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肩書を与える: The Race of Life
Author: Guy Boothby
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Language: English
Date first 地位，任命するd:  Sep 2006
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The Race of Life

by

Guy Boothby

First US 版: F.M. Buckles & Co., New York, 1906
First UK 版: 区, Locke & Co., London, 1906
(with illustrations by Harold Piffard)

This e-調書をとる／予約する 版: 事業／計画（する） Gutenberg Australia, 2018

"The Race of Life," F.M. Buckles & Co., New York, 1906

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. — "A BOY'S WILL IS THE WIND'S WILL."

IF any man had told me a year ago that I should start out to 令状 a 調書をとる／予約する, I give you my word I should not have believed him. It would have been the very last 職業 I should have thought of 請け負うing. Somehow I've never been much of a 握りこぶし with the pen. The branding アイロンをかける and stockwhip have always been more in my line, and the saddle a much more familiar seat than the author's 議長，司会を務める. However, 運命／宿命 is always at 手渡す to arrange 事柄s for us, whether we like it or not, and so it comes about that I find myself at this 現在の moment seated at my （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する—pen in 手渡す, with a small mountain of virgin foolscap in 前線 of me, waiting to be covered with my sprawling penmanship. What the story will be like when I have finished it, and whether those who do me the honour of reading it will find it worthy of their consideration, is more than I can say. I have made up my mind to tell it, however, and that 存在 so, we'll "chance it," as we say in the Bush. Should it not turn out to be to your taste, 井戸／弁護士席, my advice to you is to put it 負かす／撃墜する at once and turn your attention to the work of somebody else who has had greater experience in this line of 商売／仕事 than your humble servant. Give me a three-year old as green as grass, and I'll sit him until the cows come home; let me have a long day's shearing, even when the wool is damp or there's grass seed in the fleece; a hut to be built, or a 戦車／タンク to be sunk, and it's all the same to me; but to sit 負かす／撃墜する in 冷淡な 血 and try to 述べる your past life, with all its good 行為s (not very many of them in my 事例／患者) and bad, successes and 失敗s, hopes and 恐れるs, 要求するs more cleverness, I'm afraid, than I 所有する. However, I'll imitate the old 選び出す／独身-stick players in the West of England, and 投げ上げる／ボディチェックする my hat on the 行う／開催する／段階 as a 調印する that, no 事柄 whether I'm successful or not, I ーするつもりである doing my best, and I can't say more than that. Here goes then.

To begin with, I must tell you who I am, and whence I あられ／賞賛する. First and 真っ先の, my 指名する is George Tregaskis—my father was also a George Tregaskis, as, I believe, was his father before him. The old dad used to say that we （機の）カム of good Cornish 在庫／株, and I'm not やめる sure that I did not once hear him tell somebody that there was a 肩書を与える in the family. But that did not 利益／興味 me; for the 推論する／理由, I suppose, that I was too young to understand the meaning of such things. My father was born in England, but my mother was 植民地の, Ballarat 存在 her native place. As for me, their only child, I first saw the light of day at a small 駅／配置する on the Murray River, which my father managed for a gentleman who lived in Melbourne, and whom I regarded as the greatest man in all the world, not even my own paternal parent excepted. Fortunately he did not trouble us much with visits, but when he did I trembled before him like a gum leaf in a 嵐／襲撃する. Even the fact that on one occasion he gave me half-a-栄冠を与える on his 出発 could not altogether 納得させる me that he was a creature of flesh and 血 like my own father or the 手渡すs upon the run. I can see him now, tall, burly, and the possessor of an enormous 耐えるd that reached almost to his waist. His 直面する was 幅の広い and red and his 発言する／表明する 深い and sonorous as a bell. When he laughed he seemed to shake all over like a jelly; taken all 一連の会議、交渉／完成する, he was a jovial, good-natured man, and 証明するd a good friend to my mother and myself when my poor father was thrown from his horse and killed while out 召集（する）ing in our 支援する country. How 井戸／弁護士席 I remember that day! It seems to me as if I can even smell the hot earth, and hear the chirrup of the cicadas in the gum trees by the river bank. Then （機の）カム the arrival of 刑事 Bennet, the overseer, with a 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な 直面する, and as nervous as a plain turkey when you're after him on foot. His horse was all in a lather and so played out that I 疑問 if he could have travelled another couple of miles.

"Georgie, boy," 刑事 began, as he got out of his saddle and threw his reins on the ground, "where's your mother? Hurry up and tell me, for I've got something to say to her."

"She's in the house," I answered, and asked him to put me up in the saddle. He paid no attention to me, however, but was making for the house door when my mother made her 外見 on the verandah. Little chap though I was, I can 井戸／弁護士席 解任する the look on her 直面する as her 注目する，もくろむs fell upon him. She became deadly pale, and for a moment neither of them spoke, but stood looking at each other for all the world as if they were struck dumb. My mother was the first to speak.

"What has happened?" she asked, and her 発言する／表明する seemed to come from 深い 負かす／撃墜する in her throat, while her 手渡すs were 持つ／拘留するing tight on to the rail before her as if to 妨げる herself from 落ちるing. "I can see there is something wrong, Mr. Bennet."

刑事 turned half 一連の会議、交渉／完成する and looked at me. I suppose he did not want me to overhear what he had to say. My mother bade him come inside, and they went into the house together. It was nearly ten minutes before he （機の）カム out again, and, though I had to look more than once to make sure of it, there were big 涙／ほころびs rolling 負かす／撃墜する his cheeks. I could scarcely believe the 証拠 of my 注目する，もくろむs, for 刑事 was not a man given to the 陳列する，発揮する of emotion, and I had always been told that it was unworthy of a man to cry. I admired 刑事 from the 底（に届く） of my heart, and this 予期しない 証拠不十分 on his part （機の）カム to me as somewhat of a shock. He left the verandah and （機の）カム over to where I was standing by poor old Bronzewing, whose wide-spread nostrils and heaving 側面に位置するs were good 証拠 as to the pace at which he had lately been compelled to travel.

"Georgie, my poor little laddie," he said, laying his 手渡す upon my shoulder in a kindly way as he spoke, "run along into the house and find your mother. She'll be wanting you 不正に, if I'm not mistaken, poor soul. Try and 元気づける her up, there's a good boy, but don't talk about your father unless she begins it." And then, more to himself I fancy than to me, he 追加するd, "Poor little man, I wonder what will happen to you now that he's gone? You'll have to 売春婦 your 列／漕ぐ／騒動 for yourself, and that's a fact."

Having seen me 出発／死, he slipped his rein over his arm and went off in the direction of his own ４半期/4分の1s, Bronzewing 追跡するing after him looking more like a worn-out working bullock than the smart animal that had left the 駅／配置する for the 召集（する）ing （軍の）野営地，陣営 three days before. I 設立する my mother in her room, sitting beside her bed and looking straight before her as if she were turned to 石／投石する. Her 注目する，もくろむs, in which there was no 調印する of a 涙／ほころび, were 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon a large photograph of my father hanging on the 塀で囲む beside the window, and though I did not enter the room, I 恐れる, any too 静かに, she seemed やめる unconscious of my presence.

"Mother," I began, "刑事 said you 手配中の，お尋ね者 me." And then I 追加するd anxiously, "You don't feel ill, do you, mother?"

"No, my boy, I'm not ill," she answered. "No! not ill. Though, were it not for you, I could wish that I might die. Oh, God, why could You not have taken my life instead of his?" Then 製図／抽選 me to her, she 圧力（をかける）d me to her heart and kissed me again and again. Later she 設立する 救済 in 涙／ほころびs, and between her sobs I learnt all there was to know. My father was dead; his horse that morning had put his foot in a 穴を開ける and had thrown his rider— breaking his neck and 殺人，大当り him upon the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す. 刑事 had すぐに 始める，決める off to 熟知させる my mother with the terrible tidings, with the result I have already 述べるd. The men who had …を伴ってd him to the 召集（する） were now bringing the 団体／死体 into the 長，率いる 駅／配置する, and it was necessary that 準備s should be made to receive it. Never, if I live to be a hundred, shall I forget the dreariness, the utter and entire hopelessness of that day. Little boy though I was, and though I scarcely realised what my loss meant to me, I was 深く，強烈に 影響する／感情d by the 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるing gloom. As for my mother, she entered upon her 準備s and went about her 家事 like one in a dream. She and my father had been a 充てるd couple, and her loss was a 負傷させる that only that 広大な／多数の／重要な healer Time could cure. Indeed, it has always been my 会社／堅い belief that she never did really 回復する from the shock—at any 率, she was never again the same cheery, merry woman that she had once been. Poor mother, looking 支援する on all I have gone through myself since then, I can sympathise with you from the 底（に届く） of my heart.

It was nearly nightfall when that melancholy little party made their 外見 at the 長，率いる 駅／配置する. 刑事, with 広大な／多数の／重要な foresight, had sent the ration cart out some miles to 会合，会う them, so that my mother was spared the 苦痛 of seeing the 団体／死体 of her husband brought in upon his horse. Rough and rude as he was, 刑事 was a thoughtful fellow, and I 堅固に believe he would have gone through 解雇する／砲火／射撃 and water to serve my mother, for whom he had a boundless 賞賛. Poor fellow, he died of かわき many years after when looking for new country out on the far western 国境 of Queensland. God 残り／休憩（する） him, for he was a good fellow, and did his 義務 as far as he could see it, which is more than most of us do, though, to be sure, we make a very fair pretence of it. However, I 港／避難所't taken up my pen to moralise, so I'll get along with my story and leave my reader to draw his or her own 結論s from what I have to 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する, good, bad, or indifferent as the 事例／患者 may be.

As I have said, it was に向かって evening when my father's 団体／死体 reached the homestead. My mother met it at the gate of the horse paddock and walked beside it up to the house, as she had so often done when what was now but poor, 冷淡な clay was vigorous, active flesh and 血. It had been her custom to 会合，会う him there on his return from 検査／視察するing the run, when he would dismount, and placing his arm around her waist, stroll 支援する with her to the house, myself as often as not 占領するing his place in the saddle. On reaching his old home he was carried reverently to his own room and placed upon the bed there. Then, for the first time, my mother looked upon her dead husband's 直面する. I stole in behind her and slipped my 手渡す into hers. Together we stood and gazed at the pale, yet placid 直面する of the man we had both loved so 井戸／弁護士席. It was the first time I had met that grim 君主, Death, and as yet I was unable to realise how 広大な／多数の／重要な his 力／強力にする was. I could not understand that my father, the big, strong man, so fearless, so masterful, was gone from us beyond 解任する—that I should never hear his kindly 発言する／表明する again, or sit upon his 膝 while he told me tales of Bunyips and mysterious long-maned brumbies, who galloped across the moonlit plains, and of 探検 旅行s he had undertaken as a young man in the wilder and いっそう少なく known 地域s of the North and West. Even then I could not realise my loss. I asked my mother if he were asleep.

"Yes, dear," she answered, very softly, "he is asleep—asleep with God!" Then she led me from the room and put me to bed as 静かに and composedly as she had always done. Her grief was too 深い, too 徹底的な, to find vent in the omission of even the most trivial 詳細（に述べる）s. I learnt afterwards that when she left me, after kissing me and bidding me "good- night," she returned to the death 議会 and spent the night there, ひさまづくing and praying beside the bed on which lay the 団体／死体 of the man she loved, and to whom she had always been so good and true a wife.

Realising how overwrought she was, 刑事 Bennet made all the necessary 手はず／準備 for the funeral, which took place two days later on a little knoll that over-looked the river, some two miles below the 駅／配置する house. There he was 静かに laid to 残り／休憩（する） by the 手渡すs, who one and all 嘆く／悼むd the loss they had 支えるd in him. 刑事 it was who read the service over him, and he, poor fellow, broke 負かす／撃墜する in the middle of it. Then, after one final ちらりと見ること into the open 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な, we, my mother and myself, took our places in the cart beside him and returned to the house that was 運命にあるd to be our home for only a short time longer. As a 事柄 of fact, a month later we had bade the old place "good-bye," and were 任命する／導入するd in a small house in the neighbourhood of Melbourne, where I was すぐに put to school. My father had all his life been a saving, thrifty man, so that, with what he left her, my mother was able not only to live in a 公正に／かなり comfortable way, but to give me an education by which, I can see now, I should have 利益（をあげる）d a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 more than I did. I am afraid, however, that I had not the gift of 使用／適用, as the schoolmasters 表明する it. I could play cricket and football; in fact, I was fond of all outdoor sports—but 調書をとる／予約する-learning, Euclid, Algebra, Latin, and Greek, 利益／興味d me not at all. の中で my many other faults I unfortunately 所有するd that of an exceedingly hot temper, but from whom I 相続するd it I am やめる unable to say. At the least 誘発 I was wont to 飛行機で行く into fits of ungovernable 激怒（する）, during which I would listen to no 推論する／理由, and be pacified by nothing short of 得るing my own way. It was in vain that my mother argued with me and strove to make me 征服する／打ち勝つ myself; I would 約束 to try, but the next time I was upset I was as bad as ever. To punish me was useless, it only 強化するd my 決意 not to give in. I have often thought since, on looking 支援する on it all, that it must have been a sad and anxious period of my poor mother's life, for, after all, I was all she had left in the world to think of and to love. What would I not give now to be able to tell her that I was sorry for the many heartaches I must have 原因（となる）d her by my wilfulness and folly?

It was not until something like nine years after my father's death, and when I was a tall, lanky 青年 of の近くに upon eighteen, that I was called upon to （不足などを）補う my mind as to what profession I should 可決する・採択する. My mother would have preferred me to enter the 政府 service, but a Civil Service clerkship was far from 存在 to my taste. The 昇進／宣伝 was slow and the life monotonous to the last degree. My own fancy was divided between the bush and the sea, both of which choices my mother …に反対するd with all the strength and firmness of which she was 有能な. In either 事例／患者 she knew that she would lose me, and the thought 削減（する） her to the heart. 結局 it was decided that for the time 存在, at least, I should enter the office of an excellent 会社／堅い of 在庫／株 and 駅／配置する スパイ／執行官s to whom my father had been 井戸／弁護士席—known. Should I later on 決定する to go into the Bush, the training I should have received there would 証明する of real value to me. This 妥協 I 受託するd, and accordingly the next two years 設立する me gracing a stool in the 会社／堅い's office in Collins Street, growing taller every day, and laying the flattering unction to my soul that since I could play a 穏健な game of billiards and had developed a taste for タバコ, I was every day becoming more and more a man of the world. All this time my mother looked on and waited to see what the end would be How many mothers have done the same! 式のs, poor mothers, how little we understand you!

As I have said, I 耐えるd the スパイ／執行官's office for two years, and during that time learnt more than I was really conscious of. There was but small chance of 進歩, however, and in 新規加入 to that I was heartily sick and tired of the monotony. 法案s of lading, the rise and 拒絶する／低下する in the price of wool and fat 在庫／株, the cost of wire netting and of 駅／配置する 蓄える／店s, 利益／興味d me only in so far as they 示唆するd, and formed part and 小包 of, the life of the Bush. For me there was a curious fascination in the very 指名するs of the 駅／配置するs for which my 雇用者s transacted 商売／仕事. The 指名するs of the 地区s and the rivers rang in my ears like so much music—Murrumbidgee, Deniliquin, Riverina, Warrego, 雪の降る，雪の多い River, Gundagai, and half a hundred others, all spoke of that mysterious land, the Bush, which was as unlike the Metropolis of the South as chalk is unlike cheese. At last, so 広大な／多数の／重要な did my craving become, I could wait no longer. 存在 perfectly 井戸／弁護士席 aware that my mother would endeavour to dissuade me from 可決する・採択するing such a course, I 解決するd to 行為／法令／行動する on my own 率先. Accordingly, I took the bull by the horns and sent in my letter of 辞職, which, needless to say, was 受託するd. Almost wondering at my own audacity, I left the office that evening and went home to break the news to my mother. On that 得点する／非難する／２０ I am 用意が出来ている to 収容する／認める that I felt a little nervous. I knew her 井戸／弁護士席 enough to feel sure that in the end she would 降伏する, but I dreaded the arguments and 試みる／企てるs at 説得／派閥 that would lead up to it. I 設立する her in our little garden at the 支援する of the house, sitting in her 茎 議長，司会を務める, darning a pair of my socks. Nearly fifty though she was, it struck me that she scarcely looked more than forty. Her hair, it was true, was streaked with grey, but this was more the handiwork of 悲しみ than of time. On 審理，公聴会 my step upon the path, she looked up and 迎える／歓迎するd me with a smile of welcome.

"Come and sit 負かす／撃墜する, dear boy," she said, 押し進めるing a 議長，司会を務める 今後 for me as she spoke. "You look tired and hot after your walk."

I took a 議長，司会を務める beside her and sat 負かす／撃墜する. For some time we talked on commonplace 支配するs, while I 一打／打撃d our old cat and tried to （不足などを）補う my mind to broach the 事柄 that was uppermost in my mind. How to do it I did not やめる know. She seemed so happy that it looked almost like a 臆病な／卑劣な 活動／戦闘 to tell her what I knew only too 井戸／弁護士席 would 原因（となる） her the keenest 苦痛 she had known since my father died. And yet there was nothing to be 伸び（る）d by （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing about the bush or by putting off the evil moment. The news had to be told sooner or later, and I knew that it would be better in every way that she should hear it from my lips rather than from those of a stranger. That would only have the 影響 of 増加するing her 苦痛.

"Mother," I blurted out at last, "I've got something to say to you which I am very much afraid you will not be pleased to hear. I have been thinking it over for a long time, and have at last made up my mind. Can you guess what I mean?"

The happy light at once died out of her 注目する，もくろむs, as I knew only too 井戸／弁護士席 it would do.

"Yes, dear," she replied very slowly and deliberately, as if she were trying to 軍隊 herself to be 静める. "I think I can guess what you are going to say to me. I have seen it coming for some time past, though you may not have noticed it. George, dear. You are tired of your 現在の 雇用 and you want to go into the Bush. Is that not so?"

"It is," I said. "Mother, I can stand this drudgery no longer. It is worse than what I should imagine 刑務所，拘置所 life must be. The same sort of work day after day without any change, the same dreary old ledgers and 調書をとる／予約するs, the never-ending acknowledgment of the '領収書 of your esteemed favour of such and such a date'—it is enough to 運動 any man mad who has a love for the open 空気／公表する, for the 日光 and the doing of man's work. Why, any girl could carry out my 義務s at the office, and probably better than I do. And what do I get for it? A paltry salary of thirty shillings a week, upon which I have to live and dress like a gentleman and fritter the best years of my life away on the 最高の，を越す of a high stool with next to nothing to look 今後 to. No, mother, I have been 納得させるd in my own mind for a long time that it cannot go on. I must go into the Bush, as my father did before me. Like him, I must work my way up the ladder, and you may be sure, if only for your sake, I shall do my best to 後継する."

I paused, not knowing what else to say. For the moment I had forgotten to explain the important fact that I had sent in my 辞職 to the 会社／堅い, and that they had 受託するd it. My mother shook her 長，率いる sadly. She had seen so many start out filled with ambition and the 願望（する） to carry off the prize in the Race of Life—only to succumb before the contest was 完全にするd under the 鎮圧するing 負わせる of 競争, which in the Bush is perhaps keener than anywhere else.

"Ah, my dear boy," she said, laying her 手渡す upon my arm, "you are young, and, like most young folk, you imagine you have only to go 前へ／外へ 武装した with the strength of 青年 and ambition to carry all before you. Do you think you realise that if your life in this wonderful city is monotonous, it will be doubly so in the 孤独 of the Bush? Who knows that better than I, who have spent so many years of my life there? You see it through the rosy spectacles of romance. I am afraid, however, you will find it very different in reality. It is both a rough and a hard calling, and, unhappily, it as often as not unfits a man for any other, so that when he tires of it, he is apt to discover, as so many have done before him, that he must continue in his servitude, for the simple and 十分な 推論する／理由 that there is nothing else that he can do. At the best it is a wearing, soul-tiring profession, and even if a man is lucky the 利益（をあげる） can only be a small one in these days."

"You are not very encouraging, mother," I 発言／述べるd, with what was, I 恐れる, but a 軍隊d laugh. "After all is said and done, it is a life fit for a man, and as such must surely be better than that of a 哀れな, 署名／調印する-slinging, quill-driver, such as I have been for too long."

"Think it carefully over," was her reply; "do not 行為／法令／行動する too あわてて. Look at it from every point of 見解（をとる）. Remember the old 説, 'A bird in 手渡す is 価値（がある） two in the bush.' "

"Yes," I answered, "that is so. At the same time, in my opinion, twenty clerks in town are not 価値（がある） five good men in the Bush—which is another 味方する of the question. No, dear, my mind is made up, and—" here I hesitated, and I noticed that she looked at me in a startled way. "井戸／弁護士席, the long and the short of it is, my 辞職 has gone in."

"Oh, George, George," she said, "I am afraid you have been very ill-advised to take such a step. I only pray you may not live to 悔いる it. Oh, my boy, you must not be angry with me, your mother, for you don't know what you are to me. I have only you to look to, only you to think of. When you leave me I shall be やめる alone."

"But only for a time, mother," I answered. "I will work hard to make a home for you so that we may be together again. That will make me anxious to get on, if nothing else does. Who knows but that some day I may get the 管理／経営 of the old 駅／配置する where I was born and where you were so happy. Think of that!"

But she only shook her 長，率いる; she was not to be 慰安d 単に by 憶測 as to what the 未来 might or might not bring 前へ／外へ. While I was dreaming my day—dreams, she was standing 直面する to 直面する with the reality.

"Then in a month's time you will be wanting to go off," she said after a long pause. "Have you any idea where you are going? The Bush is a big place, and since you have 始める，決める your heart on going, I should like you to start 井戸／弁護士席. My experience has taught me that so much depends on that. Could not the 会社／堅い advise you on the 事柄? They know that you have served them 井戸／弁護士席, and, doubtless, they would be willing to lend you a helping 手渡す. Try them, dear lad."

But, as I have already said, I was an obstinate young beggar, and to use a strong 表現, I was anxious to start my new life off my own bat. Besides, the managing partner had rather taken me to 仕事 on the 事柄 of my 辞職, and had prophesied that it would not be long before I should find 推論する／理由 to 悔いる my "迅速な and ill-considered 決意," as he was pleased in his 知恵 to 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 it. For this 推論する／理由 alone I did not feel 性質の／したい気がして to solicit a favour at his 手渡すs, however trivial it might be. I argued that before very long I would be in a position to 証明する to them that the change I had made in my life was not for the worse, but for the better. Who knew but that the time might come when I should be 入会させるd upon their 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of （弁護士の）依頼人s—a （弁護士の）依頼人 before whom they would 屈服する and 捨てる, as I had so often seen them do during the time I had been with them? That, I flattered myself, would be a 勝利 big enough to 補償する one for any 量 of privation and hard work. How sanguine I was of success you will be able to 見積（る） for yourself. After all this time, I can look 支援する on it with a smile of compassion for the poor deluded 青年, who not only thought his own 知恵 infinitely superior to that of anyone else, but was foolish enough to 行為／法令／行動する upon it. How he fared you will be able to see for yourself, if you can find 十分な patience to read on.

After that memorable conversation on the lawn, when I had told her of my 決意／決議, and of the 活動／戦闘 I had taken, my mother raised no その上の 反対. Probably she realised that it would have been of no use if she did.

During the month's grace that was 許すd me, I did not 許す the grass to grow under my feet. I made enquiries in all directions, and brought to 耐える every 影響（力） I could think of. But like every new player of the game, I was too much inclined to be fastidious. I made the mistake of settling in my mind the sort of 駅／配置する I 手配中の，お尋ね者, without pausing to 反映する that it was within the bounds of 可能性 that that 駅／配置する might not want me. For this 推論する／理由 I threw aside more than one fair 申し込む／申し出, which later on I should have been glad to jump at. But one has to learn by experience in the Bush 同様に as どこかよそで, and I was only doing what many another deluded youngster had done before me.

Slowly the month wore on, and each day 設立する me nearer the end of my clerkly service and closer to the new life which I had 保証するd myself was to bring me both wealth and happiness. So far I had not 後継するd in 審理，公聴会 of anything I liked, and was, in consequence, beginning to 恐れる that to 避ける 存在 laughed at it would 結局 be necessary for me to end by taking whatever I could get. The position was humiliating, but the moral was obvious.

At last the day arrived on which I was to 企て，努力，提案 別れの（言葉，会） to the 会社／堅い and my old associates. I am not going to pretend that I felt any 広大な／多数の／重要な 悲しみ at 厳しいing my 関係 with them; it was ありそうもない under the circumstances that I should. にもかかわらず it is scarcely possible to discard a life to which one has been long accustomed without some small feeling of 悔いる. The grey-haired 長，指導者 clerk hoped, but not too confidently, that I might be successful; the junior partner wished me good luck in his best society manner; while the 上級の, before whom we were all supposed to tremble, 心から 信用d I might never have occasion to reproach myself for the course of 活動／戦闘 I had thought fit to 追求する. It did not strike any of them to ask me whither I was going. Had they done so, I should have 設立する it difficult to tell them.

II. — "A BIT OF A 'SCRAP.'"

ON the Thursday に引き続いて the termination of my 関係 with the company who had taught me all they could of 商売／仕事, I left the 郊外 in which my mother's house was 据えるd and went into the city in the hope that I might 会合，会う someone who would be in a position to put me in the way of 得るing 雇用. By this time I had learned not only a useful, but at the same time a humiliating lesson. This was to the 影響 that it is not so 平易な to 得る a 状況／情勢 in the Bush as folk are apt to imagine, 特に when the 探検者 is, as in my 事例／患者, young and 完全に devoid of experience. However, I was 決定するd to 後継する one way or another, and the greater the difficulties at the beginning, the greater, I told myself, the honours would be when I had surmounted them. By 推論する／理由 of my 商売／仕事 training, I was familiar with the haunts of 無断占拠者s when they visited the city, and I tried each of these in turn. I was 完全に 不成功の, however, in 得るing an 約束／交戦. Driven into a corner, I was compelled to 収容する／認める that I knew nothing of 在庫／株, save the question of sales in town and the travelling 告示s in the newspapers. I had never shorn a sheep in my life, and should not have known how to 始める，決める about it had one been placed in my 手渡すs. My humiliation was 完全にする when I had to 自白する that my horsemanship was of the most rudimentary description possible, that I had never had a branding アイロンをかける in my 手渡す, and that I no more knew how to tell the age of a sheep than I did of Arabic. In point of fact, as one man, more candid perhaps than polite, 設立する occasion to point out to me, it would take as long and as much trouble to show me the way to do a thing as it would for him to do it himself. Another looked me over with a supercilious sneer that made my 血 boil, and, noticing my fashionably 削減（する） 着せる／賦与するs, enquired if I had ever slept in the Stranger's Hut, and whether on this occasion I 提案するd taking my valet with me? The roar of laughter which followed this witticism drove me from the place in a whirlwind of 激怒（する）. I had been 侮辱d, I told myself, and, worse than all, I knew that I was 権力のない to 報復する. But though I was かなり cast 負かす／撃墜する by these repeated rebuffs, I was in nowise 狼狽d. On the contrary, I was more 決定するd than ever that I would 後継する. It was late in the evening when I returned home, 完全に tired out. 存在 技術d in the somewhat difficult art of managing me, my mother did not enquire what success I had met with; indeed, there would have been no need for her to do so. She had but to look at my 直面する to see the result plainly written there. Next day I 決定するd to have another try, so after breakfast I 始める，決める off for the city once more, to begin the 一連の会議、交渉／完成する of which I was heartily sick and tired. 運命／宿命, however, for some time was still against me, and though I tried in every direction, and questioned all sorts and 条件s of people, no success rewarded me. Later in the day, however, my luck changed, and I changed to hear of a man, a drover, who was going into Queensland for a 暴徒 of cattle to bring 負かす／撃墜する to a 駅／配置する on the Lower Darling. He was short of 手渡すs, so I was 知らせるd, and I 決定するd to 適用する for the 職業. Having 得るd his 演説（する）／住所, I 始める，決める off in search of him, and 結局 discovered him in a small public-house in the neighbourhood of Little Bourke Street.

It was not a nice part of the town, 存在 据えるd in の近くに proximity to the Chinese ４半期/4分の1. The house itself more than matched its surroundings, and the 顧客s who たびたび（訪れる）d it were in excellent keeping with both. The 前線 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業, when I entered it, was （人が）群がるd to its 最大の capacity, and I don't think I should be overstepping the 示す if I were to say that more than half the men it 含む／封じ込めるd were decidedly the worse for the アルコール飲料 they had taken. The reek of the place was enough to choke one; bad cigars, the strongest blackstick タバコ, spirits and stale beer, onions from the kitchen at the end of the passage, and the intolerable odour of packed humanity of the roughest description, were all 部隊d in an endeavour to see what really could be 達成するd in the way of a really nauseating stench. I had never to my knowledge smelt anything like it before, and I 心から 信用 I may never do so again.

押し進めるing my way up to the 反対する, I enquired for Mr. Septimus Dorkin, and was 知らせるd by the 高度に-painted damsel in 出席 that I should probably find him in the 私的な 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 if I looked there. I 出発／死d in search of the room in question, and discovered it without much difficulty. Why it should have been dignified with its 指名する I could not for the life of me understand. It was in no sense "私的な," seeing that anyone was at liberty to use it; while if the 指名する had been given it on account of its selectness, as distinguished from the ordinary or ありふれた 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業, it was an 平等に unhappy choice, inasmuch as its patrons were for the most part of the same class and, in nine 事例／患者s out of ten, partook of the same refreshment.

I 押し進めるd open the door and entered the room. In comparison with its size, it was 同様に filled as that I had just left. In this 事例／患者, however, the 大多数 of its occupants were seated in faded velvet armchairs, 安全な・保証するd to the 塀で囲むs, a 警戒 probably taken in order that they might not be used as 武器s of offence and defence in times of 強調する／ストレス, which, I learned later on, not infrequently occurred. Scattered about the room were a number of small （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs, littered with glasses of all 形態／調整s and sizes, pewter マリファナs, and 上向きs of half-a-dozen シャンペン酒 瓶／封じ込めるs. The 大多数 of the men were, to put it mildly, in a 明言する／公表する of 半分-inebriation, while some had crossed the borderland altogether and now lolled in their 議長，司会を務めるs, sleeping ひどく and 追加するing to the best of their ability to the general uproar that 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるd. The picture of one 年輩の individual remains in my memory to this day. He might have been from fifty to fifty-five years of age, and was the possessor of an 極端に bald pate. His chin 残り／休憩（する）d upon his breast, so that the 最高の，を越す of his 長，率いる, with its fringe of faded hair, looked 直接／まっすぐに at the company. Some wag, with an 注目する，もくろむ to a humorous 影響, and sketched with burnt cork the features of a 直面する—nose, 注目する，もくろむs, and mouth—upon it, and the result, if 欠如（する）ing in taste, was exceedingly ludicrous. The artist had just finished his work when I entered, and was standing 支援する to see the 影響. I was 知らせるd that he had once been a famous scene painter, but was now a ありふれた 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業-room loafer, who would do anything if he were 井戸／弁護士席 paid for it. He was, I believe, 設立する 溺死するd in the Yarra some few years later, poor wretch.

Turning to a tall, soldierly-looking man seated 近づく the door, I enquired in an undertone if he could 知らせる me where I should find Mr. Dorkin, the 井戸／弁護士席-known drover, who I had been 知らせるd was staying in this house. As I have just said, the man from his 外見 might have been taken for a 兵士, a cavalry officer for preference, but when he spoke the illusion 消えるd like breath upon a かみそり blade. The change was almost bewildering.

"Dorky, my boy," he cried in a 発言する／表明する like that of our old friend Punch, "here's somebody wants to see Mr. Septimus Dorkin, Esq., Member of 議会 for Mud Flats. There you are, my boy, go and 'ave a look at 'im. He won't eat you, though he do somehow look as if he'd like to try a bite."

The man to whom he referred, and for whom I was searching, was standing before the fireplace, smoking an enormous cigar and puffing the smoke through his nose. He must have stood a couple of インチs over six feet, was slimly built, 特に with regard to his 脚s, which were those of a man who had spent his life in the saddle. His 直面する might have been good-looking in a rough fashion, had it not been for an enormous scar that reached from his 権利 寺 to the corner of his mouth—the result of a kick from his horse. His nose had also been broken at the 橋（渡しをする）. His 注目する，もくろむs were his best features, 井戸／弁護士席 形態／調整d and at times by no means unkindly. He wore a large moustache and a short 耐えるd, dressed 簡単に, and, unlike so many of his class when in town, wore no jewellery of any sort or description. A plain leather watch-chain was the only adornment he permitted himself. When I （機の）カム to know him better I discovered him to be a past master of his profession, a shrewd man of 商売／仕事, a superb 裁判官 of 在庫／株, a fearless rider, and the most foulmouthed ruffian, I 堅固に believe, that it has ever been my luck to become 熟知させるd with. Wondering how I should be received, I approached him, a silence 落ちるing upon the room as I did so. This did not strike me as looking 井戸／弁護士席 for the success of what was to follow. Mr. Dorkin looked me over as I approached him, and I thought I （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd a sneer upon his lips as he did so. As it seemed evident that I was about to be 侮辱d, I began to 悔いる that I had been foolish enough to come in search of him. Indeed, had it been possible I would have 支援するd out of it even then; that, however, was out of the question. My 血 was up, and I was 決定するd to go through with it at any cost to myself. Whatever else they might call me, it should not be a coward.

"Mr. Dorkin, I believe," I said, looking him 十分な and fair in the 直面する as I did so. "I was told I should find you here."

"And whoever told you that, young fellow, told you the—- truth" (I do not repeat the adjectives with which he garnished his speech. They were too 包括的な for repetition.) "What do you want with me? Got a letter for me from the Prince of むちの跡s to say that he's goin' to leave me a fortune, eh? Break the news to me gently, for I'm not so strong as I used to be."

This banter did not 約束 井戸／弁護士席 for what was to come. Such of the 組み立てる／集結するd company as were awake evidently regarded the 状況／情勢 with satisfaction, and I have no 疑問 were looking 今後 to seeing what 約束d to be some excellent fooling at my expense. If so, they were 運命にあるd to be disappointed, for I had by this time got myself 井戸／弁護士席 in 手渡す, and in consequence was ready for any 緊急.

"I believe you are 熟知させるd with Mr. Gerald Williamson," I said, feeling sure that he would know my friend's 指名する. For a few moments he did not reply, but stood stolidly pulling at his cigar and looking me up and 負かす／撃墜する while he did so, as if he were thinking 深く，強烈に. I could feel that every 注目する，もくろむ in the room was 確固に 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon us. At last he withdrew the cigar from between his lips and 演説（する）／住所d me as follows:—

"Mr. Gerald Williamson," he drawled. "And who the—-may he be when he's at home? Is he a shearer from the Billabong, who never called for tar—or what is he? Know the cuss, how should I know him—think I carry the visitin' card of every dog—rotted, swivel-注目する，もくろむd, herring-stomached son of a mud 海がめ in my waistcoat pocket? I guess not. Now out with it, young fellar, what is it you want with me? I've got my 商売／仕事 to …に出席する to, and can't afford the time to go moosin' around here listening to talk about Mr. Gerald Williamsons and folk of his 腎臓. Mr.— Gerald—Williamson—the infernal skunk—I don't believe there ever was such a person."

This was more than I could stand. It was bad enough to be 演説（する）／住所d as he had 演説（する）／住所d me, but it was a thousand times worse to have it insinuated that I was endeavouring to cultivate his 知識 through the medium of a person who had no 存在. My temper was rising by leaps and bounds.

"I saw Mr. Williamson this morning," I said. "He is the managing clerk for Messrs. Applethwaite and Grimes, whose offices are in Swanston Street, and with whom, I believe, you have done 商売／仕事 from time to time. He told me that you are about to leave for Queensland to bring 負かす／撃墜する a 暴徒 of cattle."

"He told you all that, did he?" drawled Dorkin, 取って代わるing his cigar in his mouth. "井戸／弁護士席, I don't say he's wrong, nor do I say that he's 権利, 示す you. What I want to know is, what the—-you've come to me about."

"To be straight with you, I want work," I replied, looking him in the 直面する as stoutly as I knew how. "I want to go with you."

"苦しむing Daniel," he returned, and …を伴ってd it with an 誓い of such magnificent 残虐（行為） that I dare not 試みる／企てる to 解任する it. "Did I understand you to say that you want to go with me? With me, Sep. Dorkin? 井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席, I'm—I'm—" He stopped and shook his 長，率いる; the 状況／情勢 had got beyond him. Then, looking 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the room, he continued, "Boys, what do you think of this for a sprightly bull calf? Wants to come with me. Now if it was 法案 Kearney, or Tod Griffiths, I could have understood it; but for him to want to come with me!" Words again failed him, and he lapsed into a moody silence that lasted for 上向きs of a couple of minutes. Then, placing his 手渡す on my shoulder, he said, very much as a father might 演説（する）／住所 a small child, "Run along home, bub, and tell your mammie to give you a Johnny—cake. When you're a man come to me again, and if I've got time I'll teach you the difference between a 'possum and a Jackeroo-Savee. Now run along to mother, dear."

I 紅潮／摘発するd up to the roots of my hair as I heard the laugh that followed. I had never been 扱う／治療するd in such a way in my life before, and I felt my heart 強くたたくing inside me like a sledge- 大打撃を与える. Seated between the two windows that looked out on the street was a middle-sized horsey-looking man in a loud check 控訴 and wearing a sham diamond horseshoe pin in his tie. He was by no means sober, and I had noticed also that he had always been amongst the loudest laughers at my expense. He had now an 適切な時期 of showing his own wit, and he 急いでd to take advantage of it. Rising from his 議長，司会を務める, he （機の）カム slowly 今後 to the fireplace, before which we were standing.

"I say, Dorky, my boy," he began, "you're a bit too 'ard on the gentleman, it appears to me. Take 'im along with you, and be proud of 'is company. Don't you be afraid of him, young man. Have a drink along with us, and we'll talk it all over 静かな and sociable like. There's nothin' to be 伸び（る）d by quarrelin', as the bantam said to the Shanghai rooster, when the rooster had つつく／ペックd 'is heye hout. What's your particular 毒（薬）, Dorky, Esquire? Give it a 指名する. A glass of rum! Good! 地雷's a brandy. And yours, Mr. Williamson—I mean Mr. Williamson's friend. Do me the honour of takin' a glass with me—now do! Don't be bashful."

Feeling that it might only have the 影響 of 追加するing to the unpleasantness of my position if I were to 辞退する his 招待, I 表明するd my 乗り気 to drink a glass of beer with him, upon 審理，公聴会 which he professed to be much delighted. He struck the bell on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, and presently the barmaid appeared in answer to it. The look of eager 期待 on the 直面するs of the company should have 警告するd me that some trick was about to be played on me, but I was thinking about something else and gave no 注意する to it.

"What's the order, gentlemen?" 問い合わせd the girl, balancing her tray upon its 辛勝する／優位 and spinning it as she spoke, to the 切迫した danger of the glasses on the board. Then she 追加するd flippantly, "Don't all speak at once or you'll deafen me. Oh! it's you, is it, Conky Jim? Fancy you doing a shout after all these years. Money must be very plentiful just now."

A roar of laughter followed this playful badinage, which did not seem to 影響する／感情 my host in the least. He looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the room and winked at the company as if to 警告する them that a joke was coming.

"Now, Polly, my dear," he said with a patronising 空気／公表する, "don't waste the precious moments in idle conversation. I'm standing 扱う／治療する to-day, and don't you forget it. A nobbler of rum for Mr. Dorkin, a ditto of brandy, out of the 権利 瓶／封じ込める mind, for me, and what was it? Let me see. Ah, yes, a glass of Nestlé's milk for the baby. It was milk you said, was it not, my little man?"

When the laughter died 負かす／撃墜する, I told him that a glass of milk would serve my 目的 同様に as anything else, and though he thought I was joking I can 保証する you I meant it. He was not going to have it all his own way, whatever he might think. Of that I was 決定するd! When the laughing maid had 孤立した, there was a short silence, during which I noticed that Mr. Dorkin watched me with an 表現 that was half curious, half sneering, upon his 直面する. 一方／合間 my host was explaining his theory of raising 幼児s and training them in the way they should go to those about him. Then the maid 再現するd upon the scene, and with the help of the looking-glass behind Mr. Dorkin I could see that she carried the rum and brandy and also the glass of milk that was the 原因（となる） of all the merriment. She 手渡すd the spirits first, and then held out the tray with the milk upon it to me, 説 as she did so, in a low 発言する／表明する, "It's a shame. Don't you take it if you don't want to." To which I replied by asking her to remain in the room for a moment. Again I noticed that Dorkin was watching my 直面する. Whether he despised me or not for swallowing the 侮辱 so meekly I could not say. At any 率 he said nothing on the 支配する.

"井戸／弁護士席, here's good health and good fortune, Dorky, old boy." Then to me, "I looks に向かって you, younker, and take care that milk doesn't get into your 長，率いる, or you'll be put to bed when you get home."

This sally was 正確に／まさに to the taste of the company, with the exception of Mr. Dorkin, who seemed to be 深く，強烈に 占領するd in thinking of something else. Now was the time for me to 行為／法令／行動する, and I lost no time in doing so. Without raising my 発言する／表明する above its usual level, I turned and 演説（する）／住所d myself to the man who had gone out of his way to play the trick upon me.

"I don't know what your 指名する may be," I 観察するd, endeavouring to speak as calmly as possible, "and I'm very sure I don't want to. There is one thing, however, that I do know, and that is the fact that you have laid yourself out deliberately to 侮辱 me. Very good. You have 警告するd me not to let this milk 影響する／感情 my 長，率いる. I am willing to take your advice, as doubtless the friends who surround you would do under the circumstances. I must get rid of the milk, since it is dangerous, and this is how I do it." So 説, I 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd the contents of the glass 十分な and fair into his 直面する. Such an 反対する as he looked when I had done so I cannot hope to make you understand. Before he could 回復する himself I had placed the glass upon the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and had 用意が出来ている myself for what I knew 十分な 井戸／弁護士席 would follow. Fortunately I am a 公正に／かなり good boxer, though of course I ought not to sing my own 賞賛するs. Even then, in spite of my 青年, I was also 公正に／かなり strong. To 栄冠を与える it all, my 血 was up, and I was ready for anything he might 試みる／企てる.

"You—" he cried furiously, as he mopped the milk from his 直面する and 着せる／賦与するs; "you shall 支払う／賃金 for this. See if he don't, boys. Throws his dirty milk in a gentleman's 直面する, does he? All 権利."

Two or three of his friends rose as if to take his part, and then for the first time for nearly ten minutes Mr. Dorkin spoke. What he said was short, but to the point. "The man who 干渉するs has to fight me," he 発言／述べるd. "The young 'un is a good plucked 'un, and, by the Lord Harry, he shall have fair play. You, Jim パン職人, 負かす／撃墜する on your hunks again or I'll give you what will help you. Now, Conky, what have you got to say? Take care you 港／避難所't bit off more than you can chew. It does happen so いつかs."

The redoubtable Conky's only reply to this was a 悪口を言う／悪態. Then turning to me, he continued, "As for you, I'll learn you to chuck your cow juice in a man's 直面する. Take that." As he spoke, and almost before I had time to get up my guard, he had 開始する，打ち上げるd a vicious blow at my 長，率いる. If I had not been quick it would have made me see 星／主役にするs for some time to come. As it happened, however, I was able, more by good luck than good 管理／経営, to 区 it off, and with a left hander, straight from the shoulder, landed him on the jaw and sent him 負かす／撃墜する like a ninepin.

"A fair knock out," said Mr. Dorkin 批判的に. "If I know Conky, he won't come up to time. Shake 手渡すs on it, my lad, and though it's not my way as a general 支配する to sing small, I'll ask your 容赦. It was me that put it on you first, and by 権利s I せねばならない be where Conky is now." He went across the room to where the fallen 軍人 lay and gave him a hearty kick. "Get up," he said, "get up and beg 容赦. You're only shamming, and you know it."

After a short interval the gentleman 演説（する）／住所d struggled to his feet, explaining as he did so that he had been struck 不公平に and that he would have his 復讐 later on. Again Mr. Dorkin spoke.

"Stow that rubbish," he 観察するd. "You know 同様に as I do that you 港／避難所't a chance against the youngster. He could 二塁打 you up, you turnip, with one 手渡す, and he'll do it again if you don't take precious good care. Now say you beg 容赦, unless you want to go 負かす／撃墜する again."

The other thought first of endeavouring to carry 事柄s off with a high 手渡す, but a look on Dorkin's 直面する induced him to change his mind. I thereupon （機の）カム to his 援助, and in an 予期しない manner.

"I don't want him to apologise," I said. "I am afraid it would not be sincere. If I may 申し込む／申し出 a suggestion, I would rather drink with him. You must remember that on the last occasion he did not give the order やめる 正確に," Then I called the girl to me. "I think, Mr. Dorkin," I began, "you ordered a glass of rum; I will have a glass of beer; and our friend here will, I hope, join us in a glass of milk."

The girl left the room, smiling all over her 直面する. She and my late antagonist had never been friends, and she was by no means displeased at seeing him receive a thrashing. Presently, まっただ中に breathless silence, she returned with the drinks I had ordered. One was 手渡すd as before to Dorkin, while I myself held out the milk to my late antagonist. "Take it and drink it," I said, "or I 約束 you I'll do what I did before. You will find it an excellent drink, better for you than brandy and いっそう少なく likely to go to your 長，率いる. Come, drink it up, if you don't want その上の trouble."

まっただ中に the jeers of his former admirers who, によれば their wont, were やめる ready to 減少（する） him now that he had fallen from his high 広い地所, he took up the glass and, with the 発言／述べる that he hoped my next drink would choke me, 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd off the contents. Having done so, he took his 出発 from the room, more like a whipped puppy than any other animal I could に例える him to.

"Young 'un, you're a good plucked 'un, and I'll do you that credit or my 指名する's not Sep. Dorkin," 発言／述べるd the individual of that 指名する. "We've got to have a bit of a talk together before we've done, and if it comes out 満足な, as the lawyers say, I don't know but what I won't give you the chance of coming with me when I start out. What's your 指名する, anyway?"

"George Tregaskis," I answered. "My father was once 経営者／支配人 of Warraboona 駅／配置する on the Murray. He was killed when I was only a little chap of nine."

An 年輩の man who had entered the room a few moments before the Conky Jim episode rose あわてて from his seat and （機の）カム 今後 to where we were standing. He looked very hard at me, and somehow his 直面する seemed to 解任する old 協会s, though I could not for the life of me remember where I had seen him.

"Did I understand you to say that your 指名する was Tregaskis?" he said, looking closely into my 直面する. "Son of George Tregaskis, who was thrown from his horse out 召集（する）ing when the clumsy brute put his foot in a 穴を開ける?"

"Yes," I replied, "I am his son, but though I feel sure I know your 直面する, I can't 解任する where I last saw you. Give me a helping 手渡す. It wasn't in Melbourne, I'm 確かな of that."

"No, it wasn't in Melbourne. It was out on the Murray at Warraboona. That's where it was. I remember the day you were born and the day you were breeched. I gave you your first riding lesson, and I'm not やめる sure that I didn't do most of the work in teaching you to walk. Many's the mile I've carried you on my 支援する, for your mother would 信用 you with me when she wouldn't with anybody else. Now think for a minute, and see if you can give me my 指名する."

In a flash it occurred to me. How I could ever have forgotten it I could not understand. This old and grizzled man, who knew so much about me, could be no other than my father's faithful henchman and friend, 刑事 Bennet. I said as much, and as I did so, I saw 涙／ほころびs rise in his 注目する，もくろむs.

"Yes, it is 刑事 Bennet, sure enough," he said. "Old 刑事 Bennet, and to think that you are Master Georgie. 井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席, how you have grown up, to be sure."

Mr. Septimus Dorkin here placed his 手渡す on my arm.

"If you want to kick me, you can do it and welcome," he said. "I give you my word I won't 攻撃する，衝突する 支援する. If I'd a' known you were George Tregaskis's boy I'd have licked your boots before I'd have said what I did to you. 法律 bless my cabbage tree, I knew your father afore he married your mother, and many's the droving trip we did together when he was a grown man and I was only a sprig of a boy, scarcely big enough to do up his own girths. He was a first-class bushman and an A1 man, and glory be with him. What say you, 刑事 Bennet, old pal?"

