the kind to Ailleen, she had nothing but laughter
and raillery for him in reply. And yet, the pay he received from the
Education Department was not very much, and would die with him, and
Ailleen had no relative in the world but himself, while there were very
few ways for a girl to earn her living in the bush, save that of
domestic service, and that meant drudgery. He knew the frailness of the
bond which kept his body and soul together. At any moment almost it
might snap, and then----he always turned with a shudder away from the
thought.

"What are you thinking of, Dad?" Ailleen asked suddenly.

"I was thinking----" Godson began.

"So was I," she interrupted, with a laugh. "I was thinking of--Mrs.
Dickson."

"What about her?"

"Well," she said, as she put the article she had been sewing on the
table in front of her, and pushed it away to the full length of her
arms, looking at it with her head on one side and her eyebrows raised,
"I was thinking what a lonely thing it must be to be blind. Fancy the
poor creature all alone all day in the dark--because it must be dark to
her. Nellie Murray says there are some funny things said about her, but
she doesn't believe they are true. That's why I should like to see her,
just to see what she is like. Willy says she's awful scotty."

"I should not be surprised at it--with him," Godson answered.

"Oh, he's----" she gathered up her work instead of finishing the
sentence. "But I would like to go over to the station and see Mrs.
Dickson," she added brightly. "It's the first time she has agreed even
to let us go near the house, so Willy says, and both Nellie and I want
to go. Do you think we ought?"

"Would it keep you away if I said no?" Godson asked, with a twinkle in
his eyes.

"Of course it would," she replied, looking at him quickly.

"Umph," he said. "Wait till Tony comes back, and ask his opinion."

"Oh, bother Tony!" she exclaimed sharply. "Nellie and I said we would go
over on Thursday. Nellie said she would make Bobby come as well. Do you
see the idea? He and I can ride together, and that leaves----"

"Oh, that's it, is it?" Godson asked, with a smile.

Ailleen nodded, and the smile grew on Godson's face. It pleased him
better than if it had been the other way about.

CHAPTER IV.

THE ROUT OF BOULDER CREEK.

Cudlip's Rest originally owed its existence to a small rush that set in
on Boulder Creek in the early sixties, that period in Australian history