amused, until it began to rankle. Then she resented it, and when they
met again, she was equally abrupt to him as he had been to her, and had,
moreover, given a great deal of attention to what Dickson, who was
present, said and did, while ignoring, as far as she could, the very
existence of Tony. Then the three lucky diggers had come to the
Carrier's Rest, and every one was talking of gold-mining to such an
extent that she saddled her horse and rode out to see and chat with her
bosom friend, Nellie Murray.

When she returned, her father told her that Tony had been in during the
day to bid him good-bye, as he was off in the morning for the new field.
And from that moment it seemed to her that every one she met could talk
or think of nothing but Tony going gold-mining. It was getting
monotonous, and, to relieve her feelings, she put down the plate she had
in her hands with unnecessary force.

Her father looked up from his book.

"Is it necessary to break it?" he asked quietly.

She laughed lightly.

"I was doing the very thing I blame in the others," she answered. "But
there, tea's ready now, so we'll say no more about it--or him," she
added.

Throughout the meal Godson watched his daughter, and after it was over,
and she sat near the lamp sewing with deft fingers, he kept his eyes on
her. She was a handsome girl, and there was plenty of excuse for the
male youth of Birralong losing their hearts to her. She was both tall
and well formed, with a figure that made her look like a Venus posing as
a bush-bred girl. The wealth of glorious hair surmounted a shapely head,
and although her features were not of classical regularity, there was
character in every one, and character that was pleasing to the masculine
eye, albeit it savoured strongly of independence and self-reliance.

It would have been a satisfaction to her father to know that her future
was in some measure provided for by the plighted affection of such a man
as Tony, for he shared the general admiration for the boy he had
educated, and who, dare-devil as he was in many ways, had in him the
makings of a sturdy, useful member of society. Taylor's Flat was a good
selection, and even if it did not descend to Tony, there was plenty more
good land in the colony, and Ailleen was versed enough in the methods of
the bush to prove a useful helpmate to a hard-working selector.

But a man is not much use as a matchmaker, and whenever he did try to
suggest anything of