"Amen to it, and many of them," 刑事 replied, and then he brought his conversation 支援する to me. "And to think of your 存在 little Georgie. 井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席, I never thought to see this day—may I 減少（する） dead in my 跡をつけるs if I did. And your mother, I hope she's hale and hearty?"

"Perfectly," I answered. "You must come out and see her. We're living at Caulfield, and I know how glad she'd be to have a talk with you about old times. Why not come with me now? It's no use my staying in town, for I don't seem to be able to hear of anything that would be likely to 控訴 me. Goodness only knows I've tried hard enough."

"Not やめる so 急速な／放蕩な, my young fellow," 発言／述べるd my whilom enemy Dorkin. "Things have changed a bit since last we talked it over. You're George Tregaskis's boy, and you're a friend of my friend 刑事 here. That's good enough for me, and makes all the difference. You don't know much of Bush life, you say, and you've only learnt what you do know behind a desk, in this dod-ratted city that's not fit for a man what calls himself a man to live in. 井戸／弁護士席, I'm the chap who's got to teach you, and you may put your 底（に届く） dollar 負かす／撃墜する on that. I leave here for Sydney next Friday, then go on by rail to Bourke. After that, it's all plain sailing for the Diamintina. Make it 権利 with the old lady, and come and see me here to-morrow morning about this time. We'll square up 事柄s then, and if I don't turn you into as proper a bushman as there is on this 'ere old Continent inside of six months, 井戸／弁護士席, may I never be able to tell the difference between a kangaroo ネズミ and a 激しく揺する wallaby again. Are you game?"

I certainly was, and I said so. Then, wishing him good-bye, I left the hotel in company with 刑事 and 始める，決める off for the 鉄道 駅／配置する, where we were to catch our train for Caulfield.

III. — LOSES A MOTHER: GAINS A FRIEND.

IT would take too long to follow my career in 詳細（に述べる） for the next four and a half years. Indeed, it would necessitate some 成果／努力 of memory on my part to 解任する all that befell me during that eventful period of my life. Let it 十分である, therefore, that after the memorable scene 記録，記録的な／記録するd in the last 一時期／支部, which 先触れ（する）d, or perhaps I should say に先行するd, my 約束／交戦 with Septimus Dorkin, I left for Queensland with that worthy, but, if the truth must be 自白するd, somewhat headstrong gentleman. We made our way up to Bourke, crossed by way of Hungerford and the Paroo River, thence to the Barcoo, and so on by 平易な 行う／開催する／段階s to our 目的地. This 証明するd to be a 駅／配置する of some importance on the Diamintina, that いつか mighty river which, augmented by the Western, the Wokingham, and the Mayne, to say nothing of 非常に／多数の other smaller streams, runs half across the Continent to find at length an ignominious end in the 広大な／多数の／重要な Stoney 砂漠 of South Australia.

That 旅行 taught me more of the Bush, its charms and its vicissitudes, than I have ever learnt since. I was young, my brain was receptive, I had a natural liking for the calling I had chosen, and what was perhaps better than all else, I had 相続するd a かなりの 割合 of my poor father's intuitive knowledge of live 在庫／株. With my 雇用者 and mates I think I may say without 誇るing that I got on 井戸／弁護士席, though of course there was trouble at times, as there always must be when several men are compelled to put up with each other's society for several months at a time. On the whole, however, we contrived to 攻撃する，衝突する it off together, and I, for my part, have nothing but pleasant memories of that, my first experience of over 上陸. After a couple of 簡潔な／要約する holidays I made two more trips with Dorkin, one almost up into Cape Yorke 半島, and a hard time we had of it, for it was a bad season; the other from a 駅／配置する 近づく Cobar, in New South むちの跡s, to another on the Lower Murray in South Australia. During the latter 旅行 we passed through Warraboona, my birth-place and 早期に home. As we were （軍の）野営地，陣営d there for two days, I managed to make time enough to ride over and have a look at the old place. It was no longer the house I remembered; the homestead had been 追加するd to, and what had been the sitting-room in my father's time was now the 支援する 部分 of the edifice. The shearing shed, which in our time was nothing more pretentious than a bough-shade, was now superseded by a 高くつく／犠牲の大きい アイロンをかける erection, with yards and 草案ing pens 広告 libitum. They had introduced machine shears, scoured their own wool, and 捨てるd by means of the 最新の 改善するd hydraulic 圧力（をかける）. An American windmill raised water from the river for irrigating 目的s, while the overseer's and men's ４半期/4分の1s were equal to anything I had ever seen in either of the four 植民地s. On my way 支援する to （軍の）野営地，陣営 I 棒 負かす／撃墜する the river bank to have a look at my father's 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な. To the credit of the 現在の 経営者／支配人 be it said, it was 井戸／弁護士席 taken care of. A neat but strong 盗品故買者 had been 築くd 一連の会議、交渉／完成する it to 保護する it from the cattle, and what more could I 推定する／予想する? How the memory of the day on which we had laid him there （機の）カム 支援する to me as I sat on my horse looking 負かす／撃墜する at it! I could seem to see the pale, 甘い 直面する of my mother as she watched them lowering into its last 残り／休憩（する）ing—place all that was mortal of the man she had loved so tenderly and whom she had followed so willingly into the 追放する of the Bush. I could see old 刑事, with his honest, sunburnt 直面する, reading the Burial Service over the man who had been his friend and master for more than twenty years. What was more, I could remember a little boy, scarcely up to his mother's 肘, with a 一連の会議、交渉／完成する and chubby 直面する and curly hair, who only half realised the importance to him of what was then taking place. How different was he to the long, gawky, sunburnt 青年 now seated on the horse beside the selfsame 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な! It seemed difficult to believe that they could be one and the same person.

As things turned out, that 証明するd to be my last 旅行 with Dorkin, not because we had any fault to find with each other, but because he had discovered that he had amassed a competency 十分な for his modest wants, and felt an inclination to settle 負かす／撃墜する. This he did, marrying at the same time a buxom 未亡人 in the public—house line of 商売／仕事 in the town of Bourke, where, as may be supposed, he had many 適切な時期s of 新たにするing 知識 with old friends, and now and again of showing that he had not altogether laid aside his 商売／仕事 能力s when he 交流d the pig-肌 for a seat in his own 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業-parlour. I have heard since that his wife led him a pretty life, and that they would doubtless have been compelled to part company had he not made a mistake one dark night and walked off the wharf into the river instead of into his own 前線 door. He had many faults, doubtless; which of us has not? But I never heard of his having done an 不正な 活動／戦闘 (horse 取引，協定ing always excepted), nor do I think he ever went 支援する on a man whom he had once 認める to his friendship. It's a pity more of us can't say as much.

When I parted company with the man whose virtues I have just 述べるd and whose 副／悪徳行為s are no 関心 of 地雷, I was in Melbourne. It was my 意向 to spend a month with my mother, and then to （問題を）取り上げる a 職業 I had heard of on the Bogan in the 周辺 of Nyngan. It was to be my first experience of an overseer's billet, and I was 熱望して looking 今後 to the experience, having some idea of starting for myself in a few years, if all went 井戸／弁護士席. I had managed already to save a fair sum, and hoped to have a nice little 量 at my 支援する by the time I felt equal to 開始する，打ち上げるing out as an owner on a small 規模. A thousand-acre 封鎖する would do very 井戸／弁護士席 for a start, and with the usual 信用／信任 of 青年, I felt that I could make it 支払う／賃金. As of old, I told my mother of my ambition, prophesying that before very long I should want her to 投機・賭ける into the wilds once more ーするために keep house for me. But she only shook her 長，率いる, a trifle sorrowfully I thought, and 宣言するd that she could never go into the Bush again. Of late her spirits had not been of the brightest description, and the knowledge had 苦しめるd me more than I could say. That there was nothing radically wrong with her she 絶えず 保証するd me, and yet she was by no means her old 有望な self. の中で other things I noticed that she left more of the 管理／経営 of her small 世帯 to the girl who had 行為／法令／行動するd as her companion since I had left home, which in itself was by no means a 安心させるing 調印する. In the old days she would as soon have thought of turning me out of house and home as of doing that. I 示唆するd a change of 空気／公表する, a voyage to Tasmania and New Zealand, but she would not hear of it. She was perfectly content to remain where she was, she said, 供給するd she could see me at not too long intervals. I then endeavoured to enlist the doctor on my 味方する and to induce him to order her away, but much to my chagrin he 宣言するd that he could not discover any 適する 推論する／理由 for so doing. Thus 失敗させる／負かすd in every direction, nothing remained for me but to 服従させる／提出する with the best grace I could put upon it. It did not tend, however, to send me off to my new 義務s in any too happy a でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる of mind. にもかかわらず everyone's endeavour to 納得させる me that I was 脅すing myself about her unnecessarily, I knew her too 井戸／弁護士席 to be 平易な in my mind about her. You will presently be able to see for yourself which of us was 権利 and which was wrong.

At the 満期 of my holiday, I left for Sydney, and 旅行d thence by rail to Nyngan, by way of Bathurst and Dubbo. 開始する Gondobon, as the 駅／配置する was called, is a 罰金 所有物／資産／財産 on the Macquarrie River, and at that time was up-to-date in every 尊敬（する）・点. Its area, number of sheep carried, description of grass, and other 詳細（に述べる）s, would in all probability not 利益／興味 you. I will, therefore, content myself with 説 that I should have remained there longer than I did had I not received alarming news of my mother's 条件, and been compelled to 急いで 支援する to Melbourne in the middle of my second year, and just as we were beginning shearing. My return 存在 uncertain, the owner could not, of course, wait, so there was nothing for it but for me to take my cheque and 切断する my 関係 with one of the most pleasant 駅／配置するs it has ever been my good luck to work upon. The 経営者／支配人 and I parted with 相互の 悔いる, and two and a half days later 設立する me once more at Caulfield.

To my 悲しみ I discovered that the 報告（する）／憶測 I had received as to my mother's 条件 had been by no means 誇張するd, indeed I could only feel that they had not made me realise 十分に how ill she was. I sought the doctor as soon as possible, and implored him to tell me 正確に／まさに what the position was. I had had enough of 不確定 and was anxious to know the worst.

"井戸／弁護士席, Mr. Tregaskis," he said, stabbing his blotting pad with his pen as he spoke, "since you wish it so much I will be explicit with you. Mrs. Tregaskis has for some time past been 苦しむing from a malignant growth, which should have received 治療 long ere this. Like most of her sex, she bore it until she could do so no longer, but only to find that to all 意図s and 目的s she had left it until it was too late for an 操作／手術 to be 成し遂げるd with any degree of certainty. Every 成果／努力 has been made to relieve her of 苦痛, but the trouble is 増加するing daily, while the 麻薬s we are compelled to 雇う are slowly but surely losing their 影響."

I had no idea it was as serious as this, and it shocked me more than I can 表明する.

"But is it impossible that anything can be done?" I asked, half afraid to put the question to him.

"If you mean in the way of an 操作／手術, I am reluctantly compelled to 収容する／認める that it is," he replied. "There is the chance that it might be successful, but I think it only fair to you to 明言する／公表する it as my honest opinion, and I have taken the 警戒 of 協議するing one of our most 著名な 外科医s on the point, that the 危険 would be too 広大な／多数の／重要な. In all probability it could only have the 影響 of 急いでing the end. I am more than sorry to have to tell you this, but, as you have yourself asked me to do so, I think it better to let you know the plain, unvarnished truth, so that you may be 用意が出来ている for the worst. Your mother is a noble woman, and I would do anything in my 力／強力にする for her, but beyond relieving her of 激烈な／緊急の 苦しむing, I 恐れる I am 権力のない."

"Poor mother!" I groaned. "And how long do you think it will be—before—before the end is likely to come?"

He shook his 長，率いる. "It is impossible for me to say," he replied. "In 事例／患者s like this they not unfrequently ぐずぐず残る for a long time. It may be only a question of weeks, it may even be of months. I 悔いる for your sake that I cannot be more explicit. You will remain with her for the 現在の at least, I 推定する?"

"You may be sure of that," was my reply. "I shall stay with her and 慰安 her until the end. It is the least I can do for her, and my 良心 tells me I have neglected her too long. I am more 強いるd to you than I can say for having told me everything. The 不確定 was more than I could 耐える. Now I can see the 跡をつける （疑いを）晴らす ahead of me, I know what I have to do."

I bade him good-bye and 始める，決める off on my homeward walk. What my feelings were like you will doubtless be able to imagine, 特に if you have ever been called upon to 直面する such an ordeal as lay before me then. God knows I would willingly have taken her place had such a thing been possible. But that, 式のs, was 否定するd me. It was to be my 部分, and perhaps a part of my 罰 for having been selfish enough to やめる my home, to have to watch her day by day 苦しむing intolerable agony, and to know that I was 権力のない to afford her 救済. Yet never once, even in her direst moments, did I hear her complain. For my sake she made heroic 成果／努力s to be cheerful, and I am not sure that this did not 傷つける me even more than the knowledge of the actual 苦しむing she was を受けるing. Between the paroxysms of 苦痛 she would talk to me of my Bush life and of the old days when she and my father were so happy together and so 十分な of pride in me, their only child.

"井戸／弁護士席, I せねばならない be thankful," she said once to me as I sat beside her, 持つ／拘留するing her dear thin 手渡す that even now bore traces of the hard and loving life of toil she had once known, "I have had my days of happiness; I have known a good husband and a good son, so I have been blessed beyond most women. Now my time has come to join him, and, if God wills, we shall be permitted to watch our boy together making his way bravely in the world as his father did before him."

This was the first time she had spoken to me 関心ing her end, and as I listened, I felt as if life could never have any happiness for me again. I bent over her, and kissed her tenderly upon her forehead, such a kiss as I had never given her before. Now that I was about to lose her I was beginning to realise what a queen の中で women she was; an earthly saint if ever there was one. Read my story, and learn how I 利益（をあげる）d by the lesson I might and should have learnt from her. She may 許す me in her infinite compassion, but God knows I can never 許す myself. 地雷 was the cruelty, and 地雷 will be the eternity of repentance.

Nearly two months elapsed before the end （機の）カム, and her 苦しむing during that terrible time I could not make you understand, even if I tried to do so. At last her bodily and mental strength began to 病弱な, and the doctor gave me his 保証／確信 that the end was very 近づく. Heaven knows I could not, dearly as I loved her, and lonely as I should be without her, find it in my heart to wish that it might be 延期するd. It would not have been human to 願望（する） such a thing. It （機の）カム in the night. I had been with her until ten o'clock, and had then 許すd myself to be 説得するd by the doctor and nurse to go to my room and 嘘（をつく） 負かす／撃墜する, but I did so only on the 表明する 条件 that they should rouse me should any change occur. That change （機の）カム に向かって midnight, and they すぐに 実行するd their 約束.

"She cannot last many minutes," said the doctor in a whisper; "I 恐れる she will not 回復する consciousness." He was 権利, for she passed 静かに away a few minutes after twelve o'clock, and when I rose from my 膝s and stooped over her to kiss her, I knew that I was alone in the world—she who had loved me so 情愛深く, who had watched over me so tenderly, who had borne with my many faults and 証拠不十分s, was gone to her long 残り／休憩（する）, where who knows whether I shall be permitted to follow her?

This was the first time I had ever been brought 直面する to 直面する with Death since I was old enough to be able to understand what it meant. Strange to say, I was not so awed by it as I had imagined I should be. かもしれない the long period of waiting, knowing all the time that the end was slowly but surely approaching, may have been 責任がある this; be that as it may, however, the fact remains that it was as I have said. When I had bade the doctor good-night, I went to my own room and to bed. Worn out by watching I fell asleep almost すぐに, and did not wake until nearly nine o'clock.

Not to dwell too long on what is to me even now a painful 支配する, I might say that my mother was laid to 残り／休憩（する） next to her father and mother in Ballarat 共同墓地, and that when all the 合法的な 形式順守s had been 従うd with, the house and furniture sold, and all the other necessary 合法的な 手はず／準備 made, I 設立する myself my own master, without a relation that I could lay （人命などを）奪う，主張する to, and the respectable sum of fifteen thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs standing to the credit of my 指名する at the bank. I can 井戸／弁護士席 remember what a large sum it seemed to me, but though it opened up a vista of such dazzling 可能性s, I would only too thankfully have 交流d it to have had my mother 支援する with me once more.

No one knows better than I do now, that the most 深遠な grief does not last for ever, that there comes a time when the first violent shock of the loss 支えるd becomes いっそう少なく 厳しい, when the 激烈な／緊急の agony becomes a half-numbed 苦痛. Then as the weeks and months go by the spirits 生き返らせる, hope and ambition return, and the dead, dear as their memory may be, become part and 部分 of the past, and henceforth are looked upon only as such.

Now, for the second time in my life, it became necessary for me to decide what I was going to do in the 未来. I detested a town life, and I loved the Bush: the latter was the only one that ふさわしい me, so much was 確かな . My 資本／首都 was more than I had 推定する／予想するd to have; at the same time it was not 十分な to 令状 my going in for anything on a large 規模. In other words, while it was ample to enable me to work a thousand-acre 封鎖する, it would not go far に向かって running anything on a more ambitious 規模. After my mother's death, Melbourne became so distasteful to me that I 決定するd to leave it as soon as possible. I therefore packed my 罠（にかける）s and 出発／死d to Sydney, where I hoped to be able to solve the problem that was of such 決定的な importance to me. I made enquiries in every direction, sought advice from the men who were most competent to give it, and at the end of a fortnight 設立する myself as far off a 決定／判定勝ち（する） as I had been at the beginning. The most attractive 申し込む／申し出s were made me. Some folk 手配中の，お尋ね者 me to fit out 貿易（する）ing schooners for the South Seas, and were not polite when they 設立する that I 拒絶する／低下するd to 投資する my money in 関心s of which I had not the very slightest knowledge. Others again had gold 地雷s they wished me to 偉業／利用する, pearl beds in the neighbourhood of the Arifura Sea, that could be profitably worked with the help of 贈収賄 and Dutch 汚職. There were men with 特許s to sell, company promoters, 売買業者s in land, 株, and varieties of 商売／仕事, and, indeed, every sort of 商品／必需品 under the sun, each of which was 保証（人）d to make my fortune quicker than any other I could 可決する・採択する. But though I listened to them I gave them no 原因（となる） for hope, その結果 they left me, 悪口を言う／悪態ing me, I have no 疑問, in their hearts, though invariably outwardly polite. So far I was as much 前進するd as I was at the beginning. At last I 決定するd to bank my money and go 支援する into the Bush, and 信用 to time and my luck to show me what to do. I accordingly settled my hotel 法案, and took the train on the day に引き続いて to my old 駅／配置する 近づく Nyngan, where I remained as the 経営者／支配人's guest for nearly a fortnight. Then, having 購入（する）d a couple of serviceable horses, one for pack work and one for riding, I 始める，決める off up the Macquarrie, and thence across the Tableland, until I struck my familiar and much esteemed 知識, Bourke town. For 上向きs of a week I remained with Dorkin, fighting our 戦う／戦いs o'er again, and both of us devoutly wishing we could be on the road together once more. More than once I had told him of my wish to find a suitable place and settle 負かす／撃墜する as my own master, but though he was always prodigal of his advice, he brought me no nearer the 業績／成就 of my 願望（する）. But my luck was 運命にあるd to 勝利 in the end, and as is so often the way in such 事例／患者s, やめる by chance. I had been 負かす／撃墜する to the 地位，任命する—office to despatch some letters, and was returning to Dorkin's abode when I nearly つまずくd over a man who was lying senseless in the gutter. At first I thought he was drunk, but when I bent over him I discovered that I was mistaken. He was unconscious, as the result of a blow on the 長，率いる, evidently （打撃，刑罰などを）与えるd by some blunt 器具, and was lying in a pool of 血. I carried him into the circle of light from the oil lamp at the corner, and then 始める，決める to work 同様に as I could to 回復する him to consciousness.

At first ちらりと見ること he appeared to be a Bushman of the ordinary type, but on closer 査察 he 証明するd to be somewhat superior to the general run of men with whom I had been brought in 接触する. His age could not have been more than forty-five or forty-six at the highest computation, かもしれない it was not so much. His 直面する, にもかかわらず its pallor, was by no means unhandsome, while his features, though thin, were 正規の／正選手, and had what I suppose would be called an aristocratic 空気／公表する about them. His dress was that of the ordinary dweller in the Bush, that is to say, it consisted of a pair of white moleskin trousers, kept in position by a leather belt, a Crimean shirt, a white cotton coat, and a soft felt hat. His 手渡すs were small, and it did not look to me as if they had done very much rough work. At any 率, they were not like 地雷, 得点する／非難する／２０d all over with 削減（する）s and the 場内取引員／株価s of old sores. Taken altogether, I was decidedly prepossessed in his favour.

I had just arrived at this 結論 and was wondering what I should do with him, when he opened his 注目する，もくろむs and looked about him.

"Hullo," he said, very faintly, "what's the 事柄?" Then before I could answer, he continued, "I feel as if my 長，率いる is coming off; what on earth has happened, and who are you?"

I 満足させるd his curiosity 同様に as I was able, and then asked him if he felt 井戸／弁護士席 enough to get on to his feet. He replied by making the 試みる／企てる, and 結局, with my 援助, he managed to 緊急発進する up. I thereupon propped him against a verandah 地位，任命する and endeavoured to discover the extent of the 傷害 he had received. The light, however, was so bad that beyond 納得させるing myself that he had lost a lot of 血, there was little more to be ascertained.

"How did you get into this 苦境?" I enquired at last. "It looks as if you've had a bad time of it."

"I don't remember very much about it," he answered. "I believe a man （機の）カム up to me and asked me the time, then something 攻撃する，衝突する me on the 支援する of my 長，率いる, and I can 解任する no more." He slipped his 権利 手渡す into the breast pocket of his coat. "The brutes," he said a moment later, "they've taken my cheque for a hundred 続けざまに猛撃するs. What on earth shall I do?"

"We'll soon settle that," was my rejoinder. "What you've got to do is to get to bed as quick as you can and have that 長，率いる …に出席するd to. If you feel equal to walking, come along with me to my place, and I'll put you up for the night. In the morning we can talk 事柄s over and see what can be done to find the beasts who robbed you. Do you think you can manage the walk; it is not more than a hundred yards or so 負かす／撃墜する the street? Put your 権利 arm 一連の会議、交渉／完成する my neck and 持つ／拘留する on to me."

I placed my left arm 一連の会議、交渉／完成する his waist, and in this 明らかに affectionate style we proceeded in the direction of Dorkin's hostelry. My companion was certainly as weak as a kitten, which, after all, was scarcely to be wondered at considering the blow he had received and the 量 of 血 he had lost. However, he bore up bravely, and in 予定 course we reached my abode. I took him in by the 味方する door, for I had no 願望（する） that the folk in the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 should see him. It was within the bounds of 可能性 that the very men who had 強襲，強姦d and robbed him might be in there drinking their ill-gotten 伸び（る）s. It would be time enough to look for them when I had got him to bed.

主要な him 静かに along the passage, I at last reached my room. A candle was soon lighted, and in something いっそう少なく than five minutes I had him 安全に in bed and was on my way to the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 in search of Dorkin, who had had more experience in the 事柄 of 負傷させるs than I had had. Getting him out of the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 into his little snuggery behind I told him my tale. He listened attentively. Then an idea seemed to strike him, and he returned to the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 for his 麻薬を吸う, which he had left upon the shelf. There were about half a dozen 顧客s 現在の, three of them 居住（者）s in the town, one a drover 井戸／弁護士席-known to Sep., and two 極端に unprepossessing strangers, one of whom, a muscular fellow enough, carried a formidable looking stick in his 手渡す. It was evident that both had had as much whisky as was good for them; in point of fact, one who stood at the end of the 反対する was compelled to support himself by its 辛勝する／優位 ーするために remain upright. His companion, the man with the stick, was stolidly smoking with his 肘s on the 反対する. If ever the word "lag" was written on a human countenance, it was on his. I have met some 堅い 顧客s in my time, but I don't remember in my experience to have come across a more repulsive 直面する; it was more like that of an animal, a bulldog for instance, than that of a man. Here was just the scoundrel to commit an 強襲，強姦 such as the occupant of my bed had 苦しむd from that evening.

"井戸／弁護士席, matey, have you done that for me?" he asked of the barman, as Dorkin joined me in the parlour once more. "Look sharp about it, lad, for I want to get along to （軍の）野営地，陣営, and it's の近くに on の近くにing time. You're as slow as my old skewbald 損なう, that's what you are. Hurry up and ask the guv'nor to 強いる a good 顧客 what'll spend the money in 'is 'ouse."

"手渡す it over then, and I'll see him about it," replied the other, "but I don't know that he's got enough in the house. It's a good 'un, I suppose, '原因（となる） we don't want any 飛行機で行く-paper here."

"It's as good as any you ever 始める，決める 注目する，もくろむs on, my bloke," answered the fellow with an 誓い. "But I only show it to the boss. If Richard James Wilberforce's 指名する to a cheque ain't 価値（がある） something, I don't know whose is, and so you may take it from me. 削減（する） your lucky now, and bring me 支援する the cash. Look sharp."

"I thought as much," said Dorkin in an undertone to me. "If I'm not very much out in my reckoning, we've got the men who played the game on your pal in yonder. Hurry along to the room and ask him his 指名する, and whether it was a cheque he lost, and, if so, whose 署名 was at the foot of it. Then slip 支援する here. If he says Wilberforce, walk into the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 as if you didn't 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う anything. Sing out that it looks like rain, and leave the 残り／休憩（する） to me. We'll have a bit of fun out of this, or my 指名する's not Dorkin."

I did as I was ordered, and learnt that my protége's 指名する was Flaxman, and that he had worked for Mr. Wilberforce of Carrandara 駅／配置する, one of the largest 所有物／資産／財産s on the New South むちの跡s 味方する of the Queensland 国境, for 上向きs of three years as storekeeper, and that four days previous he had taken his cheque for の近くに on a hundred 続けざまに猛撃するs, and had come south with the idea of having a holiday. Primed with this （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） I returned to the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業.

IV. — OLD FRIENDS MEET.

PUSHING open the swing door I entered the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 and approached the 反対する. The two men were still there; Dorkin, however, was not 現在の. I could, however, hear him moving about in the little parlour at the 支援する, whistling softly to himself over something he was doing. The barman nodded to me good- humouredly, and in return I 招待するd him to join me in a drink, 発言／述べるing at the same time, and in a 発言する／表明する loud enough to be heard in the 隣接するing room, that in my opinion we were going to have rain before the night was out.

A 重要な cough from Dorkin gave me to understand that my signal had reached him. I then took 在庫／株 of my 隣人s. One of the townsmen had 出発／死d, and it was 平易な to see that the man with the stick was growing every moment more and more impatient.

"If the boss don't soon 'urry up, I'll have to go without it," he said. "What's he doin' of? This ain't the way to 扱う／治療する good 顧客s. I can't say that I think much of it myself."

"He won't be long," the barman replied. "I 推定する／予想する he's looking to see how much he's got in the cash box."

The man ordered whisky for himself and some rum for his companion. The suspense was evidently telling on their 神経s. At last Dorkin made his 外見.

"Who is it wants a cheque cashed?" he asked, looking about him for the individual in question. "If he's after an 前進する he'd better look sharp and see about it, for it's 井戸／弁護士席 up to の近くにing time."

"I'm the man, boss," said the rascal with the stick. "It's got Mr. Wilberforce of Carrandara's 指名する on it, so I reckon it's good enough for you, and for me, too. What do you think?"

"Never mind what I think," returned the other; "all I know is that I wish I had his money. What have you been doing up there? Stayin' with the family, I should say, by the look of your 手渡すs and 直面する."

"Never mind my 直面する," growled the man. "I've been shearin' up there, that's what I've been doin'. We 削減（する） out last Friday, and next day he give me the cheque for my vallyble services. Now what I want you to do is to cash it for me straight out, or as 近づく as you can get to it. If you can't manage it all, I'll come in for the 残り／休憩（する） to—morrow. I can 信用 you I reckon. Sep. Dorkin's word is as good as bank 公式文書，認めるs, so I've heard folks say."

"Folks is mighty civil all of a sudden," 発言／述べるd Dorkin contemptuously. "Howsomever, that's neither here nor there. Just を引き渡す the cheque and let me have a look at it. Then I'll tell you what I'll do for you. I banked up this afternoon, but I may be able to manage it."

Never 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うing anything, the fellow produced an envelope from his pocket and from it a slip of paper, which he passed across the 反対する to the landlord. Then he waited to see what would happen next. In spite of his bravado, I noticed that his 手渡す trembled as it took up the glass of whisky and put it to his lips. Dorkin turned it over and over before he put it 負かす／撃墜する.

"What's your 指名する?" he asked at last. "I don't mean any offence, but a man has to 保護する himself."

"What do you think it is?" enquired the other 怒って. "Ain't it 令状 there as plain as this glass that's in my 'and? Don't it say Robert Flaxman? If it don't, then I'm a Rooshian."

"That's what it does say," was Dorkin's rejoinder, "but how am I to know that you're the man? Your 指名する may be 法案 Jones for all I know. A nice thing it would be for me if I was to give you the money for this—what is it? ninety-eight 続けざまに猛撃するs, fourteen shillings and sixpence—and find out afterwards that I'd been spoofed. Is there anybody in the town that can speak for you? Fetch 'em along, and if it's all 権利 I'll do it straight off, I give you my word."

This was a new way of looking at the 事柄, and the ruffian by no means 認可するd of it. What was worse, Dorkin had 所有／入手 of the cheque, and, 借りがあるing to the width of the 反対する and the fact that the other was standing with his 支援する against the 瓶／封じ込める-rack, it was impossible for him to take it from him.

"You seem mighty distrustful all of a sudden, boss," he 発言／述べるd. "I don't know as how I altogether like the way you're talkin'. Anybody to 'ear you would go and say you thought I'd stole it."

"井戸／弁護士席, find somebody to speak for you," said Dorkin, 倍のing and 広げるing the little blue slip as he spoke. "That's all I want. If you've been up at Carrandara, there must be somebody here who knows you. You can't 非難する me for takin' care of myself, can you? I'd be a fool if I didn't."

Suddenly an idea occurred to the man, and he was quick to 行為／法令／行動する upon it.

"There's my mate here," he said. "As nice and sociable a feller as you'd 会合，会う between Bourke and Sydney. He was rouseabouting up there along of me. He'll tell yer that I'm やめる respectable, and speak for me anywhere, won't you, 法案? Talk up like a man to the gentleman."

Unfortunately for the success of his 計画／陰謀, the genial William was by this time sound asleep, with his 長，率いる on the 反対する and his 脚s spread out like a pair of dividers. His friend did his best to rouse him, and at length 後継するd. But even then his 広大な／多数の／重要な intellect 証明するd unequal to the 緊張する of thinking. He began by きっぱりと and 堅固に 宣言するing that he had never seen the other before, then that he would not be seen in his company for all the money in the world, and 結論するd his 発言／述べるs by 観察するing that he was like the Prophet Daniel, inasmuch as he had "fallen into a 燃やすing fiery den of thieves." With this 主張 on his lips he slid 静かに 負かす／撃墜する to the 床に打ち倒す, where he 再開するd his slumbers as contentedly as a little child. To say that his friend was disgusted at such behaviour would not be to 表明する his feelings at all. He kicked him viciously and called him by 確かな 指名するs which I will not 汚染する my pen by 記録，記録的な／記録するing. 一方／合間, Dorkin watched him like a cat does a mouse.

"減少（する） that," he cried in a 発言する／表明する of 雷鳴, as the other was about to raise his foot for a second kick. "I'll have 非，不，無 of that here, so you'd better stop it or you'll hear from me."

"I'd knock your を回避する for a nobbler of whisky," growled the man, and then 追加するd somewhat inconsequently, "Call this 'ere a civilised country? There's a nice mate for you—eats your tucker, sleeps in your 一面に覆う／毛布s, cadges your money, and when you want 'is word to speak for you, ups and says he don't know anything about you. Wait till I get 'im outside. If I don't give 'im what for, 井戸／弁護士席, my 指名する ain't Johnny Walker. You 示す me. I'll learn him to miscall me, if I do time for it."

"So your 指名する's Johnny Walker, is it?" asked Dorkin. "I had a sort of an idea you said it was Flaxman?"

"井戸／弁護士席, and isn't it?" asked the man, and then 追加するd with a cunning that deceived nobody, "港／避難所't you never 'eard the sayin' about Johnny Walker? You didn't surely think that was my 指名する, did you? That's a good joke, if ever there was one. Lord, how my mate would laugh if he could hear it. Never mind about that there cheque, boss. 手渡す it over here, and if you won't cash it, I make no 疑問 but that I shall find somebody else as will."

But Dorkin 辞退するd to return the 草案, and there was a look on his 直面する that boded ill for the man who might try to 軍隊 him to do so. Johnny Walker, if that were his real 指名する, had met his match at last, and it's my belief that he knew it. To feel that one has made a 決定的な mistake and is 絶対 権力のない to retrieve it is by no means a pleasant sensation, 特に where the （資金の）充当／歳出 of other people's money is 関心d. Dorkin, while he had been meditating, had 倍のd up the paper and placed it in his waistcoat pocket. Then he （機の）カム 今後 and leant over the 反対する.

"Look you here, Mr. Robert Flaxman, Johnny Walker, 法案 Jones, or whatever else you may call yourself, for the 現在の that 'ere cheque stays with me, Sep. Dorkin. Later on I'll send it 支援する to the party who it rightfully belongs to. If you kept it, it might get you into a 力／強力にする of trouble, so I'm going to take care of it for you just for a while. It isn't any use your getting wild about it, for you know me and I know you, though you pretend to let on you don't."

Here a violent 誓い escaped from the rascal on the other 味方する of the 反対する, which he capped with another to the 影響 that he had never 始める，決める 注目する，もくろむs on the landlord before.

"Then you're a bit more forgetful than I took you to be," replied Dorkin, who was not in the least put out by the other's language. "I reckon it'll be necessary for me under the circumstances to tell you where and when I first had the honour of clappin' 注目する，もくろむs on that lovely 直面する of yours. It may come as a bit of a surprise, like, to know how I've treasured your memory all these years, like the girl in the song Sailor Joe used to sing. Bless me, how does it go now? Ah! I have it." Here he 開始するd to 解除する up his 発言する／表明する in melody. "'Tis in the silence of the night

Your dear 直面する comes to me; I ぐずぐず残る long on that fond sight.

And sweetly dream—and sweetly

dream of thee!"

"Pretty ain't it? 井戸／弁護士席, that's how I feel about that 直面する of yours, though I 港／避難所't dropped into poetry yet."

"Oh, stow this rot and 'and over that cheque," said the 反対する of his 賞賛. "I'm not going to be kept 'ere all night, not for you nor anybody else. Fetch it out and let me get my mate 支援する to （軍の）野営地，陣営. As he gets sober, he gets that quarrelsome you'd be ashamed to 'ave 'im 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the place."

But Dorkin still showed no 調印する of 放棄するing 所有／入手 of what the other 宣言するd to be his 所有物／資産／財産. On the contrary he put it in his coat pocket and buttoned it up. Then there 続いて起こるd an ominous pause, during which each man 刻々と regarded the other. The man on the wrong 味方する of the 反対する was the first to break it.

"This is a nice sort of game you're playin' on me," he said. "If you won't 'and it over, I'll 'ave to see what the 法律 will say to you. You won't like that, you know."

Dorkin laughed good-humouredly. He knew perfectly 井戸／弁護士席 that the other was only playing a game of bluff. To 雇う a Bush 表現, he had now got him roped into a corner and was going to finish him off in proper style. The man looked more and more uncomfortable the longer he regarded his tormentor's 直面する. More than once he ちらりと見ることd over his shoulder at the door, as if to make sure that it was ready in 事例／患者 he might want to make his escape by it. Noticing this, I 辛勝する／優位d my way に向かって it with the idea of 失望させるing his 意向. The 批判的な moment had arrived.

"Just one moment," said the landlord, speaking very slowly and with unusual impressiveness; "there's just two little questions I should like to ask you before we go any その上の, and for the simple 推論する／理由, as the lawyers say, that they 'ave a bearin' on the point at 問題／発行する. First and 真っ先の—no, you needn't look 一連の会議、交渉／完成する at that door, it's just where it was five minutes ago, and my friend is takin' all sorts of care that it don't run away. As I was sayin', first and 真っ先の, who was 法案 Bailey? Perhaps you'll be good enough to answer me that."

"Never 'eard tell of 'im," answered the other sullenly, looking everywhere but at his 質問者. "What do I know about yer 法案 Baileys?"

"More than you're game to stand up to, I reckon," was the 静かな rejoinder. "井戸／弁護士席, if you won't tell me, I suppose I'll have to tell you. 法案 Bailey, いつかs called Roarin' 法案, いつかs called 法案 the Liar, was a gent as gave his best attention to raisin' horseflesh, and he did that same rearin' in a mighty curious sort of fashion—that is to say, with a saddle and bridle when the owner wasn't 一連の会議、交渉／完成する handy to notice him. One day he sold a friend of 地雷 a likely sort of nag out on the Upper Barcoo, and—井戸／弁護士席, to make a long story short, poor 法案 went up for five years' hard. He was terrible surprised, was 法案, I could see that, when the beak 宣告，判決d him. Then の近くに on four and a half years went by and most folk had given up thinkin' of him and didn't want to remember him when they did, till one day there was a pretty little bit of cattle duffin' done out Cunnamulla way, and the police were soon on the 跡をつける, and Michael White, 偽名，通称 法案 Bailey, 偽名，通称 Roarin' 法案, 偽名，通称 法案 the Liar, had to 直面する the 裁判官's chin-music once more. It was seven years this time. 井戸／弁護士席, allowin' for good 行為／行う 示すs, we might say, therefore, and this is my point, that he せねばならない have been out a 事柄 of a month ago. He was a rare one to gammon the chaplain they tell me, was 法案, so perhaps he's come to be a 改革（する）d character, perhaps he ain't. What would you say, Mr.— Johnny Walker? I believe you said that was your 指名する?"

Again I 悔いる to say that it is impossible for me to give that gentleman's reply in his own picturesque language. I may 発言／述べる, however, that while it was terse and to the point, it did not paint a very 希望に満ちた picture of my friend's hereafter.

"Just one more point, and then I'm done with you," continued the inexorable Dorkin, calmly lighting his 麻薬を吸う and speaking between the puffs of smoke. "It so happens, and I want your attention, gentlemen all, if you please; it so happens, I say again, that an individual fresh from Carrandara 駅／配置する arrived in town to-night. He had in his pocket a cheque 調印するd by Mr. Wilber-軍隊 for ninety-eight 続けざまに猛撃するs, fourteen shillings and sixpence. It was made out in the 指名する of John Flaxman, not 法案 Bailey or Johnny Walker, only plain John Flaxman. Now a couple of forties—you know the 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語, gentlemen—happened to get 持つ／拘留する of Mr. Flaxman and laid him out with a club. By the way, I like your stick, Mr. Walker, it's a pretty 武器 any way you look at it. When my friend over there discovered the individual to whom I 言及する, he was lying insensible in the gutter, with a big bump on the 支援する of his 長，率いる, bleeding like a stuck pig; his cheque was gone. What is more, that gentleman is now under my roof, where he will stay until he has 回復するd himself a bit. What I want to ask you, gentlemen all, is this—what you would do with a couple of dead-brokes like that, who first try 殺人 and 強盗, and then do their best to drag an innocent publican into their dirty 商売／仕事? If it hadn't been for Mr. Tregaskis there, they would probably have done me brown—this very night. Shall I 手渡す them over to the police, or what shall I do with them? If I lock them up, it's 確かな we'll all have to give 証拠 against them, and this time, Mr. Walker, it will as like not be fifteen instead of seven years."

At this point the latter forgot himself and was imprudent enough to 宣言する that Dorkin had invented the whole story, and that, so far as he was 関心d, he was 用意が出来ている to 証明する his innocence. It was an unfortunate 声明 for him to have made, as he すぐに discovered, for the words were scarcely out of his mouth before Dorkin had 丸天井d over the 反対する, 年輩の man though he was, and had given the other such a blow in the 直面する that he 発射 across the room and fell headlong upon the prostrate 団体／死体 of his snoring companion, その為に waking him up most effectually. The latter, imagining himself to be 強襲，強姦d, 攻撃する，衝突する out wildly, 権利 and left, and continued to do so long after I had dragged his fellow villain out into the middle of the room by the heels.

"Get up, you dog," cried Dorkin, standing over him with clenched 握りこぶしs. "Get up, or I'll kick you into a jelly. Don't you 嘘（をつく） shamming there. Get up, I say, or I'll give you something to remember me by that will last you till your dying day. I'll teach you to try and palm your 強盗s off on me, you skunk. What you want is the cat to make you jump, and if you're not a bit more careful it won't be long before you get it. Up with you now!"

Mr. Walker looked at the tall 人物／姿／数字 standing over him and realised that the game was played out so far as he was 関心d. He thereupon 緊急発進するd to his feet, and began, more for form's sake than for any other 推論する／理由, to 小衝突 his 着せる／賦与するs, which were covered with sawdust from the 床に打ち倒す. An excellent lump was 刻々と rising on his left cheekbone. It 約束d to 達成する decent 割合s before many hours were past.

"Now then, out you go," cried Dorkin, pointing to the door. "Get out of my house, and if ever you dare to show as much as your nose in it again I'll man-運ぶ／漁獲高 you till your own best friend wouldn't know you. Git!"

Someday, perhaps, Mr. Walker will learn, probably he has done so by this time, if he has not already been hanged, that instant obedience is a virtue to be assiduously cultivated. Had he done so earlier in life he might have come off better on this occasion. The woman who hesitates is lost, we are told. In this 事例／患者 it was the man. That moment's hesitation cost him another painful bruise, to say nothing of his lacerated feelings—the seat of his trousers and a torn coat collar. It （機の）カム about in this fashion. 観察するing that the other did not やめる やめる as soon as he might have done, Dorkin 掴むd him by the two last-指名するd 部分s of his attire and ran him to the door, which I threw open. Then, with one mighty swing, he 投げつけるd him 前へ／外へ into the night, to ricochet from a verandah 地位，任命する and finally to 嘘（をつく） 傾向がある in the インチ—深い dust of the road. The landlord then returned for his companion, who followed his leader's ignominious flight. 本人自身で, I have never tried it, but I should say that there are few things in life more humiliating than to be 排除する／（飛行機などから）緊急脱出するd so summarily and violently from a place of popular 訴える手段／行楽地. It not only does not look 井戸／弁護士席 for one's self—尊敬（する）・点, but the after 影響s are apt to be as unpleasant as they are ぐずぐず残る.

Later the other guests of the house 出発／死d, and, while my friend was locking up, I went off to ascertain how my protegé was 栄えるing. Mrs. Dorkin had bathed and plaistered his 長，率いる, and when I entered the room I 設立する him sound asleep. Next morning he was almost himself once more, and absurdly 感謝する to me for having 救助（する）d him. I may here, perhaps, 自白する that the more I saw of the man the more I liked him. In spite of his Bush 着せる／賦与するs, the veriest tyro could have told that he was a gentleman. He was tall, but not 井戸／弁護士席 built, with a curious stoop, the result of 一連の会議、交渉／完成する shoulders. At first ちらりと見ること, you would doubtless have inclined, as I did, to the belief that he was consumptive, but he certainly was not. の中で other things, he 所有するd an exceedingly pleasant 発言する／表明する and a charm of manner that I have never known equalled. He was also the possessor of one of the most equable tempers a man could かもしれない be blessed with. Nothing ever 乱すd it. Indeed, throughout our long and more than intimate friendship I am やめる sure I only once saw him in anything remotely approaching what might be 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語d a 激怒（する）. He was, I believe, though I could not 実験（する） him, an excellent linguist; I knew him for an 専門家 musician; his small library, consisting of some half-dozen authors, 証明するd him a Latin and Greek scholar, while one or two little slips he made on さまざまな occasions gave me good 推論する／理由 to suppose that he had once been a University man of some importance, or, at any 率, one from whom greater things than a Bush life had been 推定する／予想するd. That he had not 実行するd them was evident from the mere fact of his presence in Australia. As I 設立する out later, he had one serious fault—that is to say, so far as I was 有能な of 裁判官ing—and that was the fact that, blessed with the gift of 蓄積するing knowledge, he was, like myself with my own 熟考する／考慮するs, 全く 欠如（する）ing in that of 使用／適用. It was in itself perhaps a 証拠不十分 rather than a fault, but it had been 十分な to spoil his entire life.

For 上向きs of a week he remained in Dorkin's house, and it was not until the end of that time that he and I （機の）カム to the 決意／決議 that was 運命にあるd to change the course of both our lives. We were 平等に tired of New South むちの跡s, and we were also anxious to make a 企て，努力，提案 for fortune on our own account. The unfortunate part of it was that we neither of us knew how or where to begin. However, we had taken a 広大な／多数の／重要な liking to each other, and were ready to throw in our lots together so soon as we should hear of something we fancied might 控訴 us. To my delight I discovered that Flaxman had an 量 almost 同等（の） to my own lying to his credit in a Sydney bank, so that as far as money went we were more than ordinarily 井戸／弁護士席 equipped. Day by day we had long discussions with Dorkin, whom we both regarded as a 基準 当局 on anything connected with the Bush. The 悩ますd question as to whether cattle paid better than sheep was 審議d, the different markets were taken into consideration, the 変化させるing descriptions of country had to be thought of, with half a hundred other 事柄s, at first sight comparatively unimportant, but apt to become little short of gigantic when focussed against the magnitude of the 火刑／賭ける at 問題／発行する. We were neither of us millionaires, and one big loss, the result of 迅速な judgment, might （一定の）期間 irretrievable 廃虚 for both of us. Small wonder therefore, that we made up our minds to 演習 the greatest 警告を与える, and not to put our feet 負かす／撃墜する until we were 確かな that the ground on which we were treading was likely to 証明する a sure foothold. 本人自身で, I was strong for cattle, and though I fancy Flaxman would have preferred sheep, he was 平易な going enough to give in to me. That was always his way; rather than have trouble, he would throw aside his own wishes in favour of anything 提案するd by a person he liked. It would have been better for him, and, Heaven knows, a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 better for me, had he always spoken his mind as he felt, and not have taken any notice of my likes and dislikes. But what had to be, had to be. It was Kismet, and who shall try to 回避する his 運命／宿命?

At last, and when we were almost tired of the 支配する, we 解決するd to 始める，決める out on what might have been 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語d a 小旅行する of 査察 through the two 植民地s. It was not without 悔いる that we bade Septimus Dorkin "good-bye," little dreaming that neither of us was 運命にあるd ever to see him in the flesh again. I have already told you what his end was. Heaven 残り／休憩（する） him, he was a 肉親，親類d friend to me, though when I first met him I did not 心配する it.

It was on a 有望な sunny morning at the 開始／学位授与式 of winter that we said 別れの（言葉，会） to Bourke. Our horses were far too fat after their long 残り／休憩（する）, and Flaxman and myself were but little better. However, we hoped by careful riding to knock them and ourselves into 形態／調整 before we crossed the 国境 into Queensland. It is wonderful how quickly a Bush horse hardens himself if only he be judiciously managed.

We had not been long upon the road before I began to discover that my companion, good fellow as he was, could by no means be considered a first-class Bushman. Seeing that he had spent most of his time in the 蓄える／店 at Carrandara—the only 駅／配置する on which he had been 雇うd since his arrival in Australia—this was scarcely to be wondered at. Yet I could not help marvelling that with all his cleverness in 選ぶing up other things, he had not managed to acquire the insight into 事柄s, which, without 誇るing, I might say had come to me intuitively. Without meaning any sort of disparagement to him, I ought, for the sake of what is to come, to 発言／述べる that he could not leave the （軍の）野営地，陣営 to put the horses on to water half a mile away without getting bushed; while his cooking, when I 許すd him to try his 手渡す at it, was bad enough to have made the very poorest 宿泊するing-house slavey weep for shame of the human race. His damper was invariably brick-like; his Johnny-cakes would have made excellent fishing-line sinkers had they been used as such, while to 信用 him in any way with the cooking of meat was only to 法廷，裁判所 必然的な 災害. Yet with it all he was never anything but cheerful, ready at all hours to do more than his fair 株 of work, never 不平（をいう）d if short ありふれたs became necessary, and was always sanguine as to the success we should 会合，会う with in the 未来. A better companion in that way no man could かもしれない wish to have.

