die at breakfast, but found her calm
and apparently good-humored. He felt embarrassed and his head ached, but
she made him some strong coffee in a way he liked. Sadie did not often
sulk, and he was grateful because she said nothing about what had
happened on the previous night. Indeed, he was on the point of telling
her so, but her careless manner discouraged him and he resolved instead
that he would stop gambling and keep as steady as he could. After all,
Sadie was really treating him well; she might, for example, have stopped
his getting liquor. He meant to brace up and give her no more trouble.

He kept his resolve for a fortnight, and then, one morning, a man
brought him a note from Wilkinson, asking him to drive over to the
range. Charnock told the man he could not go, but presently put down his
pen and looked out of the open window of the office of the store. The
last of the snow had vanished some time since, and round white clouds
drifted across the sky. Flying shadows streaked the wide plain, which
gleamed like silver in the sunshine, and the bleached grass rolled in
long waves before the breeze. There was something strangely exhilarating
in the air and the dusty office smelt of salt-pork and cheese. It was a
glorious day for a drive, he need not stay long at Wilkinson's, and the
team needed exercise. Moreover, Sadie was not about and would not come
home until afternoon; he might get back before her. He hesitated for a
few minutes and then sent an order to the stable.

At midnight he had not returned, and Sadie sat in the office at the
hotel, making futile efforts to fix her attention on a newspaper. The
guests had gone to bed and the building was very quiet, but she had kept
the ostler up. He might be needed and she could trust him not to talk.

At length she heard the sound she listened for. A beat of hoofs and
rattle of wheels came down the street. It was their team, she knew their
trot, but she wondered anxiously whether Bob was driving. When the rig
stopped she went to the door, where the ostler stood with a lantern, and
caught her breath as Wilkinson got down. There was nobody else on the
seat of the light wagon, and Charnock had set off with a different rig.

"Where's Bob?" she asked in a strained voice.

"We put him inside," said Wilkinson. "He wasn't quite able to sit up.
I'd have kept him all night only that I reckoned you might be scared."

Sadie, putting her foot on the wheel when the ostler held