neighbours. Never quarrel if you can help it. But since shearing
troubles started we have no friends at all."

"Well," she said, "I should like to have a look at those desperate
neighbours I hear so much about. Red Mick Donohoe rode past the other
day on such a beautiful horse, and he opened the gate for us, and asked
if he might come down to hear me sing. Think of that, now."

"Very well," he said. "We'll go for a ride up that way to-morrow
afternoon. We might find Red Mick killing some of our sheep, and you
can go into the box as the lady detective. If you'll only sing him into
gaol, the station will pay you at the same rate as Patti gets!"

Next afternoon they cantered away up the river towards the mountains.
Poss and Binjie had long ago laid their dearest possessions at her feet,
begging her to ride them--horses so precious that it had hitherto been
deemed sacrilege to put a side-saddle on them. She had the divine gift
of "hands," and all manner of excitable, pulling horses went quietly and
smoothly under her management. Her English training had taught her to
ride over jumps, and she was very anxious to have a try at post-and-rail
fences.

After much pressing, Hugh had this day allowed her to try Obadiah,
Binjie's celebrated show jumper, an animal that could be trusted to jump
anything he could see over; so during their ride to the habitat of the
Donohoes they left the regular track, and followed one of the fences for
a mile or two, looking for a suitable place to try the horse. No good
place offered itself, as the timber was thick, and the country so rugged
that she would have had to ride at a stiff post-and-rail either up or
down a steep slope. Loitering along, far off the track, they crossed a
little ridge where stringybark trees, with an undergrowth of bushes and
saplings, formed a regular thicket.

Suddenly Hugh gave a whistle of surprise, and jumped from his horse.

"Hold this horse a minute, please," he said. "There has been a mob of
sheep driven here."

"Whereabouts?" said she, staring round her.

"All about here," he said, pointing to the ground. "Don't you see the
tracks? Hundreds of 'em. But I can't see what they were up to. There's
no place they could get 'em out without cutting the wires, and the
fence is sound enough. Good heavens, I see it now! Well, that's smart he
continued, leaning against a post and giving it a shake.

"What have they done I don't understand. How have they got the sheep