branches above; a native bear sat in a fork blinking down at it, while
the moon above him showed every hair on his ears. From among the trees
came the pleasant jingle of hobble-chains, the slow tread of hoofs, and
the "crunch, crunch" at the grass, as the horses moved about and grazed,
now in moonlight, now in the soft shadows. "Old Thunder", a big black
dog of no particular breed, gave a meaning look at his master, and
started up the ridge, followed by several smaller dogs. Soon Bob heard
from the hillside the "hy-yi-hi, whomp, whomp, whomp!" of old Thunder,
and the yop-yop-yopping of the smaller fry--they had tree'd a 'possum.
Bob threw himself on the grass, and pretended to be asleep. There was
a sound as of a sizeable boulder rolling down the hill, and presently
Thunder trotted round the fire to see if his master would come. Bob
snored. The dog looked suspiciously at him, trotted round once or twice,
and as a last resource gave him two great slobbery licks across the
face. Bob got up with a good-natured oath.

"Well, old party," he said to Thunder, "you're a thundering old
nuisance; but I s'pose you won't be satisfied till I come." He got a gun
from the waggonette, loaded it, and started up the ridge; old Thunder
rushing to and fro to show the way--as if the row the other dogs were
making wasn't enough to guide his master.

When Bob returned with the 'possums he was startled to see a woman in
the camp. She was sitting on a log by the fire, with her elbows on her
knees and her face in her hands.

"Why--what the dev--who are you?"

The girl raised a white desperate face to him. It was Mary Wylie.

"My father and--and the woman--they're drinking--they turned me out!
they turned me out."

"Did they now? I'm sorry for that. What can I do for you?... She's mad
sure enough," he thought to himself; "I thought it was a ghost."

"I don't know," she wailed, "I don't know. You're a man, and I'm a
helpless girl. They turned me out! My mother's dead, and my brothers
gone away. Look! Look here!" pointing to a bruise on her forehead. "The
woman did that. My own father stood by and saw it done--said it served
me right! Oh, my God!"

"What woman? Tell me all about it."

"The woman father brought home!... I want to go away from the bush! Oh!
for God's sake take me away from the bush!... Anything! anything!--you
know!--only take me away from the bush!"

Bob and his mate--who had been roused--did their best to soothe her;
bu