickson
told her that he had h