Having crossed the 国境, we made our way up the Bulloo River, then in 十分な flood, crossing the Cheviot 範囲 three days after leaving Adavale. Horse 料金d was abundant, water plentiful, and we ourselves were in the very best of spirits. Were we not like modern Don Quixotes, going 前へ／外へ in search of adventure? From the Cheviots, we crossed on to the Barcoo, and then 長，率いるd away for the Diamintina and the 広大な／多数の／重要な Plains that stretch thence beyond the Herbert River into the 広大な Unknown. Ye gods! what magnificent country it is, and what 広大な／多数の／重要な things might be done with it were it but better watered. For hundreds of miles we 棒 through it, keeping our 注目する，もくろむs open continually for any place that might 控訴 us. So far, however, our search had been 完全に 不成功の.

"We must try その上の north," I told Flaxman one evening when we were discussing it 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the （軍の）野営地，陣営 解雇する／砲火／射撃. "This country's too big for us—a place the size we want would be lost in it. What's more, we couldn't afford to lay out the money necessary to 保存する the water."

"It seems a pity, too," my companion replied, "for, as you say, it is wonderful country, and if we could only master the water difficulty a fortune would be standing waiting for us to 選ぶ it up. Why don't we 所有する a few thousands more 資本／首都?"

But it was no good our wishing for what we had not got, so we were perforce compelled to make the best of it. Leaving the Far West behind us, we struck out に向かって the North-East, in the direction of the Flinders River.

After a long and wearisome 旅行 across hundreds of miles of almost treeless plains, we at length reached the 郡区 of Hughenden, a quaint little place on the banks of the Flinders. Here we remained to 残り／休憩（する） and refit, and here it was that we made the 発見 that was 最終的に 運命にあるd to play such an important part in both our lives. Chance had brought us together, and 運命／宿命 was now arranging to bring to perfection the work that chance had begun.

V. — MAKING A HOME.

IT was a steaming hot night, such as few places can produce in greater perfection than Northern Queensland. To give you an 適する description of it is, I 恐れる, beyond my 限られた／立憲的な 力／強力にするs, but if you will try to imagine a steaming wash- house, a Turkish bath, and a hot kitchen all rolled into one, a smell of kerosene, stale タバコ, and ardent spirits, with millions of mosquitoes thrown in to keep one both 利益／興味d and amused, you will have arrived at some faint understanding of it. The hotel at which we had taken up our abode was 位置を示すd in the main street, and was a long low 木造の building that drove a roaring 貿易（する） both by day and night. Its bedrooms were 十分な continually. Bearded, lonely-注目する，もくろむd men made their 外見 from 駅／配置するs 据えるd away at the 支援する of Beyond, transacted their 商売／仕事 or their 楽しみ after their own peculiar fashion, drank 深い as a 支配する, as often as not more for the sake of custom than because they cared for it, and later on disappeared as 静かに and as unostentatiously as they had arrived. There were 無断占拠者s, who were almost kings in their own 権利; 経営者／支配人s and overseers, who shone in their 反映するd glory; drovers; 売買業者s; 商業の travellers; 労働 agitators; bullock drivers, or teamsters as they are more usually called; Chinese storekeepers; パン職人s and laundrymen; Hindoo and Afghan hawkers; 黒人／ボイコット fellows more or いっそう少なく degraded, によれば the length of time they had been 居住（者） in the 郡区; and a 確かな white 全住民, fallen beyond the hope of redemption. It was a motley assemblage such as could only be met with in a frontier town, and one which I was never tired of watching.

On this particular evening I could see that the 天候 had made up its mind to be thundery, indeed it had been working up for it all day. The 空気／公表する was so の近くに that it seemed as if one could scarcely breathe. Inside the hotel the atmosphere was so 厚い that, to use a ありふれた 表現, one could almost 削減（する） it with a knife. Feeling as if I could not 耐える it, I went on to the verandah and threw myself 負かす／撃墜する in a long 茎 議長，司会を務める 近づく the water 捕らえる、獲得する. 雷 was playing continually away to the west, …を伴ってd at intervals by the low rumble of distant 雷鳴. As a 支配する, mosquitoes do not trouble me very much, but on this particular night they would not leave me alone, smoke as I would. Flaxman had gone to his room with a bad 頭痛, the result, no 疑問, of the peculiar 条件 of the atmosphere. 本人自身で, I was not in the best of spirits. Our long 旅行ing and our 無（不）能 to discover what we 手配中の，お尋ね者, 重さを計るd on such 神経s as I 所有するd. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to be settled 負かす／撃墜する and to feel that I had once more a place that I could look upon as a home. I was tired of wandering in this aimless fashion, and longed to be at work once more. From the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 behind me （機の）カム the raucous 発言する／表明するs of its patrons, while under a verandah across the street a drunken man was challenging another and more sober comrade to fight him for a 瓶／封じ込める of whisky. 激しい clouds were rising in the sky, and anyone might have been forgiven for supposing that rain was 切迫した. I knew Queensland too 井戸／弁護士席, however, by this time to place much 約束 in such manifestations. It would be time enough to believe when we 現実に saw the rain 落ちるing. 雷鳴 and 雷 and dark sullen clouds did not by any means foretell a deluge. I have known it, away on the 広大な／多数の／重要な Plains, look like a 嵐／襲撃する every night for weeks on end, so like it indeed that one waited almost breathlessly for the clouds to burst and the welcome roar of rain to sound upon the roof, but nothing resulted save 失望, and in the morning every 痕跡 of a cloud would have passed away, leaving behind a sky of dazzling, pitiless blue.

I had been seated on the verandah 上向きs of a ４半期/4分の1 of an hour, and was halfway through my second 麻薬を吸う, when an old man, whose personality had 利益／興味d me a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 during the last few days, made his 外見 from the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業, and, after stepping on to the pavement to 診察する the sky, returned and dropped into a 議長，司会を務める beside me. He was an old man, as I have just said, かもしれない の近くに upon seventy years of age, with 雪の降る，雪の多い hair, a clean shaven, not unhandsome 直面する, and an 空気／公表する of 存在 out of keeping with his rough surroundings. Only that afternoon I had commented to Flaxman on his likeness to the typical 老年の nobleman of 従来の 演劇. He was 所有するd of one or two peculiarities; he took 消す, but did not smoke; he wore a 黒人／ボイコット silk 在庫／株, after the fashion of our 広大な／多数の／重要な grandfathers; he always looked spruce and neat, which is not the invariable 支配する with Bushmen; moreover, he used no 誓いs, but talked with the 空気／公表する of a cultured gentleman. From the first moment I 始める，決める 注目する，もくろむs upon him I took a fancy to the man, and was very glad now to be permitted an 適切な時期 of talking to him. His 発言する／表明する was 精製するd, and I noticed also that he occasionally 雇うd little phrases that are to-day but seldom used. While talking to him one almost felt as if one were conversing with a character in a 調書をとる／予約する, though I cannot に例える him to any personage in fiction with whom I am 熟知させるd, unless it might be dear old 陸軍大佐 Newcome.

"I believe I am 演説（する）／住所ing Mr. Tregaskis," he began, when he had been seated in his 議長，司会を務める some moments. "I had your 指名する from our landlord, who tells me you have come in from the West."

"Yes, my 指名する is Tregaskis," I answered, "and the landlord was やめる 訂正する in 説 that my friend and I have been out in the Far West. We managed to get as far as the other 味方する of the Herbert River. Do you happen to be 熟知させるd with that 地区, may I ask?"

"No," he replied, "I have never travelled so far, and now I do not think that I ever shall. There was a time when I knew no greater happiness than roving about the world, and this Continent in particular; but when one finds oneself on the borderland of seventy one does not 熟視する／熟考する doing much more of that sort of thing. 許す my impertinence, but you are perhaps native born?"

"I am," I 観察するd. "My companion, however, is an Englishman, but has been out here some few years."

"I thought as much. I also fancy I should not be very far from the 示す if I were to hazard the guess that he is an Oxford man. May I ask if I happen to be 権利? It is 単に a supposition on my part."

"Yes, you are やめる 権利," I answered. "His college was Christ Church, and I believe he did rather 井戸／弁護士席 there. At any 率, he certainly should have done so, for he is an undeniably clever man."

"He has a clever 長，率いる—a distinctly clever 長，率いる," continued the old fellow. "I commented on it to myself the first moment that I saw him. I am delighted to hear you speak so 井戸／弁護士席 of your friend, and, with your 許可, I will 追加する that I should much enjoy making his 知識."

"I am やめる sure the 楽しみ would be 報いるd," I replied politely. "I must find an 適切な時期 of making you known to each other. He has gone to bed now, I am sorry to say, with a 厳しい 頭痛, さもなければ I know he would be delighted."

He was silent for a few minutes, while the 雷鳴 rumbled in the distance and the 雷 played above the housetops opposite. I was wondering, for my part, what it was that had brought this charming old man out to Australia and had induced him to （問題を）取り上げる a life for which one might have been excused had one みなすd him やめる unfitted. If Flaxman's past were a mystery, here was evidently a greater one, and though I am not as a 支配する curious in such 事柄s, I must 自白する that I should much have liked to have known his secret. When he next spoke it was as if he had been turning some important 事柄 over in his mind. It struck me that he was a little nervous as to what he was about to say, and not knowing, of course, his 推論する／理由 I was unable to help him.

"Am I 権利 in supposing, Mr. Tregaskis," he said at last, taking 消す as he spoke and （電話線からの）盗聴 the lid of the box afterwards, "that you and your companion are out in this part of the country on the look-out for a pastoral 所有物／資産／財産 of 穏健な dimensions? At least, that was the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） which was communicated to me."

"Your informant was やめる 権利," I answered. "That is our 推論する／理由 for 存在 here. Unfortunately, however, we have so far been 完全に 不成功の; the particular description of place we 要求する seems to 存在する nowhere save in our imaginations. It is disheartening, to say the least of it. The more so as it is impossible to say how long these good seasons may last."

"Perhaps you would not mind letting me know what it is you are so anxious to 安全な・保証する," he continued. "It is within the bounds of 可能性 that I may be in a position to help you. I have a very fair knowledge of this country from the 湾 as far 負かす／撃墜する as Boulia. Will you not confide in me?"

His manner was so genial, and his 申し込む／申し出 was evidently so kindly meant, that I told him everything. He heard me out in silence, and then 約束d to sleep on it, after which he bade me good-night, 約束ing to let me know the result of his cogitations in the morning. For 上向きs of an hour I continued to smoke in the verandah, to the growling accompaniment of the 雷鳴, after which I too sought my couch and was soon in the 武器 of Morpheus.

Next morning I was standing on the verandah once more, waiting for Flaxman, who had gone out to the hotel paddock to look at our horses, when Mr. Densford, my old friend of the previous night, made his 外見 and accosted me. He was as neat as ever, and, as usual, looked better fitted to play the host in some ancestral hall than to waste his good looks on the barren 砂漠 of a Bush hotel.

"Good morning," he said, giving me his 手渡す. "I see our 嵐／襲撃する of last night has blown itself away without leaving any rain behind for our 利益, as usual. Are you at liberty to spare me a few minutes?"

I replied to the 影響 that I would do so with much 楽しみ, and we accordingly seated ourselves in the 議長，司会を務めるs we had 占領するd on the previous evening. He took a pinch of 消す with all the elegance of a Beau Brummel, and then 用意が出来ている himself for conversation.

"I have been thinking over what you said to me last evening," he began. "It has afforded me かなりの 楽しみ to think that I may be of service to you, my dear sir. There is nothing more delightful in this world than the knowledge that one is in a position to 証明する of use to one's fellowman. I take it your 願望（する） is to 得る a 所有物／資産／財産 not too large and not too small, compact, 井戸／弁護士席 grassed and watered, 避難所d, and 有能な of carrying a fair number of sheep or cattle, as the 事例／患者 may be. You would 要求する as comfortable a house as could be 得るd under the circumstances, with hut accommodation for, shall we say, six men?"

"You have 述べるd our need 正確に／まさに," I answered. "But where are we to find such a place?"

"I am delighted to 知らせる you that I have the exact place in my mind's 注目する，もくろむ," he 宣言するd. "Your description 一致するs with it most admirably. I know that the owner is anxious to 配置する／処分する／したい気持ちにさせる of it, having 決定するd to return at an 早期に date to the Mother Country, where, please God, he will end his days. It is a most attractive 所有物／資産／財産 from a picturesque point of 見解（をとる）; the house is old-fashioned, but comfortable, while the run itself 所有するs the さまざまな advantages you are so anxious to 安全な・保証する. What is more, it is to be sold at a sacrifice and for what is probably いっそう少なく than half its real value."

"You make my mouth water," I said. "And where is this wonderful place? Is it far from here?"

"Not more than thirty-five miles," he answered. "If you would care to 検査／視察する it, I would guide you to it myself, for I shall be starting in that direction to-morrow, all 存在 井戸／弁護士席. What do you say to my proposition?"

"I will 協議する my partner as soon as he returns," I answered. "The prospect seems such a glowing one that I am sure he will agree with me we ought not to 許す the 適切な時期 of 検査／視察するing it to slip through our fingers. Would you mind my asking the 指名する of the place and of its owner?"

"There is no 反対 to your knowing both," he replied. "The 指名する of the 駅／配置する is Montalta, and its owner is—井戸／弁護士席, its owner is 非，不，無 other than myself. Pray do not think I am 試みる／企てるing to take advantage of you. It is a charming little place in every sense of the word, chosen with 広大な／多数の／重要な care, and it has the 長所, not a small one as you will 収容する／認める, of having helped me to amass a very fair competency, which I ーするつもりである to enjoy on my return to my native land."

"But 許す my 説 so, is it not possible that we may not be in a position to 支払う／賃金 the price you are asking for such a 望ましい 所有物／資産／財産? Neither my partner nor I are 豊富な enough to afford a big 人物／姿／数字."

He smiled indulgently. "I don't think we shall be likely to quarrel on that 得点する／非難する／２０," he 発言／述べるd. "If I were going to stay in Australia I should not sell it at all, but surely if I am compelled by the exigencies of circumstances to do so, an old man may be permitted to indulge his fancy. I have ever been a man of moods. Since I took 所有／入手 of it I have made the place my hobby, and it would 削減（する） me to the heart to 許す it to pass into the 手渡すs of people who perhaps might not 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる it. Perhaps it may not have struck you, or you may not have noticed, how few people there are who have any real affection for the work of their own 手渡すs; who, that is to say, when they have built up a place and the time comes for them to leave it, would rather 破壊する it altogether than 許す another to enjoy the fruit of their handiwork. This is not my way, believe me. My 単独の 願望（する） is to feel sure that my place will be 井戸／弁護士席 cared for when I have left it, and that all I have done will not have been in vain. I will 支払う／賃金 you the compliment of telling you that I have received many 申し込む／申し出s for it, but, as you can see for yourself, I have not 受託するd one of them. If I wished to 配置する／処分する／したい気持ちにさせる of it, I ーするつもりであるd that it should be to someone whom I could 信用 to carry on the good work I had begun."

I thanked him for the compliment he was 支払う／賃金ing us, and 保証するd him that should we take the place we would endeavour to deserve it. Then he left me to think over what he had said. Fortunately, Flaxman put in an 外見 just in the nick of time, so that we were able to halve the 労働. I told him the news, and with his usual impetuosity he jumped at it. He 断言するd that we could not have been luckier. Everything sounded most propitious, and if I were willing he was やめる 用意が出来ている to 火刑／賭ける all he 所有するd upon the 実験.

So much pleased were we with our new-made friend's description of the place, that we were not only willing, but anxious to 始める，決める out for it without 延期する. Accordingly, next morning, すぐに after daybreak, we had our horses brought in from the paddock outside the 郡区, saddled and packed them, and then, …を伴ってd by our venerable friend, left Hughenden for Montalta 駅／配置する. The 跡をつける, for it was little more than a 跡をつける, ran first beside the Flinders River, and then, at a distance of some ten or twelve miles from the 郡区, 開始するd to 上がる almost 突然の. Thereafter it became picturesque in the extreme, threading its way いつかs through 深い ravines, later over the bold 直面するs of hills, 飛び込み 深い 負かす／撃墜する into valleys where tiny 激流s brawled unceasingly. So far it certainly did not belie the good account we had received of it. Flaxman was enraptured. I'm afraid, however, he was thinking more of the pictures he would paint than of the cattle we should there 産む／飼育する. But there! I suppose it would be impossible for us all to look at 事柄s in the same light. We should probably quarrel if we did.

At 中央の-day we 停止（させる）d for a couple of hours to give our horses a 残り／休憩（する）, and then 押し進めるd on again, the scenery, as we 進歩d, becoming more and more romantic. Suddenly, on turning a corner, we 設立する ourselves 直面するd with a gate.

"This," said our conductor, "is the 境界 of Montalta. I 申し込む／申し出 you a hearty welcome, gentlemen. We shall catch a glimpse of the homestead very すぐに."

True enough, we did so half a mile or so その上の on, and a pretty picture it made. The house itself was 据えるd on a natural 高原 on the hillside, and 命令（する）d a magnificent 見解（をとる） 負かす／撃墜する the valley. It was not a large building, but was compact, old-fashioned, and 有能な of 融通するing more people than one would have at first supposed. It 所有するd a 幅の広い verandah on three 味方するs, while the men's hut and the stockyard were 据えるd some hundred and fifty yards その上の to the 権利. In 前線 of the house was a small garden, enclosed with a white 盗品故買者, from which the 跡をつける led 負かす／撃墜する to the valley below. Both Flaxman and I 表明するd our 評価 of the excellent judgment which had been 陳列する，発揮するd in the 選択 of such a 位置／汚点／見つけ出す for a 住居.

That the old gentleman was proud of it I could tell by the way he received this compliment. "Yes," he 観察するd, "time has 証明するd to me that I did not make a mistake when I chose this 場所／位置. It was my first （軍の）野営地，陣営ing place when I （機の）カム out here to take the country up. The place is hallowed by many 協会s. Here my son was born, here in my absence he was killed by 黒人／ボイコットs, and there he lies beside his mother in that little graveyard you can see across the valley. For fifteen years I have been alone, and at one time had made up my mind to live and die here. But man 提案するs and God 配置する／処分する／したい気持ちにさせるs, and now in my old age I am returning to the land of my birth, to end my days の中で such as remain of my own kindred. But enough of that, let us 押し進める on to the house."

We accordingly 勧めるd our horses 今後 and 上がるd the somewhat 法外な 跡をつける that 負傷させる its way 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the hillside up to the 高原 on which the house was built. At last we reached the garden gate, where we 設立する a couple of 黒人／ボイコット boys waiting to take our horses. That they entertained a 広大な／多数の／重要な affection for their master it was 平易な to see by the way they grinned all over their ugly 直面するs when he spoke to them. It would have been strange had they not done so, for a more kindly old fellow I never met. Having unstrapped our valises, we walked up the garden path under the spreading 白人指導者べったりの東洋人 fronds に向かって the house. On closer 査察, it looked even more comfortable than it had done from a distance. The creeper-covered verandah was 幅の広い and 冷静な／正味の, just the place for a comfortable lounge with one's 麻薬を吸う and a 調書をとる／予約する on a hot Sunday afternoon. On either 味方する of the 前線 door were French windows, admitting to two rooms. That on the 権利 was the living room, that on the left a bedroom. There were two other bedrooms behind, with a smaller room, which was used as an office. The kitchen and Chinese cook's room were on the その上の 味方する of a small yard. Behind all rose the hill, covered with 罰金 木材／素質 to its very 首脳会議. From the 前線 verandah one could look 負かす／撃墜する the valley for miles and see the river gliding along like a silver snake until it disappeared 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the 肘 of the hill, at the foot of which we had （軍の）野営地，陣営d at 中央の-day. If cattle would not do 井戸／弁護士席 here, I told myself, they would not do so anywhere. There was food, water, and 避難所 in 豊富.

The house itself was plainly but comfortably furnished. It could not be said that its owner had permitted himself many 高級なs, but all that he had was good and 相当な of its 肉親，親類d. What was more, from 前線 door to 支援する it was as clean and tidy as a new pin. On learning from our host that the Chinaman was 責任がある this perfection, I 登録（する）d a mental 公約する that if we took over the place, Ah Chow should be induced to remain with us.

The day に引き続いて was 充てるd to a 小旅行する of 査察 of the 所有物／資産／財産. We started 早期に in the morning, and by the middle of the afternoon had seen enough to enable us to 裁判官 of its 価値（がある） and its 能力s. Our host had certainly under-率d rather than over-率d its 能力s. It was, however, evident to anyone with 注目する，もくろむs in his 長，率いる that for some years past he had been 許すing the working of the run to go very much as it pleased. A large 割合 of the 在庫／株 might very 井戸／弁護士席 have been got rid of with advantage to his pocket instead of having been 許すd to remain eating their bovine 長，率いるs off to the detriment of themselves and his 利益（をあげる）. However, those were 事柄s which could very easily be 治療（薬）d.

When we returned to the homestead and were alone together, Flaxman and I 交流d ideas. On one thing we were both 決定するd, and that was that by hook or crook Montalta must become our 所有物／資産／財産, and as soon as possible. Next morning we accordingly broached the 支配する to our host, and a 商売／仕事 discussion 開始するd. Never was a 所有物／資産／財産 性質の／したい気がして of with いっそう少なく haggling, and seldom, if ever, have two men discovered so good a 取引. At the very moment we were beginning to believe that we should be compelled to give up the search in despair, we had alighted on our feet. By 中央の-day we were, to all 意図s and 目的s, the owners of Montalta.

"God bless you, dear old George," said Flaxman, as we shook 手渡すs upon our 共同. "This is just about the happiest day of my life. Let us hope it is the beginning of real 繁栄 for both of us."

"Amen," I answered to that.

Yet if we had only been able to pierce the 隠す of the 未来, what should we both have seen? I think we should have fled the place and never have gone 近づく it again. Though a long time has elapsed since the things I am telling you of happened, I can never look 支援する upon my life at Montalta without a shudder. Small wonder, you will doubtless 観察する when you know everything.

The next fortnight was a busy one for us all. The 在庫／株 had to be 召集（する）d and 診察するd, and 手はず／準備 made for sending away for sale such as were not to be kept. We had agreed to 購入（する） the furniture of the house, so that the worry and expense of procuring any other was obviated. At last everything was 完全にするd, and on one memorable Monday morning our old friend, who had spent so many years of his life there, bade us 別れの（言葉，会）, looked his last at the home that had been the theatre of his happiness, 同様に as of his 悲しみ, and, with a wave of his 手渡す, 棒 off 負かす／撃墜する the 跡をつける. We stood on the verandah and watched him 出発／死; we saw him cross the river at the ford and 消える from our sight の中で the trees, only to 再現する later within a hundred yards or so of the little burial ground where his wife and son lay at 残り／休憩（する）. Without the 援助（する） of a glass we could see him dismount and ひさまづく beside the 石／投石する that 示すd the 二塁打 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な. Presently he rose, remounted his horse, and in いっそう少なく time almost than it takes to tell had 消えるd 完全に from our gaze for ever. Since that moment I have neither seen nor heard of him. I do not even know whether he is alive or dead, nor have I ever been able to learn his history. That it was a strange one, and would be 価値（がある） 審理，公聴会, I have not the least 疑問. The Australian Bush is the home of many strange pasts.

存在 now 正式に settled in at the 駅／配置する, you may be sure we were not 許すd to remain idle. Our work was divided as follows: while Flaxman looked after the 蓄える／店, kept the 調書をとる／予約するs and …に出席するd to the victualling of the men and our own 即座の 国内の 事件／事情／状勢s, interviewed such strangers as called, and 一般に controlled the correspondence and banking part of the 会社／堅い's 商売／仕事, I, on my 味方する, managed the run proper and gave my whole attention to the cattle and their needs. A healthy and a jolly life I 設立する it. The 可能性s of the place were comparatively boundless, and every month that went by 設立する me more and more contented with my lot. By the time we had been there a year, and I had got 事柄s 直す／買収する，八百長をするd up によれば my liking, I would not have changed places with anyone. To 追加する to my satisfaction, the season 証明するd an excellent one, and when I 手渡すd over our first 暴徒 to the drover who was to take them south for sale, I can 保証する you I was a proud man. They were as prime a lot of beasts as any lover of cattle could 願望（する） to run his 注目する，もくろむ over, and I flattered myself they would come upon the market just in the very nick of time. And sure enough they did so, and a nice price it was that they brought us in.

"This is better than clerking in a Melbourne office, George, my lad," said Flaxman, when we had read our スパイ／執行官's 祝賀の letter. "Old Brownlow, the 銀行業者, will open his 注目する，もくろむs when he sees this 草案."

"I hope he'll see a good many more like it, before we've done with him," I answered. "We're only just beginning, my boy! Given two or three more good seasons like the last and we'll be thinking of buying our next-door 隣人 out. Then we'll show them what we can do."

Our next-door 隣人, as we called him, owned the 所有物／資産／財産 to the north of us, a run somewhat larger than our own, which, had it been 適切に managed, would have paid 平等に 井戸／弁護士席. The owner, however, was a wild, dissipated Irishman, who neglected everything but the whisky ケッグ. In consequence, his 事件／事情／状勢s were trembling in the balance, and, not for the first time, he 設立する himself hovering on the 瀬戸際 of 廃虚. His 在庫／株 had 悪化するd for want of fresh 血, his home life was as unhappy as it could 井戸／弁護士席 be, while his children, the 子孫s of Irish kings as he was wont to 述べる them when in his cups, were 井戸／弁護士席 nigh as savage as their pagan ancestors. Ever since we had come to Montalta I had cast envious 注目する，もくろむs on the place, and Flaxman and I were 完全に 決定するd to acquire it as soon as an 適切な時期 should 現在の itself. But の近くに as he often 投機・賭けるd to the 辛勝する／優位 of the precipice, O'Donoghue never 現実に lost his balance. Where others would have 倒れるd over and have been lost to sight for ever, he invariably managed by some cunning trick to wriggle 支援する into a position of safety once more. Fortunately for us we saw but little of him, and what little we did see usually had the 影響 of making us いっそう少なく and いっそう少なく desirous of developing a more intimate 知識. Flaxman and I 設立する we were やめる good enough company for each other, and, therefore, we could dispense with his companionship. That was perhaps the 推論する／理由 that 伸び（る）d us the 評判 for unsociability in the little 郡区 thirty miles away to the north-east.

"Never mind what they say," 発言／述べるd my partner one day some two years after we had taken over the 駅／配置する, when something had reached my ears and made me angry. "What does it 事柄? We can afford to laugh at them. We're happy enough, and they're 哀れな because they can't sponge on us, as they'd like to do. That's the long and the short of it, you may take my word for it."

"It's Mr. O'Donoghue who's at the 底（に届く） of it," I growled. "He hates us like 毒（薬）, because he knows we want his run. But, by Jove, we'll have it sooner or later, just see if we don't. If he wants to show his teeth, he shall have good 推論する／理由 to do so."

"Live and let live, old man," replied my partner soothingly. "He's his own enemy, so let him go his way in peace. It is no 商売／仕事 of ours."

"It's all very 井戸／弁護士席 to say let him go in peace," I retorted hotly, for somehow Flaxman's equable temper always 追加するd 燃料 to my 激怒（する）. "I decidedly 反対する to having it said that we jewed the old man out of this place and that our 長，率いるs are now so swollen by success that we cannot put our hats on. If O'Donoghue says that in such a way that I can bring it home to him, I'll give him something that will induce him to mind his own 商売／仕事 for the 未来, and chance the upshot."

"You'll do no good, my dear fellow," replied my partner. "He'd like to quarrel with you, if only to get himself talked about. Besides, it is in his 血; he cannot help a liking for what he would probably call 'the devil's own cousin of a 列／漕ぐ／騒動.' Don't worry about him. Give him rope enough and he'll hang himself in his own good time."

"Yes, and then we'll step into his shoes," I answered; "we'll 部隊 the two places and run sheep on one, and cattle on the other. 許す me, old boy, for losing my temper just now. But you know how easily 感情を害する／違反するd I am, and what 激怒（する）s I get into about things you would not trouble a snap of the fingers about. However, we won't quarrel, will we?"

He laid his 手渡す gently on my shoulder and looked me in the 直面する.

"It would take a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 to make me quarrel with you, George," he said.

I shall remember that speech to my dying day, and perhaps afterwards—that is to say, if the dead can remember anything.

VI. — A FATEFUL MEETING.

FOUR years had elapsed since we had become the owners of Montalta, and never once throughout that time had either Flaxman or I 設立する occasion to 悔いる either our 取引 or our 共同. Our good luck, which had brought us the place, continued to がまんする with us, and in consequence we were making money 急速な／放蕩な. If I had a grievance at all it was that we could not become the owners of the 隣接するing 駅／配置する, for O'Donoghue, to everyone's surprise, was still playing his old game—that is to say, one month tottering on the brink of insolvency, and the next spending money like water in the nearest 郡区. Where it （機の）カム from was a riddle which everyone asked, and 非，不，無 could answer. His wife, who was of the same extraction as himself, dressed like a peeress of the realm; his daughters 棒 the best horses in the 地区; while he himself was in a 明言する／公表する of hopeless inebriation for weeks at a time. On the occasion of one of these 爆発s he （機の）カム within an エース of 燃やすing himself out of house and home, and doubtless would やめる have done so, but that a man, （軍の）野営地，陣営d in the scrub behind his house, saw the 炎上s in time and sounded the alarm. Even then the 哀れな owner had to be carried out by the overseer and one of his own daughters, singing "Lannigan's Wake" at the 最高の，を越す of his 発言する／表明する, and hitting out wildly at everyone who （機の）カム 近づく him. The 解雇する／砲火／射撃 had 起こる／始まるd in his office, where he had been drinking alone. Strange though it may appear, this 近づく thing did not induce him to mend his ways; on the contrary, he became worse than ever, until the whole 地区 made up its mind that the end must すぐに come. And come it surely did. His eldest daughter, Kate, a wild, brazen hussy of five and twenty, who spent the best part of her time flirting with the men about the place and quarrelling with her mother and sisters, took it into her 長，率いる to run away from home with the ne'er-do-井戸／弁護士席 son of the 郡区's 長，指導者 publican. O'Donoghue perceiving a chance of a 列／漕ぐ／騒動, and bent upon making a fool of himself, すぐに he discovered it, 棒 off to interview the 青年's father, taking enough アルコール飲料 with him to make sure that he should be in proper fighting 削減する by the time he arrived there. The owner of the hotel (save the 示す!) had been 類似して 占領するing himself, and a 戦う／戦い 王室の 続いて起こるd. The greater part of the 全住民 turned out to 証言，証人／目撃する it, and the story of the 遭遇（する） is told to this day. Fortunately, but small 損失 was done, おもに by 推論する／理由 of the fact that neither man was in a 条件 to 支配（する）／統制する his own movements, much いっそう少なく to direct them against his adversary. 結局 they were separated by their 各々の friends, induced to 許す bygones to be bygones, and three hours later parted company so affectionately that some people 設立する it difficult to believe that they had ever quarrelled. The result was 必然的な. Mrs. O'Donoghue, never too amiable, upbraided her husband in no 手段d 条件 for his behaviour, せいにするd her daughter's flight to his disgraceful 行為／行う as a parent, commented on the fact that they were 廃虚d, that the bank had called up the mortgage on the 所有物／資産／財産, and then left him to 反映する upon the 状況／情勢. He did so, with the 援助 of that devil's スパイ／執行官, the demi-John, and to such good 目的 that by midnight he was 熟した for anything. Accustomed though he was to 激しい drinking, he had reached the 限界 at last. He took a gun from a corner and 負担d it with ostentatious care, muttering to himself as he did so. It was an 古代の muzzle-loader, and perhaps for the 推論する／理由 that he had not used it for some かなりの time, he made the mistake of giving each バーレル／樽 a 二塁打 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金. It took him some time to find caps for the nipples; after which he opened the door and went out into the passage. A flood of light streamed from the sitting-room, the door of which was open. He crept に向かって it to find his wife there, sitting at the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する 星／主役にするing straight before her out into the dark verandah.

"Ellen, my honey," he said, in a wheedling トン, "here's your loving husband come to see ye, with a pretty little toy in his 手渡す which ye'll be afther admirin', when ye know the use of it."

She looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する, saw what he carried, and took in the position at a ちらりと見ること. Whatever else she may have been, she was as 勇敢に立ち向かう as a lioness. She did not 叫び声をあげる or beg him to put it 負かす／撃墜する. She 単に 発言／述べるd that he'd get no ducks on the lagoon if he did go out, and then rose and walked 静かに に向かって him. He was afraid of her as a 支配する, and even now he might have succumbed to her 影響（力）, but for the devil that was inside him.

"And shootin' ducks on the lagoon is it ye'd have me be afther?" he cried, 繁栄するing the 武器 as he spoke. "Sure, I've got me own duck at home, an', by the Merry Piper, I'll make her dance to me tune—so hark to that, my darlin'. 非，不，無 of your tantrums for me, ye Jezebel. Who put me children on to hate me? Who drove me gurl into runnin' away from home and her lovin' father? Look at this now, and say your 祈りs, for ye'll be wantin' 'em all before I've finished with ye. If ye but make a sound I'll shoot ye that minute."

The wretched woman must have realised by this time in what a terrible position she stood. He was mad with the drink and crazy with the 憎悪 he had long felt for her.

"Dennis," she said, "ye would not shoot your own wife, the girl ye used to say ye loved?"

"Isn't it shoot ye, ye mean?" he answered. "And why not? We're 廃虚d, are we? Then ye're better dead; 'tis a pity, for sure, that we have not Father Callaghan with us now to give ye a kindly partin', but there was no time to arrange it, seein' the way these little divils wid the green 注目する，もくろむs has been followin' me about. Never mind, I'll （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 them yet, or my 指名する's not Dennis O'Donoghue."

As he said this he looked wildly 一連の会議、交渉／完成する, and すぐに gave a spring backwards as if to escape from something that was 追求するing him. His 注目する，もくろむs were nearly out of his 長，率いる with terror and the perspiration was streaming 負かす／撃墜する his 直面する. A death watch was ticking in the woodwork of the 塀で囲む, and in the silence that followed, the 血 curdling howl of a wild dog reached them from the 不明瞭 outside.

"Look, look," he cried. "宗教上の St. Pathrick, look at thim. Thousands of them, all 新たな展開ing and curling and curling and 新たな展開ing like divils of the 炭坑，オーケストラ席. Oh, save me, save me, they're crawlin' all over me. 負かす／撃墜する, 負かす／撃墜する ye divils or I'll 解雇する／砲火／射撃. Ye won't, won't ye, thin here goes."

Whether he really meant to 解雇する／砲火／射撃 or not, I cannot of course say, but the fact remains that he did so, either by 事故 or design. The result, seeing the way in which the rusty old 武器 was 負担d could scarcely have been さもなければ. Both バーレル／樽s burst, the man was killed 即時に, while his wife fell to the 床に打ち倒す with half her left 味方する blown away. So Dennis O'Donoghue （機の）カム by his end.

The noise of the 爆発 roused the house and brought the overseer 飛行機で行くing in from his ４半期/4分の1s, which were の近くに by. There was nothing to be done for the man, but between them they carried the dying woman to her bedroom and laid her on the bed. A messenger was despatched 地位，任命する haste for the doctor, who lived in the 郡区 twenty miles away, but they might have spared themselves the trouble, for the 事例／患者 was hopeless, and an hour or so before daylight she, too, had said good-bye to the troubles and misfortunes of this mortal life. A month later the children were sent South to 親族s, the bank had taken 所有／入手 of the 駅／配置する, and it and the 在庫／株 were for sale. Unfeeling though it may seem to say so, our 適切な時期 had come at last. We すぐに placed ourselves in communication with the bank, made the necessary enquiries, and looked 今後 to the time when we should be able to turn the two 所有物／資産／財産s into one.

Winter was just 開始するing when we 開始するd our 交渉s with the bank, and I was anxious, if possible, to get 事柄s in proper 削減する before the 雨の season 適切に 始める，決める in. Times out of number did we anathematise the 延期する; banks, like the 法律, will not be hurried. Everything must be done によれば precedent, and as slowly and with as much red tape as possible. However, like most other things, it （機の）カム to an end at last, and the 会社／堅い of Tregaskis and Flaxman were 登録（する）d as the proprietors of the 駅／配置するs Montalta and Condalba. It was a proud day for us, as you may suppose, more 特に for your humble servant, whose ambition it had ever been to 部隊 the two 所有物／資産／財産s. The next thing to be done was to 配置する／処分する／したい気持ちにさせる of the cattle that remained and to 在庫／株 it in their place with sheep. Then there would be a woolshed to build in 準備完了 for the next season, a large 量 of 盗品故買者ing to be done, 境界 riders' huts to be built, and an efficient staff to be engaged, under the direction of a 長，率いる overseer, who would reside at the homestead which had seen the 悲劇の end of the O'Donoghues, man and wife. At first we had thought of dividing our time between the two places, but Flaxman had put his 拒否権 on the 協定. Nothing, he 宣言するd, would ever induce him to pass the night in that melancholy house; and from this 態度 I could not get him to budge. I have not hitherto について言及するd that の中で his other peculiarities he was strangely superstitious—believed 暗黙に in visitants from the other world, and even carried his fancy to such extremes that it made him uncomfortable to go into a dark room; saw winding sheets in the candle, mysterious 直面するs in the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, and would no more have thought of sitting 負かす／撃墜する thirteen at （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する than he would have thought of smoking a cigar in a 砕く magazine. In all my experience I do not think I have ever met a man so 完全に saturated with superstition. At one time I used to chaff him on the 支配する, but finding that he took it to heart, I abandoned it and permitted him to continue undisturbed in his belief in spirits, wraiths, portents, and other mysterious denizens of the other world.

One morning in 早期に spring I returned from a long ride that I had been 強いるd to 請け負う into the 支援する country to find that a 黒人／ボイコット boy from Condalba had ridden over with a 公式文書，認める from Ellicott, the overseer, for which he 要求するd an answer. It appeared that he was anxious to see me 関心ing a 戦車／タンク we were about to 開始する, and which was to be used for 保存するing the water on the western 境界 of the run. He had discovered, it appeared, what he considered to be a better 位置／汚点／見つけ出す for it, and was desirous of 協議するing with me about it. In reply, I scribbled a 公式文書，認める to the 影響 that I would come as 早期に as possible on the に引き続いて day without fail, and sent the boy 支援する with it. によれば my 約束 I 始める，決める off next morning soon after daylight, ーするつもりであるing, if possible, to return the same night. Ellicott received me, and we 検査／視察するd the new 場所／位置 together. I agreed with him that it was an 改良 on the old, and bade him 始める，決める to work on it as soon as possible. The afternoon was spent in visiting the wool-shed, then in course of erection, planning some new 草案ing yards, and trying to induce a 盗品故買者ing 請負業者 to realise the fact that spending half his time in the 郡区 was not only bad for his health, but also detrimental to his 商売／仕事, so far as I was 関心d. So quickly did the time pass, that it was four o'clock before I was ready to start for home. Ellicott endeavoured to 説得する me to remain for the night, but this I did not wish to do, for the 推論する／理由 that I had arranged a 会合 with a drover for the に引き続いて morning, and 手配中の，お尋ね者 to have a look at some of the 在庫／株 before he should put in an 外見.

"I think you would be 井戸／弁護士席 advised to stay," said Ellicott. "I fancy we're in for a 激しい 嵐／襲撃する. Those clouds look very 脅すing, and you'll be pretty sure to find it dark in the scrub."

But I would not listen. Having made up my mind I was 決定するd to stick to it. I accordingly 機動力のある my horse, bade him good-bye, and 棒 off, devoutly hoping it would not rain before I reached home. My hopes, however, were not 運命にあるd to be realised, for I had not gone five miles before it began to descend upon me. I prayed that it might soon stop, but instead of doing so it became 刻々と worse, until at last it （機の）カム 負かす／撃墜する a veritable deluge. Worse than all, it was growing so dark that it was only with difficulty I could see my way ahead of me. The 跡をつける, if by that 指名する it could be dignified, had not been used for many years until we （機の）カム into 所有／入手 of the 駅／配置する, and for that 推論する／理由 was barely decipherable at the best of times. In the 薄暗い light by which I was now travelling it was every moment becoming more and more a 事柄 of pure guess work. Indeed, at last I （機の）カム to the 結論 that I had lost it altogether. I dismounted and looked about me, only to have my supposition 確認するd. There was no 調印する of it to be discovered, look where I would. The rain was pelting 負かす／撃墜する in true 熱帯の fashion, and as I had not come out 用意が出来ている for it I was soon in that pleasant 条件 一般に 述べるd as 存在 "wet to the 肌." A pretty 苦境 I was in, to be sure—a 厚い scrub, 注ぐing rain, almost total 不明瞭, wet through, unable to light a 解雇する／砲火／射撃, no 一面に覆う／毛布s, and not a mouthful of food to eat. What a fool I was not to have 受託するd Ellicott's advice. Had I done so I should have spent a warm, comfortable evening; instead of which I was to wait in 悲惨 and utter 不快 as best I might until it should be light enough for me to continue my 旅行. I was experiencing one of the most uncomfortable 段階s of Bush life, and anyone who has ever done so will 確認する me when I say that there is nothing more 哀れな than a wet （軍の）野営地，陣営, even when one is 供給するd with the most 認可するd coverings. But, as the 説 has it, "what can't be cured must be 耐えるd," so I unsaddled my horse, hobbled him with a stirrup leather, and 用意が出来ている to put in the night as best I could. Fortunately I had my 麻薬を吸う to 慰安 me, which was better than nothing; さもなければ I don't know how I should have beguiled the tedious hours.

に向かって midnight the rain 中止するd for a time and a 激しい 雷鳴 嵐／襲撃する 始める，決める in, the 雷 was almost incessant, while the 雷鳴 にわか景気d and 動揺させるd 総計費 as I had never heard it do before and hope I never may again. How devoutly I wished I were out from の中で the 木材／素質, I must leave for you to imagine. I never knew from minute to minute what might happen. In the intervals between the flashes the 不明瞭 was so dense that it was やめる impossible to see one's 手渡す before one's 直面する. Then for a second all would be lit up with a blue glare and I could see the trunks of the trees around me, the rocky 味方する of the hill 一連の会議、交渉／完成する which the 跡をつける ran, or should have run, and, occasionally, my horse, standing 長，率いる up, ears pricked, amazed at the wildness of the night. Then all would be Cimmerian 不明瞭 once more. During one of these 簡潔な／要約する periods of light I caught a glimpse of a large 激しく揺する some fifty or sixty feet distant from where I was standing. I waited for the next flash to come and then started for it, groping my way over the rough ground to the accompaniment of the 雷鳴. At last I 設立する it and sat myself 負かす／撃墜する on the warmest 味方する of it, if either of them could by any stretch of imagination be so 述べるd. Would the night never pass, I continually asked myself. Every minute seemed an hour, and every hour an eternity. To amuse myself I repeated every word of poetry I could 解任する, not once, but dozens of times; tried to sing, but gave up the 成果／努力 when I discovered that it only 追加するd to the 悲惨 of the night. Once during a 雷 flash I saw a dingo slinking by not a dozen paces from my 避難所. Whether he saw me or not I cannot say, but he went his way up the hillside, and a ４半期/4分の1 of an hour or so later, during a 一時的な なぎ, I heard him raising his melancholy 発言する／表明する in lamentation a ４半期/4分の1 of a mile or so away. If you have never heard a dingo howl, pray that you never may. It is the most 血-curdling sound with which I am 熟知させるd—the cry of a screech-フクロウ, or of a dog baying the moon, is as nothing compared with it.

Another hour went by, and yet another, and still the 嵐／襲撃する did not abate one 手早く書き留める of its 暴力／激しさ, nor did there seem to be any prospect of its doing so. It would not be daylight for at least another three hours, and how I was to put in the time I could not, for the life of me, imagine. I dared not move about の中で the 木材／素質, for more than once a 激しい 衝突，墜落 had told me that some 巨大（な） of the forest had succumbed to the fury of the tempest, and bad as my 現在の 条件 was I had not the least 願望（する） to make it worse to the extent of a broken arm or 脚, or かもしれない a 厳しい 鎮圧するing from a 落ちるing tree. I accordingly remained where I was and thought of my warm bed at home and the fool I was not to have started a couple of hours earlier from Condalba.

After what seemed an eternity I struck a match, and 審査 it with my 手渡す 診察するd my watch. The time was just ten minutes to three. As I 取って代わるd it in my pocket a vivid flash of 雷 lit up the little open space in which the 激しく揺するs stood. Startled by it I looked up and saw a sight I shall never forget as long as I can remember anything. I had only time to see it and it was gone again, but not the impression it had produced upon me. I don't mind 自白するing that my first feeling was one of 完全にする surprise; my second of 絶対の terror; and I would 反抗する you, my reader, to have felt さもなければ than I did under the circumstances. Let me tell you why, and you can 裁判官 for yourself.

In the first place I knew, or at any 率 felt 肯定的な, that I was alone as far as human 存在s were 関心d on that part of the run, the nearest 境界 rider's hut 存在 some eight miles distant to the east, with no one at all to the west. Yet, standing not a dozen paces from me the 雷 now showed me the 人物／姿／数字 of a woman, dressed in some dark fabric. I was as sure as I could be of anything that it was not a 創造 of my imagination, and, as if to 証明する it, another flash （機の）カム 速く after the other and showed her to me again. She was looking 直接／まっすぐに at me, and now her 武器 were stretched out to me as if in supplication. 回復するing from my surprise I sprang to my feet, but the light had gone again and I could see nothing of her.

"Who are you?" I cried at the 最高の，を越す of my 発言する／表明する, for the howling of the 勝利，勝つd would さもなければ have （判決などを）下すd me inaudible. "And what is the 事柄?" As I spoke, I took a step or two 今後 in the hope of finding her. She did not answer, so I called again. Then there was another flash, and I 設立する myself within two or three yards of her. This time I saw her やめる distinctly. Her hat was gone, if she had ever 所有するd one, and her long hair was streaming in the 強風. She looked more like some strange spirit of the night than a human 存在. Again 不明瞭 の近くにd 負かす／撃墜する upon us, and again I called. This time she answered by imploring me to save her. A moment later I felt her touch me, and, 冷淡な as I was myself, her 手渡す on 地雷 was like a lump of ice.

"Help me, help me," she shrieked. "I am terrified. For God's sake, help me. If you leave me, I shall die."

Without answering I 掴むd her by the arm and dragged her, rather than led her, in the direction of the 激しく揺する, where I had been 避難所ing myself up to that time. Once there I shouted to her to seat herself, and took my place beside her. She was trembling violently, and cried out at intervals like a mad woman. What had produced it all—I mean, of course, apart from the 嵐／襲撃する—I could not imagine, and it was some time before she could tell me. 味方する by 味方する we sat waiting for the 暴力／激しさ of the 嵐／襲撃する to abate and for day to break—two things which I felt inclined to believe would never come to pass. More than once she tried to rise, and struggled ひどく with me when I sought to 拘留する her, which struck me at the time as 存在 in perfect keeping with the whole 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 事件／事情／状勢. If I had been told when I bade Flaxman good-bye at Montalta on the previous morning that I should be sitting beside a 激しく揺する in the middle of the next night, in a 激怒（する）ing tempest, with a woman of whom I knew nothing, driven crazy with 恐れる, beside me, I should have laughed my informant to 軽蔑（する）. Yet it was やめる true. It was more than that; it was most disagreeably and abominably true.

At last, thank Heaven, the 不明瞭 began to 解除する and a faint grey light to appear in the sky. The 勝利，勝つd was as 猛烈な／残忍な as ever, but the 雷鳴 and 雷 had 中止するd with the rain. Presently I was able to distinguish 反対するs about me. My mysterious companion I could not see very plainly, and for the 推論する／理由 that she had 設立する a 避難所 in a hollow between the two 激しく揺するs in which the 影をつくる／尾行する still ぐずぐず残るd. It was not long, however, before I was able to make her out, and to 公式文書，認める the piteous picture of dumb despair her 態度 示唆するd. She was seated with her 支援する against the nearer 激しく揺する, in a 密談する／（身体を）寄せ集めるd up position, her 長，率いる bent 今後 as if she were 熟考する／考慮するing some 反対する before her on the ground, and her 手渡すs dropped upon her 膝s. Her long 黒人／ボイコット hair lay 厚い upon her shoulders, and so covered her that I could not see her 直面する. At first I thought she was asleep, but while I looked she turned に向かって me, and for the first time I realised what she was like. How to 述べる her to you I do not know. To do 司法（官） to the 支配する I should 要求する a greater 技術 than I 所有する, or am ever likely to 所有する. Yet, having in 見解（をとる） what is to come, I must make an 試みる／企てる to enable you to see her as I saw her then.

