, my boy, that where I sleeps I breakfast--sure thing--an'
where I breakfasts there's apt to be oddments goin' for great big
grey wolf-dogs as well as black kangaroo bitches; so don't you
forget it, Wolf. I'm hopin' to see you in the mornin', mind; and
don't eat Jess by mistake in your sleep. I know she only weighs
about seventy pounds, but if you're careful, an' don't yawn too
sudden-like any time, you'll be able to avoid swallowing her. So
long, son!"

And with that the man retired to his bunk, which consisted of two
flour-sacks stretched on saplings, supported a few inches above the
ground by forked sticks; a very comfortable bed indeed. As for
Finn, the feeling inspired in him by Bill's talk, to say nothing of
Bill's supper, and Bill's fire, and the black hound, this was
something really not far removed from affection; but it was nothing
at all like complete trust. It was the friendliest sort of
gratitude and, while the man's kindly talk rang in his ears,
something very like affection. But it was not trust, and Finn did
not lie down again until his ears had satisfied him that the man
was lying down within the bark shanty. Yet it was not many months
since Finn had faced the whole world of men-folk with the most
complete and unquestioning confidence and trust. So much the
Professor had accomplished in his attempt at "taming" the "Giant
Wolf," you see. But, well fed, and cheered by companionship, Finn
rested more happily that night than he had rested since his parting
with the Master. It was very delightful to slide gradually off into
sleep, with the sound of Jess's regular breathing in his ears, and
the warm glow of the smouldering log fire in his half-closed eyes.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XX

THE SUNDAY HUNT

Finn's new friends were distinctly an odd couple. The type to which
Wallaby Bill belonged is not a very rare one in Australia. He was
one of those men of whom storekeepers and publicans, and country-folk
generally, say that they are nobody's enemies but their own.
Bill had been a small farmer, a "cockatoo," at one time, with land
of his own; but when he received a cheque for stock or for a crop,
it was his wont to leave the farm for days together while he "blew
in his cheque" in the township. After that, he would have to buy
flour on credit, eat kangaroo flesh and rabbit--even the despised
and accursed rabbit--and his stock would have to live upon what
they could pick up for themselves in the bus