rannie brought me every dainty in the house,
and sent special messengers to Gool-Gool for more. Had I been a
professional glutton I would have been in paradise. Even Mr Hawden
condescended so far as to express his regret concerning the accident, and
favoured me with visits throughout each day; and one Sunday his gallantry
carried him to a gully where he plucked a bouquet of maidenhair fern--the
first of the season--and put them in a bowl beside my bed. My uncle
Julius, the only other member of the family besides the servants, was
away "up the country" on some business or another, and was not expected
home for a month or so.

The Bossiers and Beechams were leaders of swelldom among the squattocracy
up the country, and firm and intimate friends. The Beechams resided at
Five-Bob Downs, twelve miles from Caddagat, and were a family composed of
two maiden ladies and their nephew, Harold. One of these ladies was aunt
Helen's particular friend, and the other had stood in the same capacity
to my mother in days gone by, but of late years, on account of her
poverty, mother had been too proud to keep up communication with her. As
for Harold Beecham, he was nearly as much at home at Caddagat as at
Five-Bob Downs. He came and went with that pleasant familiarity practised
between congenial spirits among squatterdom. The Bossiers and Beechams
were congenial spirits in every way--they lived in the one sphere and held
the one set of ideas, the only difference between them, and that an
unnoticeable one, being that the Bossiers, though in comfortable
circumstances, were not at all rich, while Harold Beecham was immensely
wealthy. When my installation in the role of invalid took place, one Miss
Beecham was away in Melbourne, and the other not well enough to come and
see me, but Harold came regularly to inquire how I was progressing. He
always brought me a number of beautiful apples. This kindness was because
the Caddagat orchard had been too infested with codlin moth for grannie
to save any last season.

Aunt Helen used to mischievously tease me about this attention.

"Here comes Harry Beecham with some more apples," she would say. "No
doubt he is far more calculating and artful than I thought he was capable
of being. He is taking time by the forelock and wooing you ere he sees
you, and so will take the lead. Young ladies are in the minority up this
way, and every one is snapped up as soon as she arrives."

"You'd better tell him how ug