I am able now to 明言する／公表する that at the time of our first 会合 she was 正確に／まさに twenty years of age; but had I 裁判官d from her 外見 as I saw her then, I should have 追加するd to it at least another ten or かもしれない more. That, under happier circumstances, she would be beautiful 認める of no 疑問, but at 現在の she was too haggard and terrified to appear to any advantage. Her pallor, whether natural or the result of her night's （危険などに）さらす, was certainly unusual, and contrasted strangely with her dark 注目する，もくろむs and raven hair. Her 手渡すs and feet were small and shapely, and I noticed that she wore no （犯罪の）一味. Her dress was old and much torn. かもしれない it might once have 誇るd some pretence to style, but I am not 十分に 井戸／弁護士席 up in such 事柄s to be able to form an opinion upon that point.

For a moment we looked at each other, then I rose, and she 急いでd to follow my example. It was then that I discovered how tall she was. At a rough guess, she could not have stood much under five foot eleven. Her 人物／姿／数字 was lithe, and 適切に dressed would doubtless be graceful. As it was it did not show to the best advantage. What her 国籍 was I could only conjecture from her English, but that she had some foreign 血 in her veins struck me as 存在 more than probable. Her dark 注目する，もくろむs and raven locks said as much, as did the graceful way in which she carried herself, the like of which I had never seen before.

"You saved my life," she cried impulsively, 持つ／拘留するing out her 手渡す to me as she did so. "I shall never forget it. My God! what should I have done had I not met you. I was mad with 恐れる. Oh, this awful night, I shall never be able to rid myself of the memory of it!"

She covered her 直面する with her 手渡すs as she spoke, as if to shut out the picture from her mind.

"Time will do that," I answered. "I am thankful, indeed, that we （機の）カム across each other. Had you been wandering long before we met?"

"An eternity," she replied, clenching her 握りこぶしs and looking straight before her as she spoke, though why she did so I could not understand. "I believe I must have gone mad for the time 存在. I can only remember running on and on, striking against trees, 落ちるing over large 石／投石するs, and shrieking with terror at the 雷, which, I believed was chasing me like an evil spirit to 殺す me. Then I saw you, seated beside this 激しく揺する. At first I thought it was only my madness come 支援する again. Then I heard your 発言する／表明する and believed that I was saved. Who are you, sir, and how is it that you happen to be here? I thought there was not a human 存在 within miles."

"I might ask the same question of you," I replied. "A lady was the last person I 推定する／予想するd to find out here. As for myself, my 指名する is Tregaskis, and I am one of the owners, of this and the next 駅／配置する. I lost my way in the dark, and not 存在 able to proceed, was perforce compelled to remain where I was and to を待つ the coming of daylight before continuing my 旅行. Hence my good fortune in 存在 able to （判決などを）下す you this small service. Surely you are not alone out here? You must have friends somewhere whom you have lost. Is that not so? This is a wild part of the world for a girl to be alone in. I wonder whether I could manage to find your party while you wait here in the 避難所 of this 激しく揺する. If you can give me any idea of the direction, I would find my horse and 始める，決める out in search of them at once. Doubtless they are not very far away."

"I am alone," she answered, and I cannot hope to give you any idea of the way she said it. "I had a companion, but he is dead. God knew him for the villain he was, and sent the 雷 to kill him. I hated him so that I was glad at first, but I grew 脅すd later and ran through the forest for my life."

"Do you mean that your companion was struck by 雷 and killed?" I cried, looking at her in amazement. "Surely you don't mean that? Your terror must have made you believe it."

"It is true," she cried, stamping her foot as if in 怒り／怒る at my 否定するing her. "It's as true as that I am speaking to you now. The devil sent him into the world to 難破させる my life, but God was on my 味方する and killed him to save me. I can see that you do not believe what I say. Come with me, then, and see for yourself. I ran in the dark, knowing nothing of where I went, yet I will take you straight to the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す where he lies. Call it 魔法—call it what you will, but you will find that I am telling you the truth. Come."

By this time I was becoming more and more 納得させるd that the terror of the night had 奪うd her of her 推論する／理由. She saw what was passing in my mind and laughed scornfully.

"Have no 恐れる," she cried, "I am as sane as yourself. But you must see him. You are a man, I challenge you to …を伴って me."

After that there was nothing for it but for me to go with her on what I felt sure could only 証明する to be a wild goose chase.

VII. — WHEN EVE ENTERS EDEN.

IN the previous 一時期／支部 I 述べるd to you at some length the strange challenge 申し込む／申し出d by the still stranger girl to whom I had played the part of a protector during the previous night. I have also told you the belief I felt bound to entertain 関心ing her mental balance. She had 宣言するd to me most 前向きに／確かに that her companion, a man, had been struck by 雷 and killed, and it was his 団体／死体 she 願望（する）d that I should …を伴って her to see. In itself this would have been a 合理的な／理性的な enough wish, but, when taken in 合同 with her tirade against him and the curious language she had 雇うd, I think I may be excused if I felt some little 疑問 as to her sanity. However, as she seemed so bent on my going with her, I saw nothing for it but to acquiesce in her 提案. Tired though she must have been after all she had gone through during the night, she にもかかわらず sped along before me at such a pace that, active man as I am, I 設立する some difficulty in keeping up with her. I have already 発言／述べるd on her graceful carriage. I may say that I was now permitted an 適切な時期 of 観察するing it to greater advantage. Her step was as light and sure as that of a fawn, and, rough as the walking was, she never once stopped or appeared to experience the least inconvenience. Her glorious hair she had brought into something approaching order, though for 欠如（する） of the necessary 洗面所 器具s she was unable to make a very artistic 事件／事情／状勢 of it.

For more than a mile she hurried me on, never once looking behind, but taking it for 認めるd, I suppose, that I was に引き続いて her. How she knew what course to steer, seeing that by her own 自白 she had only come through it once before, and then in the dark, I could not for the life of me understand. We left the hillside at last, and descended the plain, crossed a small stream by means of a fallen tree, which 行為／法令／行動するd as an impromptu 橋（渡しをする）—how had she crossed it during the 嵐／襲撃する, when she could not have seen her own 手渡す before her 直面する?—and then continued our march over a stretch of open ground に向かって some 厚い 木材／素質 on the その上の 味方する. Still she did not look 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. 本人自身で, I felt as if I were engaged in a walking 小旅行する in which I took but little or no 利益／興味. We entered the 木材／素質 and began to climb a slight rise; then it was that I noticed that her 速度(を上げる） was slackening. What, I asked myself, was going to happen next? Could her curious 声明 have been true after all?

Having reached a curiously-形態／調整d little 高原, she stopped suddenly, and 直面するing 一連の会議、交渉／完成する on me bade me look. I followed the direction in which she was pointing with outstretched arm and saw, lying on the ground some ten yards away, what at first I took to be a bundle of 着せる／賦与するs carelessly thrown 負かす／撃墜する. Another look, however, was 十分な to 納得させる me that it was a human 団体／死体. Realising this I 急いでd to her 味方する, and together we approached it. It was the 団体／死体 of a man, and a white man, there could be no 疑問 on that point. Reaching his 味方する I knelt 負かす／撃墜する to 診察する him, and as I did so uttered a cry of horror. Never before had I seen anything so repulsive as his 直面する. It was convulsed into the most hideous grimace that the most imaginative mind of man could conceive. It was for all the world as if he had known that he was about to die and was caught by death in the 行為／法令／行動する of laughing at his terrors. There was one other peculiarity I noticed. One 味方する of his 長，率いる was burnt almost to a cinder, as was his left 味方する and 脚. Since then I have seen the 団体／死体 of a man who had 死なせる／死ぬd in a Bush 解雇する／砲火／射撃, and I can に例える it to nothing so much as that. That he had 死なせる／死ぬd 即時に was やめる 確かな ; so terrible were his 傷害s that he wouldn't have had time to 苦しむ any 苦痛. There was some なぐさみ in that knowledge.

In age he might have been anything between forty and fifty. It was impossible to tell with any degree of certainty for obvious 推論する／理由s. His hair on the 権利 味方する of the 長，率いる was tinged with grey; the 直面する, which would probably have been by no means unhandsome under other circumstances, was decorated with a short grey 耐えるd and moustache. His 着せる／賦与するs were those of a townsman and not of a Bushman; like the girl's they were 井戸／弁護士席 削減（する）, but had seen much wear. I 診察するd his pockets, to see if I could discover any 手がかり（を与える） as to his 身元, but could discover nothing save a 麻薬を吸う, a broken penknife, a broken lead pencil, and an empty タバコ pouch—which last is a thing seldom to be 設立する in the 所有／入手 of a Bushman, preferring, as he does, to carry his smoking mixture in the solid plug. Having 納得させるd myself that nothing else remained, I rose from my 膝s and turned to the girl. She looked at me with what I thought was almost a contemptuous 表現 on her 直面する.

"You see I told you the truth," she said, as calmly as if she were 明言する／公表するing a self—evident fact "There is the man I spoke to you of; the man who has spoilt my life, and whom I hated as I never thought it possible one human 存在 could hate another. Times out of number I would have killed him without compunction, but something always 妨げるd me; now, however, he has received his 砂漠s."

"Hush, hush," I said, for though I am far from 存在 as straightlaced as I might be, it seemed infinitely shocking to hear such vindictive 感情s 落ちる from a woman's lips. "However he may have 扱う／治療するd you, the man is dead, therefore let him 残り／休憩（する） in peace."

"Bah!" she answered, with a 軽蔑（する） that it would be futile for me to 試みる／企てる to 再生する with any 見込み of success. "Why should you pity him because he is dead? If you knew him alive, you would hate him as I do. But 簡単に because he no longer lives you try to make me believe that I must play the hypocrite, and pretend to feel に向かって him as no saint could ever bring herself to do. Why should I pity him, who showed no pity to man, woman, or child? Why should I 許す him, who did not know the meaning of the word—save as a gibe? Were I lying where he lies now, and he stood looking 負かす／撃墜する at me, do you think he would have had anything for me better than a sneer? No! I knew him better than that. But I see that it gives you 苦痛 to hear me talking like this. 許す me, I pray. Since you do not wish it I will say no more. You have 証明するd yourself my friend, and I must do something to show my 感謝. 式のs! it is all I can do, for I do not know what is to become of me. I have not a living 存在 in the world to whom I can turn for help, and I have nothing wherewith to support life. What will become of me?"

Here the spirit which had carried her so impetuously 今後 hitherto gave way altogether, and she seated herself upon a 玉石 and fell to weeping 激しく. Feeling that it would do her good, I 許すd her to have her cry out, and 占領するd myself 一方／合間 in building a cairn of large 石／投石するs above the dead man. I had nothing where-with to dig a 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な, so that this was all I could do for the poor 団体／死体 until I could send men out to give it proper sepulture. By the time my 仕事 was finished my companion had 乾燥した，日照りのd her 注目する，もくろむs and was watching me from her seat upon the 激しく揺する. From her 表現 I could see that she was not taking the slightest 利益／興味 in my 労働, and still いっそう少なく in the 支配する that had occasioned it. She must have 苦しむd 大いに, I argued, to have come to this, poor girl. Though I would have given much to know, I could not ascertain, without putting the question too bluntly to her, in what sort of 関係 the dead man had stood to her. At any 率, she did not volunteer the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）, while I, of course, could not ask her for it. And now I 設立する myself 直面する to 直面する with a curious 状況／情勢. The girl had herself told me that there was not a 存在 in the world to whom she could 控訴，上告 for help, she was both friendless and penniless. What, therefore, was to be done with her? She could not be 許すd to wander about the Bush alone and unprotected, that was out of the question. I knew all the 経営者／支配人s' wives of the 地区, and felt sure that she would be unable to find a home with them. She could not go on to Condolba, that was out of the question; and what would Flaxman, who was a pronounced woman— hater, say if I took her home with me to Montalta, for that seemed the only course open to me? Though this would appear, by 推論する／理由 of the length of time it has taken me to 令状 it, to have 占領するd my thoughts for a かなりの period, it was not so. A couple of minutes, probably, decided the whole 事柄 and brought me to the 結論 that I would retrace my steps, endeavour to find my horse, and then carry her 支援する with me to the 長，率いる 駅／配置する, and 勇敢に立ち向かう the upshot of my partner's wrath. I knew his 肉親，親類d heart too 井戸／弁護士席 to think for a moment that he would raise any 反対. The mere fact that I had みなすd it the 権利 thing to do would be 十分な to settle everything.

"I think, if you have no 反対, we will now 始める，決める off in search of my horse," I 発言／述べるd, as I placed a last 石／投石する upon the cairn. "If you will 受託する our 歓待 at the 長，率いる 駅／配置する, which is about ten miles distant, I am sure my partner will join with me in doing all we can to make you comfortable. You will need a 残り／休憩（する） after all you have been through."

She gave a little shudder as I said this, and I noticed that her 注目する，もくろむs turned instinctively に向かって the heap of 石／投石するs I had just 築くd.

"You are more than good to me," she answered, with what was for her unusual humility. "I thankfully 受託する your 申し込む／申し出. If I do not I must 死なせる／死ぬ of hunger, I suppose, and yet I would not be a 重荷（を負わせる） to you for anything. If you will give me food enough to carry me on, I could doubtless make my way to some town where I might 得る 雇用. I can teach music and singing—there must be many ways in which I could make a living for myself."

"We will talk of that later," I said. "In the 合間, do you feel equal to walking 支援する as far as the place where I left my horse and saddle last night? If you do, I could leave you somewhere and 選ぶ you up when I have collected my things. I should not be gone very long if the animal has not 逸脱するd far."

"No! no! let me go with you," she cried 熱心に. "I could not 耐える to be left alone. I believe it would kill me, I do indeed. Mr. Tregaskis, you hate me, I know, for my behaviour just now, but that is because you do not know—wait, and when the 適切な時期 申し込む／申し出s you will find that I can be as 感謝する as I seem to be vindictive. I 借りがある you my 推論する／理由, if not my life, for had I not 設立する you last night I should have been a mad woman by this time."

"You must not 許す your mind to dwell on such things," I said soothingly. Then, descending to the practical, I continued, "I wish I had some breakfast to 申し込む／申し出 you, I am afraid you must be very hungry."

"I believe I could eat an elephant," she laughed, with a sudden change to levity, which I later on discovered was one of her strangest 特徴. "However, you are in just as bad a 苦境, so that the sooner we move from here, the sooner we shall be able to 満足させる our hunger."

As she spoke she rose from the 激しく揺する on which she had hitherto been sitting, and thus gave me to understand that she was ready to proceed. I gave one last look at the cairn, and then, 味方する by 味方する, we 始める，決める off 負かす／撃墜する the hillside to go in search of my horse.

Now there was a curious thing that afterwards afforded me food for かなりの reflection. As you will remember, she had on the previous night 設立する her way to me across the plain, the stream, and through the 厚い scrub on the other 味方する; after daylight she had led me without stop or hesitation by the same 大勝する 支援する to the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す where her companion, the man, had been struck dead by the 雷. Yet now, she appeared to have no notion of the direction we should take ーするために reach the friendly 激しく揺するs beside which we had met some hours before. I asked her if she could remember the way, but she only shook her 長，率いる. It had all gone from her, she said. She could not find her way if she tried. She was as hopelessly bushed as a new chum would have been. Now what had brought this about? Had her terror endowed her with a sense of which she knew nothing, for guesswork it certainly could not have been? But again the question, what was it? And why had this strange faculty 出発／死d from her now? I 決定するd to put the question to Flaxman later on and to find out what explanation he could give for it. That he would have one pat for the occasion, I could easily believe.

Whether she had been 脅すd by the 嵐／襲撃する, I cannot say; but the fact remains that my horse had gone a-wandering にもかかわらず her hobbles. Nearly two hours elapsed before I 設立する her, and by that time my companion was 井戸／弁護士席-nigh worn out. Her thin boots were torn by the rough walking, and she was faint from 疲労，（軍の）雑役 and want of food. Yet she plodded 刻々と on by my 味方する, trying, I believe, to （不足などを）補う by her cheerfulness for the bad impression she believed that she had made upon me on that little 高原 where I had built the cairn. At last we （機の）カム upon the horse, calmly feeding beside the same small creek which we had crossed and recrossed that morning some miles lower 負かす／撃墜する. She looked 非，不，無 the worse for the 嵐／襲撃する of the past night, but submitted to be caught and saddled with all the 患者 equanimity of a trained （軍の）野営地，陣営-horse. This work done, I turned to my companion, who was standing behind me watching me. It then struck me for the first time that while I had told her my 指名する, she had not, as yet, given me hers. I 知らせるd her of the fact, where-upon she stood for a moment 混乱させるd, as if she did not know what answer to give me.

"Please do not tell me if you would rather not," I said, I am afraid a little coldly, for I must 自白する her hesitation did not please me. "I have no 権利 to ask the question. Why should you, therefore, tell me?"

"It was not because I would not tell you that I hesitated," she flashed out, with something of her old 解雇する／砲火／射撃. "It is because I am ashamed of it. My 指名する is Moira Pendragon, so now you know it. Once, I believe, we were a noble family—now—" she stopped and threw her 手渡すs apart with an expressive gesture. Both were strange 指名するs—the Christian 指名する was, I believed, Irish; the surname Cornish, without a 疑問.

"It would seem, then, that by our 指名するs we both あられ／賞賛する from the same part of the world," I 観察するd, "You remember the old rhyme- -'By Tre—政治家—and Pen, You may know the Cornishmen!'"

"I am a Tregaskis, you are a Pendragon, we only 要求する someone with the prefix 政治家 to make our number 完全にする. And, by Jove, now I come to think, we are 完全にする, for my old 損なう's 指名する here is Polly, which divested of the 'ly' would come to the same thing. It looks like an omen, does it not?"

"An omen of what?" she asked, with her dark 注目する，もくろむs 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon me. "I 不信 such things."

"An omen of friendship," I replied. "Unless you would prefer not to look upon me as a friend."

She laughed scornfully, just as she had done earlier in the morning when I had asked her to remember that the man was dead. "I never had a friend worthy of the 指名する in my life," she answered. "Why should you 申し込む／申し出 to be kinder to me than the 残り／休憩（する） of the world has been? Ever since my childhood I have stood alone—the world against me. But what would I not give to know that there was someone whom I could 信用 暗黙に, as いつかs men 信用 their comrades, but as women never 信用 a woman."

"Let us try to be such friends then," I replied, 解雇する／砲火／射撃d with unusual enthusiasm, not so much by what she said as by the way she said it. "When you know me better you will discover that I am not one who gives his friendship lightly, but having once given it, it takes more than a little to break it. Will you 信用 me?"

"I will," she answered, and held out her 手渡す to me as she did so. "I will 信用 you as I have never 信用d anyone before."

And so our compact—surely one of the strangest, as you will afterwards see for yourself, that was ever made by man and woman--was 調印（する）d between us.

"Now," I said, when mere 形式順守s were at an end, "I am going to put you upon my 損なう, and we will proceed to the 駅／配置する as quickly as possible. I am afraid you will not be very comfortable, but, at least, it will not 傷つける you or tire you as much as walking."

At first she 宣言するd that she was やめる able to walk, but 結局 I 説得するd her to do as I wished. Without その上の demur she placed her foot in my 手渡す and 許すd me to swing her up into the saddle. I next arranged the stirrup in such a fashion as to give her some sort of support, and then we 開始するd our march for Montalta, which I hoped, all 存在 井戸／弁護士席, to reach by 中央の-day. It was a long and tiring walk, for the ground was 激しい after the rain we had had during the night. However, I plodded 刻々と on, talking to my companion on almost every 支配する I could think of, ーするために コースを変える her thoughts from her own unenviable position and all she had been through in the last twenty-four hours. So far as I was able to 裁判官, I 設立する her a clever conversationalist, and whatever else she may have 欠如（する）d, her education had certainly not been neglected.

At last, when, I must 自白する, I was beginning to feel a little tired myself, I saw the 境界 盗品故買者 of Montalta come into sight, and pointed it out to her. Ten minutes later we had reached it, and I was 解除するing her 負かす／撃墜する at the foot of the steps. Just as I did so, Flaxman appeared on the verandah, and I noticed the look of astonishment upon his 直面する as he saw my companion. He did not 発言／述べる upon it, of course, but I knew 同様に as possible that he was wondering what it all might mean. Having given my horse to one of the boys, I turned to 行方不明になる Moira and bade her welcome to Montalta, after which I 行為／行うd her up the steps to the verandah and introduced her to my partner. In a few 簡潔な／要約する words I told him of our 会合 during the 嵐／襲撃する of the previous night, and 追加するd that I had 説得するd her to 受託する our 歓待 for the time 存在. Whatever he may have thought, and woman-hater though he was, Flaxman was too true a gentleman to 許す her to see that her presence was unwelcome. On the contrary, he 護衛するd her into the house as if she were a princess honouring us with a visit. I remained behind for a minute in the verandah to give some 指示／教授／教育s to the boy and then 再結合させるd them in our sitting—room, where I 設立する them conversing together in a most 満足な manner. Needless to say, my mind was かなり relieved.

Remembering all she had been through, and how tired she must be, I 説得するd her after a while to go to the room which had been 用意が出来ている for her, and whither I had seen a 相当な meal 伝えるd. I 護衛するd her myself as far as the door, where she stood 直面するing me.

"How can I thank you?" she began, and doubtless would have said more had she not broken 負かす／撃墜する. Thereupon I 急いでd to 知らせる her that if she 願望（する）d to 証明する her 感謝 for such small service as I had （判決などを）下すd her, she could best do so by making a good meal and afterwards sleeping soundly for several hours to come. She gave me a faint little smile and then retired, when I returned to the sitting-room, where I 設立する Flaxman を待つing me.

"My dear fellow," he began, "what on earth does this mean? I did not like to ask any questions before the girl, but where did you 選ぶ her up? She's the most 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の looking young woman I ever 始める，決める 注目する，もくろむs on. You could have knocked me 負かす／撃墜する with the proverbial feather when I saw you two coming up the 跡をつける. Tell me all about it!"

I did so, 開始するing with my losing myself in the dark, and finishing with their introduction to each other in the verandah a short time before.

"But who can she be?" he asked. "And who was the man who was struck by 雷? What relation was he to her?" I shook my 長，率いる. "She will not tell me," I replied. "All I know about their 関係 is that she 宣言するs he had 扱う／治療するd her 不正に and that she hated him for it."

"And she told you nothing of where she （機の）カム from, nor where she was going?"

"Nothing at all. And I did not like to ask her. She was too 苦しめるd to stand much 尋問. You're not angry with me for bringing her here, are you?"

"Angry, my dear fellow," he said. "Why should I be? I hope I'm not such a cur as to be angry with a man because he does the 権利 thing by a woman in 苦しめる. But I 自白する I don't understand the young lady. I don't think I've ever met anyone やめる like her before. To use a word I detest, it seems to me as if there is something uncanny about her. Had we been in England I should have inclined to the belief that there is gipsy 血 in her veins. Those dark 注目する，もくろむs and 黒人／ボイコット hair would be やめる in keeping with the Romany race. Cornish I should certainly not have taken her to be."

"And yet the 指名する? Does not that 示唆する 協会 with the Duchy? You remember the distich, 'Tre, 政治家, and Pen'? Arthur and Uther were both Pendragons."

"And to you belongs the honour of having 救助（する）d a 子孫 of the 古代の leaders from 切迫した 危険，危なくする in the Australian Bush. It is やめる a romance."

"I can 保証する you it did not seem so to me in the middle of the night," I answered; "I don't think I was ever more 哀れな in my life. When I saw her standing before me in that 雷 flash I felt sure I was looking upon an inhabitant of another world. You cannot imagine anything more ghostly than the picture she 現在のd."

"You won't be so ready to laugh at me for the 未来," he said, with a smile.

"I would not laugh at you at all," I 急いでd to say, "if I thought it gave you 苦痛. Put it 負かす／撃墜する to my stupidity that I am unable to believe in all that you do. いつかs I almost wish that I could. And now I must be off about my work. I'm behind- 手渡す enough as it is."

So busily 占領するd was I kept that the afternoon was 井戸／弁護士席 前進するd before I reached the homestead again. One of my first 行為／法令／行動するs was to despatch a couple of men to bury the unfortunate man who had been killed by 雷; that done I felt easier in my mind, though for the life of me I could not have said why.

As I 棒 up to the house I became conscious of a tall dark 人物／姿／数字 standing on the verandah. On closer 査察, it 証明するd to be 行方不明になる Moira, but so transformed that I might 井戸／弁護士席 have been excused had I not recognised her at first ちらりと見ること. Her glorious hair was now brought into order, she had also done something to her dress, what I cannot say, that to my mind made it appear like a different 衣装 altogether. Though the 追跡（する）d look was still to be seen in her 注目する，もくろむs, it was not as 示すd as it had been when I had first brought her to the homestead. And to think that, had it not been for her 偶発の 会合 with me, this girl might even now be wandering in the scrub, mad, 餓死するing, and homeless! Under such circumstances in all probability it would not have been long before death （人命などを）奪う，主張するd her for his own. Now, for the time 存在 at least, she was 安全な.

On 審理，公聴会 my horse's step she turned and saw me. There was a smile of welcome on her 直面する. It was wonderful the difference it made in her, one would scarcely have believed it to be the same countenance, certainly not that which I had seen 星／主役にするing wildly at me in the 雷 flashes of the previous night.

"You have 残り／休憩（する）d, I can see," I called to her. "You look better already."

"It is you whom I have to thank for it," she answered; and then continued, in a lower 発言する／表明する, "I scarcely dare to think of last night. It seems as if it must all have been an evil dream from which I have only just awoke."

"Why think of it at all?" I continued. "Try to forget it if you can. You are 安全な now, nothing can 害（を与える） you here. The best thing you can do is to let the dead past bury its dead."

I realised that I had said a foolish thing, so to コースを変える her attention, I called up a boy and gave him my horse, after which I 上がるd the steps and joined her on the verandah. The change in her 外見 was, to say the least of it, remarkable. She was more womanly, more ladylike I ought perhaps to say, than I had thought it possible for her to become in so short a time. There was, it is true, the same curious litheness of movement, the same 空気／公表する of unconventionality, the same panther-like grace that I had noticed before, but it was now controlled, like a would-be masterful horse which, while it obeys its driver, is 非，不，無 the いっそう少なく conscious of its 力／強力にする to kick over the traces at any moment should occasion 現在の itself.

One way and another we had seen some curious things at Montalta since we had taken the 駅／配置する over, but I do not fancy we had ever spent so strange an evening as we did on this particular occasion. Had anyone told us a few days before that we should be 事実上の／代理 as hosts to a young girl, of whose antecedents, by the way, we knew nothing, I 疑問 very much if we should have believed it. Yet not only were we doing so, but it was evident that we were deriving かなりの satisfaction from the fact. Never before had I seen Flaxman lay himself out to be amiable as he did on this occasion. Hitherto I had always 設立する him reserved, I might almost be excused if I said "bearish," in the presence of the opposite sex. On this occasion, however, he （機の）カム out of his 爆撃する 完全に and talked as I had never heard him do before. の中で other things, we had some months before indulged ourselves in the 高級な of a piano, my partner 存在 a musician of more than 普通の／平均（する） ability.

During the evening he sat 負かす／撃墜する to it and began to play. I watched the girl's 直面する as he did so, and noticed the eager look that took 所有／入手 of it. I forget now what he played, but I remember as distinctly as if it were but yesterday the way in which she appeared to hang upon every 公式文書，認める. When he stopped, he turned on his 議長，司会を務める and looked at her. Her 手渡すs were clasped upon her 膝s and she was looking straight before her, as if she were watching something that we could not see. Then Flaxman rose, and, after a short pause, during which 非，不，無 of us spoke, she left her 議長，司会を務める, almost involuntarily, and took his place. After a moment's hesitation, she struck a few chords and began to sing. What her 発言する／表明する was I could not tell you, a mezzosoprano would, I fancy, be the proper description; I only know that it thrilled me to the very centre of my 存在. The song she sang was one of Schubert's, a sad little melody that was 運命にあるd to haunt me for many a long day to come. On Flaxman her music produced an 影響 as 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の as hers on him. He lay 支援する in his 議長，司会を務める, with の近くにd 注目する，もくろむs, drinking in every 公式文書，認める that fell from her lips, as if he were afraid of losing a 選び出す／独身 one. When the last chords died away and she rose from the 器具, we almost forgot to thank her, so 完全に had she held us in her thrall.

Later, when she had retired for the night, I went to the office to look up some （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） I 要求するd for the next day's work. Having 得るd it, I strolled out on to the verandah, によれば custom, for a smoke before turning in. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the 見解（をとる） 負かす／撃墜する the valley was like a glimpse of fairyland. Flaxman was at the その上の end, leaning upon the rails, 麻薬を吸う in mouth. 明らかに he did not hear me approaching him. Assuming a cheerfulness I certainly did not feel, I 申し込む／申し出d him a penny for his thoughts. He gave a start of surprise, and, without turning answered 激しく:—

"My thoughts! Bah! They are not 価値（がある） even a penny. They are only ghosts, such as you 影響する／感情 not to believe in. Ghosts of what was once, can never be again, yet must always be remembered. Do you understand? I think you do, but should you not, listen to Themistocles, 'Memini etiam quae nolo: oblivisci 非，不，無 possum quae volo, and you have it in a nutshell. But when you've finished your 麻薬を吸う, let's to bed, old friend, it must be nearly midnight, and you are probably tired out."

My partner always thought of others before himself.

So ended the first day of 行方不明になる Moira's stay at Montalta.

VIII. — "OH! BEWARE OF JEALOUSY."

MORE than three months had elapsed since that eventful day on which I had brought 行方不明になる Moira to Montalta. It is very possible that it may strike some people as peculiar that she should have remained so long with us. For my own part, and I think I may speak for my partner, Flaxman, I can 安全に say that we did not look at it in the same light; at least, let me be 厳密に 正確な, we did not do so at that time. Under such circumstances I cannot imagine what the consequences would have been; it is やめる 確かな , however, that they could not have 証明するd more 悲惨な than they did. I think you will be of the same opinion when you have read all I have to tell.

As I have already said, I had started with the belief that Flaxman would not 認可する my 活動／戦闘 in bringing her to the 駅／配置する at all. In this I very soon discovered that I was mistaken. The first feeling of antagonism having 出発／死d, he not only reconciled himself to her presence, but, to my astonishment, appeared to find a 肯定的な 楽しみ in it. I noticed that his 注目する，もくろむs watched her as she moved about the room, and once I could have sworn I heard him heave a 深い sigh. Perhaps she reminded him of someone he had known in that mysterious past of his, to which nothing would ever induce him to 言及する. Taken altogether, he was a queer mixture was John Flaxman.

As for 行方不明になる Moira herself, every day saw a difference in her. Her once hollow cheeks had filled out and had taken to themselves the bloom of health—her 注目する，もくろむs had lost their 脅すd look 完全に. She had 改善するd her wardrobe with all a woman's cleverness and daintiness, while she 扱う／治療するd Flaxman and myself as though we were two 年上の brothers who stood in constant need of all her care and attention. By degrees she had 完全に taken over the 管理／経営 of the house, thus relieving Flaxman and myself of one of our most irksome 責任／義務s. Under our régime the matutinal interview with our Chinese cook ran on something like the に引き続いて lines.

Scene: The kitchen.

"Morning, John!"

Grunt from John, as he dusts an invisible crumb from his spotless （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する.

"What have got?"

"Col-物陰／風下 mullon yeslay (冷淡な mutton) makee one same cullee (make curry), potato pie think? All same leesehole (rissole)."

By this he 願望（する）d to 知らせる me that there was 十分な mutton remaining over from the previous day, which, by his dexterous 巧みな操作 could be turned into a curry, a potato pie, or that culinary 代替要員，物, the 融通するing rissole. Cattle and sheep 駅／配置するs are not proverbial for their variety of diet; on the one it is all beef, beef, beef, fresh occasionally, salted usually; on the other it consists of the eternal mutton, roast, boiled, hashed, or stewed, によれば the taste and fancy of the eater.

Now all this was changed; 行方不明になる Moira assumed direction of 事件／事情／状勢s, and we were absolved from our visits to the kitchen. At first the cook was 性質の／したい気がして to resent the 侵入占拠 of a 女性（の）, but he 徐々に became accustomed to it, until at last, in his own pig-tailed way, he 入会させるd himself as one of her most ardent and 充てるd admirers. "Allee same one piece woman, velly good," he was once heard to 発言／述べる, and after that there could be no 疑問 as to his 是認. We congratulated her on her victory, but she took the 事柄 very calmly, as she did most things.

"John and I 完全に understand one another," she 宣言するd. "I 賞賛するd his pastry, and so won his regard for ever. He is pliable enough, if he is 適切に managed."

"Most of us are," I put in. "To borrow a simile from our Chinese friend, we are all pastry in a woman's 手渡すs."

"I am afraid you forget that ーするために become pastry you must 初めは have been dough," was her laughing reply, "and that sounds scarcely complimentary, does it?"

"公正に／かなり 攻撃する，衝突する, my boy," cried Flaxman, who was making a cracker for his stockwhip on the verandah outside, "if you will play bowls or compliments, you must 推定する／予想する the rub."

"Compliment or no compliment," I answered, "it's the truth, is it not, 行方不明になる Moira? There is scarcely a man in the world whose life is not 影響（力）d, one might almost say moulded, by some woman, for good or ill. I wonder how many men there are in Australia at this minute eating their hearts out in 追放する, who but for some woman would be living their lives out in peace in England?"

At that moment I heard the 割れ目 of Flaxman's 議長，司会を務める as he rose from it and went 負かす／撃墜する the verandah に向かって the steps. I すぐに wondered whether, metaphorically, I had trodden on his corns by my foolish speech. I 心から hoped not, for I would not have given the poor old fellow a moment's 苦痛 for anything. He, at least, so I 堅固に believed, might be classed の中で those to whom I had just alluded. I fancy 行方不明になる Moira knew what was passing in my mind, for she looked at me and then at the window; after which, with what was for her an 異常に 静かな 空気／公表する, she 出発／死d on 世帯 義務s 意図. When she had gone I could have kicked myself most heartily for my stupid speech. I had said it without thought, and by doing so had given 苦痛 to the two people I liked best in the world. That was always my way. My heart was in the 権利 place, but that unruly member my tongue would 固執する in getting me into trouble, however much I might try to 妨げる it.

At the 開始／学位授与式 of the week に引き続いて it became necessary for me to go north ーするために 購入（する） some 在庫／株 for which we were in 条約. It was a long and tiring 旅行, and, as I brought the cattle 支援する with me, nearly a week elapsed before I reached home again. Needless to say I was by no means sorry when I saw ahead of me the white roofs of the 長，率いる 駅／配置する rising above the trees. Having seen the cattle 性質の／したい気がして of, I gave up my horse and made my way to the house. It was nearly time for our evening meal, and I was as hungry as a hunter. But it was not of that I was thinking, but of 行方不明になる Moira. Since I had been away I had thought more than a little of her, more perhaps than was altogether good for my peace of mind. During the 冷淡な, dark nights, when I had been on watch with the cattle, and when the only sound to be heard was the croaking of the frogs 負かす／撃墜する at the waterholes, the 時折の lowing of some uneasy beast, and the cry of a night bird in the scrub, I used to think of her, and wonder at the strange chance that had brought her into my life. I used to picture her moving about the rooms, seated at the piano or 統括するing at the tray at （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, until I almost felt as if I were 現実に 現在の with her. That I was over 長，率いる and ears in love with her I knew only too 井戸／弁護士席, but whether she, on her 味方する, entertained any feeling other than 親切 for me I could not, of course, tell then. Why she should do so I could not think—it was true I had 設立する her in the 嵐／襲撃する and had brought her to the 駅／配置する, but I had done no more. On the other 手渡す, Flaxman was cleverer than I in a hundred ways; he was handsomer by a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定, was the possessor of a more polished manner; and for these 推論する／理由s, and many others, was more likely to catch a maiden's 注目する，もくろむ. For the first time since I had known him I felt jealous of him; but, in 司法（官） to myself, I must say that I tried to put the feeling away from me. What 権利, I asked myself, had I to be jealous of Flaxman, or indeed of anyone else? Yet the wretched fact remained; it was so, and it would not be 否定するd.

I 上がるd the verandah steps and passed into the hall. The sound of music （機の）カム from the sitting-room, and from the touch I knew that it was Flaxman playing. ばく然と irritated, I strode to my own room, 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd my hat and valise on to the bed, and then made my way to the room where I had no 疑問 I should find them both. As I reached the door a burst of laughter from within 原因（となる）d me to stop before entering. I felt as if I were playing the part of the unwelcome guest at the marriage feast. I 悪口を言う／悪態d myself for a fool, and opened the door. It was a homely scene that 現在のd itself to me. Flaxman was seated at the piano, with his 支援する に向かって me. 行方不明になる Moira was reclining in a low 議長，司会を務める beside the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, knitting. Opposite her, to my 激しい surprise, was an 年輩の lady of most 課すing 外見, with 雪の降る，雪の多い hair, worn in ringlets, gold-rimmed spectacles, and a general 空気／公表する of respectability that was almost awe-奮起させるing. It was a 事柄 of some moments before I recognised in her the 未亡人 of the parson of a 郡区 thirty miles or so away. But what on earth was she doing here? That was what puzzled me. She seemed to be やめる as much at home as the old cat dozing before the 炎ing スピードを出す／記録につけるs.

The sound of my 入り口 made the two ladies look up, and the exclamation of surprise to which 行方不明になる Moira gave utterance brought Flaxman wheeling 一連の会議、交渉／完成する on his stool to 直面する me.

"Welcome, old fellow," he cried, 急いでing 今後 to 迎える／歓迎する me. "We were only talking of you half an hour ago and wondering when we should see you, were we not, Moira?"

I started as if I had been stung. So they had even got as far as this during my absence. He called her by her Christian 指名する and she did not 反対する to it. I felt more like the unwelcome guest than ever, 特に when I noticed that Moira seemed to hang 支援する behind Flaxman, with a shyness I had never noticed in her before. It was almost timidly that she 申し込む／申し出d me her 手渡す and bade me welcome home. My heart sank 負かす／撃墜する and 負かす／撃墜する, for I 恐れるd the worst. I tried hard to pull myself together, but in vain; the jealous dog was on my shoulder, ready to show his teeth on the smallest 適切な時期.

"I think you already know Mrs. Dawson, do you not?" enquired Flaxman, with a little 動議 of his 手渡す に向かって the 未亡人, who, like the others, had risen and was standing before the 解雇する／砲火／射撃.

"I believe I have that 楽しみ," I 発言／述べるd, but with no 広大な／多数の／重要な show of 真心. "I think I met you the last time I was in Marabah."

"I remember the occasion perfectly," she replied in a 発言する／表明する like that of a 悲劇 queen. "My poor dear husband was alive then, ah me!" She heaved a 激しい sigh as she thought of the dear 出発／死d. This was, of course, only for 影響, since it was 悪名高い that they had led a cat-and-dog life together for years. On which 味方する the fault lay I am not 用意が出来ている to say.

"Mrs. Dawson has been 肉親，親類d enough to come up and 支払う／賃金 us a short visit," my partner continued. "I am afraid she must find it very dull, but she is good enough to pretend that she does not. Now that you have returned we must see what we can do to amuse the ladies."

I am afraid I 匂いをかぐd scornfully. If Flaxman imagined I was going to trot Mrs. Dawson about the 駅／配置する like a 耐える-leader while he paid 法廷，裁判所 to 行方不明になる Moira, he was very much mistaken. I would not do that for him or anyone else, and the sooner he realised that fact the better it would be, so I told myself, not only for him, but for all 関心d. I am afraid I was in a very bad temper indeed, and it 脅すd to grow worse as the evening 進歩d. What a poor, weak-minded fool I was! However, I was 運命にあるd to 支払う／賃金 dearly for it later on.

All this time 行方不明になる Moira had stood 静かに in the background. Once or twice she looked at me as if she divined that there was something wrong and was not able to tell what she could do to 始める，決める 事柄s 権利. I turned to 演説（する）／住所 her, and as ill-luck would have it, I had scarcely uttered a word before Flaxman, who was ひさまづくing at the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, putting some スピードを出す／記録につけるs on, said without looking 一連の会議、交渉／完成する:—

"Isn't it time for us to get ready for dinner? Surely it must be nearly seven, Moira?"

Of course, 存在 in the humour I was, I must needs take this as meaning that he was anxious to 妨げる me from speaking to her.

"Surely the dinner can wait for a few minutes," I said pettishly. "I've no 疑問 it won't spoil while I ask 行方不明になる Moira what she has been doing with herself during my absence."

I had no sooner said it than I realised what a tactless speech it was. In the first place, I had snubbed Flaxman; in the second, I had 暗示するd that the dinner would in all probability be a poor one, which was a 審議する／熟考する slight upon 行方不明になる Moira's house- keeping; and in the third and last place, I had as good as said that the young lady in question must of necessity find the time hang ひどく upon her 手渡すs when I was away from home. Whether she saw what was passing in my mind or not, I cannot say, but she replied without hesitation.

"Everything has gone on very much as usual," she answered. "I have had the house to look after. I have had several nice rides on the 損なう you gave me. She is as 静かな as a lamb now, by the way, and looks so beautiful. You will see a difference in 飛行機で行く's puppies, I 推定する／予想する, they have grown a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定. Poor old thing, she has 行方不明になるd you."

"That's more than other people have," I thought to myself 激しく. "It's a trifle hard to a man when only his dog, poor dumb creature, seems to have felt his absence from home." However, thank goodness, I had, for once, 十分な sense to keep these thoughts to myself. Had I given utterance to them, I dare not think what the consequences would have been. We talked together for a few moments longer, and then, without その上の 対立 on my part, went off to our 各々の rooms to 準備する ourselves for the evening meal.

I had just changed from my travelling 着せる／賦与するs into those I usually wore at home, when Flaxman entered the room. I thought at first that he had come to remonstrate with me for my sulky behaviour in the sitting-room and to find out in what way he had 感情を害する／違反するd. I soon discovered, however, that this was not the 事例／患者. He had 単に come in for a 雑談（する） while I dressed, as he very often did. にもかかわらず my wretched temper, I could not help feeling my heart warm to him as I saw him in my looking—glass seated on the bed, watching me with a smile on his kindly 直面する. He was a man with whom anyone would find it difficult to 選ぶ a quarrel, and yet that evening I had been やめる 用意が出来ている to do so, indeed I had been almost anxious to do so.

"井戸／弁護士席, how did you get on?" he enquired. "Did the cattle come up to your 期待s?"

"In every way," I answered, manipulating a tie as I spoke. "They're a first-class lot and should do 井戸／弁護士席 in our country. I got them cheaper than I 推定する／予想するd. I fancy old MacPherson wants money—at least, I gathered as much from what one of his overseers let slip. If all goes 井戸／弁護士席, we shall turn over a snug 利益（をあげる） by next season."

"Bravo, old fellow, you're a wonderful 手渡す at scenting out a 取引. At any 率, I'm glad to have you home again. I did not think you could かもしれない be here before Saturday."

"I should not have been, but for the river 落ちるing. We were able to cross just above Arbuthnot's 境界, so saved a couple of days—a saving for which both I and the cattle were more than 感謝する. If we had had any more rain it would have meant going 一連の会議、交渉／完成する by the Rocky Waterhole, and that's far from 存在 a part of the country that I care about. Any news here?"

"Nothing of any importance," he replied. "There was a slight freshet on Monday, so we moved the 在庫／株 from number three paddock up to number five. On Wednesday, that is to say yesterday, the 蓄える／店s （機の）カム up, and I sent out the ration cart to the huts. That's all there is to tell, I fancy."

There was a little pause, after which I said, "By the way, how did Mrs. Dawson happen to get up here? She was about the last person I 推定する／予想するd to see."

We were 直面するing each other now, and it seemed to me that he looked a little uneasy. Once more I began to grow 怪しげな. I wondered what excuse he would make to account for her presence. He did not 試みる／企てる to make one, however. His answer was perfectly straightforward, as I should have known it would be.

"I asked her to come up and spend a short time with us," he said. "For some while I have thought it was scarcely fair of us to debar 行方不明になる Moira from the society of her own sex. Feeling sure that you would agree with me, I wrote to her, she 受託するd, and I sent the buggy to the mail change to 会合，会う her. Perhaps I should have waited until you （機の）カム home, but the 適切な時期 seemed too good to be 行方不明になるd. You are not annoyed about it, are you?"

"Why on earth should I be?" I asked, but 非，不，無 too cordially. "You have a perfect 権利 to do as you please, and, of course, we must make 行方不明になる Moira as happy as we can. That goes without 説."

"I'm glad you take it like that," he continued; "I was half afraid you might not like it. Now, let us come and have dinner. I 推定する／予想する you are ready for it."

When we reached the dining-room we 設立する the cloth laid and everything ready for our meal. Though, of course, I did not say anything on the 支配する, I could not help comparing the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する as it was now, with what it had been, say, a year before. Now it was daintily decorated, the glass and silver sparkled upon the 雪の降る，雪の多い napery; aforetime we were content with pewter plates, forks and spoons, while our glass ware might have been dropped or thrown about without the least 恐れる of any 損失 happening to it. And this change we 借りがあるd to 行方不明になる Moira, the girl whom I had 救助（する）d under such 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の circumstances a few months before. For that, at least, we should have been 感謝する.

For 上向きs of a fortnight Mrs. Dawson remained with us, and by the end of that time I had やめる come to see the 知恵 of Flaxman's 活動／戦闘. There could be no sort of 疑問 that it gave 行方不明になる Moira 楽しみ to have a 女性（の） companion, one with whom she could talk the talk that women love and of which Flaxman and I were やむを得ず incapable. When one got to know her, the 未亡人 証明するd a kindly old soul, and while perhaps her best friend could not have called her 知識人, she was やめる clever enough to comprehend the position of 事件／事情／状勢s and to 行為／法令／行動する accordingly.

As may be supposed, I was やめる ready to enjoy a holiday after my long and tire—some 旅行. I had worked hard, had made money for the 会社／堅い, and felt する権利を与えるd to a （一定の）期間. Winter was 井戸／弁護士席 前進するd, and, so far as I was 関心d, work on the 駅／配置する was 事実上 at a 行き詰まり. I was thus able to 充てる more time to the amusement of 行方不明になる Moira and her companion than I should さもなければ have been able to do. I took them for 運動s here, there, and everywhere, pointed out the beauties of the run, such as they were, and 一般に did my best to 利益／興味 them. And with each day my love was growing stronger and stronger. いつかs it was as much as I could do to keep it 支援する, so strong was the craving to let her know how much she was to me. But I dared not do it. What, I had to ask myself, would my position be should she tell me that she did not love me? In that 事例／患者 it would be necessary for one of us to leave the 駅／配置する, for we could not live under the same roof together. And who would have to leave?

At last Mrs. Dawson's stay （機の）カム to an end, and I drove her to the mail change eight miles away, where she was to catch the coach for home. That she was sorry to go there could be no 疑問; she had taken a sincere liking to 行方不明になる Moira, which was heartily 報いるd. As we drove along she spoke of her.

"She is a wonderful girl," she said. "I don't think I have ever met another like her. He will be a lucky man who 勝利，勝つs her for his wife."

To this I 申し込む／申し出d no reply, for the simple 推論する／理由 that I felt I could not speak without betraying my secret. She did not appear to find anything 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の in my silence, or if she did she did not comment upon it. But she had not done with the 支配する yet.

"Yes," she continued, "he will be a lucky man who 得るs the 手渡す of Moira Pendragon in marriage. Pray, have you noticed anything lately?"

"In what way?" I asked. "Do you mean in 言及／関連 to 行方不明になる Moira? If so, I am afraid I have not."

"井戸／弁護士席, yes, it 言及するs to her of course," she went on, "but I am thinking of Mr. Flaxman. Has it ever struck you that he admires her?"

So she had noticed it too, had she? I felt the old demon of jealousy spring to life within me すぐに. If she had noticed it, then it must be so, and my friend was my 競争相手 after all.

"I do not see how anyone could fail to admire her," was my reply. Then, after a short pause, I 追加するd, "Does it strike you that he means anything by the 賞賛 he entertains for her?"

