ory she heard were true.

"I want to find her," Tony said simply.

Demonstrations of affection were unknown at Taylor's Flat--emotion has
but slight influence in the prosaic life of the bush; but Mrs. Taylor
flung her arms round Tony's neck, and held him closely to her as she
kissed him. Then, as she released him and, looking up, caught her
husband's glance, she exclaimed, "And you would too, Bill," as she
pushed him, to hide the tears in her eyes.

The sound of a horse, furiously ridden, caused them to turn towards the
road just as a rider dashed up to the slip-rails.

"There's a fire on Barellan run," he shouted. "We want all the help we
can get."

Without waiting for an answer he dashed off out of sight, riding as hard
as his horse would go to carry the warning and call for help to fight
the common enemy.

"On Barellan!" Taylor exclaimed. "Why, the grass is a foot high there
with no stock to keep it down. It'll be over the country if they don't
check it. Ride for it, lad. Every man's wanted."

Tony needed no second bidding, and was in the saddle and off, riding
hard for the scene of the conflict. As he rode past selections, the old
hands were already preparing to protect their holdings by firing the
grass and burning it for about ten yards on either side of the boundary
fences, beating the flames out with boughs when they threatened to
spread too far. It was a slow process and a dangerous one, for only
small patches could be burned at a time, lest the small fire escaped
past control and developed in an instant into a great blaze. The heavy
white smoke rolled in clouds as each patch was set alight, enveloping
the figures of the beaters, half hidden by the smoke and half revealed
by the line of flame which ran so rapidly through the dry grass.

When Tony reached the township he found it practically deserted. The men
who had struggled to stop the spread of the flames at Marmot's the night
before were already away at the big blaze, the site of which was marked
by a great column of smoke, rolling, whirling, and folding against the
clear blue of the cloudless sky. On the air a faint haze was already
drifting over the town, and with it came the pungent, aromatic scent of
the burning eucalypts.

As he galloped through the bush the haze grew denser, the scent more
pungent, the heat more intense, until he reached the fringe of the
smoke, rolling along in heavy wreaths and clouds, and bearing with it a
sound, inexpli