"I cannot, of course, say for 確かな ," she answered, "but in my own heart I feel 確信して that he does. One has only to watch him when he is in her company to realise that in Moira he has met his 運命／宿命."

Every word she uttered stabbed deeper and deeper into my heart, and yet, though I winced under the 苦痛, I did not 試みる／企てる to escape from it.

"What you say 自然に surprises me," I began. "It is also a little disquieting, for Flaxman is not only my partner, but my best friend. If he were to marry, it would make a 広大な 取引，協定 of difference to me, and I am afraid I am selfish enough to think of that."

"Perhaps I should not have spoken my mind so 自由に," was her reply. "But I felt sure you must have noticed it as I did, and have drawn your own 結論s. The 事柄 seemed so obvious."

The horses had covered nearly a hundred yards before I put my next question to her.

"And what do you think 行方不明になる Moira's 決定／判定勝ち（する） would be in the event of his asking her to become his wife?" I queried, though I could scarcely 軍隊 myself to utter the words.

"I feel sure she would 受託する him," replied the old busybody. "And I think she would be very wise. He is a charming man, 井戸／弁護士席 read, good-looking, and they have so many 業績／成就s and tastes in ありふれた."

I 悪口を言う／悪態d his good looks and his 業績／成就s, and to 証明する it gave the 近づく—味方する horse such a 削減（する） with the whip that it sent him capering 負かす／撃墜する the 跡をつける for a hundred yards or more. Fortunately for her peace of mind the old lady beside me was やめる unconscious of the 苦痛 she had 原因（となる）d me, and I ーするつもりであるd that she should remain so if necessary to the end of the 一時期／支部. Five minutes later, when I had steered the conversation into a safer channel, the mail change hut （機の）カム into 見解（をとる）, and almost at the same moment the coach itself turned the corner of the cross 跡をつけるs and pulled up before the shanty. When we had drawn up と一緒に, I 補助装置d Mrs. Dawson to alight, and then saw to the stowing away of her luggage on the coach. The driver was ready to start again by the time this was finished, so that there was no 適切な時期 permitted us for discussing the topic in which we were both so much, yet so 異なって, 利益／興味d. This was a boon for which, you may be sure, I was 感謝する.

When the clumsy 乗り物 had rolled away and had disappeared 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the corner of the 跡をつける, I stayed talking to the change man for a time, then having 得るd our mail 捕らえる、獲得する, turned my horses' 長，率いるs and 始める，決める off on my 運動 支援する to the 駅／配置する. As you may suppose, I had plenty to think about as I drove along, and my thoughts were far from 存在 pleasant ones. What would become of me if Moira became Flaxman's wife, as I felt sure she would do? I should have to （疑いを）晴らす out of Montalta, for I could not 耐える that— flesh and 血 could not stand it—特に a man who loved her as madly as I did. The very thought of it 井戸／弁護士席 nigh drove me beside myself. God help me for a 哀れな man, if ever there was one.

The sun was low as I drove up to the 長，率いる 駅／配置する. There was a thundery look about the sky that seemed to prophesy rough 天候 in the very 近づく 未来, and I thanked my 星／主役にするs it was not my 運命／宿命 to have to （軍の）野営地，陣営 out that night. From what I could 裁判官 of it, it looked very much like 存在 a repetition of that eventful one on which I had seen Moira for the first time, dripping, dishevelled, and 井戸／弁護士席-nigh driven mad with terror. I had 救助（する）d her then and had brought her to my home, for what? 井戸／弁護士席, so far as I could 裁判官, for no other 推論する／理由 than to break my heart. And that through the instrumentality of my best friend. It was the irony of 運命／宿命 with a vengeance. I had never loved before, and now that I had met the one woman of all the world for me, she had preferred another to me. For the first time since I had known it, I could find it in my heart to wish that I had never seen or heard of Montalta and that Flaxman and I had never met.

As I have explained earlier in my story, the homestead of Montalta is approached by a circuitous 運動—跡をつける would perhaps be a better description—which 勝利，勝つd through the horse paddock, then passes through some rather 罰金 木材／素質 up to the 高原 on which the house itself is 据えるd. Needless to say there are gates on either 味方する of the small horse paddock, and as I had no one with me it was necessary for me to get 負かす／撃墜する and open them for myself. I had crossed the paddock and had alighted to open the second, which led into the belt of 木材／素質 above について言及するd, when the sound of 発言する／表明するs reached my ears. I recognised them 即時に; in fact, there could be no mistaking them. Loth though I was to do so, I could not help overhearing a 宣告，判決 or two of what they said. It was Flaxman talking.

"But, my dear Moira," he was 説, "許す me if I say that I cannot understand why you should feel in this way about the 事柄. I am やめる sure that if you will only have patience all will come 権利 in the end."

"No! No! It can never come 権利," was Moira's sobbing reply. "I must go, come what may."

"Such a thing is not to be thought of for a minute," Flaxman retorted quickly. "I would not hear of it. Do you want to break my heart? If so, you're going the 権利 way to work to do it."

What reply she made to this I cannot say, for they were now too far off for me to hear, even if I wished to play the part of eavesdropper any longer, which I am やめる sure that I did not. I accordingly propped the gate open and led my horses through, の近くにing it after me. ーするために give the pair time to get 井戸／弁護士席 away, I did not hurry myself, and when I remounted to my seat in the buggy I 許すd them to walk the 残りの人，物 of the distance for the same 推論する／理由. What did it all mean? Why was Moira crying, and, still more important, why did she 主張する on the necessity of her going away from Montalta? Here was a nice riddle they had given me to solve. That she was unhappy, there could not be the least 疑問, but what was it that had made her so? I 公約するd that, come what might, I would find out, and before very long, too.

IX. — GATHERING CLOUDS.

IT was with a 激しい heart that I drove up to the homestead which I loved so 井戸／弁護士席. What I had heard in those few minutes had been 十分な to 粉々にする even the smallest hopes I might have entertained of winning Moira's love. And at the 支援する of it all was a haunting terror that I could not 追い散らす, do what I would. What could this 恐れる be? This trouble that would never come 権利, that was 運動ing her away? It was so unlike her to show 恐れる; as a 支配する she was so self-reliant, so 独立した・無所属, that this 完全にする 決裂／故障 was all the harder to understand. I passed the 前線 of the house and proceeded to the stables, or to be more 訂正する to the shed in which we kept the buggy, for stables we had 非，不，無, nor did we 要求する them. A few 地位，任命するs with hooks and a bough shade for hot days were all we 要求するd. Having seen the horses unharnessed, I strolled slowly 支援する to the house, feeling more like a 犯罪の on his way to 死刑執行 than anything else. How I was to look them in the 直面する, knowing what I did, I could not for the life of me imagine. I crossed the open space between the kitchen and the house and entered the 支援する verandah. One of the 黒人／ボイコット boys from the （軍の）野営地，陣営 was seated on the steps waiting for the "young missis," so he 知らせるd me.

"What do you want her for, Snowball?" I asked, hoping that she would make her 外見 while I was talking to him and thus enable me to get our first interview over in the presence of a third party, even if that third party did happen to be a 黒人／ボイコット fellow. I repeated my question as to what he 手配中の，お尋ね者 with 行方不明になる Moira.

"Want melcin (薬／医学) longa me, 地雷 think it," was the whining reply. After which he continued, "Plenty bad this fella. 地雷 think it got 'um debbil-debbil (devil-devil)."

At this moment the lady for whom he was waiting, and whom the tame 黒人／ボイコットs of the 地区 had come to regard as a 内科医 of 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の cleverness, made her 外見 from the house. Seeing me, she looked at me in a timid way, for all the world as if she were 脅すd as to what I might be going to say to her. Her 注目する，もくろむs showed traces of 最近の 涙／ほころびs, and when she spoke I noticed that her 発言する／表明する was not as 安定した as usual. It could have been no small 事柄 that had brought about this 明言する／公表する of things.

"井戸／弁護士席, Snowball," she began, "what is it now? Have you been drinking rum again? You 約束d me you would never do so again. Do you remember that?"

"Not rum, Missis," the native replied. "Very bad this fella. Like 'um die 地雷 think it."

He began to groan and rub himself as if in proof of his 主張.

"Why do you bother yourself with him?" I asked. "The fellow is only 課すing on you. That rascal at the River Bend grog shanty has been letting him have rum again, and this is the result. Leave me to を取り引きする him. I have some 薬／医学 by me that I fancy will about 会合，会う his 事例／患者."

"No! no!" she answered, with a 軍隊d smile. "I cannot let you play with him, but if some day when you are passing that way you would call in and give that rascal Giles a good talking to it would be more to the point. It does seem a shame that, in spite of all the 警告s he has received on the 支配する, he should 固執する in giving this 毒（薬） to these poor creatures. It maddens them, and then they come to me to be put 権利 again. If I were a man I should feel inclined to horsewhip him. He richly deserves it, if ever a man did."

"Even that might be managed without very much difficulty," I replied, feeling that in my 現在の humour it would do me a 広大な 量 of good to 扱う／治療する the man in question in the manner she 示唆するd. "I'll 耐える it in mind the next time I'm passing that way, and it won't be my fault if the scoundrel does not remember it for at least a week or two. I've had a 棒 in pickle for him for some time past. You let me catch you 負かす／撃墜する at the grog shanty, Snowball, and I'll give you waddy till your own lubra won't know you. Don't you forget that."

The 黒人／ボイコット whined something to the 影響 that he had not been 近づく the place in question, but 行方不明になる Moira 削減（する） him short by telling him to remain 静かに where he was until she brought him some 薬／医学. She there-upon returned into the house, and I followed her. We had 捨てるd through our first interview 安全に; I had now to 会合，会う Flaxman and see how he would comport himself に向かって me. If he could look me in the 直面する as calmly as he was wont to do, then I should know him for one of the most consummate actors I had ever come in 接触する with.

We did not 会合，会う, however, やめる as soon as I 推定する／予想するd, for he had gone 負かす／撃墜する to give an order at the men's hut and did not return for 上向きs of an hour. When he did he went straight to his room, so that I did not get an 適切な時期 of speaking to him before the evening meal. When we did 会合，会う, 行方不明になる Moira was in the room, so that conversation, save on everyday topics, was impossible. That, for some 推論する／理由 or another, he was ill at 緩和する I could plainly see, not only from his disjointed conversation, but from the way in which he ちらりと見ることd almost apprehensively from time to time at 行方不明になる Moira, who sat pale and, so it seemed to me, care-worn at the その上の end of the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. All things considered, it could not have been looked upon as a cheerful meal, and I think we were all 部隊d in せいにするing this to the 出発 of Mrs. Dawson, who thus, for once in her life at least, became of real use to her fellow humans.

Our meal finished, we 延期，休会するd as usual to the sitting-room next door, but on this occasion, and not a little to my surprise, there was no suggestion of any music. Flaxman ensconced himself in an 平易な 議長，司会を務める with a 科学の work he had received by that day's mail, 行方不明になる Moira 占領するd herself with her sewing, while I endeavoured to 利益／興味 myself in the pages of the Australasian, and failed signally in the 試みる／企てる. Taken altogether, we were as 哀れな a trio as could have been 設立する between Cape York and Sydney 長，率いるs. Once I did my best to 促進する conversation on the 支配する of a 悪名高い 偽造 事例／患者 then sub judice. The 成果／努力, however, was in vain. 行方不明になる Moira 率直に 自白するd that she knew nothing about it, while Flaxman propounded a theory which was absurd to the 国境s of lunacy, and which 証明するd to me beyond a 疑問 that he had not paid the least attention to what I had been talking about. Thus discouraged, I succumbed to the general inertia. About ten o'clock 行方不明になる Moira rose, and 説 that she was tired, went off to bed. As she gave me her 手渡す, I looked into her 直面する, but her 注目する，もくろむs would not 会合，会う 地雷. She ちらりと見ることd 速く up at me and then 負かす／撃墜する at the 床に打ち倒す—I could feel that she was trembling, though why she should have done so I could not for the life of me imagine. She knew 井戸／弁護士席 enough that I was her friend, that there was nothing I would not do to help her at any cost to myself. And from what I could see of it, she stood 不正に in need of help just then, if ever a girl did. Then the door の近くにd upon her, and she was gone. Flaxman and I were alone together.

It is all very 井戸／弁護士席 to （不足などを）補う your mind that you will do a thing which is unpleasant but necessary; it is やめる another to do it. I 設立する it so in this 事例／患者. I was fully 決定するd that as soon as a fitting 適切な時期 現在のd itself I would take the bull by the horns and ask my partner straight out what he believed to be the 事柄 with the girl. But now that the actual moment arrived for carrying that 計画／陰謀 into practice I 設立する myself shirking it like the despicable coward that I was. And yet I knew in my heart of hearts that the question must not only be put, but also that it must be answered, and that without 延期する. The mere thought that 行方不明になる Moira had 宣言するd her 意向 of leaving the 駅／配置する made this imperative. But how was I to begin? Flaxman was still engaged with his 調書をとる／予約する, pausing now and again to 立証する a 計算／見積り or to 示す a passage for 未来 言及／関連. The clock ticked 刻々と on the mantelpiece and the スピードを出す／記録につけるs crackled in the fireplace. That was the only sound to be heard in the room. At last I could 耐える the suspense no longer.

"You seem to be very 利益／興味d in that 調書をとる／予約する," I said, by way of making a beginning.

"I am," he answered, without looking up. "I've always been fond of mathematics. The 支配する has a 広大な／多数の／重要な fascination for me. Under other circumstances I fancy I might have made a 指名する for myself in that line of 熟考する／考慮する. As it is—井戸／弁護士席, you know the 残り／休憩（する）."

He gave a queer sort of a smile and a shrug of the shoulders, as much as to say, "See what I have come 負かす／撃墜する to."

I knocked the ashes out of my 麻薬を吸う against the 味方する of the fireplace and then slowly refilled it. Now that the 決定的な moment had come I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to 伸び（る） time.

"I say, Flaxman," I began, "there's something I want to ask you. I should have done so earlier in the evening, but I did not have an 適切な時期."

"What is it you want to ask me?" said Flaxman, の近くにing his 調書をとる／予約する, but keeping the place with his finger. He must have realised from my manner that something out of the ありふれた was about to happen. かもしれない he may have guessed what it was.

"Have you noticed any change lately in 行方不明になる Moira?" I 問い合わせd, feeling that I was now 公正に／かなり committed.

"What sort of change do you mean?" he replied. "Don't you think she looks 井戸／弁護士席?"

"I am not referring to her bodily health," I answered. "But it seems to me that she is not as happy as she used to be. Tonight, for instance, she scarcely spoke, unless she was spoken to."

"Very かもしれない she may have a 頭痛," he continued. "The day has been thundery, and, as you know, that usually upsets her."

"But I am 納得させるd that she is fretting, that she is unhappy about something," I went on. "One had only to look at her 直面する at dinner to see that she had been crying. Now, what made her cry? Have you any sort of idea? You have been more in her company to- day than I have, so surely you must have noticed something."

Flaxman hesitated before he replied, and I could not but notice the fact. My 疑惑s were momentarily 増加するing. He was in the secret, and he was 事実上の／代理 a part in order if possible to put me off the scent. But I was 決定するd to 侵入する the mystery if I could manage it.

"My dear old fellow," he went on, "you give me credit for more 侵入／浸透 than I 所有する. I certainly have been in her company a good 取引，協定 to-day, and have noticed, I 自白する, that she did not seem やめる as cheerful as usual, but I am やめる unable to tell you what occasioned it. You 辞退する, you see, to 受託する my suggestion with regard to the 雷鳴."

"Because I am やめる sure it has nothing どれでも to do with it," I replied. "Thundery 天候 may have a depressing 影響, and I know that she is susceptible to its 影響（力）s, but it does not make her 注目する，もくろむs swollen with crying or depress her to such an extent that she will not speak and scarcely dares to look her friends in the 直面する. No! old man, there's more behind this than 会合，会うs the 注目する，もくろむ, and you know it. If she is in any sort of trouble, I think I have a 権利 to 株 the secret with you. It is not fair to let me be kept in the dark like this."

"But, my dear fellow, what should put it into your 長，率いる that you are 存在 kept in the dark, or that there is any secret which you せねばならない 株 in? You are taking 事柄s far too 本気で, believe me, you are. Remember, after all, she is little more than a girl, and girls are the slaves of all sorts of whims and fancies. Doubtless, you will find that she will be やめる herself tomorrow, and you, on your 味方する, will be laughing at yourself for having been so 関心d about her."

Plausible as all this was, it did not in the least shake my 有罪の判決, not only that there was something wrong, but also that Flaxman was aware of it. The fact that he would not 自白する it, or 株 his knowledge with me, 公正に／かなり roused my temper. It was not fair to me. If he loved her and she loved him, why on earth did he not say so straight out and let me know the truth? Then, at least, I should be aware how I stood. As it was, I was neither one thing nor the other. I loved Moira with all the strength of which my nature was 有能な, but how could I tell her this, feeling as I did that her love was given to another? For the same 推論する／理由, although I knew that she was unhappy, I could not 干渉する or 試みる／企てる to 始める，決める 事柄s 権利. All that was needed was that Flaxman should speak out, which was the one thing of all others that I could not induce him to do. I 決定するd, however, to make one more endeavour. If that failed, there would be nothing for it, but to let 事柄s take their own course and がまんする by the result. The prospect was by no means 元気づける.

"It's all very 井戸／弁護士席 for you to be so 確かな that there is nothing wrong," I said at last, "but, for my part, I am sure there is. The girl is not herself at all. The first 適切な時期 I get I shall try to induce her to confide in me and to tell me what her trouble is. It is evident you don't care."

He once more の近くにd his 調書をとる／予約する and looked up at me, 刻々と and unflinchingly. Had I not been angry and therefore a fool I should have seen in his 直面する that all my suppositions, such as they were, were wrong. However, the most obvious is as often as not the least discernible; the small deer sees what the elephant overlooks. And it was so in my 事例／患者.

"What makes you think I do not care?" he asked very slowly. "Does it not strike you that that is rather a strange thing to say, seeing that 行方不明になる Moira and I are friends?"

Then I lost my temper altogether: his manner was more than I could かもしれない put up with.

"Are you やめる sure that you're not something more than friends?" I sneered. "Oh, you need not think you can put me off the scent. I am a little wiser than you suppose me to be. I 港／避難所't knocked about the world without learning to keep my 注目する，もくろむs open."

"By heavens, this is too bad," he cried, springing to his feet and almost overturning his 議長，司会を務める as he did so. "Are you mad that you talk to me like this? I'll not put up with it. It is more than flesh and 血 can stand. I never thought you, of all men, would have said such things to me."

"I notice that you do not 否定する the truth of my words, although you 反対する to them," I went on, my temper rising momentarily higher. "That, I should say, would be more to the point."

He threw at me a look which I shall not forget to my dying day. I can read its meaning now, in the light of after events, but I was too much beside myself with 激怒（する） to do so then.

"You are 侮辱ing me," was all he said, and made as if he would leave the room. "If you do not 尊敬（する）・点 me, you might at least 尊敬（する）・点 her. Some day, I 誓約（する） you my word, you will be sorry for this. But it will be too late then."

Surely the spirit of prophecy must have been upon him at that moment, for what he 予報するd then has certainly come to pass, to my bitter shame be it said. Yet, God help me, could that scene be re-行為／法令／行動するd, I 恐れる I should again behave as I did then. It is a pitiful 自白 to have to make, but, 式のs! it is the truth. But to continue my narrative.

I have said that Flaxman made as if he would leave the room. He did not do so at once, however, but stood at the door for a few moments, looking 支援する at me with an 表現 of deepest reproach upon his 直面する. Then he passed out, leaving me in the room alone.

"Let him go, the こそこそ動くing hound," I muttered, for I am 決定するd to 始める，決める everything 負かす／撃墜する. "He little thinks what I heard 負かす／撃墜する at the gate this afternoon. However, he has not done with me yet. If I can be nothing else to her I can at least stand by her like a brother, and, by heaven, I will too—so let my 罰金 gentleman beware of me. I'm a man, not a school-行方不明になる, as he'll find to his cost."

Patting myself on the 支援する thus, I mixed myself a stiff glass of grog and 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd it off. Under its 魔法 影響（力） I began to see 事柄s in an even clearer light than before. I 解任するd little circumstances which had hitherto escaped my memory, and which now only served to 増加する the 負担 of 犯罪 my unhappy partner was carrying. A second glass of grog 納得させるd me beyond all 可能性 of 疑問 that it behoved me to call him to account for his 治療 of the girl—always, of course, in my self-任命するd capacity of brother. A third showed me how happy I might have been with her had 運命／宿命 been kinder; after which I went off to bed 堅固に 解決するd to 始める，決める 事柄s 権利 on the morrow.

On the morrow, as it happened, I rose with a splitting 頭痛 and a general feeling that nothing was 権利 with the world. On first waking I had only a 混乱させるd idea of all that had occurred on the previous night. Then, as memory returned to me, I began to realise something of the serious nature of 事件／事情／状勢s. One thing was やめる 確かな , and that was the fact that Flaxman and I must come to some 限定された understanding on the 支配する as to which we had fallen out. Until that was done, life would be 井戸／弁護士席 nigh unendurable for both of us. As for myself, I had not abated one 手早く書き留める of my 決意 to 支持する／優勝者 行方不明になる Moira's 原因（となる）; if anything, my 意向 to do so was even more 堅固に rooted than before.

It was a strange trio that sat 負かす／撃墜する to breakfast that morning. I was not hungry, Flaxman scarcely touched anything, while 行方不明になる Moira 統括するd at the tea tray, but, beyond playing with an infinitesimal piece of toast, made no pretence of eating at all. I could see from the furtive ちらりと見ることs she stole at both of us from time to time that she knew that there was something amiss with us and that she 恐れるd it was on her account. To try and コースを変える her thoughts I started some topic of conversation, I forget what. Flaxman joined in it, probably with the same 意向, and for perhaps a minute and a half all went 井戸／弁護士席, then it dwindled 負かす／撃墜する, no one 申し込む／申し出d any その上の 発言／述べる, and 静かな 統治するd once more. 非，不，無 of us had the pluck to start a fresh 支配する, so the 残りの人，物 of the meal was eaten in silence. I was the first to rise, 行方不明になる Moira next, and Flaxman last. I 知らせるd the company 一般に that I should not be in to lunch, as I had made up my mind to ride out into the 支援する country to see how much 損失 the flood had done. I fancied I （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd a look of 救済 on the 直面するs of my two companions, and the thought was far from pleasing to me. It was evident that they みなすd me safest out of the way; at any 率, for the 現在の. No man likes it to be thought that his company is not welcome, and it was certainly so in my 事例／患者. They 手配中の，お尋ね者 to get rid of me, did they? 井戸／弁護士席, they should do so. But his 星／主役にする help Flaxman if he played me 誤った in my absence! The vengeance I would take in that 事例／患者 would be one that he would not be likely to forget for many a long day to come. Poor blind fool that I was, I still 固執するd in believing that all I did was 権利, and that all they did was wrong. For pig-長，率いるd obstinacy a mountain—殴打／砲列 mule could have given me points and a （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing.

Having 発表するd my programme for the day, I lit my 麻薬を吸う, and calling up one of my terriers, of which I had about half a dozen, I left the house and strode off to the 蓄える／店, before which a group of the 手渡すs was waiting for their 仕事s to be allotted them. When I had made my 手はず／準備, and had selected two of their number to …を伴って me, a move was made to the stockyard, where the 黒人／ボイコット boys had run up the horses. In something under a ４半期/4分の1 of an hour all had 分散させるd in さまざまな directions, and I and my companions were riding 負かす／撃墜する the 跡をつける that led along the valley に向かって the part of the run I was anxious to 検査／視察する. It was a perfect winter's morning, as winters are reckoned in that part of the world. The dew lay 激しい on the grass and bushes, and the もや of morning was 製図／抽選 off the hill 最高の，を越すs before the 増加するing heat of the sun. Pink-breasted 祝祭s, 乱すd by us, rose like clouds before us and wheeled high above our 長，率いるs in the brilliant light, turning from white to pink and 支援する again to white, to settle on some new feeding ground a mile or so away to our 権利. Now and again a 広大な／多数の／重要な 失敗ing kangaroo would go skipping across our path, 追求するd at a respectful distance by the terriers, who knew too much to endeavour to come to の近くに ４半期/4分の1s with those terrible hind 脚s. A young wallaby sat on a 激しく揺する and 熟考する／考慮するd us attentively, then scratched his nose with his absurd little paws, cast an apprehensive ちらりと見ること at the dogs, （機の）カム to the 結論 that they were not to be 信用d, and disappeared from 見解（をとる） with one bound, much to the amazement of a flock of white cockatoos, who shrieked discordantly at him from the 隣人ing tree-最高の，を越すs. It was just the morning for a ride, and on any other morning I should have 完全に enjoyed it. On this particular occasion, however, I could see nothing good in it. Everything was distorted and warped by the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 that was 激怒（する）ing within me. I could not see any beauty in the landscape, or feel any warmth in the 日光. Beyond giving some 指示／教授／教育s to the men who …を伴ってd me, I don't think I spoke half a dozen words in the first ten miles. The very タバコ I was smoking did not seem to taste the same as usual, nor did the animal I was riding, my favourite 切り開く／タクシー／不正アクセス by the way, appear in any better spirits than myself. And that reminds me, I wonder if you have ever noticed, I have done so times out of number, how quickly a horse who is accustomed to you gets to know the sort of humour you are in and すぐに adapts himself to it? Perhaps you 開始する him on some 罰金 spring morning, 十分な of life and the joy of living. He knows the feeling and 報いるs it, 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするs his 長，率いる, plays with his bit, and passages just to show you that he is as ready for a gallop in the fresh を締めるing 空気／公表する as you are. On the other 手渡す, we will suppose that you are depressed, out of spirits, and not inclined for boisterous fun; 観察する then how he adapts himself to these altered circumstances. He proceeds soberly upon his way, as if he were wondering what he could do in his small way to help you, and has at last come to the 結論 that the best line for him to 可決する・採択する would be to carry you 慎重に, neither too 急速な／放蕩な nor too slow, and to wait with equine patience for the cloud to 解除する from your shoulders and for the 日光 to burst 前へ／外へ once more. No, I shall never be 納得させるd that horses do not understand a man's feelings almost 同様に as he does himself. Why, of course they do!

It was の近くに upon eleven o'clock by the time we reached the place I was anxious to 検査／視察する. The flood which I had been dreading had not done as much 損失 as I had 推定する／予想するd; にもかかわらず there were several 事柄s which 要求するd attention; several パネル盤s of 盗品故買者ing had in one place been washed away, and the gap thus made 要求するd to be filled in to 妨げる the cattle getting through into the 隣接するing 所有物／資産／財産; その上の 負かす／撃墜する two beasts were discovered bogged and too much exhausted to extricate themselves from what would, undoubtedly, have meant 確かな death to them had we not providentially arrived upon the scene when we did. Next, there was the stockman's hut to be visited at the Twelve Mile Crossing and the 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of his wants to be 得るd against the next despatch of the ration cart. To the tale of his woes I paid no attention, for the man, though a hard 労働者, was a born grumbler, and had I had the patience to stop and listen to him I should without a 疑問 have been induced to believe that of all the sons of men he was by a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 the most 哀れな.

An eight mile ride along the 境界 brought us to the coach 跡をつける, and a mile その上の on to the mail change, where, for the good of the house and other politic 推論する／理由s, I pulled up and 扱う／治療するd the men to a glass of grog each, to which you may be sure they 申し込む／申し出d no sort of 反対. After that we 再開するd our ride until we once more saw the roofs of the 長，率いる 駅／配置する rising before us. As we （機の）カム closer I 設立する an unaccountable nervousness coming over me. I tried to explain it away, but in vain.

On reaching the 蓄える／店 I dismounted and having unsaddled my horse turned him loose. For 上向きs of a minute I stood watching him as he trotted off to join his comrades, and then turned to enter the 蓄える／店, 推定する／予想するing to find Flaxman there. I was met, however, on the doorstep by the storekeeper, who 知らせるd me that my partner had gone up to the house some few minutes before my arrival. He asked if there was anything he could do for me, but I told him no, I would go in search of Flaxman myself. 激しい clouds had been 脅すing us all the afternoon, and as I walked に向かって the house rain 開始するd to 落ちる. It was growing dark, and the 勝利，勝つd moaned drearily through the scrub 木材／素質 behind the homestead, as if with the 願望（する） of making me even more 哀れな than I was already. If the truth must be told, I was 苦しむing from about as bad an attack of the blues as a man could 井戸／弁護士席 experience, and, so far as I could see, there did not appear to be any prospect of 事柄s 改善するing—a pleasant look-out for all parties 関心d. 行方不明になる Moira's sorrowful 直面する had been haunting me all day long, and now I seemed to be able to see it gazing at me in the 集会 gloom. によれば my usual custom, I made my way to my bedroom and changed my things before going on to the sitting-room. On this occasion it was a 事柄 of necessity, for I was not only wet, but plastered with mud from 長，率いる to foot. I could 井戸／弁護士席 imagine 行方不明になる Moira's housewifely horror should she catch me tramping about her spotless 床に打ち倒すs with such grimy boots as I was wearing.

Having brought myself within a measurable distance of a civilised 存在 once more, I left my room and proceeded to that in which I felt sure I should find the others. Somewhat to my surprise Flaxman had the apartment to himself. He was standing at the window, his 手渡すs behind his 支援する. His 長，率いる was 屈服するd, and his whole 耐えるing spoke of the deepest dejection. In his 権利 手渡す he held a letter. Was it something 含む／封じ込めるd in that that was agitating him so? I was soon to learn.

X. — "CAN FRIENDS PART SO?"

FLAXMAN evidently had not heard me enter the room, for he did not turn 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. For a few moments, perhaps while a man might have counted ten slowly, I stood and watched him. Then something that was very like a sob escaped him, and I saw his 手渡すs clench, as if he were 戦う／戦いing with himself in an endeavour to 抑える his emotion. Not 存在 anxious to 許す him to suppose that I was 調査するing upon him, I stepped from the rug on to the polished 床に打ち倒す and the sound brought him 一連の会議、交渉／完成する 直面する to 直面する with me. Two large 涙／ほころびs were coursing 負かす／撃墜する his cheeks, and he made no 試みる／企てる to hide them from me. Again I asked myself what had happened to bring about this 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 明言する／公表する of 事件／事情／状勢s. Had it been mail day I might have been tempted to believe that he had received bad news from the Old Country, but there would not be another mail for more than a week, so that that could not be held accountable for it. That he was really upset, as I had never seen him before, was as 確かな as that I was in the room, looking at him. And yet I knew him for a man who did not, as a 支配する, show emotion very easily.

On seeing me I noticed that he thrust the letter he held in his 手渡す into his pocket, as if he did not 願望（する） that I should become aware of its 存在. Whatever anything else might be, that 捨てる of paper at least had an important 耐えるing on the 事件／事情／状勢.

"There is a letter for you upon the mantelpiece," he said, doing his level best, I could see, to speak calmly, and 後継するing very 不正に in the 試みる／企てる. "You had better open it."

I turned to the place in question and 設立する there an envelope 演説（する）／住所d with my 指名する. I knew 井戸／弁護士席 enough before I opened it from whom it （機の）カム, though, strange to say, I had never seen 行方不明になる Moira's 令状ing before. During the time she had been with us, she had neither written nor received any letters, so that there had been no chance of my becoming familiar with her penmanship. I took it 負かす／撃墜する and opened it with a 沈むing heart. I could guess what it 含む／封じ込めるd before I started to read a word. I remembered her cry on the previous day—"I must go away! I must go away!" The letter was a short one—only a few 簡潔な／要約する 宣告，判決s. It read as follows:—

"DEAR FRIEND,—Before you receive this I shall have left Montalta for ever. I feel now that I was wrong ever to have come. But how thankful I am to you for all you have done for me, I think you know. I shall always pray to God to bless you for it. Good-bye.

"Your 感謝する friend.

"MOIRA PENDRAGON.

"P.S.—I beg of you not to 試みる／企てる to find me, for I 保証する you your search will be in vain."

For more than a minute I stood looking at the paper in my 手渡す and trying to collect my thoughts. Moira gone! Could such a thing be possible? Were we never to see her again? These were the questions that 宙返り／暴落するd over each other in wild 混乱 in my brain. What was the 推論する／理由 of it all? She had seemed so happy with us until the last week or so, that no one would have dreamt she was on the 瀬戸際 of leaving us. The whole thing was 理解できない to me; it was more than that, it was unbelievable. At last I 設立する my 発言する／表明する. 演説（する）／住所ing Flaxman, who was still standing at the window, I said, "What 手渡す had you in this?" He looked at me in amazement, as if he marvelled that I could ask such a question.

"What 手渡す had I in it?" he repeated. "Good God, man, do you want to 運動 me mad with your questions? If so, you're going the 権利 way to work to do it, I can tell you that. Do you think I drove her away from the place? Do you think it was by my wish that she went away from 慰安 to 悲惨, perhaps to 餓死? 広大な／多数の／重要な heavens, I would have given all I 所有する in this world to have been able to 妨げる it. She gave me no hint of her 意向 or I should have done my 最大の to stop her, whatever the consequences might have been. Surely you know me 井戸／弁護士席 enough for that. If not, you're far from 存在 the friend I took you to be."

I laughed scornfully, and as I did so I saw his 直面する 紅潮／摘発する crimson. To think that we should ever have come to such a pass as this. It seemed 井戸／弁護士席-nigh 信じられない.

"This is just the 権利 time to talk of friendship, isn't it?" I cried, with scathing irony. "I admire your good plain commonsense. Perhaps you would like to discuss Shakespeare and the musical glasses while you are about it? There is nothing like putting in one's time profitably. You 悔いる that she has left us; you would have 妨げるd it had you known. Yet you were on the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す and knew nothing of it. The consequences would have been nothing to you, you 宣言する. 井戸／弁護士席, you have the consequences to amuse yourself with now, if they are of any solace to you. Bah! I believe you knew it all the time; I believe that you connived at it. John Flaxman, I have had my 疑惑s for some time past, and now they have been 確認するd. Let me tell you to your 直面する that I 不信 you from the 底（に届く） of my heart. Now I've said it and the 殺人's out."

He took a step に向かって me, his 手渡す raised as if he would strike me. His 直面する was now white as a sheet and I could distinctly hear his breath come in gasps.

"You dare to tell me that you believe I connived at her leaving this place?" he cried, his 発言する／表明する almost guttural with passion. It is the 静かな man whose 怒り／怒る is most deadly when once 完全に roused. "Then I tell you you 嘘（をつく）, and that you know it."

"Show me that letter in your pocket then," I retorted. "Let me see that before I believe that you have no 手渡す in it."

His 表現 and his manner changed as if by 魔法. The 手渡す he had raised dropped to his 味方する and his 直面する began to 紅潮／摘発する once more.

There was a short pause, after which he said hesitatingly, as if he were not sure of the 歓迎会 his words would receive:—

"I cannot show it to you."

"You cannot show it to me," I echoed mockingly. "That is good news, indeed, and may I be permitted to ask the 推論する／理由 that 誘発するs that 決定／判定勝ち（する）? There is my letter," (here I threw it 負かす／撃墜する upon the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する for him to see). "You are やめる at liberty to read it, if you please. Why may I not see yours in return?"

"Because I cannot show it to you," he replied doggedly. "It would be 乱用ing a 信用／信任 were I to do so. I must ask you to 受託する the explanation for what it is 価値（がある）. I can give you no other."

"I can やめる believe that," I sneered, "and I will take it for what it is 価値（がある）—which is nothing, literally nothing. You know that 同様に as I do. You have already told me that you were not aware that she 熟視する／熟考するd leaving us, yet a thought has just struck me which may throw some light on the 事例／患者. かもしれない you may remember that last week you talked of 支払う／賃金ing the South a visit in a few weeks. Doubtless you will do so now. It is a pretty little 陰謀（を企てる）, but it seems to me as if it has miscarried somewhere."

"What do you mean?" he asked, 星／主役にするing at me with dilated 注目する，もくろむs. "What is this vile thing you are endeavouring to insinuate? Speak out like a man and say what you have in your mind. You can't 侮辱 me more than you have done already. What do you 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 me with?"

"I 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 you with nothing. I make no insinuations. I 簡単に leave you to your own 良心. You can settle with that."

"I 需要・要求する that you shall tell me what you meant when you said that," he repeated 怒って. "I do not want any その上の subterfuges. You have brought 今後 the fact that I talked of going South in 関係 with this 事件／事情／状勢, and I wish to know what you mean by it. You shall tell me, even if I have to 軍隊 you into doing so. As a gentleman, I put you on your honour to do so."

I had not 取引d for this, but my 血 was up and I was 無謀な as to the consequences.

"Very 井戸／弁護士席, since you will have it, I'll speak out as you 企て，努力，提案 me," I answered defiantly. "What I 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 you with is inducing 行方不明になる Moira to leave this house in order that you may 会合，会う her どこかよそで. The 推論する／理由 that 誘発するs such 穴を開ける-and—corner work is best known to yourself."

The words had scarcely left my lips before he had sprung at me, and had struck me such a 厳しい blow upon the mouth that I could feel the 血 trickling 負かす／撃墜する my chin a moment later. The 軍隊 with which it was dealt was 十分な to 運動 me 支援する a couple of paces. Then, may God 許す me, I knocked him 負かす／撃墜する. It was done in a fit of passion it is true, and in return for a blow dealt to me, but I give you my word, sworn by all I 持つ／拘留する sacred, that if I could 解任する it now, I would willingly lose the 手渡す that gave it. For a moment he lay upon the 床に打ち倒す as if stunned, then he staggered to his feet. Having done so, he gave utterance to this 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 自白:—

"You did 権利," he said, speaking calmly and deliberately, as if he had carefully worked the 事柄 out. "I forgot myself and struck you; you only punished me によれば my 砂漠s."

To my eternal shame be it 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する that my only reply was a laugh. Idiot that I was, I imagined he had been 脅すd by my blow and had turned craven. Now, of course, I can see it all in the proper light. But then I was so blinded by my jealousy and the 憎悪 it engendered in me, that I was incapable of believing in anything or anybody.

"Now that you know what I think," I answered, "I'll leave you to chew your cud in peace. I hope your reflections may bring you happiness. You may 推定する／予想する me 支援する when you see me."

So 説 I flung out of the room, and in いっそう少なく than a ４半期/4分の1 of an hour was galloping 負かす／撃墜する the 跡をつける in the direction of the 郡区. At the best of times it was 非，不，無 too 安全な a road, but in the pitch-blackness of a 嵐の night it was 前向きに／確かに dangerous. I gave no thought to that, however, but 棒 as if for my life, 関わりなく everything save my whirling, maddening thoughts, my love for Moira, and my 憎悪 of the man who, I 暗黙に believed, had robbed me of her. My only 悔いる now was that I had not thrashed him more 厳しく, as soundly indeed as I believed that he deserved.

総計費 the 嵐／襲撃する roared, the 勝利，勝つd 攻撃するing the trees with remorseless fury. The 雷 flashed, the 雷鳴 衝突，墜落d, while now and again in the なぎs I could hear the tumult of the 激流 in the valley below me. It was such another night as Tam- -o'-Shanter must have been abroad in, and again such another as that on which I had first met the girl who was the 最初の／主要な 原因（となる） of my 現在の happiness. How much had happened since that momentous night! I had learnt to love, and I had also learnt to hate. I had believed myself one of the happiest of living men, and I now knew myself for one of the most 哀れな. To find 救済 I 勧めるd my gallant little horse to greater 成果／努力s. He was a game beast, and needed no 刺激（する） to induce him to do his best. 関わりなく the 明言する／公表する of the 跡をつける, which as often as not was 単に a 事柄 of conjecture, we sped on and on, いつかs 宙返り／暴落するing and slipping, but with never a thought of 警告を与える. More than once, nay, at least a dozen times, a vivid flash of 雷 showed me how 近づく I had been to death's door. Once we were scarcely half a horse's length from the 辛勝する／優位 of a 深い ravine, through which a swollen stream ran like a mill-sluice bounding 負かす／撃墜する the hillside, 行方不明になるd the horse's 長，率いる by scarcely two yards, crossed the 跡をつける and disappeared with a 衝突，墜落 into the valley below. The animal's sudden stop （機の）カム within an エース of throwing me headlong out of the saddle. But even that 狭くする escape did not 安定した me.

"Come up, old horse," I shouted. "We were not born to be killed in that clumsy fashion."

Once more I 始める，決める him going. We had put more than ten miles behind us by this time and were within an appreciable distance of the 郡区. At the pace we were travelling, all 存在 井戸／弁護士席, we should be there in いっそう少なく than half an hour. But would, or could, the animal 持つ／拘留する out so long, was the question I should have asked myself. But I never thought of it. All I 手配中の，お尋ね者 was to get to my 目的地 and into the society of men who could help me to forget what I was 苦しむing. And what was Moira doing 一方／合間? She had left the 駅／配置する on foot, so I had ascertained. Where could she be, then? Wandering in the scrub in all probability, as I had 設立する her on that night when we had first met. I 悪口を言う／悪態d Flaxman again, and 棒 on even harder than before. The thought of that poor girl wandering alone in the 嵐／襲撃する maddened me. Why was it Flaxman had not gone to her 援助? Had he told me a 嘘（をつく）, I wondered, or was he tired of her and 解決するd to abandon her to her 運命／宿命? 疑惑 induced me to believe the first; ありふれた humanity forbade me to credit the second. No man could surely be such an out-and-out scoundrel as that. However, it was no 商売／仕事 of 地雷 now. All I had to do was to endeavour to forget that we had ever met.

At last and 非，不，無 too soon, for my horse was 完全に done for, I saw ahead of me the lights of the little 郡区 twinkling like so many 星／主役にするs on the plain. Thank goodness, we were there at last. From the point where one 得るs the first 見解（をとる） of the little 解決／入植地 the 跡をつける slopes somewhat steeply for between half and three—４半期/4分の1s of a mile. The main street of the 郡区, if street indeed it can be called, consisting as it does of three hotels (save the 示す!), a blacksmith's shop, two 蓄える／店s, a policestation, and half a dozen 木造の cottages, is as 幅の広い as any in the Empire, and probably muddier than most. After a 嵐／襲撃する, such as was then 激怒（する）ing, it is 井戸／弁護士席 nigh impassable, either for man or beast.

"At last, at last," I muttered to myself as I galloped 負かす／撃墜する the hill. "If I don't make this ネズミ-穴を開ける of a place sit up to- night, it won't be my fault. I can 保証する them of that. 停止する, old horse, I know you're done for, but in a few minutes you shall 残り／休憩（する） for as long as you like."

I little guessed how true my words were 運命にあるd to 証明する. As I entered the street the poor beast reeled and almost fell. A few yards その上の on he did so again; then, within a dozen paces of the verandah of the "Jolly Bushman," he gave a lurch, pitched 今後 on his 長，率いる, and rolled over, almost 鎮圧するing me beneath him. Covered with mud, I 緊急発進するd to my feet; but the horse lay just as he had fallen, his neck stretched out and his breath coming in long gasps.

"God help me, I've done for a better brute than myself," I muttered as I looked 負かす／撃墜する at him. "I've ridden him to death."

At that moment the landlord of the inn made his 外見 in the verandah with a lantern. I あられ／賞賛するd him, and he すぐに （機の）カム out to me.

"Why, surely it's never you," he cried, when he became aware of my 身元. "You're just about the last person I 推定する／予想するd to see on a rough night like this. What does it all mean? Nothing wrong at Montalta, I hope? Bless my heart, just look at your horse now! Why, he's clean knocked out of time. You've fair ridden him to a 行き詰まり, if you 港／避難所't done worse. Here, 持つ／拘留する the lantern while I have a look at him. You've some rare good cattle over at your place, and you don't want to lose any of them."

While I held the lantern he knelt 負かす／撃墜する in the mud beside the horse and carefully 診察するd him. As he did so the animal half raised his 長，率いる, gave a long groan, and then lay still. The fat little publican rose to his feet.

"It's no use bothering any more about him," he said. "He's done his last 旅行. I'll get a couple of my lads to pull him into the yard for to-night. The saddle and bridle we'll take inside."

Poor old horse, he had paid the 刑罰，罰則 of a man's 怒り／怒る, and here was the result. How often is it not the way! A 迅速な 行為, a fit of 怒り／怒る, a wrong impulse momentarily gratified, and as often as not some innocent man or beast is drawn into the 逮捕する and 直接／まっすぐに or 間接に may be called upon by 運命／宿命 to 苦しむ for it. I had an excellent example before me now.

I followed the landlord into the hotel and made for the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業, which I 設立する （人が）群がるd to its 最大の 持つ／拘留するing capacity. A shout of welcome 迎える／歓迎するd me, for I had not been in there for 上向きs of a year. By way of setting the ball rolling, I called for drinks all 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. From that moment I put all thought of Montalta, of Moira, and of Flaxman behind me. Nothing 事柄d now, I told myself. Let care go to the ジュース, I cried. Whatever the upshot might be, I was 決定するd to enjoy myself, and in so doing to forget the past. But I was 運命にあるd to make a 発見 that many men had made before me, すなわち, that care is not so easily relegated to the background as some folk would imagine. However successful one may think oneself at night, there is always a to-morrow to be considered, and experience 証明するs that that selfsame to—morrow 所有するs the unhappy faculty of 追加するing to rather than 少なくなるing the 負担 of care that is already 存在 carried.

It was almost daylight when we broke up, and yet I was loth to 許す anyone to leave, for I 恐れるd lest with his going I should find myself in the Slough of Despond again. But one by one they dropped away, until the landlord and I 設立する ourselves alone together. Even he, accustomed as he was to late hours, began to think it was time to think of going to bed, and, seeing that there was nothing else for it, I was at length constrained to agree with him. I accordingly followed him along the 木造の passage to the room in which he had already placed my valise. It was at the corner of the house, and looked out across the little plain に向かって the 範囲s through which I had ridden so recklessly that evening. The 勝利，勝つd howled mournfully 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the corner and the rain 攻撃するd the roof, as if it were desirous of （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing it in. Before 開始するing to undress I took up the candle and looked at myself in the glass. It was a 紅潮／摘発するd 直面する I saw there; but I was not thinking of that, I was looking at my still swollen underlip and 解任するing the circumstances under which I had received it. Then I went to bed and slept soundly until 井戸／弁護士席 after ten o'clock. How I hated and despised myself when I woke, I cannot tell you. But that I was weak enough to feel that Flaxman would believe that I was repentant, I would have borrowed or 購入（する）d a fresh horse and have returned to the 駅／配置する as soon as I had breakfasted. The thought that he might do so, when my experience of him should have made me know better, 解雇する／砲火／射撃d me もう一度, and I 公約するd that, come what might, I would not give him the 適切な時期 of 説 that. Rather than do so, I would remain a month in the 郡区 if necessary.

Half an hour or so after breakfast some of my companions of the previous night began to 減少（する） in; some remained to lunch with me, and began to play billiards afterwards; others 単に drank their morning draughts, and then returned to what they somewhat facetiously 述べるd as their "商売／仕事," though I must 自白する I was 完全に at a loss to understand what it consisted of, seeing that no one seemed to be stirring in the main street save two drunken 駅／配置する 手渡すs, who were quarrelling and 準備するing for 戦闘 at the その上の end, and the police sergeant's 黒人／ボイコット cat, which was craftily stalking a bird on that functionary's paling 盗品故買者. In the evening the usual sort of carouse again took place. It was not by any manner of means an edifying spectacle. Some of the company were soon hopelessly intoxicated; some became quarrelsome, some 単に maudlin, others burst into melody without regard to their audience or to the 必要物／必要条件s of time or tune. の中で the number 現在の was one man, an overseer on a 隣人ing 駅／配置する, who had come in that day with the avowed 意向 of, to use a Bush 表現, "knocking his cheque 負かす／撃墜する." He was doing this to such good 目的 that there 約束d to be but little of it left within the very 近づく 未来. He was a big, clumsily-built fellow, like myself of 植民地の birth, with a 刈る of brilliant red hair and the largest 手渡すs and feet I had ever seen on a human 存在. He had the 評判 of 存在 a いじめ（る） on his own 駅／配置する, and now 存在 井戸／弁護士席 前進するd in アルコール飲料, it appeared as if he were やめる 用意が出来ている to give us a 見本 of his 力／強力にするs at a moment's notice. Milligan was the gentleman's 指名する, and for some 推論する／理由 or another he had been 愛称d "The Tipperary Boy." If wildness and a love of fighting went for anything, then the sobriquet was certainly an appropriate one.

The evening was 井戸／弁護士席 前進するd before he favoured me with his attentions. Then when I was engaged in conversation with a 静かな little man, who was 調書をとる／予約する-keeper for a 無断占拠者 a few miles out of the town, he （機の）カム up and sat himself 負かす／撃墜する beside me, smacking me familiarly on the 支援する with his enormous 権利 手渡す as he did so.

"井戸／弁護士席, my buck," he began, "and how's the world 扱う／治療するing you? I 港／避難所't 始める，決める 注目する，もくろむs on you for a month of Sundays. 絵 the town red, I suppose, eh? Lord bless you, why didn't you go 負かす／撃墜する to Sydney? You could have enjoyed yourself there. Now I remember the last time I was 負かす／撃墜する I—" Here he proceeded to favour us with some 高度に-spiced particulars of his adventures in the New South むちの跡s metropolis that would not have discredited a Bowery Boy at his best. They not only did not 利益／興味 me, they bored me nearly to distraction. He reeled them off one after another until I 中止するd to 支払う／賃金 any attention to him at all, and 再開するd my talk with my previous companion which he had so rudely interrupted. My temper was 非，不，無 too 甘い that evening, and it would have 要求するd but small 激励 to have induced me to tell him to go away and leave me in peace. However, I had no 願望（する） to create a scene, if not for my own sake, at least for my friend the landlord's. When once a fight becomes general in a Bush public-house he is a wise man who can tell when it will finish. I have known a whole house 難破させるd on such an occasion, and the owner come within an インチ of losing his life for endeavouring to 保護する his own 所有物／資産／財産. Bush spirits, 製造（する）d as often as not on the 前提s, can be 信用d to raise the devil that lies 活動停止中の in most men quicker than anything else I know in this world. And when he is once 解放（する）d, he is seldom to be laid by the heels again until he has been pacified with 血. Unless such a thing should be 絶対 necessary, I was not going to be the one to give it to him.

For some moments after I turned my 支援する upon him, Milligan continued to talk, 明らかに oblivious to the fact that I was no longer listening to him. Then he became aware of what had happened, and an ominous silence 続いて起こるd. In all probability he was endeavouring to （不足などを）補う his mind as to what course of 活動／戦闘 he should 可決する・採択する. He knew something of my 評判, and I fancy was aware that I was not the sort of man to stand much nonsense, 特に any 試みる／企てる at いじめ（る）ing, such as he was known to be so fond of. Almost in a moment his mood changed to one of the 最大の friendliness. He 知らせるd me with an 誓い that we were the best of pals, and in figurative language gave me to understand that on the whole he even preferred me to his own brother.

"Why shouldn't we be friends?" he 問い合わせd. "We've known each other a long time now. You've stayed over at my place and I've stayed over at yours." Then, raising his 発言する／表明する and 先行する it with a loud guffaw, he continued, "I say, old boy, what's become of that ジュースd pretty girl I saw over at your place last time I was there? She was a stunner and no mistake, with the rummiest sort of a 指名する that ever I ran up against. What was it now— something like Penny-pop-gun, wasn't it? I'm sure I disremember," he 追加するd with a grin.

I 星／主役にするd at him in amazement. That he should even have dared to 言及する to 行方不明になる Moira in such company was in itself 十分な to put me into a frenzy of 激怒（する）. To speak of her as 行方不明になる Penny- pop-gun was worse than anything.

"I'll trouble you to leave the lady in question out of the conversation," I said. "I 反対する to her 指名する 存在 introduced."

This was the 適切な時期 he 手配中の，お尋ね者, and the fighting element in his 血 having now 伸び（る）d the ascendancy he was both ready and eager for 戦う／戦い. I consoled myself with the reflection that it would have been bound to come sooner or later.

"So you 反対する to her 指名する 存在 introduced, do you?" he said, mimicking me. "Maybe you don't think we're good enough to say it. Poor, rough men like us mustn't 推定する to speak it. Listen to that, boys." This last was 演説（する）／住所d to the room in general. Some, seeing trouble ぼんやり現れるing ahead had the good sense to 持つ／拘留する their tongues; others laughed, as if in 評価 of a good joke; while others, who for some 推論する／理由 or another bore me no good will 拍手喝采する with cries of "Good for you, Tipperary Boy." Thus encouraged, he turned once more to me with the same diabolical grin upon his 直面する.

"Perhaps your lordship wouldn't mind condescending to tell us why we're not to について言及する the lady's 指名する? We all know each other here, and I've been intro uiced to the lady myself."

"You're not to do it, because I forbid," I answered. "That should be enough answer for you. If you do you'll 悔いる it. I can 約束 you that."

"To hell with you and your forbids," he shouted, 繁栄するing his 握りこぶし. "Who are you to tell me what I shall say or shall not say? I guess I'm as good a 裁判官 of what's what as you are, or anyone else, though I don't boss it at Montalta like some people."

It was やめる evident that he was 公正に／かなり spoiling for a fight. If he 固執するd in his 現在の line of 行為／行う, he would find that I was やめる ready to 強いる him. However 行方不明になる Moira might have 扱う／治療するd me, I was not going to have her 指名する bandied about by a lot of drunken rowdies in a 郡区 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業-room—it was not likely!

Milligan had done his best to rouse me, and had failed. Now he tried another 計画（する）.

"Boss," he cried to the landlord, "drinks all 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. It's my shout. Hurry along now, for I'm going to 提案する a toast."

Realising what he was about to do, a 完全にする silence descended on the room, which lasted while the drinks were 存在 served. I rose and 直面するd him; but for 推論する／理由s of my own 拒絶する／低下するd to partake of his 歓待. Looking 一連の会議、交渉／完成する him to see that all the glasses were 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金d, he shouted, "Boys, here's a health to 行方不明になる Penny—pop-gun, and no heel taps."

He 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd off the contents of his tumbler, but before he had finished I had 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd the contents of my own 十分な and fair into his 直面する.

"Now," I said, "since you're so anxious to receive a lesson, I'll do my best to 強いる you. Landlord, I call you to 証言，証人／目撃する that this fight was 軍隊d on me."

The landlord nodded, and continued to polish his glasses behind the 反対する as if nothing out of the ありふれた was about to happen. 一方／合間, some officious 同志／支持者s had 除去するd the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する from the centre of the room in 準備完了 for the 衝突.

There are always people to be 設立する who would rather see others fight than do so themselves.

XI. — MOIRA IN PERIL.

THE news that there was to be a fight between myself and Milligan, or the Tipperary Boy, as he was more often called, soon spread through the 郡区, and, in consequence, by the time we 直面するd each other in the centre of the 床に打ち倒す, from which the furniture had been 除去するd, as I have already 述べるd, the large room was packed to the point of suffocation, and the 空気／公表する was 階級 with the odour of stale smoke, drink, and wet 着せる／賦与するs. I ちらりと見ることd at the landlord, who was still industriously polishing his tumblers, and noticed the look of 激励 on his 直面する. He had his own 推論する／理由s, and they were not a few, for 願望（する）ing that someone should "削減（する） the 徹底的に捜す" of this 悪名高い いじめ（る）, who whenever he （機の）カム to the 郡区 had an unpleasant habit of making himself objectionable to almost everyone with whom he was brought in 接触する. In fact, to such an extent did he carry this practice that during the period he remained in the place the 大多数 of the usual frequenters of the house betook themselves and their custom どこかよそで, 自然に not a little to my friend's chagrin. To expostulate with him was only so much waste of time; to 脅す him with 追放 would have been as idle as to 試みる／企てる to stop the 勝利，勝つd from whistling 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the corners of the house or the 星／主役にするs from 向こうずねing. Hitherto, with one lamentable exception, in which, by the way, a man was 井戸／弁護士席-nigh killed, no one had 試みる／企てるd to use 軍隊 with him. Now, so it appeared, I was about to try the 実験. He had deliberately and maliciously 侮辱d 行方不明になる Moira, and I was 決定するd to make him 支払う／賃金 for it, if it cost me my life. At last I had 設立する someone upon whom to work off my 激怒（する）. The 仕事 was likely to be a big one, but I was only the more content. As I took off my coat and rolled up my sleeves, I took careful 在庫／株 of my adversary; he was at least a man 価値（がある） fighting: his muscles stood out on his 武器 as 厚い as 気が狂って, to use a Queensland 平行の, while the 表現 on his 直面する showed that it was his 会社／堅い 意向 to give me a sound thrashing in return for my 侮辱ing 治療 of him.

The 同志／支持者s of either 味方する were noisily arranging as to who should 行為／法令／行動する as timekeeper and who as 審判（をする）, when the swing-doors 主要な into the verandah opened, and a newcomer, such as is not often seen in the Bush, entered the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業. That he was a swell and a new chum 認める of no 疑問. He was tall, handsome, with a long wavy moustache, slimly built, wore English riding breeches, that is to say, tight at the 膝s and baggy above, and sported an eyeglass in his left 注目する，もくろむ. What was more 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の still, he 現実に wore gloves, just for all the world as if he were doing the 封鎖する in Collins Street on a summer afternoon. He strolled across the 床に打ち倒す without 明らかに noticing what was going on, and approached the 反対する. The landlord rose to 迎える／歓迎する him, その結果 the stranger 問い合わせd whether he could be 融通するd with a room for the night. On 存在 answered in the affirmative, he called for a glass of whisky, lit a cigarette, and turned to watch what was going 今後 between Milligan and myself. Though it has taken some time to tell all this, in reality it 占領するd only a few minutes. It was 十分な, however, to distract the attention of the company for the time 存在 from my enemy and myself, and you may be sure this was not at all to Milligan's liking. To 可決する・採択する a theatrical 表現, he was playing to the gallery, and liked to "have the limelight 十分な upon himself."

However 利益／興味ing it might 証明する to some people, it is not my 意向 to give a 詳細（に述べる）d description of what occurred during the 続いて起こるing ４半期/4分の1 of an hour. Let it 十分である that if our 各々の 支持者s 手配中の，お尋ね者 a fight for their money, they got it and to spare. We were both fully aware that our 未来 peace and 慰安 depended 完全に on the 問題／発行する of the struggle, and that the vanquished would have to sing small for the 残りの人，物 of his 住居 in the neighbourhood. That at least was enough to make each of us do his 最大の to come out on 最高の，を越す, as they say in the Bush.

That the Tipperary Boy was wanting in pluck no one, not even his bitterest enemy, could have said. He fought, if not with 技術, at least with dogged 決意. He had a 握りこぶし like a sledge 大打撃を与える, but he 欠如（する）d science. At the end of ten minutes he was out of breath, and at the end of a ４半期/4分の1 of an hour he lay like a スピードを出す／記録につける on the 床に打ち倒す, and several of his most enthusiastic 支持者s, who had 支持する／優勝者d his 原因（となる） through 恐れる, were 急いでing to 保証する me that they had only done so ーするために insure his getting the licking he had so long deserved. That is the way of the world. Had I come out underneath, doubtless my so- called friends would have behaved in 正確に／まさに the same way to my antagonist.

Having put on my coat, I walked across to where my late 対抗者 was seated and held out my 手渡す to him. "Shake 手渡すs, Milligan," I said; "let bygones be bygones. If you are willing, I am やめる sure I am."

"Good for you," he answered 敏速に, and took my 手渡す as he spoke. "What's more, since you take it this way, I don't mind owning up that I was wrong to speak of the lady the way I did. If there's any man hereabouts who thinks さもなければ, just let him step out and say so, and I'll show him that the Tipperary Boy can give a （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing 同様に as take one. Where is he now?"

There was no answer to his question, which seemed to 証明する that the 司法（官） of his 主張 was 認める by all. He thereupon 招待するd me to drink with him, and needless to say I did not 辞退する. Since he took the 事柄 so 井戸／弁護士席, it would have been the most foolish 政策 possible on my part to have done so. We accordingly drank with the customary "here's luck," and here the 事柄 ended to our own and everybody else's 完全にする satisfaction—always excepting those who had their own 私的な grudges against myself, and who, doubtless for that 推論する／理由, would very willingly have seen me vanquished.

At last that 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の evening （機の）カム to an end, and one by one the company 分散させるd to their さまざまな homes. The 嵐／襲撃する still continued with 増加するd rather than abated 暴力／激しさ, and as I had done more than once before that night, I thanked my good fortune that I was not （軍の）野営地，陣営d out in it.

When old 刑事 Grebur, the 主要な／長／主犯 storekeeper, who was invariably the last to take his 出発, had bade us good-night and gone out, we, the landlord, the stranger, and I, drew our 議長，司会を務めるs up to the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 and relit our 麻薬を吸うs. It was then that I had the first real 適切な時期 of 観察するing the newcomer. In 見解（をとる） of the story I have to tell, a short description of him may not be amiss. I have already said that there could be no sort of 疑問 as to the fact of his 存在 a new chum. It was written on his 直面する, his 着せる／賦与するs, and more than all on his manners. の中で other 特徴, he was the possessor of a curious drawl, 連合させるd with a strange clipping of his 終点 "g's," which I have since been told is considered 訂正する in a 確かな section of English society.

His 直面する was in a 手段 handsome; the forehead, however, was perhaps scarcely as 幅の広い as it might have been, while the 注目する，もくろむs were 始める，決める a trifle too の近くに together to be really pleasing. A 激しい moustache hid his mouth. His 手渡すs, I remember noticing, were long from wrist to knuckle, but were spoilt by the fingers, which were short almost to the 瀬戸際 of deformity. They were also coarse and 厚い, and I noticed that the left 手渡す had been broken at some time or other.

"Do you often have these little 事件／事情／状勢s of honour, may I ask?" he 問い合わせd when the door had の近くにd on Grebur and we had settled 負かす／撃墜する to our 麻薬を吸うs. "I had an idea that this eminently 満足な way of settling one's differences of opinion had やめる 中止するd to 存在する. Gone out, in fact, with the 国民s of Roarin' （軍の）野営地，陣営, Sandy 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業, Jack, and all that Old Tenessee sort of thing, don't you know? I never thought I should have the good fortune to come across it in Australia. I had an idea that you contented yourselves with kangaroo huntin', ridin' buck jumpers, and all that sort of thing."

For the life of me I did not やめる know how to take this speech. It seemed as if he were slyly poking fun at me, and yet his 直面する was all 真面目さ, his manner as courteous as I had any 権利 to 推定する／予想する it to be. From some 発言／述べる he let 落ちる, I discovered that his 指名する was Vandergrave, and that he had come to Australia from England, 経由で America and Japan. He had always had a longing to see something of the Australian Bush, he said, and he had been advised that Northern Queensland would show it to him as no other part of the Island Continent could do. After a time he began to ask questions 関心ing our own particular neighbourhood, the size and number of the さまざまな 駅／配置するs, and their owners' 指名するs. Before I could do or say anything to 妨げる him, the landlord had 知らせるd him that I was part owner of two of the largest 所有物／資産／財産s in the 地区, which he 述べるd after his own fashion as 存在 "out and away tip-最高の，を越す, and don't you forget it." Queensland 歓待, and indeed for that 事柄 of the Bush 一般に, is proverbial, so that under the circumstances I had no 選択 but to 知らせる him that if he should chance to be in our neighbourhood it would give both my partner and myself 広大な／多数の／重要な 楽しみ to put him up, and to show all there was to be seen.

"Your partner's 指名する I think you said was—?"

"Flaxman," I replied, though I could not for the life of me remember having について言及するd it before.

"Ah! yes! Flaxman, of course—a rather unusual 指名する," he replied. "井戸／弁護士席, it's really very 肉親，親類d of you to 申し込む／申し出 me your 歓待, and if fortune should bring me in your direction I shall avail myself of the chance of seeing your runs. Like most Globe trotters, I am 令状ing an account of my travels, and （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） 得るd first 手渡す is, of course, very 価値のある and occasionally hard to 得る. And now, if you will excuse me, I think I will 企て，努力，提案 you 'goodnight.' I have had a long day in the saddle, and I am not so accustomed to it as you Australians are."

Having knocked the ashes out of his 麻薬を吸う, he left the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業, and the landlord and I very soon followed his example. My 長，率いる was still （犯罪の）一味ing from one of Milligan's blows, and as I 熟視する／熟考するd myself in the little glass on my dressing （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する (an old packing- 事例／患者 draped with gaudy chintz), I 反映するd that I should probably have a very fair 見本 of a bruise to 展示（する） to my friends on the morrow.

The 嵐／襲撃する had continued 激怒（する）ing all the day, and as night 始める，決める in it became worse than ever, and the 勝利，勝つd howled and shrieked around as if it were anxious to 涙／ほころび the ramshackle 木造の building to pieces. Again I thanked my luck that I had a roof over my 長，率いる, to say nothing of a nice warm bed to curl myself up in. I blew out my candle and composed myself for slumber, but sleep would not come. I began to think of Moira and of my love for her—where she was, what she was doing? Had she, as I supposed, gone out of my life for ever, and was the man whom I had looked upon as my best friend the 反逆者? Whether my fight with Milligan had knocked sense into me or not, I could not say; I only know that to my 広大な／多数の／重要な surprise I 設立する myself thinking of Flaxman in a more kindly spirit than I had done for a long time past. I remembered his gentle ways and his undoubted affection for my unworthy self. It had seemed scarcely anything at the time; now, however, it produced a very different 影響 upon me. Could it be that I had been mistaken after all, and that Moira had left Montalta for some other 推論する／理由? The more I thought of this, the more it seemed borne in upon me that it behoved me to make some 試みる／企てる to 修理 the 違反 that my own stupidity had made between us. Then, working together, we could surely arrange some 計画／陰謀 for Moira's 未来 福利事業 and happiness.

The rubicon once passed, I was able to look at the 事柄 from a point of 見解（をとる） that only a few hours before I should have considered impossible. Any way I regarded it, one thing was as （疑いを）晴らす as noonday, and that was the fact that Flaxman was a thousand times better fitted to make her happy than I was. On that 得点する／非難する／２０ there could be no sort of 疑問.

How long I lay thinking of this I cannot say, it may have been an hour, it may かもしれない have been more. At any 率 I fell asleep over it. I could not have slumbered very long before I was awakened by someone shaking me violently by the shoulder. With the instinct of self-保護, I 攻撃する，衝突する out with all my strength, and was rewarded by 審理，公聴会 a loud 衝突，墜落 and the sudden 絶滅 of a light which had just begun to break upon my half- opened 注目する，もくろむs.

"井戸／弁護士席, I'll be jiggered," 発言／述べるd a 発言する／表明する in the 不明瞭, that I 即時に recognised as my landlord's. "Here I come to call him an' to tell him there's a friend to see him, and he knocks me 長，率いる over heels on to my own crockery. Seven an' six won't 支払う／賃金 for what you've broke, my beauty."

I struck a match and 始める，決める my own candle going. If I had not been angry at his 乱すing me, the picture would have been an amusing one, for my companion and host was seated, 覆う？ only in his night apparel, in a pool of water on the 床に打ち倒す, caressing what remained of the broken 投手 and surrounded by fragments of assorted 磁器 ware. There was an 表現 of indignation on his usually placid countenance.

"What on earth is the 事柄?" I 問い合わせd, sitting up in bed to look at him. "Have you taken leave of your senses that you come and wake me up at this time of night?"

"Leave of my senses be hanged," he retorted. "I was only doing you a 親切. Here's your partner, Mr. Flaxman, turned up looking for you. By the 明言する／公表する he's in I should say he's been bushed. I thought, maybe, you'd like to know it, but it seems I was mistaken."

"Flaxman here?" I cried, scarcely able to believe my own ears. "What the ジュース does this mean?"

"You'd best get up and find out," was the landlord's laconic reply. "合間, look out where you tread, for the 床に打ち倒す's just covered with pieces. If folks would think before they 攻撃する，衝突する out there wouldn't be so much mischief done in the world. That's the way I look at it myself."

Before he had finished speaking I was out of bed, pulling on my 着せる／賦与するs with feverish haste. What on earth had brought Flaxman to the 郡区, and at such an hour of the night? Had he been bushed, as the landlord 示唆するd, or had he really come in search of me? However, I should very soon know.

As may be supposed, my dressing did not take long, and I was presently に引き続いて my host 負かす／撃墜する the 木造の passage to the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業. There I 設立する Flaxman, standing in a pool of water which was draining from his soaked 着せる／賦与するs. A more 哀れな picture than he 現在のd at that moment I don't know that I have ever seen. His hair, which he always wore somewhat long, was wet and dishevelled, his 直面する was white and drawn, while his 広大な／多数の／重要な dark 注目する，もくろむs seemed to have sunk その上の into his 長，率いる than was natural. He was standing before what remained of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, evidently を待つing my coming with no small 量 of impatience. 直接／まっすぐに he saw me he 急いでd 今後 with outstretched 手渡すs.

"My dear old fellow," he cried, "許す me for coming to you at such an hour of the night. But I felt that I must do so. My life was growing unendurable. Another day would have made me a fit 患者 for a lunatic 亡命."

At this point the landlord left us alone together, but not before he had mixed a couple of hot grogs. If ever a man stood in need of one, Flaxman was certainly that one. With his 手渡す in 地雷 all my old liking for him returned. Instinctively I felt there was no longer any 推論する／理由 why I should 疑問 him.

"But what has brought you?" I asked. "You do not mean to tell me that you have ridden all this way and on such a night 簡単に to see me? You might have met your death in the scrub."

This was perfectly true, for I knew that had he lived to be a hundred nothing would ever have made a Bushman of him.

"I could not wait," he replied. "I have had some news of Moira, and it has 脅すd me more than I can say."

"What is it?" I asked, with a catch in my throat and a sudden feeling of nausea, that told of the 激しい 苦悩 which I 労働d under when I heard his disquieting words. Standing before him, with my 握りこぶしs clenched tightly and every 神経 in my system 緊張するd to the 最大の, I was 用意が出来ている for news of the direst 意図, knowing only too 井戸／弁護士席 that Flaxman would never have undertaken the 危険 of such a wild night-ride in this fearful 天候 unless the 状況／情勢 was one of the 最大の importance, and moreover remembering, as I did, the nature of our parting only the night before, As I looked at the haggard, deathly-white 直面するd man who stood before me, I 悪口を言う／悪態d myself inwardly that I had 扱う／治療するd him so 不正に by 許すing my jealousy to get the upper 手渡す of me, and in one bitter moment to undo the best and sincerest friendship that two men could form. Now I felt that I would have given my 権利 手渡す to have been able to 解任する the words that I had so rashly given vent to, for I had stabbed both his heart and my own, the 傷つける of which could never be 完全に cured.

Gazing into the 疲れた／うんざりした 注目する，もくろむs, with their 深い 黒人／ボイコット 縁s showing only too 井戸／弁護士席 the mental and physical 緊張する that he had 苦しむd, and was 苦しむing, all my old affection for the man returned, and the longing to be forgiven for the wrong that I now knew I had done him filled my heart.

"Flaxman," I cried, the 涙／ほころびs 井戸／弁護士席ing up in my 注目する，もくろむs as I did so, "I have been a brute, a jealous, cruel brute, I know, and I cannot 推定する／予想する you to look at my 行為／行う in any other light, but can you ever 許す me? I know I don't deserve to be spoken to again, but I realise now what it would be to lose your friendship for ever. It is my jealousy that goads me on and makes me do and say things that are unworthy and 不正な. I hate myself for it more than I can say, but I could not 耐える that Moira should love you more than she did me. Now I see clearer that you are the better man to make her happy."

"Hush, hush, George," he replied, "you must not talk like this, you don't know what you are 説; to-morrow, yes, tomorrow, when I am better and calmer, I will tell you all, so that you may 裁判官 for yourself. Now, what I want is your forgiveness and help; you know that you have 地雷. We must not quarrel, old boy; life is too serious and too short. We must never 許す anything to come between us in our friendship. No, not even a woman, not the most beautiful woman in the world, must we?"

He held out his 手渡す, I took it in both of 地雷, and neither of us spoke. I knew that his kindly, 甘い nature had forgiven me. To my dying day I shall remember the episode; it is burnt into my brain as with a branding アイロンをかける.

After a few moments of silence had passed, I pulled myself together, and bringing a big wicker 議長，司会を務める 今後 押し進めるd him into it.

"Now tell me your bad news. I can 耐える it, only let me hear everything. Is—is Moira dead?"

As I uttered the last words there （機の）カム over me a feeling of dread that was indescribable, a feeling that sent a 冷気／寒がらせる through me and made me shudder. In my mind I seemed to picture the 団体／死体 of Moira lying dead at my feet—Moira, the girl who had entered so eventfully into my 存在, and whom I had learned to love so dearly. The mere thought of her death was enough to terrify me.

Flaxman was quick to notice the 影響 of my words, for he replied:—

"I am afraid that I 苦しめるd you more than was necessary, but the 緊張する I have gone through lately has 大いに 影響する／感情d me. Perhaps it is not as bad as I imagine."

"But you don't tell me, old man," I cried impatiently. "How on earth can I be 推定する／予想するd to 裁判官; come, tell me—is she dead?"

"Not yet, I think, but very, very 本気で ill."

"Where?"

"井戸／弁護士席, I will explain all. Yesterday afternoon I was worn out with worry and 苦悩, and had a bad 頭痛, so I went to my room and lay 負かす／撃墜する; after a while I fell into a doze. Suddenly I was awakened by 審理，公聴会 someone walking along the verandah outside my window. Thinking nothing of this, putting it 負かす／撃墜する to one of the 手渡すs, I turned over and tried to go to sleep again. Then there （機の）カム a tremendous growling and barking from Judy at the other end of the verandah. I was off the bed in a second, and out of the window like a 発射, just in time to see a big man come stealthily out of Moira's room. 直接／まっすぐに he caught sight of me he made off, followed by the dog.

"It did not take me long to be on his 跡をつける, you may be sure, for I at once realised that he was not a 望ましい character from the 外見 he 所有するd. I can 述べる him 正確に／まさに; in fact, I could 選ぶ him out of a hundred men with the greatest 緩和する. He is very tall, I should say about six foot six, very 幅の広い, with rough red 耐えるd, and bushy eyebrows and big ears standing out; he wore a dirty red shirt, very much patched, and a 乱打するd hat with a 穴を開ける in the 栄冠を与える as if a 発射 had gone through it. I 公式文書，認めるd all this as I ran after him, with Judy at his heels growling away and showing her teeth pretty 本気で, I can tell you."

"井戸／弁護士席, go on," I said 熱望して, as he paused to take a drink.

"Judy was too troublesome for him," he continued, "so turning 一連の会議、交渉／完成する suddenly he swung his whip and caught her clean on the skull, which knocked her out at once. If I had only got a six- shooter I should have 発射 him dead then and there, the brute."

"Did it kill her?" I asked anxiously, for she was a favourite terrier, and there's nothing that a man dislikes so much as another man 殺人，大当り his favourite dog.

"No, she's all 権利 again, but it was a bad blow given by a dexterous 手渡す that makes no mistakes. However, to continue, I called loudly for 援助 as I ran on, and Blake, 審理，公聴会 me call, （機の）カム running 今後 to stop the ruffian, but, as they met, he received a blow which knocked him out. I could not wait to …に出席する to Blake, as I saw the chance now of getting the man into my 力／強力にする, for he stopped and looked about as if searching for something; as he did so, I noticed his horse tied to a tree, わずかに to my 権利. Evidently in the excitement he had gone too far, and my 適切な時期 had occurred, so I at once started off to get to the beast first. I was a bit of a （短距離で）速く走る人 when I was at the 'Varsity, and you may be 確かな I did my little best at this moment. I 公正に／かなり flew over the ground; the man saw his mistake and （機の）カム after me like a flash, and I can 保証する you no race run at any 運動競技の sports in the world could have been more exciting or more 緊張するing. That he was 伸び（る）ing upon me at every step was 確かな , and as I tore on I seemed to feel his hot breath upon the 支援する of my neck, while I imagined him raising the 激しい whip, that had already done so much 損失, to bring the butt end 負かす／撃墜する with a thud on my 長，率いる—that made me move on without a 疑問. I was about ten yards from the horse, who was standing with ears 今後, as if taking the keenest 利益／興味 in the exciting race going on before him, and it needed only a 広大な／多数の／重要な 成果／努力 on my part to get to him first, for the man was still some distance away, although in my 苦悩 I had imagined him nearer. Just as I reached the animal, and was about to untie the reins I heard a thud, and looking 一連の会議、交渉／完成する saw that the fellow had tripped and fallen. In the twinkling of an 注目する，もくろむ I was upon him, and then began such a struggle as I am never likely to go through again.

"It did not take me long to realise that I had met with an antagonist of no mean order. He had fallen on his 直面する, and this had わずかに knocked the breath out of him, together with the hard run he had been through.

"By the time I got to him he was on his 手渡すs and 膝s, and I すぐに 始める，決める to work to use all the old 格闘するing arts that I knew as a younger man in my Cornish home.

"But it was perfectly obvious to me that I was no match for this ugly 顧客. He held himself in reserve, to 回復する his 勝利，勝つd and strength, and I felt that I stood as little chance of 安全な・保証するing him as a child would against a grown man. In a shorter time than it takes to tell I was 公正に／かなり beaten, and at his mercy.

"He now was ひさまづくing upon my chest, and it seemed that every bone would break with his 負わせる. I saw him looking 一連の会議、交渉／完成する for his whip, which he dropped when he fell; his left 手渡す clutched my throat; and then I saw him raise the 武器 by the thong end, and I heard him hiss through his clenched teeth, '悪口を言う／悪態 you, I'll teach you to 干渉する with me,' when the whip butt descended on my luckless 長，率いる, and I knew no more.

"When I （機の）カム to myself I 設立する Snowball ひさまづくing by my 味方する. I felt deucedly bad in the 長，率いる, I can tell you, for on putting my 手渡す to my brow I discovered that I had a lump as big as an egg there, and, 裁判官ing from the 技術 with which he （権力などを）行使するd the 武器, my friend of the red 耐えるd must have used all his 力／強力にする upon my poor cranium.

"Looking about in a dazed fashion, I could see no 調印する whatever of my adversary or his horse; both had long since 出発／死d, leaving me to look after myself. Poor Snowball was 極端に 関心d as to the 明言する／公表する of my health, and did all in his 力／強力にする to make my position as comfortable as he could. I gleaned the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） that he was on his way to the 駅／配置する to bring me news of Moira, when, to his 広大な／多数の／重要な alarm, he saw the big man galloping like fury に向かって him. It did not take him a second to 嘘（をつく） 傾向がある as a snake and let horse and rider go past him. At this juncture I fainted, and did not 回復する consciousness until I 設立する myself upon my bed. After an hour or two I was better and able to get up and send for Snowball.

"It appears that when Moira left the 駅／配置する he followed her, for, as you know, he is 充てるd to her. She was making an 成果／努力 to get to the coach 大勝する, when this ruffian 棒 up, and after an angry conversation, knocked her 負かす／撃墜する with his whip, and, after robbing her, 機動力のある and made off. As they were only a short distance from the grog shanty that Snowball knows so 井戸／弁護士席, he made all 速度(を上げる）, 得るd help, and fetched her to the place in an unconscious 条件. He then started off to give us （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）, only to find me in the same 明言する／公表する, and through the work of the same dastardly 手渡す.

"The whole occurrence was so 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の that the more I thought it over the more mysterious it became. What the man 手配中の，お尋ね者 at the 駅／配置する I could not for the life of me understand. Then I remembered having first seen him coming out of Moira's room, so I すぐに made my way there and discovered everything upside 負かす／撃墜する, just as if a person had been looking for something in the greatest hurry, but nothing had been taken away.

"From this fact it was obvious that my 加害者 had not come to the 駅／配置する for the mere 目的 of 強盗, but with the 意向 of endeavouring to find something that Moira had in her 所有／入手; but whether he was successful or not I cannot say.

"It therefore behoved me to 行為／法令／行動する at once. I 重さを計るd the 事柄 carefully over in my mind, and 決定するd to find you without any その上の 延期する, for together we could 行為／法令／行動する for the best. I therefore 教えるd Snowball to remain at the 駅／配置する until our return, and 始める，決める out for the 郡区, but, unfortunately, I am a very poor Bushman, and the awful 嵐／襲撃する going on 原因（となる）d me to become bushed, and had it not been for a sundowner I happened to strike, I should have been there now. However, here I am, pretty 井戸／弁護士席 done, mentally and 肉体的に."

"Yes, old chap," I replied; "now there's nothing for you but 残り／休憩（する）. You had better come to my room and get some sleep; in the morning we'll get off to the 駅／配置する and put things 権利."

He agreed, and I led him to my room, and before many minutes had passed he was in a 深い sleep, worn out 完全に with 疲労，（軍の）雑役.

I softly の近くにd the door and went 支援する to the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 parlour, where I 補充するd the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, pulled a big 議長，司会を務める up to it, lit my 麻薬を吸う, and 用意が出来ている to think out the very mysterious occurrences of which Flaxman had told me, but very soon I fell asleep, and dreamed that I saw poor Moira 存在 殺人d by Snowball, while I myself was bound 手渡す and foot and could do nothing to help her. At last, by almost superhuman strength, I burst the rope that bound me and—woke up to find myself 存在 井戸／弁護士席 shaken by my good friend the landlord, and the daylight streaming into the room.

XII. — UNRAVELLING A CONSPIRACY.

IT was eight o'clock before I made up my mind to rouse Flaxman out of the 激しい sleep of exhaustion that he had fallen into; for, eager as I was to 始める，決める out upon the 仕事 of bringing Moira 支援する once more to the 駅／配置する, yet I felt that it was most 必須の he should 得る all the 残り／休憩（する） that was possible under the circumstances, to enable him after the hard doings of the last few hours to 対処する with the 平等に hard ones that lay before him. I 井戸／弁護士席 knew that the man was not 肉体的に strong; in fact, he was almost 壊れやすい, and unless I took the greatest possible care, it was most probable that I should have two 無効のs upon my 手渡すs instead of one.

In the 合間 I ordered the best breakfast that could be 得るd in the place, settled the 法案, and arranged with the landlord for the use of a horse in place of the one that I had so wilfully ridden to death two nights before; then I felt that all was ready, on my 味方する, for the earliest possible start.

The 嵐／襲撃する had 中止するd in the small hours of the morning, and now the sun was 炎ing away once more in all its intensity; and as I looked across the wide street and noticed the heat shimmering over the roadway, I knew that the sooner we started the easier and pleasanter our 旅行 would be.

I then made my way to the bedroom, and, after かなりの difficulty, managed to get Flaxman into a wakeful 条件 and told him that we should start to ride 支援する to the 駅／配置する 直接／まっすぐに after breakfast; then left him to his 洗面所 and went to my meal.

I had only just 開始するd to help myself to the good and 相当な fare that had been placed before me, when the landlord entered the room and （機の）カム over to my （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. After enquiring how I had 設立する Flaxman after his night's 残り／休憩（する）, he brought a 議長，司会を務める の近くに to 地雷, and I could plainly see that he was 準備するing to be communicative.

"Mr. Tregaskis," he said, lowering his 発言する／表明する so that the other occupants of the room could not overhear him, "I want to have a talk with you before Mr. Flaxman comes 負かす／撃墜する. I don't usually take much 利益／興味 in other people's 事件／事情／状勢s, but seeing that both of you gentlemen have always 扱う／治療するd me so 井戸／弁護士席, and, if I may say so, we have always been good friends, I think that it is my 義務 to give you some （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） that may be of service to you."

"Indeed, that's very good of you, Johnson," I replied, nervously I 自白する, for, somehow, I could not but feel disquieted 借りがあるing to 最近の events, which had not a little upset my nervous equilibrium.

"I don't know about that," he said; "but this I do know, that when a man 扱う／治療するs me decently, I do the same for him; but when one has to を取り引きする the sharp gentry, one must 行為／法令／行動する accordingly."

This latter 発言／述べる was made with a mysterious 空気／公表する, and with such sincere feeling that I knew the man had a 願望（する） to do me a good turn, but was not やめる 確かな how I should take his 干渉，妨害 in my 事件／事情／状勢s; therefore, to put him やめる at his 緩和する and more than that, to hear what he had to say—for to tell the truth I was 極端に desirous of doing so—I gave him to understand that I was 深く，強烈に 利益／興味d, which indeed I was; その結果, in 返答 to my 前進するs, he opened up his 支配する to me.

"No 疑問 you wonder what on earth it is I am about to tell you, but as a 事柄 of fact both you and Mr. Flaxman have an 利益／興味 in the 事件／事情／状勢, and therefore I'm going to give you all the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） I can, and when you have heard what I have to say, you can discuss the 事柄 with me, or not, as you feel 性質の／したい気がして; but, whatever results, I shall always feel that I have done my best for you, sir."

"Upon my word, Johnson," I said, "I hardly know what to say. That you have some 価値のある （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） to impart to me, I feel 納得させるd; but you whet my curiosity to such a degree that I really must ask you to gratify it. What on earth is it?"

"井戸／弁護士席, without （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing about the bush any その上の," he said, and he leant やめる 近づく to me and almost whispered; "there's some 共謀 going on in which you and Mr. Flaxman are 関心d. Of that much I am 確かな . From （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）, slight 'tis true, but still （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） I have gathered, I feel I am 権利 and it is my bounden 義務 to tell you."

"井戸／弁護士席, for Heaven's sake, man, do start; I am all attention; but what it can be I'm at a loss to understand."

"Do you remember the cove that （機の）カム in and sat smoking last night in the parlour with us? A new chum we 投票（する）d him. The chap who wore gloves."

"Of course I do. He told us he was a new chum, and one could easily see that he was."

"Humph! 井戸／弁護士席, he isn't, that's a certainty. At first I thought he was, but when I got to bed and began to think deeper about it, I felt I had met the man somewhere before, but for the life of me I couldn't think where. I puzzled my brain over it again and again, and at last fell asleep with him on my mind, and the most curious part of the whole 事件／事情／状勢 is the way that I did 解任する who he was and where I last saw him.

"I wonder if you remember about eight years ago the 悪名高い bushranger, 黒人／ボイコット; Captain 黒人／ボイコット he used to call himself. He received six years' 監禁，拘置 for some blackguard 職業. At that time I was living in the 地区 he たびたび（訪れる）d, and I can 井戸／弁護士席 recollect the exciting moments we spent when the whole neighbourhood was trying to 安全な・保証する him; but, somehow or other, he always managed to 避ける 逮捕（する）, until at last he was given away at his hiding-place by one of his pals, who afterwards turned King's 証拠. Then the police took him. I was 現在の at his 裁判，公判, and can remember, as if it was only yesterday, the 静める and collected way that he stood in the ドッキングする／減らす／ドックに入れる and took his 宣告，判決. Whatever other faults he has, there is no 疑問 whatever the man had 広大な／多数の／重要な pluck.

"But, by Jove, he used to give us some shocking frights. It seems only a day since the time when I used to 嘘（をつく） awake at night 緊張するing my ears for every sound, which I felt would be '黒人／ボイコット's ギャング（団）,' as they were called. However, we were never favoured with a personal visit from the lot, although the next 駅／配置する was. But then, all this is now 古代の history. The ギャング（団） got lagged, and serve 'em 権利. We've no use for a dirty lot of blackguards like his. They used to say he was 井戸／弁護士席-born, a gentleman, and I 堅固に believe they were 権利, at least, 裁判官ing from 外見s, for I never saw a 犯罪の turned out so 井戸／弁護士席 in my life, and I've seen a few."

I replied that I had known all about him, and 井戸／弁護士席 I did, for he was a veritable Ned Kelly, and the wonderful adventures of the man made a very 広大な／多数の／重要な impression upon me at the time; I remember I used to picture myself as one of the police who took him, and I envied them their 仕事 in 安全な・保証するing one of the shrewdest and most dare—devil of 犯罪のs.

"It's very curious that just after he had left this morning, I should go to my desk to find a letter I had placed there, and the first thing my 注目する，もくろむ lighted on was this old paper, giving, as you will see, the whole account of his 裁判，公判 and a portrait of Captain 黒人／ボイコット."

With that he produced an old and 国／地域d newspaper, and, after carefully smoothing out the creases with his fat red 手渡すs, placed it before me. In the text I saw a 天然のまま portrait of the 犯罪の. It might have been the man Vandergrave, or anyone else, as far as I was able to 裁判官, but the landlord was so 確かな that he was 訂正する in his 主張, that I did not argue the 事柄 with him.

"All this is very 利益／興味ing, Johnson," I said, "but for the life of me I cannot see what this man's history can have to do with me, or Flaxman, unless you think we were members of his beautiful ギャング（団）. I 結論する from what you have told me that you are 確かな this chap Vandergrave is really 黒人／ボイコット, and that he has some 計画／陰謀 on 手渡す in which we are mixed up in a mysterious way."

"That's it, Mr. Tregaskis, that's it. It certainly sounds a fairy tale, but it's true, にもかかわらず, and I will tell you my 推論する／理由s for thinking so. He ordered his breakfast 早期に this morning, for he was anxious to get along quickly, he said. When sitting 負かす／撃墜する to it, he began in a casual way to pump me with regard to you and your 駅／配置する. How far off was it? Was it a large 駅／配置する? How many 手渡すs do you 雇う? What sort of a house was it? What was the best 大勝する to take to get to it? I, of course, innocently enough, told him, as we are 正確に，正当に proud of your 駅／配置する.

"Those few enquiries led to a 広大な／多数の／重要な many more, and at last he asked me whether there were any ladies up at the 駅／配置する. 'Why?' I asked. 'Oh, I only ask out of idle curiosity,' he replied. 'I remember that when Mr. Tregaskis was settling his difference with the Irish gentleman last evening the latter apologised for speaking of the lady as he did. I assumed, therefore, that a lady does reside at the 駅／配置する.'

"'There may be, or there may not be,' I answered. 'If there is,' I said, 'it's Mr. Tregaskis's 商売／仕事 and not 地雷; I don't worry myself enquiring into other folk's 事件／事情／状勢s,' for by now I was getting anxious at 存在 asked all these questions, and it made me a bit 怪しげな, for I felt that the joker 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know more than was good for him.

"'I was only curious to know,' he answered. "By the way, what is Mr. Flaxman like? I once knew a Flaxman at Cambridge, a tall fair man. Of course it may not be my man, but it's rather an unusual 指名する, and it would be very 利益／興味ing if I were to 会合，会う an old friend in the wilds of Australia.

"'Is he married?' he went on, and I told him I knew very little about Mr. Flaxman, but that if he 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know anything more he could ask the gentleman himself, as he had arrived late last night to see you, and, by Jove, 直接／まっすぐに he heard this, he went as white as a sheet, and it was some minutes before he 回復するd; then he made some small excuse, paid his 法案, ordered his horse, and went, and in my opinion he was in a devilish hurry to get off. From his talk and enquiries I'm やめる sure the chap's not what he 始める，決めるs up to be; in fact, my 疑惑s were 誘発するd by his 手渡すs. If that chap ain't done time, 井戸／弁護士席, I'm not the landlord of this blooming place, that's all."

"Now, that's very strange; I noticed his 手渡すs myself last night. It's most curious that he should take such a 抱擁する 利益／興味 in a man he's never met before," I said.

Then I remembered the way he worked the conversation 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the night before until the landlord told him we were the largest 駅／配置する owners in the 地区, and it suddenly flashed across my mind that he knew Flaxman's 指名する without my having told him.

The more I thought of it the more peculiar and mysterious it seemed. 最近の events had 原因（となる）d me to be careful; and now I wondered if this man was in any way connected with the red- bearded villain who had 強襲，強姦d both Moira and Flaxman.

I told the landlord what Flaxman had told me, how he had been attacked by the rascal, but I was careful to leave out any について言及する of Moira or her 見えなくなる.

When I had finished my story the landlord asked for a description of the 加害者.

"As far as I could gather from Flaxman he is very tall, about six feet three, with a red, ragged 耐えるd, immensely 幅の広い and powerfully built, 概略で dressed, and looks like a sundowner or a horse どろぼう."

"My word, that's マイク O'Connor's description to a tee," gasped the landlord in a 明言する／公表する of 巨大な excitement. "He's one of the worst blackguards in Australia, been in choky I don't know how many times for bushranging, horse stealing, and devil knows what other 罪，犯罪s. We hoped we'd got rid of the beast for good, as he hasn't been seen in these parts for five or six years."

"Perhaps he's been in 刑務所，拘置所."

"Most likely, and I wish he was there still. Just fancy, マイク O'Connor! By gad, you'll have to keep your 注目する，もくろむs skinned if he's on the 職業."

"Yes, 裁判官ing from poor old Flaxman's experience, I shall," I replied, putting 負かす／撃墜する my cup and 押し進めるing my 議長，司会を務める 支援する ready to rise from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. "Somehow, Johnson," I said, "I cannot help feeling that this chap Vandergrave, or 黒人／ボイコット, or whatever he chooses to call himself, and O'Connor, have some design upon us of which we know nothing. But what the 推論する／理由 is, Heaven alone knows. The whole thing is a mystery, and it is 現職の upon us to fathom it; and, by Jove, I ーするつもりである to do so, whatever the consequences."

With that I rose from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, filled my 麻薬を吸う, and was about to leave the room when Johnson followed me to the door.

"Mr. Tregaskis, look here. If at any time you want 援助, will you let me know, and I'll be with you 地位，任命する haste? I tell you やめる candidly, I don't like the look of things. I know these precious beauties too 井戸／弁護士席 to suppose they mean no 害（を与える）."

"Thanks very much indeed, my friend," I replied. "If the occasion arises, which I pray it may not, you may be sure I shall send you a message."

"And I'll be there for a certainty," he replied 温かく. "But, in the 合間, are you going to tell Mr. Flaxman anything of what I have told you?"

"No, I don't think I shall just yet. I may tell him as we ride to the 駅／配置する. Will you please let him know I shall be 支援する before he has finished his breakfast?"

I then strolled out of the house and turned my steps in the direction of the police 駅／配置する, for I was anxious to hear what the superintendent had to say on the 支配する of the 最近の occurrences.

As I passed along the footway, smoking my 麻薬を吸う, and trying to analyse the 状況／情勢 in my mind, I suddenly 設立する myself 直面する to 直面する with the most useful man of any that I could 会合，会う under the circumstances. His 指名する was Braithwaite, and he 占領するd the important position of 検査／視察するing officer of police, while his 義務 consisted in visiting the different 地区 police 駅／配置するs and 一般に seeing that all was carried on as it should be. He had stayed at Montalta on many occasions, we had been drawn into a very の近くに 社債 of friendship, and I 設立する him a real good fellow in every way.

As we 温かく shook 手渡すs, he 表明するd surprise at 会合 me parading the street at this 早期に hour in the morning, just as if I were out for a 憲法の.

"井戸／弁護士席, as a 事柄 of fact, old chap, I was on my way to 支払う／賃金 a visit to the police 駅／配置する."

"Eh, what? Going to give yourself up for the 罪，犯罪 of still 存在 a bachelor, I suppose."

He always chaffed me unmercifully for the selfish way, as he put it, that I withheld all the good things of the earth 蓄える／店d away at Montalta from the 女性（の） sex, and that it was a crying shame I should be 許すd to remain unmarried, while there were so many charming girls only too ready and willing to make me happy and comfortable for ever.

"No," I replied, "I'm not going to give myself up yet. I want a little more freedom."

"Freedom be hanged, you old dog, you want a wife, and I shall have to see that you get one without その上の 延期する. Joking apart, though, what's up?"

"Really, Braithwaite, I'm awfully delighted to see you. You're the very man of all others in the world I want. Can you turn 支援する to the police 駅／配置する and have a 雑談（する） in 私的な?"

"Certainly, old boy. I'm 完全に at your service, but I hope it's nothing serious; you look awfully glum. Is the 駅／配置する burnt 負かす／撃墜する?"

"No, not yet, I hope," I answered as we stepped out 味方する by 味方する.

"井戸／弁護士席, you must let me hear all about it," he said.

It did not take many minutes to walk to the police 駅／配置する, which was perhaps the most 課すing building in the place. At Braithwaite's 招待 I entered and passed along a 石／投石する- flagged passage, then followed him into a room at the 支援する, which he used as an office. It was 極端に simple in its furniture, 含む／封じ込めるing only a large アイロンをかける 安全な in one corner, a roll 最高の，を越す desk in the centre, a 回転するing 議長，司会を務める, and a couple of wicker 平易な 議長，司会を務めるs. The 塀で囲むs were hung with でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるd photographs of policemen in the 従来の and 極端に unnatural 態度s 一般に 可決する・採択するd by the portrait photographer, while each had 厳しい 義務 portrayed upon his features. The end 塀で囲む was ornamented with a neat design carried out in 手錠s, doubtless the work of a 手渡す that could find beauty in the most 悪意のある 器具s.

押し進めるing one of the 平易な 議長，司会を務めるs over, Braithwaite produced a cigar-事例／患者 and 手渡すd it to me. I selected a cigar and proceeded to light it.

"Now then, out with it. What 罪，犯罪 have you committed?"

"非，不，無 yet," I answered, "but there's no knowing what I may do, if I'm put to it; and, taking in consideration the circumstances which I am about to 知らせる you of, it looks as if we are in for a bit of trouble, one way and another."

"Oh, indeed! 井戸／弁護士席, tell me all about it, so that I may 裁判官 for myself."

Then I told him everything that had occurred since Moira first （機の）カム to the 駅／配置する, and withheld nothing, for I knew the man so 完全に that my secrets were perfectly 安全な in his keeping. With this feeling in my mind it made the telling 平易な. I 関係のある how I had fought the Tipperary Boy, and of the arrival of the man who called himself Vandergrave; and, finally, the landlord's 最近の conversation with me, and his 主張 that Vandergrave was really 黒人／ボイコット, and that it was most probably O'Connor who attacked Moira.

When I finished my yarn, Braithwaite sat still in his 議長，司会を務める, taking slow pulls at his 麻薬を吸う and blowing the smoke out of the left corner of his mouth. There was a look of earnest consideration in his grey 注目する，もくろむs, those 注目する，もくろむs that look so straight into one's own that they seem to search into the very brain to 診断する the 動機s germinating there.

After a minute or two had passed in silence, he rose and went to the door, and called the superintendent. When this officer （機の）カム, I heard him enter into a whispered conversation, which lasted a minute or two, then the man went away and Braithwaite returned to his 議長，司会を務める.

"Do you think, old chap, you could recognise this Vandergrave if I produce a photo?"

"Most certainly I could, for I took careful 在庫／株 of him last night; he 利益／興味d me not a little, principally from the fact that I considered him to be a new chum."

"I have no 疑問 about the correctness of Johnson's 主張 that the other fellow was O'Connor, for we have very lately received （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） that he is in the 地区, and have had 指示／教授／教育 to watch his goings on. In fact, that's one of the 事柄s that brings me here."

"Do you know him to be a bad lot then?"

"Bad lot, by gad! He's about as big a blackguard as there is in this wide world, I should say. There is 絶対 nothing too dirty for his 手渡すs to touch, and if he wants a thing he'll go to any extremes to 得る it. Yes, マイク O'Connor is a pretty rascal, and a very dangerous one, I can tell you; he and I are old 知識s. I got him his last two years' 監禁，拘置 for horse stealing up in the Turon 地区. He's got his knife into me, and won't forget to make it even if he gets half a chance."

"By Jove, old boy, I shouldn't like your 職業. Too many 危険s for me."

"That's what makes it exciting," he answered with a laugh. "If one had to consider all the 危険s run consequent upon the 脅しs that are thrown at one, I reckon there wouldn't be many police left. I must 自白する I like the 職業, there's a realism about it that keeps the brain and 団体／死体 active."

"So I should imagine; but there's one thing about Flaxman's story that rather puzzles me, and that is the fact that nothing was taken away from 行方不明になる Pendragon's room at the 駅／配置する. O'Connor is a どろぼう, and most probably （機の）カム to 得る 価値のあるs of some sort; but perhaps he was 乱すd by the dog before he could find anything 十分に useful to take away."

"Ah, I'm afraid that 強盗 of 価値のあるs was not the 反対する of his visit. For, if it had been so, he would certainly not have chosen 行方不明になる Pendragon's bedroom first; besides that, his attack on the young lady 証明するs that he was in search of something belonging to her, for I have no 疑問 in my mind that he watched her leave the 駅／配置する, and followed her into the scrub, that 存在 the quietest place in which he could carry out his attack; but I don't 推定する／予想する he realised that Snowball was also に引き続いて. That was a lucky 一打／打撃 for us. If it had not been for Snowball we should not have known anything. His devotion to 行方不明になる Pendragon is most 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の; but it was fortunate that O'Connor did not happen to see him, or I 恐れる Snowball would not have been in a position to tell us of any of the occurrences."

"I say, though, what do you think was O'Connor's 動機 for all this 暴力／激しさ?"

"井戸／弁護士席, in my humble opinion he 願望（する）d to 得る some 罪を負わせるing 文書 in the 所有／入手 of 行方不明になる Pendragon, and he was 用意が出来ている to go to any extreme to do so. You will see, if we make this 仮定／引き受けること our basis, how the whole story weaves itself into a probability. We'll assume, firstly, that 行方不明になる Pendragon is in the 所有／入手 of something, most likely a 文書, that this O'Connor 願望（する）s to 得る. Perhaps he has often been to the 駅／配置する and 脅すd her, he certainly could do so without your knowledge, as both of you are 一般に away on some distant part of the run during the day, and the thing would be perfectly 平易な and 安全な. At last she gets 脅すd; doubtless the man has become 積極的な, and she then thinks that the only course she can 追求する is to go away. She 令状s you a letter and 出発／死s; O'Connor has been watching and follows; he attacks her; but not finding what he wants, he leaves her insensible, hurries off to the 駅／配置する, and goes straight to her room; only to be discovered by Flaxman, with the result that we know. It must be an 極端に important 反対する that necessitates so much 危険. O'Connor would not run his 長，率いる wilfully into the lion's mouth unless a very 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 can be 伸び（る）d by it."

At this juncture the superintendent returned with a packet of papers, which he 手渡すd to Braithwaite.

"I think you will find all you 要求する in this, sir," he said.

"Thanks, leave us for a little."

The superintendent left the room, and Braithwaite opened the packet, taking from it a photograph, which he looked at for a few seconds, and then 手渡すd to me.

I took the piece of cardboard with a feeling of the most 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の nervousness. It was やめる indescribable. I felt as if I was about to look upon something that would 原因（となる） me 激しい horror. I gazed at it intently for a minute or two. It was a picture of a man of about forty years of age, and was without 疑問 a portrait of Vandergrave, for I 公式文書，認めるd the 冷笑的な 表現 and the features as the same as those of the man that I had met on the previous night, with the exception, of course, that the 初めの of the photograph must have been at least ten years younger when he sat for it.

"井戸／弁護士席, what do you make of it?" he asked.

"The man that I met last night, without a 疑問," I answered. "I could 断言する to him in a 法廷，裁判所 of 法律."

"井戸／弁護士席, perhaps you may have to, old chap, so don't be too eager. Now, then, do you want to hear a little of the gentleman's career? It may 利益／興味 you."

With that he 広げるd a paper and read me out some of the 詳細（に述べる）s.

" 'William Angus Hesketh, 偽名，通称 Forester, 偽名，通称 黒人／ボイコット, 老年の forty-two, 以前は 居住（者） in England, retired Captain 17th Dragoon Guards, （機の）カム to Australia with a woman since disappeared; after having resided in the 植民地 eight years, received two years for 偽造; two years later, one year for horse stealing; later, received six years for 強盗 under 武器, together with others, and の中で the number of his 共犯者s was Michael O'Connor.' By Jove, I begin to see a light in this 不明瞭. O'Connor is 事実上の／代理 under 指示／教授／教育s from, we'll call him, Vandergrave. Now I can understand his 苦悩 to learn whether any woman was at your 駅／配置する, eh?"

"I believe you're 権利, old chap," I answered; "it's very curious indeed."

"No, I 推定する／予想する when we've unravelled the mystery a little more, we shall find it's 簡単 itself. But look here, Tregaskis, I want you to tell me 正確に／まさに and faithfully all you know about 行方不明になる Moira Pendragon."

"I would most 喜んで, Braithwaite, but I know 絶対 nothing. As you are 井戸／弁護士席 aware, I 設立する her in the scrub, nearly mad with fright, during a 嵐／襲撃する in the middle of the night, when her companion, a man, had been struck by 雷 and killed."

"Yes, who was that man?" he asked 熱望して. He had risen and was pacing up and 負かす／撃墜する the room.

"That's more than I can tell you I tried to get it out of her, but it was impossible; she was silent on the 支配する, and would answer no questions. She only told me that she hated him, that he had 扱う／治療するd her 残酷に and she was glad he was dead; more than that I could not elicit."

"My dear old boy," he almost shouted, standing before me, "that is the crux of the whole thing. 行方不明になる Moira 持つ／拘留するs some secret connected with this Vandergrave, which he must have at all costs, and he has 雇うd O'Connor to 得る it, by 軍隊 if necessary. Now, tell me, did you ever hear her について言及する a paper or anything of the 肉親，親類d?"

"No, she had only the 着せる／賦与するs she stood up in, nothing more; everything else she 所有するd we gave her."

"Still, I'm 納得させるd there's something. If not, why did O'Connor ride 支援する to the 駅／配置する and ransack her room?"

"I cannot say; I'm at a loss to understand it."

We sat silently smoking for a few minutes, until at last Braithwaite collected the papers together, placed the photograph with them, and put all away in the packet.

"Look here, Tregaskis. You will remember I told you that this Vandergrave （機の）カム to Australia with a woman who disappeared. It is not possible that 行方不明になる Pendragon can be this woman?"

"Of course not, man. She told me herself that she was not twenty-two years old, and that she was born in Australia, so she cannot be."

"No, I suppose not. But what happened to the woman then? Maybe 行方不明になる Moira is her daughter."

"And who is the man that was killed by 雷? I saw his 直面する, horribly distorted in death, and I don't think I shall ever be able to get it out of my mind."

"Now, Tregaskis, you had better get 支援する, and be off with Flaxman as quickly as possible to the 駅／配置する. I don't think it probable that you will have any more trouble for a bit with O'Connor, it would be too risky for him. If you can put up with me, I will follow you in an hour or two, as I should like to consider this 事柄 on the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す."

"We shall only be too delighted to have you, Braithwaite; for as long as ever you can manage it. You can feel sure of the warmest of welcomes."

"Thanks very much," he answered. "I suppose you will 始める，決める out to bring 行方不明になる Pendragon 支援する to the 駅／配置する as soon as possible. I will bring over the doctor with me in 事例／患者 he is 手配中の，お尋ね者."

"All 権利." With that I shook 手渡すs 温かく with him and made my way into the street and 支援する to the hotel, congratulating myself that I had enlisted the services of one of the cleverest of police 公式の／役人s in Australia.

XIII. — FLAXMAN HAS A PRESENTIMENT.

ON entering the coffee room, if it might be dignified with the 指名する, I discovered Flaxman engaged in eating his breakfast; I therefore sat 負かす／撃墜する at the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する with him, and discussed trivialities. I could not help feeling a sense of 抑制, though, for so much had occurred within the last few hours, in which he was so 深く，強烈に 利益／興味d, and I had 伸び（る）d such an immensity of （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） consequent upon these occurrences, that it seemed almost cruel not to divulge it to him. But I 推論する／理由d it out in my mind that it would be better to wait until we were 安全に on our way to the 駅／配置する before I told him anything.

I 自白する that it was with no little impatience that I waited for him to finish his meal. All the time he was eating I was thinking of Moira, and wondering whether she was alive or dead. I knew the rough place that she had been taken to. It was as bad a grog shanty as there was in the 地区; a bad place for a man, but a thousand times worse for a woman. A wicked 穴を開ける to be 井戸／弁護士席 in, but to be ill there would be more than awful. When I thought of it, something seemed to say in my brain, "hurry, hurry," and a feeling of nervous 苦悩 took 持つ／拘留する of me. I bit the 茎・取り除く of my unlit 麻薬を吸う, until I almost bit it through; and it was only by a tremendous 成果／努力 that I kept myself from 勧めるing Flaxman to make haste. But a good meal was 必須の to him, so I 格闘するd with myself and 所有するd my soul in patience; yet it seemed ages before he rose up and said he was 用意が出来ている to start; then I was like a colt getting out of a 草案ing yard when the rails are slipped, and he is 許すd to go 解放する／自由な.

In a very short while we 完全にするd our 手はず／準備, and were in the saddle, waving 別れの（言葉，会）s to our friend the landlord, who called out after us, "Don't forget to let me know." So we began our 旅行 支援する to Montalta, where I was 運命にあるd to go through the most momentous event of my life. I could not help contrasting this setting out for the 駅／配置する that had become so dear to both of us, and where we had spent so many happy and 繁栄する days, with that of our first start to take 所有／入手. Now a feeling was upon me that all this happiness would be changed, and it was a long time before I was able to throw off the sense of 逮捕 that had come over me.

We 棒 味方する by 味方する without 演説（する）／住所ing a word to one another. Doubtless both of us had our minds too 十分な of the errand that was before us. Once or twice I ちらりと見ることd at Flaxman and 公式文書，認めるd how haggard and worn he still looked; and I fancied that I could see 涙／ほころびs in his 注目する，もくろむs. This was 激烈な／緊急の 苦痛 to me, for I knew that I was 大いに to 非難する in the 治療 that I had shown him. How I longed to be able to 始める，決める aside the past, and return once more to the old feeling of comradeship now gone for ever! Things, I felt, could never be the same again. So it is; a few 迅速な words spoken in heat and 怒り／怒る, and lifelong friendships are undone. Now there was nothing for it but to make the best 修正するs I could.

It was only when we reached the 首脳会議 of a high hill, from which a magnificent 見解（をとる） of the surrounding country is 得るd, that Flaxman spoke. This particular 位置／汚点／見つけ出す was a 広大な／多数の／重要な favourite of his, and he never tired of admiring its beauties. He always drew rein here to gaze with delight upon the superb prospect that lay spread as it were at our feet. Miles upon miles of green grass dotted everywhere with blue gums and oaks, while in the far distance towered the 範囲s 輪郭（を描く）d against the azure sky. What an expanse of earth and sky it was, majestic in its sublime grandeur! The road or 跡をつける that we followed passed at the 辛勝する／優位 of a 法外な hill, which dropped away for about six or seven hundred feet. Blue gums and mulga scrub 着せる／賦与するd its 味方する, interspersed here and there with 広大な／多数の／重要な grey 玉石s. At the foot of this hill was the green valley, made exceptionally charming and fresh by the 最近の rains. As far as the 注目する，もくろむ could reach was sunlight and colour, and not a living creature, save an old-man kangaroo, who suddenly caught sight of us and lopped lazily away 負かす／撃墜する the hillside. All around we could hear the cicalas busily chirruping の中で the trees, and the chatter of the parakeets, and occasionally the call of an old crow engaged somewhere 近づく in the wattle bushes.

Flaxman was an artist and a good 裁判官 of 見解（をとる）s, and this one pleased him more than any other. This time he stopped, and I followed his example, although I was all impatience to bring our 旅行 to an end, and was in no mood, on this occasion, to discuss the beauties of Nature.

He sat perfectly still on his horse for three or four minutes, gazing over the beautiful scene, and taking in all its glories.

"Oh, what a 見解（をとる） it is, old boy," he said, and turned to me as if he wished me to 是認する what he said, "and to think that it is the last time that I shall ever look upon it."

"What on earth are you talking about," I answered. "Why, my dear chap, you'll see it again hundreds of times."

"No, George, I've a feeling in my inmost soul that I shall never see it again. I don't know what it is that makes me think this, but it is so. You have always laughed at my superstitions, as you are pleased to call them, yet, so 確かな am I of what I say, that I have taken the 警戒 of 令状ing a letter to you which I want you to 行為／法令／行動する upon, if anything happens to me. We have been such awfully good friends, old man, that I could die perfectly happy knowing that you will carry out my wishes. Will you 約束 me to do so?"

"Of course I will. But really you must not talk like this. I am 確かな that you will live for years yet to enjoy your success. You are seedy and worn out, and things that have happened have got on your 神経s. Let's hurry up and get 支援する to the 駅／配置する. It makes me 哀れな to see you so glum."

"My dear old friend," he answered, while he looked at me with the old affectionate smile that I knew so 井戸／弁護士席, "our life has been a very happy one together, until—until—許す me for 説 it, until you brought Moira 支援する with you; since then I have not had a moment's peace of mind. You will wonder at my 説 this, but when you know all you will not be surprised, but don't think that I was in love with her, for nothing in the world would give me greater 楽しみ than to see you two married, if such a thing could be possible, and I 真面目に hope that I shall live to have my wish gratified."

To say that I was surprised at the turn the conversation had taken was to put it too mildly. I was amazed; I could find nothing to answer, but only sat like an idiot gazing at him in astonishment.

"You look as if you imagine I am mad, George, but I'm not, I never was so sane in my life. I know that you thought I was in love with Moira, but I was not. I had the greatest 賞賛 and affection for her, and when you know all you will 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる my position. But I can only tell you of one 出来事/事件 in my career—I have a wife. It's impossible for me to tell you more now, for the 支配する is one that is far too painful to me, but some day you will know everything and can 裁判官 my 活動／戦闘s for yourself."

I couldn't answer a word, I was dumb-設立するd. I tried to stammer out a few 宣告，判決s, but the words stuck in my throat. What a fool I had made of myself all through! What a jealous, 不当な brute I had been! I could have kicked myself for my idiocy. To think that in my 失敗ing folly I should have せいにするd 動機s to him which were 完全に foreign to his mind! I felt more contemptible than it was possible to say.

However, I managed to bring the talk into another channel, and as we started once more on our homeward 旅行, I 知らせるd him that I had seen Braithwaite, who was coming up in a few hours to the 駅／配置する to stay with us, and would bring the doctor with him.

At last we （機の）カム in sight of the 駅／配置する, and drew up at the slip-rails of the horse paddock, 除去するd our saddles and bridles, then sent the horses loose, and made for the house.

With mixed feelings I gazed upon our home once again. It seemed to me that I had been away months and months. How delightfully 平和的な and 静かな it looked, nestling in a wealth of peppermint, orange, and loquat trees, with here and there 広大な／多数の／重要な gums, and tall feathery bamboos. The shady walks and neat flower-beds filled with 広大な／多数の／重要な 集まりs of colour, which 注ぐd out the sweetest fragrance, all told of the unceasing care and attention paid to the place. The 幅の広い verandah, which was built 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the house, covered with roses and creepers of all 肉親，親類d, looked so 冷静な／正味の and delightfully homelike, with its （土地などの）細長い一片d awnings, that one felt tempted to throw oneself into the deepest and easiest of the big wicker 議長，司会を務めるs which stood so invitingly about, and 沈む contentedly into a doze, なぎd softly by the humming of the innumerable insects の中で the trees.

But no, there was a much more important 事柄 to be …に出席するd to; so, after giving orders that the tray buggy should be made ready, with a mattress laid on it, so that Moira might travel with all the 慰安 possible, I went to my bedroom, and after taking a refreshing bath, dressed myself for the 旅行, and made my way to the verandah, where I 設立する Flaxman also 用意が出来ている to start.

I had already given 指示／教授／教育s that Moira's bedroom should be 用意が出来ている and everything made ready to receive her, and a 公式文書，認める was sent off to the overseer's wife at the distant homestead, asking her to come over and see that 行方不明になる Pendragon 手配中の，お尋ね者 for nothing. She was a very nice little woman, 充てるd to Flaxman and myself, and I knew that she would do all that lay in her 力／強力にする to help us, for she was 極端に fond of Moira.

At last we were ready to start. Flaxman was to 運動 the buggy, while I 棒 old Ready, a big brown horse, a particular favourite of 地雷, who had carried me for many 疲れた／うんざりした miles on some of our hardest days' 召集（する）ing at the distant parts of the run.

Snowball, of course, who was already waiting for us at the slip-パネル盤s, would trot 根気よく at our 味方する, never tiring; he was one of the cleverest trackers it was ever my lot to 会合，会う, and nothing in the world could put him off. So we started, and I was glad to feel that it would not be many hours before Moira would be 安全な once again under our roof. Both of us were eager beyond words to reach the "Bushman's 残り／休憩（する）," as the grog shanty was so grandiloquently called, though it belied its 指名する most terribly, for the man who entered its portals knew no 残り／休憩（する） whatever, at least not until the 量 of his cheque was （負債など）支払うd in more senses than one.

When we left the 周辺 of the 駅／配置する, our 大勝する lay through the scrub, and then over 幅の広い green stretches of pasture land, 権利 at the 辺ぴな 部分 of our run. As we 旅行d along we happened to come across herds of our cattle, in such gorgeous 条件 that I could not resist the 誘惑 to stop and call Flaxman's attention to them, for within a week or so we were to begin 召集（する）ing a big 暴徒 of fat cattle for the market, and in my mind's 注目する，もくろむ I saw good prices and large cheques. The excellent rains so recently fallen had produced abundant and luscious herbage, and on all 味方するs the 在庫／株 gave 証拠 of doing 同様に as the most exacting of 子孫を作る人s could wish. There was an indescribable charm and delight in gazing upon the splendid beasts lazily feeding on the tender and nutritive grass, the while they swished the 飛行機で行くs off their sleek 味方するs with their long tails and moved slowly on a few paces, or raised their 長，率いるs and lowed to another, while some stood 膝 深い in the reed- fringed pools, their goodly 割合s 反映するd in the （疑いを）晴らす water.

There is no picture that can give greater 楽しみ than that of seeing one's 所有物／資産／財産 改善するing every day, and in my 事例／患者 I had the best of 推論する／理由s to be 満足させるd on this 得点する／非難する／２０.

After leaving these fresh and fertile pastures we struck our 境界, when the 面 of the country began to change. In place of the delightful green of the watered lands, we began to see the sand, while the scrub became denser; then, as we 上がるd to the 範囲s, we （機の）カム across 広大な／多数の／重要な grey 玉石s.

"The Bushman's 残り／休憩（する）" still lay some miles to the north, and it meant climbing up for about three miles and then descending. On every 味方する we saw mulga scrub and spinnifex, and here and there a stunted gum. We had to 選ぶ our way pretty carefully now, as the ground was strewn with large 激しく揺するs and the going for the buggy was not of the pleasantest, but it was the quickest 大勝する to take us to Moira, and that was enough for us. After what Flaxman told me during the 早期に part of the day I felt almost light-hearted, so I told myself that if all was 井戸／弁護士席 I would ask Moira to become my wife at the earliest possible moment. The very thought of it 勧めるd me on.

It took us a long time to reach the highest point that we had to get over; at last, however, we began to descend, and before long we dived once more into the scrub. All the time Snowball was guiding us; soon we （機の）カム to a （疑いを）晴らすing, and here he 知らせるd us was the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す that O'Connor had chosen to attack Moira. Neither of us spoke, but Flaxman 勧めるd the horses on as if the place was accursed. Within another hour we were 近づく enough to see the corrugated アイロンをかける building that was our 目的地. It stood upon an eminence やめる devoid of trees, or indeed any growth, but the very coarsest of grass. From its position it 命令（する）d the most wonderful 見解（をとる） for miles and miles over an 巨大な tract of country.

The position chosen was an excellent one; the shanty was to be seen for a very かなりの distance by any travellers on the coach 跡をつける that passed in 前線 of the building, and as the place depended upon the custom of the wayfarer for what little 貿易（する） it did, this was most important.

It was by no means an 課すing hostelry, as apart from its 露骨な／あからさまの ugliness it stood sadly in need of 修理. On the facia board was painted, evidently by an amateur 手渡す, "The Bushman's 残り／休憩（する）. Good accommodation for man and beast." This board was of the rottenest description, and in 切迫した danger of 落ちるing upon the 長，率いる of the unwary 顧客 beneath. Nearly all the windows were broken, and the doors and でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるs were 急速な／放蕩な decaying for want of paint, while what little paint-work there was had been burnt and blistered by the heat beyond 承認. In fact, the whole building was warped and 新たな展開d from the same 原因（となる）, for the whole strength of the sun fell 直接／まっすぐに upon it, there 存在 no shade どれでも from morning till night.

A verandah was 築くd in the 前線 of the place, which consisted of about half a dozen rough tree 茎・取り除くs, supporting a sloping アイロンをかける roof, and rough boards for 床に打ち倒すing, many of which had decayed and fallen in, leaving a 汚い 穴を開ける to catch the foot of the intoxicated 顧客.

An old バーレル／樽 turned on its 味方する, at one end of the verandah, did 義務 as a kennel for a savage mongrel dog on a chain, who did not disguise his animosity to us. On the 権利 手渡す 味方する of the building a tin shed was 築くd, which went by the 指名する of "The Deadhouse," where the gentle 顧客 was deposited to sleep off the drunken frenzy that always 後継するs a too 自由主義の imbibing of the vile concoction that passes for whisky at these hells.

Even as we arrived terrific yells and cursings emanated from this shed, telling only too 井戸／弁護士席 the 明言する／公表する of its occupant. A man, evidently a 駅／配置する 手渡す, reclined in a drunken stupor upon a （法廷の）裁判 on the verandah, while another supported himself against one of the tree 茎・取り除くs that did 義務 as a 中心存在. His 直面する bore 調印するs of a 最近の 一区切り／（ボクシングなどの）試合, for it was ashen grey, and the 注目する，もくろむs were sunken and bloodshot to the last degree. Altogether it was a beastly sight, but yet one that we had grown accustomed to see at these places, and if it had not been that Moira was lying ill here, we should have thought little of it. As it was, I felt eager to go up and kick the drunken brutes away, and take the proprietor by the neck and give him the soundest hiding he had ever had in his life. My heart sank when I thought of what Moira might have to listen to in this abominable place. Many a time I have ridden by these grog shanties, and heard some poor devil howling and shrieking in delirium in the "deadhouse"; while the landlord calmly sits in the verandah and smokes his 麻薬を吸う, no 疑問 推測するing as to how much he could 略奪する the poor brute of from the cheque which he 手渡すd him when he arrived—perhaps the fruits of months of hard work at some 隣人ing 駅／配置する.

These places are one of the 悪口を言う／悪態s of Australia, and a never- 中止するing 苦悩 to the 当局, for they do an incalculable 量 of 害（を与える）; yet, notwithstanding the 危険s they run, these blackguards, by their nefarious doings, manage to 安全な・保証する 抱擁する 利益（をあげる）s and retire on a handsome competency.

When he heard us pull up before the 入り口, the proprietor （機の）カム out on the verandah, and regarded us with a curious 表現 on his surly countenance, the while he puffed clouds of foul smoke from the foulest of 麻薬を吸うs.

I knew the fellow 井戸／弁護士席. Many a time I had had 原因（となる） to remonstrate 強制的に with him, on account of his having given the 黒人／ボイコット boys アルコール飲料, and on more than one occasion we had almost come to blows over the 事柄.

He was as bad a rascal as any in the 地区, and half the discontent and strikes の中で the 駅／配置する 手渡すs emanated from his fertile brain. He 始める，決める up as a 政治家，政治屋, but in fact he was 単に an agitator, and a lazy and blackguard one at that.

However, on this occasion it behoved me to be very 用心深い in my 取引 with the worthy, until I had ascertained what 治療 he had meted out to Moira, for if he had behaved decently, then he should have sound 補償（金）; but, on the other 手渡す, if he had neglected her—井戸／弁護士席—I should break his neck.

In 返答 to my "Good afternoon," he gave a surly grunt. I then dismounted and gave the horse into Snowball's 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金, and stepped up on to the verandah.

"Snowball here tells me that you have been 肉親，親類d enough to take a lady in, who was 負傷させるd in the Bush. That is so, is it not?"

"Yes, it is," he replied, while he blew his filthy smoke almost into my 直面する, "and a tarnation nuisance she's been, I can tell you, shrieking and shouting, like a mad cow. Blest if I shan't lose my license if the police hear of it, for they'll be after thinkin' I'm 許すing drunkeness on the 前提s."

At this moment a piercing yell （機の）カム from the "deadhouse."

I looked at the rascal before me, but he didn't move a muscle.

"What's that then?" I asked meaningly.

"Oh, that's a dog I keeps there for 保護."

I looked him fair in the 注目する，もくろむ, which meant that he was a liar as plain as a look could mean it. He couldn't 直面する me after this; muttering something about fetching his missis, he went into the house.

I 冷静な／正味のd my heels for a few minutes listening to the 深い snoring of the purple—直面するd drunkard on the seat 近づく me. Inside I could hear a muttered conversation taking place, evidently between the proprietor and his wife, and after a while she appeared, wiping her 手渡すs on the dirtiest of aprons.

She was a 抱擁する, raw-boned woman, with thin 黒人／ボイコット hair 徹底的に捜すd tightly 支援する over her skull, her 注目する，もくろむs were jet 黒人／ボイコット and protruded わずかに, while one was ornamented with a blue and green bruise, and she had also lost one of her 前線 teeth, both of which defects I put 負かす／撃墜する to her lord and master. The sleeves of her bodice were tucked up, and her 武器, though thin, were muscular as a man's. Altogether she looked an ugly 顧客 to 取り組む, and I 自白する that I would much rather have discussed the 支配する with the husband than with the wife.

Yet, as it 証明するd, there was a rough 親切 about her that one would never have 推定する／予想するd from her 外見. She told me how ill Moira had been, and that she had 主張するd on her 存在 put to bed にもかかわらず her husband's 反対, whom she spoke of as a dirty dog before his 直面する, at which he scowled menacingly, and I saw prospects of a big 戦う／戦い when we 出発／死d.

It appeared that Moira had been insensible for more than twenty hours from concussion of the brain, and that even now she was in a feeble 明言する／公表する. I was taken in to see her, and was shocked at her 外見. She seemed pleased to see me, and softly 圧力（をかける）d my 手渡す when I told her that we had come to take her 支援する to the 駅／配置する.

It took about half an hour to get her ready for the 旅行 支援する to Montalta, but it seemed hours before we were 知らせるd that all 準備s were 完全にするd. We had her wrapped in 一面に覆う／毛布s that we brought with us, and then Flaxman and I carried her as tenderly as we かもしれない could to the buggy, and laid her upon the mattress, and placed pillows under her 長，率いる. When this was satisfactorily 遂行するd, and she was as comfortable as possible under the circumstances, I returned to the house. Without 演説（する）／住所ing the landlord, I enquired what sum would 補償する them for the trouble they had been put to on Moira's account. Hereupon the man 需要・要求するd twenty 続けざまに猛撃するs, but the woman すぐに shut him up, and ordered him from the room, and it was curious to 公式文書，認める how meekly he obeyed her. When we were alone together I 手渡すd her ten 続けざまに猛撃するs, and 申し込む／申し出d my thanks for the 親切 she had shown to the 負傷させるd girl.

"Don't thank me, sir," she said, as she took the money and placed it in a mysterious pocket. "I would not take anything at all, only things are so very bad one way and another. I was 権利 負かす／撃墜する sorry, and my heart ached for the young lady, sir. I can tell you that it was just lucky Snowball （機の）カム when he did, and she was brought here, for she'd have died in the scrub for a certainty. Although this ain't the place for the likes of her, yet it's a mighty sight better than lying in the Bush. She'll soon get 井戸／弁護士席 when she can have better food and 残り／休憩（する）."

"That we shall most certainly give her," I replied, making my way to the door, for I was very anxious to get off.

"Before you go, sir, I'd like to tell you something," she said, dropping her 発言する／表明する so that no one might overhear her words. "The young lady has been here before, it was some months ago. （頭が）ひょいと動く, that's my dog of a husband, was powerful bad after a アルコール飲料 一区切り／（ボクシングなどの）試合, and gave me a murderous cruel blow over the 長，率いる with an axe, which fair knocked me out. If he hadn't been in アルコール飲料 he wouldn't have had the pluck to do it. 井戸／弁護士席, when I （機の）カム to my senses I opens my 注目する，もくろむs to find this young lady bathing my 長，率いる and nursing me like an angel. Yes, in this 黒人／ボイコット, dirty 穴を開ける. A wicked place for a dog, let alone a human 存在. I've known better days myself, and I can tell you I was just struck dumb to see her pretty 直面する a-bending over me."

"How did she come to be here?" I 問い合わせd 熱望して.

"Why, she （機の）カム with her husband, Flash Jim; he was killed in the Bush by 雷 two or three days after he left here, and from all accounts it served him 権利, for I never in the whole of my natural （機の）カム 近づく such a dirty blackguard. Yet they tells me he was a gentleman born, and powerful rich once, and kept racehorses, 負かす／撃墜する Melbourne way. But he weren't powerful rich here, for they'd neither of 'em got more than they stood up in."

"Was he cruel to her?"

"Cruel! Lord, man, he was a devil, 特に in his cups. She told me, poor soul, that she 推定する／予想するd he would kill her one day, and she his wife! Only a chit of a thing hardly out of the nursery."

"The brute! But can you tell me where they were going then?"

"（頭が）ひょいと動く, that's my man, says they was agoing to 会合，会う a cove 指名するd 黒人／ボイコット, least—ways he was, and she had to go where he 手配中の，お尋ね者, poor child. I don't know what the game was, but 黒人／ボイコット is a wrong 'un of the worst 肉親，親類d, and Flash Jim, 井戸／弁護士席, he was as bad, so I've no 疑問 they'd got a nice piece of devilry on. In her illness she would call out, 'George, George, don't, don't let him come 近づく me; he'll kill me, he'll kill me,' and I guessed that was about true, but who George is, Lord only knows."

I turned away to hide the emotion that these few words brought to me. Thank God, then, I was in her thoughts, if it was only in her delirium.

How I longed to be able to take her in my 武器, and speak to her of my love, and tell her how much she was to me, that I could not live without her, and implore her to marry me. Somehow I had always 推定する／予想するd that she would 証明する to be the wife of the man who was killed by 雷, but now that he was dead she was 解放する／自由な, and I could make her life happy, affording some recompense for the 悲惨 and cruelty that she had so long been 支配するd to.

But I had to put these thoughts from me for the 現在の. We must get her 支援する to the 駅／配置する, and make her 井戸／弁護士席 once more. Then—then—I could speak, but not before.

I held out my 手渡す to the landlady, who took it in her hard one and shook it 温かく, while I fancied I saw 涙／ほころびs in her 注目する，もくろむs.

"It's my hope, sir," she said, "that the young lady will soon be 井戸／弁護士席 again and 安全な from these rough brutes. God knows, she's seen enough of 悲しみ."

"Thank you, thank you," I replied, and went to the door. I quickly 機動力のある my horse, and we 始める，決める off, the landlady standing on the verandah watching us until we were out of sight.

We went 支援する by the 大勝する which would 証明する easiest for the 無効の, and it was やめる dark before we arrived at the 駅／配置する, to find the Doctor を待つing us with Braithwaite.

Moira was at once put to bed, and the Doctor …に出席するd her, while we waited with impatience for the result of his diagnosis.

In the 合間 our meal was 用意が出来ている, and, having changed our 着せる／賦与するs, we sat 負かす／撃墜する to it. We were just about to 開始する, when the Doctor entered the room and 知らせるd us that the 患者 had borne the 旅行 satisfactorily and was going on 井戸／弁護士席. More than that, he 約束d us that in いっそう少なく than a fortnight, with proper care and attention, she would be about again. The blows that O'Connor had given her had been serious, but, thanks to an excellent 憲法, we might 推定する／予想する to see a 完全にする 回復.

I was delighted to hear the 報告（する）／憶測, and 約束d myself that I would see that everything possible was done to 急いで this 望ましい result.

We were a pleasant little party to sit 負かす／撃墜する to our 相当な meal, and nothing was wanting to make it 完全に enjoyable. Many and 変化させるd were the topics of conversation that we discussed, for both Braithwaite and the Doctor had been through queer experiences and each could tell a good yarn. So the time passed very pleasantly.

Having at last 満足させるd the pangs of hunger, we betook ourselves to the verandah, where we discussed all points in 関係 with the 最近の occurrences while smoking our 麻薬を吸うs and sipping our grogs.

Braithwaite 知らせるd us that he had brought with him two homing pigeons that we were to keep handy, and on the first sight of Vandergrave, or any other of his 乗組員, were to 始める，決める 解放する／自由な, and 直接／まっすぐに they returned to the police 駅／配置する the Superintendent would know that his services were 要求するd, and would 始める，決める out forthwith.

This was a most 満足な 計画／陰謀, and I felt that I could now sleep easily in my bed, knowing that in the event of trouble arising I could communicate at once with the 当局.

As we sat in our 平易な 議長，司会を務めるs and smoked unceasingly, the 十分な moon began to rise over the distant 範囲s and to flood the 介入するing landscape with its mellow light. How beautiful it made everything appear! There was something most exquisitely 平和的な in looking at the long 影をつくる／尾行するs cast by the trees and bushes across the 井戸／弁護士席—削減（する） lawns, and then away over the undulating plains, dotted here and there with gums standing out like grey ghosts, and, above all, the majestic moon hanging in the heavens, a ball of gold. All around us the flowers gave out their sweetest perfumes, and not a sound was heard.

As I watched there （機の）カム over me a feeling of 激しい peace and thankfulness that all had turned out so 井戸／弁護士席.

How little did I know that it was but the 静める before the 嵐／襲撃する, how little did I reckon on the awful occurrences that were about to take place, 行為s that would change the whole tenor of my 存在, and leave an がまんするing 悲しみ never to be put out of my mind! However, at that time, I saw only peace and 慰安 before me.

I was 誘発するd from my reverie by a 長引かせるd snore from the Doctor, which 警告するd me that the hour was late. Looking at my watch I 設立する it was one o'clock, その結果 I roused myself and 示唆するd bed.

As we were all agreeable, we turned in, and before long the entire place was wrapped in slumber.

XIV. — THE BUSHMAN'S YARN.

DURING the next few days Moira made 安定した 進歩 に向かって 回復, 借りがあるing to the excellent nursing and unceasing attention lavished upon her by the overseer's wife. Nothing could equal the devotion shown to her gentle 患者—with her night and day, waiting upon her 手渡す and foot, …に出席するing to the slightest wish as soon as 表明するd. It was small wonder that the colour began to return once more to Moira's cheeks and the brightness to her 注目する，もくろむs. In a week she was strong enough to be taken out on to the verandah, where she could enjoy the sunlight and 得る 利益 from the fresh 空気／公表する, while we made every 成果／努力 to 利益／興味 and amuse her, for we knew it was most important that she should forget the episodes of the last few weeks.

I watched the 調印するs of her returning health and strength with the sincerest 楽しみ. There was nothing in the world that I would not have done to 促進する her happiness and 福利事業. She had only to ask for anything, and I would have gone to the end of the earth to 得る it. For I was hopelessly and 猛烈に in love with her. She was in my thoughts night and day, as I went about my work on the 駅／配置する, or 棒 to the distant parts of the run; often, I 自白する, to my danger, for so engrossed did I become in my reveries that I 辛うじて escaped 厳しい 落ちるs more than once 借りがあるing to not watching where my horse was treading.

Everything connected with the 駅／配置する 栄えるd exceedingly. After the good rains that had fallen all looked so 有望な and 希望に満ちた, that we were led to fancy these halcyon days would last, and that we should never again be 支配するd to the unwelcome visits of O'Connor and his rascally friends. At this time we 決定するd to send a large 草案 of 蓄える／店 cattle 負かす／撃墜する to the market, and I made 手はず／準備 with a former 知識, 刑事 Marsland, a drover, one of the best overlanders in Australia, to come up and take 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of them, and to 配達する 安全に at the sale yards.

未解決の his arrival, our time was fully 占領するd in riding to the different parts of the run, cutting out and bringing in the 選ぶ of the beasts, and the scene in the 草案ing yards was one of continual 利益／興味 and excitement. The cattle 証明するd やめる up to our 期待s; a finer lot no man could have wished to own. We were proud men as we sat on our horses, and 公式文書，認めるd the splendid bullocks that passed before us, for more than two-thirds had been bred upon the run, and it was pretty evident that we should 得る very 相当な prices when they had been sold. Montalta had always earned a splendid 評判 for the 質 of its 在庫／株, and there was no 疑問 that the beasts now 存在 sent would 高める this 評判 still more.

When the lot had been brought in, we took one last look at them, and then turned our horses' 長，率いるs to the 駅／配置する, dog- tired, man and beast, as we had for days risen at sunrise and been in the saddle nearly all the time till sundown, and the 仕事 is far from an 平易な one.

We ordered a good 供給（する） of grog to be taken to the 手渡すs, for they one and all had worked like niggers and deserved their extra allowance. As for ourselves, we changed into comfortable togs, dined, and afterwards dropped asleep in our 議長，司会を務めるs on the verandah.

Next morning we began to 長，率いる the cattle 負かす／撃墜する to splendid grazing land by the creek, where they were to を待つ the arrival of Marsland, who was 推定する／予想するd at the （軍の）野営地，陣営 in the evening.

I stood by the rails and counted the 暴徒 as they passed out, and 設立する that they numbered over six hundred. There were some splendid young bullocks and heifers amongst them, too, in the prime of 条件, and I felt delighted that I was able to 手渡す over such a 罰金 lot to Marsland's 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金, who was as good a 裁判官 of cattle as I was myself, and perhaps better.

刑事 turned up punctually as was his wont, and I sent a 公式文書，認める 負かす／撃墜する to the （軍の）野営地，陣営, 招待するing him to come up and have a smoke and 雑談（する） over old times, in 返答 to which he made his 外見 during the evening, その結果 I placed him in a big 議長，司会を務める in the verandah, gave him a cigar, and filled a noggin of grog for him, and then we began to talk of many things dear to us both.

Good old 刑事! I can see him now, with his long grey 耐えるd, of which he was inordinately proud, passing it through his fingers continually, even when riding along, as if it were spun silk. He 所有するd a large 麻薬中毒の nose, and a pair of brown, twinkling 注目する，もくろむs, over which bristled bushy grey eyebrows. His hair was white and thin, over a 幅の広い and high forehead. It was a very shrewd and honest 直面する, and few men tried to take him in; if, however, they did, it was ten to one they （機の）カム off second best. He was a thin, wiry man, standing about six foot two, and as strong as a lion, にもかかわらず his fifty-eight years. I have never run across anyone equal to him on a horse. Ride! Why, he could ride anything on earth that ever went on four 脚s, Good, bad, or indifferent, mad or sane, they were all the same to him. And what a 手渡す he was with cattle! It was a lesson to any man to watch him cutting out a half-mad bull in 厚い, scrubby country, or 長，率いるing and turning beasts in rough, rocky 地区s. He 一般に had a gentle way with him, but when occasion 要求するd it, he could be a very devil. Altogether he was what he looked, a born Bushman, and anything he didn't know about the game wasn't 価値（がある） learning.

He 示唆するd that I should go with them for the first two days, as cattle 一般に travel 不正に at first out of their own country; so I arranged to take with me one of our own 手渡すs and Snowball, who was as good as an 普通の／平均（する） two. So over our smokes and grogs we discussed the prospects of an 早期に start on the morrow, and then passed to other topics.

After having talked of many old 相互の friends, I asked him if in his travels about the country he had ever run across a man called 黒人／ボイコット.

"黒人／ボイコット, 黒人／ボイコット?" he said. "Let me see, the only 黒人／ボイコット I can remember was a card that got into devilish hot water, in fact, was lagged once or twice for dirty work; you can't, of course, mean him. I think he was called 'The Captain,' but that was years after I first met him."

"Yes, that's the man," I answered, "the very one. What do you know of him? I'm 特に anxious to hear."

"井戸／弁護士席," he said, "it's rather a curious story, that of my first 会合 with the gentleman, for I reckon it as one of the episodes of my life. I'll tell you all about it, if you like."

I was やめる agreeable, so I 補充するd his glass, and bade him 始める，決める to work. The old chap took a puff at his 麻薬を吸う, and settled himself comfortably in his 議長，司会を務める 用意が出来ている to spin me a yarn. All Bushmen love to yarn, it's one of their greatest 楽しみs, and 刑事 Marsland was no exception. Many and many a time at the （軍の）野営地，陣営 解雇する／砲火／射撃 have I listened to the 深い 発言する／表明する of the 天候-beaten old drover, relating, in most 劇の トンs, some thrilling story that he swore had happened to himself; while the 燃やすing スピードを出す／記録につけるs threw up 広大な／多数の／重要な lurid 炎上s, weirdly illuminating the 茎・取り除くs of the gum trees 近づく at 手渡す, 強めるing the 不明瞭 beyond, and bringing into high 救済 the 人物／姿／数字s of the eager listeners who stood or reclined in the cheerful 炎. They were gruesome stories, too, some of them, yarns that made the hair 強化する on the scalp and 原因（となる） a feeling of 冷気／寒がらせる on the spine. Of course they mostly emanated from his fertile brain, but that did not 事柄 to us; they were 血-curdling enough to make one jump at the sound of a breaking twig, kick the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 into a 炎, and throw on more 支持を得ようと努めるd to keep the 不明瞭 out.

So the old man 転換d the タバコ in his 麻薬を吸う, made it draw to his satisfaction, took a pull at his grog, （疑いを）晴らすd his throat, and gave me the に引き続いて story:

"It's nigh upon sixteen years ago now since I first 始める，決める 注目する，もくろむs on 黒人／ボイコット. I was asked by old Johnny Luscombe, who owned the place, to go to a 駅／配置する on the 国境s of the 'Never, Never Land;' about the worst part of Australia, I reckon. If I remember 権利 it was called Baroomba. What for, Heaven only knows; I should have called it Hell, if I'd been asked to 指名する it, on account of the 乾燥した，日照りの heat of the 穴を開ける. I remember the old man told me he had placed a 経営者／支配人 in, and 手配中の，お尋ね者 me to go and see 正確に／まさに how the land lay on his に代わって, for he was in no way 満足させるd with the 存在するing methods of the 管理／経営. I was to 報告（する）／憶測 to him how I 設立する things in general, and to give my opinion of the 経営者／支配人 and of his ways. I didn't much like the 職業, but I 手配中の，お尋ね者 it 不正に at the time, and needs must when the devil 運動s, so I 受託するd Mr. Luscombe's 申し込む／申し出; he had always been a good friend to me one way and another, and I felt that this 職業 might lead to others, perhaps good ones, so I arranged to start forthwith. He told me that the 経営者／支配人's 指名する was 黒人／ボイコット, and 黒人／ボイコット he 証明するd, as you will see when I have finished my yarn.

"After receiving a letter of introduction, I 始める，決める off. I can recollect as if it were only yesterday my feelings when I began to travel over some of the most wretched country that it has ever been my lot to see. Arid plains of burnt up grass, poor even in the wet seasons, which, by the way, they don't get much of, but during the hot times scorched to a cinder, the earth really hot to walk on. Flat as your 手渡す for miles and miles, then sand and spinnifex, spinnifex and sand, in deadly monotony, until you feel that you would give anything for a blade of green grass to look at. Hardly a tree to be seen, and what there is, stunted and almost dead by the heat, and ジュースd little animal life, but 激しく揺する- wallaby and crows.

"By the time that I arrived within 見解（をとる） of the アイロンをかける shanties forming the 駅／配置する I had 公正に／かなり got the hump. Old Luscombe must have been a dashed fool to have bought the place at all; but, there, it wasn't my 商売／仕事 to discuss the 知恵 of my 雇用者's 投資s, but I couldn't help wondering what induced him to touch such a dog's 穴を開ける as this.

"I took a （一定の）期間 of 残り／休憩（する） in the shade of a 激しく揺する, 近づく by a 沈滞した water-穴を開ける, where I could get a 見解（をとる） of the wretched place, for I didn't want to arrive there until sundown. When that time （機の）カム I 機動力のある and 棒 to the 主要な／長／主犯 building, which was little more than a fair-sized wool-shed, and 証明するd to be the 経営者／支配人's house. As I （機の）カム 近づく it, all the dogs upon the place began to bark, and there were plenty of them too, poor half- 餓死するd mongrels at best.

"As I sat on my horse and looked around in the 急速な／放蕩な 拒絶する／低下するing light at the 哀れな hovels, 推定する／予想するing to see someone about, I got the hump worse than ever, and this desolation 絶対 finished me off. Where on earth had I got to, I wondered; not a soul about, nothing alive but dogs. I felt that for two pins I could turn tail and make off again without waiting to interview my 黒人／ボイコット friend. Then I remembered that I was hard up and 手配中の，お尋ね者 the 職業, so I dismounted, tied up my horse, and went and rapped at the door with my whip 扱う. By and by a 黒人／ボイコット boy （機の）カム, and I 問い合わせd whether everyone was dead or asleep; if not, would he very kindly fetch the boss. So off he started to call 黒人／ボイコット, leaving me to 冷静な／正味の my heels, metaphorically, on the doorstep in the stifling heat.

"I waited a goodish time until I heard someone coming through the house.

"It turned out to be 黒人／ボイコット, who was a good-looking chap enough, but with a 汚い, cruel look in his 注目する，もくろむ, that I could not help 発言／述べるing at once. He was evidently used to something better than this life, as I could easily see from his 手渡すs, which were clean and smooth, not those of a working-man, and there was little 疑問 that he was a gentleman born.

"He 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know my 商売／仕事, and I produced my letter of introduction from Luscombe, asking him to put me up for a day or two, as I was passing through the 地区. As he opened and read the letter I watched him very 辛うじて, and I could easily see that he was not best pleased with my call, but, of course, he 表明するd his 楽しみ at seeing me, the while he inwardly wished me at the devil. However, we shook 手渡すs, while he said he hoped that I would stay as long as I liked, and he would endeavour to make me comfortable, so far as the 限られた／立憲的な 能力s of the place would 収容する／認める.

"When I 知らせるd him that my stay would probably be very 簡潔な／要約する, as I was making my way South, he brightened up pretty かなり, and 示唆するd that I should turn my horse into what he was pleased to call the horse paddock. I agreed, and he showed me the place. We gave the beast some bush hay and a drink, then returned to the house, where he 申し込む／申し出d me a refresher, which I was glad enough to 受託する, for the heat had 公正に／かなり parched me up, just as it did the grass.

"The living room into which he brought me was a 明らかにする, wretched place, just like the 残り／休憩（する） of the dog-kennel of a house, and the furniture, if you could call it so, consisted of four 木造の 議長，司会を務めるs, a 取引，協定 （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, a broken looking-glass on the 塀で囲む, and one or two coloured prints torn out of illustrated papers and nailed on to the 塀で囲むs; altogether it was a room calculated to make one a fit 候補者 for a mad house.

"The 見解（をとる）, too, from the verandah was 平等に dreary, and one saw nothing but the arid, treeless waste of burnt-up plain, with the 範囲s showing purple on the horizon.

"Having brought my things with me, I asked him to let me have a clean-up, and he took me into a room where I was to sleep, which was furnished even more plainly than the other—a truckle bed with two 一面に覆う／毛布s not over clean, a piece of broken looking-glass on the 塀で囲む, a 木造の box doing 義務 as a washstand, a tin 水盤／入り江, and a bucket of water 完全にするd the 手はず／準備. However, I could rough it with anyone, so I didn't worry on that account. I had a wash aud felt more comfortable. When I arrived in the sitting-room, I 設立する that he had 用意が出来ている a meal of corned beef and bread, with tea, so we sat 負かす／撃墜する and discussed it, and as I was pretty peckish I did 司法（官） to it. After the meal we went on the verandah and smoked our 麻薬を吸うs, and he told me all about the 駅／配置する, how the cattle died off, the general desolation and decay of the place, and how he had come to it 十分な of hope, but soon lost even that, and now didn't care a d—what happened to him, whether he lived or died, it was all the same to him, for the desolate 穴を開ける had given him the terrors. He told me that the former 経営者／支配人 went mad, 殺人d his wife, and hanged himself in one of the rooms, and that his ghost wandered about the place and shrieked at night, setting all the dogs howling and moaning.

"As you know, I am not the sort of man that's easily 脅すd, and I took all this yarn as the 結果 of a disordered brain, for I felt that the horrid monotony of the place had got upon his 神経s.

"I told him that I was pretty tired and should like to turn in, and I therefore wished him good-night and went to my room.

"It took me a very short time to get between the 一面に覆う／毛布s, and soon I was asleep, for I was dead （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 after my ride.

"How long I had been in the land of dreams I cannot say, but suddenly I was awakened by finding myself sitting bolt upright in my bed, with that curiously uncanny sensation of tickling at the roots of the hair that is 原因（となる）d by physical terror. As I did so, a long piercing shriek rang out, and echoed away through the hot night 空気／公表する, followed すぐに afterwards by howls and moans from all the dogs on the place; then died into silence with a wail of the most heartrending description. にもかかわらず the fact that I was streaming with perspiration from sheer funk, I got off the bed and felt my way to the window; of course, having no light to guide me, I 設立する it difficult, but I was 決定するd to try and account for these awe-奮起させるing 叫び声をあげるs.

"Just as I reached the window and was about to step out, there （機の）カム another low wail, ending in a piercing shriek that turned my 血 to water, and then more howls and moans from the dogs.

"This was too awful, I could 耐える it no longer; so, notwithstanding my 明らかにする feet, I sprang out into the verandah, bent on ascertaining the 原因（となる）, but I reckoned without my host, for all I did was to tread upon a rotten board, and 落ちる, catching my 長，率いる on a 事業／計画（する）ing piece of 支持を得ようと努めるd and 減少（する） senseless to the ground, where I lay until 夜明け, when I （機の）カム to, with a splitting 頭痛 and an 巨大な lump on my unfortunate cranium as big and 一連の会議、交渉／完成する as a cricket ball for a souvenir.

"I went 支援する to bed again, and after a while fell into a troubled sleep. The sun was 井戸／弁護士席 up before I was roused by my host, who 知らせるd me that breakfast was ready, and having dressed I was soon sitting 負かす／撃墜する to it.

"After he had 問い合わせd how I slept, I 知らせるd him that my 残り／休憩（する） had been 乱すd by the terrible shrieks. He laughed, and replied, 'So you have heard them, too? By Jove! when I first （機の）カム here they nearly upset my 推論する／理由, but I've become used to them now.'

"'What's the 原因（となる） of it?' I 問い合わせd anxiously. 'They sound as if a woman was 存在 殺人d.'

"'I thought I told you the place is haunted; the former 経営者／支配人 is said to have strangled his wife and buried her beneath the 床に打ち倒す of the place, and fancying afterwards that she was haunting him, he hanged himself in the room you sleep in, and it is said that she appears there to watch his 団体／死体 swinging from a hook in the 天井. I've never seen either of them, and I don't suppose an idle tale will 影響する／感情 you in any way; we hear the shrieks plain enough, but that is all.'

"I sat and wondered at the gruesome story. There was 絶対 no 疑問 whatever about the shrieks; but as to the 外見s, they had yet to be realised."

"During the day he took me over the run to show me all the desolation, and I could plainly see it was impossible that anything could make the place 支払う／賃金; the dearth of water and herbage was enough to break a man's heart. What cattle and sheep 存在するd on the place were of the poorest and most wretched description. Old Luscombe had far better shut the place and let it rot, I felt, and I ーするつもりであるd to tell him so. When we returned to the 駅／配置する from our ride, we had one or two drinks together, and I noticed that he helped himself from the 瓶／封じ込める rather 自由に. Getting tired of this amusement, I asked to be 許すd to look at the buildings, and he, I thought a little ungraciously, 同意d."

On looking about, I 問い合わせd what an 孤立するd shed was for, and was 知らせるd that he kept it locked, as it 含む／封じ込めるd oil and tar, and he was afraid of 解雇する／砲火／射撃. This answer struck me as rather a lame one, seeing that there was ジュースd little care taken in other 尊敬（する）・点s for the safety of the place; however, it did not 控訴，上告 to me 特に at the time.

"As we were returning to the house, a dilapidated buggy appeared, drawn by a pair of the poorest old screws I ever 始める，決める my 注目する，もくろむs on, and driven by an innocent—looking わずかな／ほっそりした lad of about twenty.

"As we （機の）カム up to him I noticed that he was 大いに surprised to see me walking with 黒人／ボイコット, and I was morally 確かな that 黒人／ボイコット was anxious to get him away, so that I should not get a chance of speaking to him.

"'Will you excuse me a few minutes, Mr. Marsland, I want to give my foreman a few 指示／教授／教育s.'

"'Most certainly,' I answered. 'Pray don't let me 干渉する with your 手はず／準備.'

"With that I strolled on to the verandah, leaving him speaking in low トンs to the lad in the buggy.

"The 青年 ちらりと見ることd に向かって me once or twice, I thought, meaningly. However, 黒人／ボイコット got into the buggy, and they drove off together.

"About ten minutes afterwards, as I was sitting 静かに smoking, I suddenly heard a shouting, and saw the 青年 running に向かって the house chasing a dog that was bolting for dear life. Stooping 負かす／撃墜する, he 選ぶd up a 石／投石する and threw it, but it 行方不明になるd the cur and （機の）カム に向かって me and rolled to within ten yards of the verandah. I noticed that it was a peculiarly white 石／投石する and, looking に向かって the 青年, I saw him make a 調印する as if he were 選ぶing up another ミサイル. I caught on at once, and nodded my 長，率いる, その結果 he returned to the place that he had come from.

"After a while I walked 負かす／撃墜する the verandah steps, and strolled about for a bit, kicking the 石／投石する nearer to the house, in 事例／患者 黒人／ボイコット might be watching me. Pretending to be 診察するing the woodwork, I 選ぶd up the article, and 設立する it was a piece of paper wrapped around a 石／投石する. Then, making my way to the bedroom, I smoothed it out and read the に引き続いて message: 'If you are the friend you seem to be, go to the locked shed to-night; but please be careful of Mr. 黒人／ボイコット. I run the greatest 危険 in sending you this message. Destroy this. He's a devil.'

"I struck a match and 始める，決める alight to the paper, and then returned to the verandah and finished my 麻薬を吸う, trying to think out a 計画／陰謀 to 得る 所有／入手 of the 重要な of the shed, for I was fully 決定するd to get at the 底（に届く） of this mystery.

"I had noticed before that Mr. 黒人／ボイコット 所有するd a 広大な／多数の／重要な liking for whisky, and it struck me that I might induce the gentleman to take more than his usual allowance, and then, getting him off his guard, 安全な・保証する the 重要な, and the 残り／休憩（する） would be comparatively plain sailing.

"When he returned to the house he was as affable as possible, and 始める，決める before me the best spread that he could manage to get together. It was very evident that he was 事実上の／代理 with a 動機, and it behoved me therefore to be on my guard. When the meal was over, we took our 議長，司会を務めるs and went out on the verandah to smoke and 雑談（する）, and it was not long before he 示唆するd that it was a long time between drinks. Thereupon he produced the 瓶／封じ込める, and 圧力（をかける）d me to take some.

"So this was his little game. It almost made me laugh when I thought that we were both on the same lay, and it was evident that we were going to have a big fight. The whisky was tolerably good, or I should never have 後継するd in doing what I did. I drank even with him for some time, until I could see that the spirit was beginning to tell upon him, for he was somewhat handicapped, in that he had certainly indulged rather 自由に before the meal.

"When I saw that it was possible to do so without his noticing the fact, I 注ぐd the whisky he gave me upon the ground and filled the tumbler with water, while I also managed to give him an 新規加入 of spirit to his glass. I afterwards 提案するd that we should go 支援する into the sitting-room, which he agreed upon. So inside we went, and lighted two candles and stuck them in the necks of 瓶／封じ込めるs. I 除去するd my coat as it was hot, and 示唆するd he should do the same, for I knew he carried his 重要なs in the pocket of his coat. He fell in with this suggestion also, and threw the 衣料品 on to the 床に打ち倒す.

"Then we continued our beastly 占領／職業, and by the time he had partaken of half a dozen more drinks, deftly 強化するd by myself, he had sunk into a drunken sleep over the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. Now, here was my 適切な時期. I rose, 選ぶd up his coat, and felt in the pocket, and there sure enough was a 重要な, which appeared as if it would fit a padlock.

"I の近くにd the window, filled a very strong drink for him, in 事例／患者 he 願望（する）d one when he woke up, put one of the candles in my pocket, and left the room, locking the door after me and leaving him to sleep off the 一区切り／（ボクシングなどの）試合.

"It took me but a very short while to reach the 孤立するd shed, and in a twinkling I had the 重要な in the padlock, and was about to open the door, when it suddenly struck me that I had no sort of idea what the shed 含む／封じ込めるd. As I did so I could plainly hear something moving inside. I tell you it wasn't the pleasantest thing in the 不明瞭 trying to get into that shed, with probably a madman ready to spring on to you. However, it was my 義務 to ascertain what it 含む／封じ込めるd, and I was going 権利 through with it. When I had got the door open, I struck a match, lit the candle, and stepped in, の近くにing the door after me.

"To my astonishment I saw before me, lying on a heap of straw, a woman, pale and emaciated to a fearful degree, a thing of 肌 and bone only, for it was evident that she was 存在 literally 餓死するd to death. It made my 血 boil when I saw her and 公式文書，認めるd her poor, thin, sunken cheeks, and 広大な／多数の／重要な 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs gazing at me with the most unnatural brilliancy; her jet 黒人／ボイコット hair, which was uncombed, fell around her 直面する, which, in the candle light, gave her the most 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 外見. Just like a skull with 燃やすing, glowing 注目する，もくろむs.

"Altogether her 外見 was such as would have 原因（となる）d alarm in the heart of the bravest man, and certainly touched the hardest of hearts.

"When she saw me enter, she tried to rise, but she was far too weak to do so. I therefore crossed over and knelt by the 味方する of the poor creature, who shrank away from me in abject 恐れる as if I were about to strike her.

"'Don't be afraid of me,' I said; 'I am your friend, and 願望（する） to help you.'

"'Who are you?' she almost whispered. 'I don't know you. Oh, if only I could 信用 you, but you may be deceiving me.'

"'I 断言する to you that I am not. My 指名する is Marsland. I am a friend of Mr. Luscombe's. I don't 正確に／まさに know what is going on here, but I had my 疑惑s, and have now 確認するd them. I can easily see that 黒人／ボイコット is a greater scoundrel than I at first thought him. Now I'm going to help you to escape from him.'

"'No, no, there can be no escape, save by death, and that, please God, is 近づく at 手渡す now. The 残虐な cruelty of that man is beyond everything; my life has been one long hell of terror ever since I was fool enough to listen to his 誘惑s. Oh, my God, my God, let me die, let me die!'

"Here the poor soul burst into a 激流 of 涙／ほころびs. I tried to 慰安 her by asking her if there was anything I could do for her. In a few minutes she 中止するd her 涙／ほころびs, and implored me to help her in one thing, so that she might die in peace.

"'黒人／ボイコット has 脅すd to kill me because I 辞退するd to make a will in his favour. I was fool enough to run away with him from England, leaving a good husband, and すぐに after I arrived in Australia a child was born, a girl, the daughter of my husband.'

"'黒人／ボイコット hated it, and 辞退するd to 許す me to have it with me, and I was 軍隊d to leave her with some people in Adelaide, while he compelled me to come up with him to this horrible place, but not before I had managed, 内密に through a 会社／堅い of lawyers, to make my will in favour of my child, for I have money of my own.

"'When we were in Adelaide he had insured my life ひどく, in his favour, and soon after we （機の）カム up here I 設立する out that he had discovered I had made a will, and ever since that I have received nothing but the most frightful cruelty from him, for he 宣言するs that he will kill me by インチs if I don't give him the will. But I shall never do that, for I have hidden it, and if you want to do me the service that you say you do, I will bless you for ever if you will go and take it to Adelaide, to the lawyers who drew it, so that my child may get the 利益. Will you do this for me?'

"'Yes, I will,' I answered. 'You may 残り／休憩（する） 保証するd of it. To- morrow morning I will start, and I shall go straight there, and afterwards return with friends to take you away and bring you and your child together, so you must keep your heart up and all will be 井戸／弁護士席. In a week I shall be 支援する again, and your troubles will be over. Now tell me the solicitors' 指名するs and where the will is hidden.'

"'You will find their 指名するs on the will, and also a letter to be sent to my husband in England, giving him the 演説（する）／住所 of the people who took the child. The will I placed in a tin box, and put into a hollow gum tree の近くに to the water-穴を開ける. The tree was struck by 雷, and I threw sand and 石／投石するs over it so that 非，不，無 should find it. God bless you always for your goodness. I shall pray that you may reach Adelaide in safety.'

"I softly 圧力（をかける）d her 手渡す and told her to be of good 元気づける, and that I was now going to fetch her some food.

"I then returned to the house, and 設立する 黒人／ボイコット still sleeping. I brought away some food and whisky, which I placed in hiding so that she might easily get it, and, after bidding her good-bye, returned to the house and put the 重要な into 黒人／ボイコット's pocket again, and then tried to rouse him. After a long time I 後継するd, 結局 getting him to bed.

"Next morning I was out before sunrise and walked to the tree, where I 設立する the tin box with 確かな papers wrapped therein. These I put into my pocket at once and threw the box away.

"I then returned to the 駅／配置する and 設立する 黒人／ボイコット getting up. He was a 難破させる, and I pretended to be.

"However, I ate a good breakfast, and told him I 提案するd getting away, and thanked him for his 歓待. Having 得るd my horse, I wished him good-bye, and 始める，決める out with a はしけ heart than I （機の）カム.

"井戸／弁護士席, to 削減（する） a long story short, I went straight to Luscombe and told him everything, and afterwards we both 旅行d to Adelaide, saw the lawyers, and deposited the will with them. Having finished this 商売／仕事, we visited the police, and with them went to the 駅／配置する; but, unfortunately, 黒人／ボイコット saw us coming and got away, although he was chased for many miles into the scrub.

"We brought the poor lady 支援する with us to Luscombe's 駅／配置する, but unfortunately she died 直接／まっすぐに she got there. However, we took good care that Mr. 黒人／ボイコット didn't get the 利益 of the 保険 money.

"Now, that's the story 関心ing 黒人／ボイコット and my first 会合 with him. But, I say, what has he to do with you?"

"井戸／弁護士席, that's a long yarn, and I'll keep it for to-morrow night, Why! I say, it's eleven o'clock. Here, have another drink, and I'll see you to the （軍の）野営地，陣営. You know we rise at 夜明け."

With that I 注ぐd him out a nightcap, and we went together to the （軍の）野営地，陣営, when I wished him good-night and returned to bed.

XV. — THE HOME-COMING!

I WAS up at daybreak next morning, and 設立する my horse ready for me, with my swag strapped before the saddle and Snowball at his 長，率いる. I drank a cup of tea, said good-bye to Flaxman, who had risen to see me start, 機動力のある, and passed out at the slip-パネル盤s, where I was joined by the 手渡す that was to …を伴って me, and followed by Snowball bringing up the 後部 on a rawboned, half-wild horse, which very few men would have cared to 開始する.

Soon we were at the （軍の）野営地，陣営, to find all busy, and the cook-man 準備するing the breakfast. It was a very picturesque scene, and one that is not easily forgotten. I saw before me the herd of splendid cattle, 静かに grazing on the excellent herbage that grew abundantly by the creeks, watched over by statuesque 人物／姿／数字s of man and horse only dimly seen through the morning もやs, each man with a 在庫／株 whip balanced on his hip ready for any 緊急; while nearer, a group at the fireside anxiously を待つd the call to breakfast. 刑事 Marsland's tall 人物／姿／数字 I perceived standing apart from the others, superintending the general 訴訟／進行s. All around stretched a green plain, dotted here and there with blue gums, just showing ghostlike through the もや.

I shouted a cheery good-morning to 刑事 as I （機の）カム 近づく, and he turned on 審理，公聴会 my call and walked 今後 with outstretched 手渡す to 企て，努力，提案 me welcome. As I looked 負かす／撃墜する at him I thought that I had never seen so striking a 人物／姿／数字 as he 現在のd, with his red Crimea shirt and cord breeches and stout leather gaiters, and his 幅の広い—brimmed cabbage-tree hat 押し進めるd 支援する on his 長，率いる, while he eternally toyed with his 耐えるd, a typical Bushman from 最高の，を越す to toe, wiry, 警報, and keen, ready to 直面する any difficulty, and 所有するd of a 決定的な 活動／戦闘 that told 井戸／弁護士席 the nature of his calling.

"Morning to you, Mr. Tregaskis," he cried, as we shook 手渡すs 温かく. "You're one of the 権利 sort. Get 早期に to work is my motto. One can move cattle fifty times better before the sun is high."

"You're 権利 there, 刑事," I replied, as I dismounted and 手渡すd over my horse to Snowball. "I see you are 井戸／弁護士席 on with the breakfast."

"Yes, you're just in time. We'll get ahead with it now, and then we can think about making a move with the cattle, after we have sent on the ration cart. Now then, Billy, look alive, man; we shall be asking for dinner before you have given us our breakfast."

"All 権利, it's ready now," replied the cook-man as he began to help the savoury—smelling concoction. In a very short space we were all busy 見本ing the 相当な and excellently cooked meal that was 始める，決める before us. Having finished, 一面に覆う／毛布s were rolled, "billy" cans and other utensils stowed away on the ration cart, the cook given his final 指示／教授／教育s and sent off, so that a meal might be 用意が出来ている when we arrived with the cattle at the next （軍の）野営地，陣営, the 状況／情勢 of which he was to choose for its general convenience and proximity to water.

This very necessary 部分 of the 訴訟／進行s having been 遂行するd to 刑事's satisfaction, everything was now ready for the start of the beasts. When we were 機動力のある, 刑事 gave his orders as to the positions that we were to （問題を）取り上げる.

I was given the extreme 権利 with my own man, while 刑事 took the left with one of his men, and two others 行為／法令／行動するd as whippers- in, and Snowball, with another quick 手渡す, was told off to 行為／法令／行動する as galloper after stragglers and bolters.

Everything 存在 finally 直す／買収する，八百長をするd up, we 強化するd girths, and Marsland, riding into the 暴徒, 削減（する） out a splendid bull as leader and 長，率いるd him in the direction we 手配中の，お尋ね者 to travel; then the whole herd was put on the move, に引き続いて the bull, who strode with his splendid 長，率いる thrown 井戸／弁護士席 in the 空気／公表する, bellowing loudly as if to 宣言する his exalted position.

We had all our work 削減（する） out to keep the lot going as we 手配中の，お尋ね者 them, and many a hard gallop was necessary to bring in breakers and stragglers, while the sound of the 割れ目ing of twenty-foot 在庫／株 whips was continually in the 空気／公表する, and I can tell you that there was some pretty good 死刑執行 done with them, too, for there wasn't a man amongst us that could not flick a blow-飛行機で行く off a beast's 支援する with the cracker, going pretty 急速な／放蕩な 同様に.

At noon we 停止（させる）d by a water-穴を開ける to give the animals a 残り／休憩（する） and drink, and take one ourselves, for the first few hours after starting are tiring with a strange 暴徒 of cattle.

Very little of 利益／興味 occurred after we left the water-穴を開ける, but we 結局 選ぶd up the cook's （軍の）野営地，陣営 and 設立する a meal; then made ourselves comfortable for the night, but of course doing turn and turn about as guard over the cattle. After my two hours were done I was not sorry to roll myself in my 一面に覆う／毛布s and 落ちる asleep.

Next day I started off with them until the first 残り／休憩（する）, when it seemed that we were not necessary any longer, as the beasts had settled 負かす／撃墜する to travel. I therefore said good-bye to 刑事, and received his 約束 to let me hear of his 安全な arrival with the 暴徒. I was just about to 開始する my horse when he （機の）カム 近づく and said:—

"By the way, Mr. Tregaskis, I don't think I told you the night before last the 指名する of the poor, wretched lady your friend 黒人／ボイコット 願望（する）d to make 資本／首都 out of. I couldn't 解任する it at the time I was spinning the yarn, but it （機の）カム 支援する to me in a flash to- day. The 指名する on the will was Mary Flaxman, and the letter she wrote was to her husband, Robert Flaxman; the solicitors were to 配達する it. Curious, wasn't it?"

I staggered 支援する from my horse's 味方する as if I'd received a blow. Marsland saw my 激しい surprise, for he continued—

"The coincidence is too strange for there to be no 関係. Your partner's 指名する is Robert, isn't it?"

"Yes, and, by Jove, that in a manner is a 手がかり（を与える） to our now 存在 troubled by 黒人／ボイコット. Stay, do you ever remember 審理，公聴会 the 指名する of Mrs. Flaxman's daughter?"

"Yes, I remember it 井戸／弁護士席, because I considered it a very 甘い 指名する and ふさわしい to the pretty child. 'Moira' it was."

"'Moira?' Ah! how very strange. Did you ever hear what happened to her afterwards?"

"Yes, I believe—mind you, it's only hear-say, I'm not 確かな of it—that she married a chap with money 指名するd Jim Pendragon. They lived in Melbourne for about a year, then moved away."

"What sort of a man was he?"

"井戸／弁護士席, they used to call him Flash Jay Pen; I always had my 疑惑s that he was a cardsharper and a cheat, but p'非難するs I'd better not say so, however; that's what I have been told."

"Thanks for the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）, old chap. You don't know the 利益／興味ing things that you have told me; when I see you again I will give you a yarn that will surprise you. Good-bye."

"Good-bye," he shouted as he watched me ride off to join Snowball and the 手渡す. 井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席, what a wonderful world it is, I thought to myself; just fancy that a few words spoken by this queer old drover should throw the true light upon this mystery!

Now I could 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる Flaxman's 動機 in not showing me Moira's letter after our most unfortunate quarrel, and also his 発言／述べるs during our ride 支援する to the 駅／配置する from the 郡区, when he 宣言するd that with Moira's coming to Montalta his peace of mind had gone for ever; doubtless he saw a likeness in her to her mother, for, now I （機の）カム to think of it, I could remember him gazing at her often, very 真面目に, which fact I, in my unreasoning jealousy, had 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する to his love for her. Ah! fool that I was, it was all made plain to me now, and I 悪口を言う／悪態d myself again and again for my blind folly and contemptible selfishness; I swore that in word and 行為, for the 未来, I would try to make it up to him.

But how true is the 説 that "Man 提案するs, and Heaven 配置する／処分する／したい気持ちにさせるs." Even now as I sit here 令状ing this story I feel that had I always 行為／法令／行動するd in a better spirit to my friend the course of events might have been changed, and much of the 苦痛 that my 行為／行う 原因（となる）d us both would have been saved, and I, on my 味方する, would have had いっそう少なく to reproach myself with.

It was a long ride 支援する to the 駅／配置する, and 不明瞭 had begun to 落ちる when we saw its roofs. In my mind's 注目する，もくろむ I pictured Moira on the verandah waiting and wondering if I should return that night, I thought of the pleasant dinner （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する with its cheerful surroundings and merry conversation, how she would ask me to tell her all that had occurred, from the moment that we started until I reached home, for she took the very greatest 利益／興味 in all that 関心d the 駅／配置する and 願望（する）d to 熟知させる herself with even the slightest 詳細（に述べる）s of its 管理／経営. Again, I thought of the delightful evening in the 製図／抽選-room afterwards, how she would sit 負かす／撃墜する at the piano and play my favourite "Nocturne," of Chopin, the "Eleven o'clock Nocturne," that would send me to my bed more in love with her than ever. These were the thoughts that passed through my mind as we trotted along on our tired horses in the 集会 不明瞭.

As the 手渡す lived at the distant home-stead, I bade him good- night, after requesting him to come to the 駅／配置する next morning for orders, その結果 he turned his horse in the direction of his home, and Snowball and I made for the paddock together.

At the slip-パネル盤s I gave him my tired beast, with 指示／教授／教育s that he was to give him an extra 料金d and then come to the house for his "grub."

With that I made my way across the lawn and 一連の会議、交渉／完成する に向かって the verandah, and I remember wondering why it was that I could not see the lights from any of the rooms 向こうずねing over the grass, for by now it was やめる dark.

Perhaps they had の近くにd the curtains, as it was わずかに 冷淡な; or, maybe, they were sitting waiting for me on the verandah. I coo-eed, but there （機の）カム no answering cry, nothing but the weird echo of my own, that rang 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the place like a Banshee's shriek.

Then there stole over me a sensation of 激しい 恐れる that 冷気／寒がらせるd me to the 骨髄. Good God! what if 黒人／ボイコット and his ギャング（団） had been there while I was away, and...No, no, I would not 許す myself to think of anything so awful. I felt in my hip—pocket for the revolver that I always carried now in 事例／患者 of 緊急. Finding that it was 適切に 負担d, I slowly 機動力のある the verandah steps, but I could not see anything at all in the gloom. I felt in my pocket for my match-box, but only to discover that I had used every one; however, I knew where I could put my 手渡す on some.

I stood やめる still, opposite the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す where I was 確かな the dining-room door should be, and listened intently for any sound that would tell of the 存在 of my people, but 非，不，無 （機の）カム, only the thud, thud of my （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing heart, which seemed to echo in my very brain.

No one but those who have been through experiences of this terrible nature can realise the sense of abject terror that laid 持つ／拘留する of me. Here I was, returning to my home in 期待 of receiving the warmest of welcomes, but only to find 不明瞭, silence, and perhaps death...no, I could not, I would not believe it. There must be some accountable 推論する／理由 for the absence of my friends. Perhaps they had gone for a ride and lamed one of their horses, or perhaps they had lost their way and would turn up すぐに. Yes, a thousand trivial things might have happened; but, stay, where were the servants, surely they were about somewhere.

Anyway, I must pull myself together and not 行為／法令／行動する like a poor- spirited and 脅すd child. I should find myself laughing at my 恐れるs very soon, when my people appeared.

Trying to 支える up my courage with these hopes, which I almost knew to be 誤った, I took a few steps into the room. Suddenly my foot struck something 激しい, and I pitched headlong over it, and fell 傾向がある; as I tried to raise myself my 手渡す （機の）カム in 接触する with the thing, and to my 激しい horror I felt the 直面する of a dead man, 冷淡な and 始める，決める. I remember giving vent to the most terrific yell, that went echoing away into the 棺／かげり of 不明瞭 outside, 強めるd by the hollow roof of the verandah, until it died away somewhere in the blackness of the garden, with a wail like a demented soul.

Even now I go through it all again in my sleep, and wake in terror, and I suppose it will haunt me as long as I live.

In いっそう少なく time than it takes to tell, I was out of that room, across the verandah, and 負かす／撃墜する into the garden, shaking like an aspen. Many minutes passed before I could pull myself together 十分に to （不足などを）補う my mind once again to go 近づく that form, lying so 冷淡な and still up there in the house. But it was evident a most terrible 悲劇 had been 制定するd only a few hours since, and, horrible as it was I felt compelled to find out without その上の 延期する who the dead man was, for a 広大な／多数の／重要な dread was in my heart and I 恐れるd to learn to what その上の extent the 罪，犯罪 had been （罪などを）犯すd. I made my way in the 不明瞭 に向かって the horse-paddock, where I knew that I should find Snowball and a lantern. Any human 存在, even a 黒人／ボイコット boy, would 証明する an agreeable companion under 存在するing circumstances.

As I went along in the dark, つまずくing like a drunken man over the flower beds and 国境s, I saw Snowball coming に向かって me with his light; I called out to him in a hollow 発言する／表明する, which, I 恐れる, he could hardly recognise as 地雷; I saw him stop dead. My 外見, I suppose, must have 脅すd him a bit, for he hesitated as if he meant bolting. But when I 演説（する）／住所d him again he was 満足させるd that I was not a spook, although I must have looked like one, for I 推定する／予想する I was as pale as death.

"Snowball," I said, "while we've been away something awful has happened; there is a dead man here. Give me the lantern!"

He 手渡すd me the light, and together we began to walk に向かって the house. For a minute or two neither of us spoke a word, we were too much engrossed: he, in 明らかに 熟考する／考慮するing the lamplit ground, and I, in trying to しっかり掴む the mystery of the 悲劇の events that were now passing.

Evidently something of a very 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の nature must have struck Snowball's ever 警報 brain, for he suddenly stopped dead and pointed to the ground, at the same time calling my attention to 確かな 示すs on the turf in his peculiar language.

"See here, boss, all along hoofs brown hoss, him long hoss, ridden by Connor. Snowball 'member, some 井戸／弁護士席."

Sure enough there were the hoof 示すs of a big horse, such as the boy tried to 述べる. We carefully followed them along and 設立する that they became mixed up with others as they 近づくd the place. It was evident that the riders approached the house from different points, doubtless with the 意向 of 急ぐing it.

Leaving these 証拠s to be 診察するd more closely by daylight, we went up the verandah steps and proceeded into the house. But I 自白する it took a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 to make me 召集（する） up 十分な pluck to 直面する the ordeal of entering that dark and silent room where lay the 人物／姿／数字 of the dead man. But at last, pulling myself together, I crept into the dining-room and made straight に向かって the 人物／姿／数字 that I saw lying 傾向がある upon the 床に打ち倒す.

Bringing the lantern の近くに up to the 直面する so that I might see if I could recognise the features, to my horror I at once saw that it was the 直面する of Flaxman. He lay there with his 注目する，もくろむs wide open, 星／主役にするing up at the 天井. 発射 through the chest, he had fallen backwards with his 権利 arm flung straight out and the fingers still しっかり掴むing a 激しい revolver. I placed my trembling 手渡す upon his heart, in the hope that I should still find it （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing; but, 式のs! no, the poor fellow was 石／投石する dead. Oh! the bitterness of that moment! Never as long as I live in this world shall I be able to put it out of my mind. I almost went mad. I flung myself upon the 団体／死体 and took the 冷淡な 手渡す in 地雷 and rubbed it, trying to bring 支援する warmth and life, while in piteous words I implored him to speak to me. But no—only silence. Dead! My God! I could not realise it—gone from me for ever. What should I do? It was too awful, too 激しく cruel, to think that this kindly, loving companion should 会合，会う his end in this manner without 存在 able to say one word of 別れの（言葉，会） to anyone, alone, and unhelped.

No words of 地雷 can adequately 伝える the anguish of mind that I 苦しむd then. He was the very best friend that I ever had, and to lose him in this terrible way was a blow from which I should never 回復する. What would I not have given to have been able to 解任する him, if only to hear him speak one word to me again, just to watch the kindly smile that we all loved so 井戸／弁護士席, and to feel the true warm 支配する of his 手渡す in the old familiar friendship. But no, death, cruel, 冷淡な death had him in his clutches, and we had spoken our last in this life, given the last handshake, and looked for the last time into one another's 注目する，もくろむs. God 残り／休憩（する） his soul, and 許す me for my past offences to him. To my dying day I shall 解任する the words he spoke when we were returning from the 郡区, that he would never live to see the wonderful 見解（をとる） again. After all he was 権利. There was some 限定された 警告 in his mind that the end was 製図／抽選 近づく, and now his words had become 遂行するd facts.

How the 悲劇 happened we had yet to discover. I was too much 影響する／感情d to concentrate my attention on 発見 for a long while; but at last, roused by Snowball, I pulled the tablecloth off the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and covered the 団体／死体 with it; then I went 支援する into the hall and out on to the verandah, and, turning to the 権利, I made に向かって the place where I knew the pigeon basket stood, for I wished to see if the birds had been 解放（する）d. Yes, the basket was empty and the birds gone; that was a 確かな 量 of 救済 to my mind, for now I might 推定する／予想する the police at any moment, although I had no knowledge of when they had received the 警告.

Snowball followed wherever I went like a 影をつくる／尾行する, for he was 決定するd not to lose me for one minute. As we turned away to walk 支援する to the hall, his quick 注目する，もくろむ saw something, for he gripped my arm and whispered, "Look alonger," at the same time pointing to an 反対する that lay 密談する／（身体を）寄せ集めるd up in a heap at the French windows 主要な into the dining-room; it was so indistinct and undefined that from where we stood we could make nothing of it. Without a moment's hesitation I strode に向かって it, and in the light of the lantern I discovered that it was the 人物／姿／数字 of Moira, who was やめる insensible; her heart was faintly （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing, and I cried to Snowball to help me to carry her at once to her room. We placed her on the bed, and I went off to fetch some brandy. I then 決定するd to send off to the homestead for the overseer and his wife, and with that end in 見解（をとる） I 取り組むd Snowball.

"Snowball," I cried, "I'll give you five 続けざまに猛撃するs if you'll start off at once and fetch the overseer and his wife here to me, and the other 手渡すs too. 行方不明になる Moira is very ill, and I know that you want her to get 井戸／弁護士席 again. Now, will you do it for me?"

Poor Snowball, nothing loth, acquiesced すぐに. I daresay he was only too pleased to get away from the death-stricken place.

I went with him to the verandah steps, and saw him 始める，決める off into the 不明瞭. I was about to return to the house, when I heard a 発言する／表明する in the distance cry out, "Now then, 手渡すs up, whoever you are."

その結果 I 恐れるd that Snowball had fallen into an 待ち伏せ／迎撃する. I waited at the verandah railings with my revolver ready, peering into the 不明瞭 to see if I could make out the approach of any 人物／姿／数字, for I was in just the mood to kill any man who showed fight. My heart was 十分な of the 願望（する） for vengeance against the miscreant who （罪などを）犯すd the cruel 殺人 of my friend, and it would have gone hard indeed with 黒人／ボイコット if I had happened upon him then. Suddenly I heard the tramping of feet 近づくing the house, and a 発言する／表明する called out, that I すぐに recognised as Braithwaite's—

"Tregaskis, are you there, old chap? Show a light. What's up?"

I can tell you I was never more relieved in my life than when I heard him speak. What a 慰安 it was to think that he had turned up so soon. I called out in 返答 to say that I was on the verandah, and I snatched up the lantern, and very soon four 人物／姿／数字s （機の）カム into the light, Braithwaite and two 州警察官，騎馬警官s, one on each 味方する of Snowball, who appeared in terror of his life.

"We've taken a 黒人／ボイコット boy here, who 宣言するs that you sent him with a message to the homestead, that you are in sad trouble, and that all the 手渡すs are to come. Is that so?"

"Yes, indeed, it's Snowball, so you can let him get off at once. It's a 事例／患者 of life and death to 行方不明になる Pendragon now."

"What on earth do you mean? What's happened? Nothing serious, I hope?"

"Come up here and see. We have only just returned from starting a 暴徒 of cattle and arrived at nightfall to find the place in 不明瞭 and, as I thought, 砂漠d, but on making a search I have been horrified to find Flaxman dead on the dining- room 床に打ち倒す and 行方不明になる Pendragon in a 明言する／公表する of 崩壊（する）."

"Good God, you don't mean it! Here, you men, let that boy go. Snowball, you 始める，決める off to the homestead at once with your message. Hyde, tell the Doctor and 視察官 to come up here すぐに."

Snowball, 解放（する）d, made off into the 不明瞭, while the 州警察官，騎馬警官 演説（する）／住所d as Hyde went on his errand, and Braithwaite （機の）カム with me into the house, leaving the other 州警察官，騎馬警官 on the verandah. I led the way into the dining-room and showed him the dead man lying there, and the good chap was as much 影響する／感情d as I had been.

"This is most awful," he said. "A shocking 商売／仕事. Poor old Flaxman! I never thought that he would come to such an end. I wonder how it all happened? Perhaps you had better get some more lights, as we shall have to 診察する carefully everything in the room. I suppose you have not moved anything?"

"No, my dear man; I can tell you I received far too 広大な／多数の／重要な a shock to think of anything. I shall never get the memory of this night out of my mind."

"I 恐れる not," he replied, gazing 負かす／撃墜する at the 団体／死体. "A 悲劇 of this 肉親，親類d is やめる enough to haunt a man for the 残り／休憩（する） of his life. And Flaxman, too, was one of the best in the world. It's too terrible to think about. Ah! Doctor, here you are. There has been a most awful time of it going on here. Look, this is poor old Flaxman."

"Good heavens! you don't say so," answered the Doctor, who had just come into the room. "Is he dead? Let me see."

With that he bent over the 団体／死体 and carefully 診察するd it.

"Yes, I 恐れる so," he said. "発射 through the heart. I 推定する／予想する I am 権利 in 説 that he has been dead やめる three hours, now. But the only なぐさみ that we have is that death must have been almost instantaneous. Poor old Flaxman. What an end. How did it occur?"

"We don't know yet," I replied. "I have been away starting a 暴徒 of 蓄える／店 cattle and returned to the 駅／配置する with Snowball just as 不明瞭 始める，決める in. I left my horse at the paddock and （機の）カム up here alone, and was very much surprised to find the place in 不明瞭, and on entering this room I fell over the 団体／死体 of my dear friend. I can tell you it has been such a shock to me as I shall never get over. However, 恐れるing worse troubles, I 神経d myself to search about, and 設立する 行方不明になる Pendragon lying insensible outside the French windows of the dining-room, and I want you, Doctor, to go and see her すぐに, for I 恐れる she is in for a 再発 of her late illness. I hope that before long the overseer's wife will be here to nurse her."

"All 権利, I'll go to her at once," he replied, and straightway 出発／死d.

Braithwaite and the 視察官 then went with me very carefully through the house and outbuildings. In the woodshed we 設立する the two Chinese servants hiding in terror of their lives. They were brought out, and made to tell us all that had occurred to them. It appeared that late in the afternoon they heard angry 発言する／表明するs on the verandah, and, 慎重に looking out, they saw two men with ピストルs standing there, while another sat upon a horse at the foot of the steps and held two others. This was やめる enough for them, and they made the best haste they could to the 避難所 of the woodshed, where they hid, in no peace of mind, however, for the sounds of 発射s and 叫び声をあげるs （機の）カム to their terrified ears, and they 恐れるd every moment that the men would make their 外見 and drag them out and 殺人 them. We asked for a description, and from what we gathered there was little 疑問 but that 黒人／ボイコット and O'Connor were the 加害者s.

Having 伝えるd them 支援する to the house, and somewhat 静めるd their 恐れるs, we ordered the 準備 of a meal, and in the mean-time the overseer and his wife arrived in the buggy, 軍用車隊d by the 手渡すs.

It was to their general astonishment and grief that they learned of the terrible episodes that had taken place during the last few hours, and sincere and 本物の were the 表現s of 悲しみ and 悔いる, for poor old Flaxman was a general favourite, beloved by every 手渡す and jackaroo on the 駅／配置する.

I gave orders that the whole place was to be gone over and carefully searched with lanterns, in 事例／患者 there should be any 手がかり（を与える） discovered that might guide us in the elucidation of the 詳細（に述べる）s of the 殺人; not that we 手配中の，お尋ね者 any その上の knowledge to tell us who the 犯罪のs were.

It only remained for us now to 伝える the 団体／死体 of my friend from the dining—room to his room, which we did very reverently, and laid him on the bed and covered him with a sheet; then passed out and locked the door.

一方／合間, the rooms had been 始める，決める in order and a meal laid for us, which we sat 負かす／撃墜する to. Although I was in no mood to eat, I 軍隊d myself to do so, as I knew that it would do me good after the long ride that I had done, not to について言及する the troubles that I had gone through since.

The Doctor （機の）カム in to take some food, and while doing so he 知らせるd us that Moira was now in a most 批判的な 条件, and that, at the time, he could only 持つ／拘留する out the very slightest hope of her 回復. I knew he must think very 不正に of the 明言する／公表する of his 患者 if he was 軍隊d to take this 暗い／優うつな 見解（をとる） of her 条件. He must have seen how very much I was 影響する／感情d by what he told us, for he 約束d that he would leave nothing undone to 回復する her to health, but that we must be 用意が出来ている for the worst.

My 明言する／公表する of mind when I realised what he meant was too sorrowful for words. I was utterly cast 負かす／撃墜する and wretched. The loss of my best friend was bad enough, but the thought that I might most probably lose Moira was a blow that utterly unnerved me. So 哀れな was I that I felt everything was against me. My God, what if she did die! There would be nothing left for me to live for, all the charm and 楽しみ in life would be gone with her. I was in such a nervous and wretched 明言する／公表する of mind that the Doctor 主張するd on my going to bed, and （機の）カム and himself 治めるd a sleeping draught, in the hope that when the morning arrived I should be better and ready to start with the others to endeavour to trace the 殺害者s to their hiding— place.

With sleep （機の）カム peace, and the next thing that I knew was the sensation of 存在 shaken by Braithwaite at 夜明け.

XVI. — AFTER THE STORM, PEACE.

IT did not take me long to jump out of bed, and get through my 洗面所. On arriving in the dining-room, I 設立する breakfast を待つing us, and the Doctor sitting 負かす／撃墜する to it. I told him that I had slept 井戸／弁護士席 after the draught he had given me, then 熱望して enquired how Moira was.

He looked at me with a sly smile, as if he 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd that I was in love with her, and then 知らせるd me that she was, if anything, a shade better—certainly no worse. He also told me that he did not ーするつもりである leaving his 患者 until he had 満足させるd himself that there was a 広大な／多数の／重要な and 継続している 改良 in her 条件, and その上の, that I might go away perfectly 平易な in my mind, knowing that she was in good 手渡すs, so delighted was he with the attention and unswerving devotion that the overseer's wife paid to the poor girl.

I thanked him again and again for all his 親切, and told him how very much happier I felt in my mind, now that I knew so much was 存在 done for her. He replied by jokingly telling me that if I wished to 完全にする the cure that he had begun, it would be necessary for me to return pretty quickly, or I should find that he would be standing in my shoes, so 深く，強烈に was he 利益／興味d in Moira. I felt myself blushing like a school-girl, as I looked at him. I held out my 手渡す to say good-bye, and he 温かく shook it, wishing me a successful 旅行, and a 迅速な return.

Having stowed away a plentiful 供給（する） of 挟むs in my pocket, against the time of 飢饉, I 機動力のある my horse and 棒 off to join Braithwaite and the Superintendent at the slip- rails.

Our 反対する was to follow the 跡をつけるs of the precious rascals, until we could ascertain the position of their hiding place; then, should the 適切な時期 occur, endeavour to surround and take them.

Braithwaite, the Superintendent, three 州警察官，騎馬警官s, and myself 構成するd the 探検隊／遠征隊, with Snowball as tracker, and no cleverer one 存在するd than he. No bent twig, broken 支店, hoof- print, or other Bush 示す ever escaped his vigilant 注目する，もくろむ. He could tell to the hour what length of time had passed since a 暴徒 of cattle had gone over ground by the 明言する／公表する of their 跡をつけるs; and moreover, he could faithfully 知らせる one whether a horse was tired or not, by the 示す of its hoof. Such is the wonderful gift 所有するd by the Australian aborigine, that he can find his way by instinct through the very thickest scrub, and follow an almost imperceptible 追跡する with certainty, where the best white man living is nonplussed. The Bush is an open 調書をとる／予約する to him, which he reads as he runs, by 調印する and symbol; and it is an 極端に rare occurrence to find him making any mistakes.

As we had very earnest 商売／仕事 to transact this time, it behoved us to move with the greatest 警告を与える, knowing as we did, that we were about to を取り引きする very desperate men, to whom the shedding of 血 was of little or no account, so long as they were able to resist 存在 taken; but it was a thousand to one that if we were successful in 位置を示すing them, before we could 影響 a 逮捕（する）, we should have to be 用意が出来ている for a stiff fight.

It was, therefore, necessary to be ready for any 緊急, so, before starting, I slipped a 激しい revolver and plenty of cartridges into my pocket, for I was 決定するd that 黒人／ボイコット and the other rascal should not escape me, whatever else happened. My poor friend's death was on their 手渡すs, and I had sworn to avenge it before I took any 残り／休憩（する）. The feeling upon me now was one of an 圧倒的な 願望（する） to get within touch of the scoundrels, to come to の近くに ４半期/4分の1s, so that we might settle accounts once and for all. I had made up my mind to bring 黒人／ボイコット to 調書をとる／予約する, or to die in the 試みる／企てる, and was in a feverish 明言する／公表する of 苦悩 to be off on the 使節団.

One of the 州警察官，騎馬警官s was told off to lead a pack horse, laden with a good 供給（する） of 準備／条項s, in 事例／患者 it was necessary for us to 野営する, while each man carried food for his beast, as we might have to enter 地区s where there would be difficulty in 得るing 十分な grass for them.

The first thing to be done before setting out was to 診察する carefully the imprints of the hoofs; then, having 満足させるd ourselves that there were three horses, we started, and began to 跡をつける them across our best pastures, and then away into the scrub, に引き続いて Snowball, who trotted along before us, gazing on the ground to 権利 and left with the keenest scrutiny, 行方不明の nothing.

It was not long before we began to get into the sandy 地区, where the imprints were 極端に 平易な to follow, for we could plainly see that they had been riding abreast. But we were at a loss to understand why it was that they did not try to cover their 跡をつけるs, as, up to the 現在の, the work was 簡単 itself. However, we were 運命にあるd to find that we were not to have everything plain sailing and agreeable.

For hours we followed the 患者 Snowball, who spoke no word to anyone, but kept his 注目する，もくろむs 直す／買収する，八百長をするd 真面目に upon the ground. At length we began to leave the plains and to 上がる into the 範囲s, coming across large 激しく揺するs and 石／投石するs, where the going was 極端に difficult and trying. The sand had given place to small 石／投石するs, and the prints of the hoofs were almost impossible to distinguish. Many and many a time we were at a loss to see any whatever.

At last, Snowball had to 自白する that we were without 証拠 of the path that they had taken. So we 停止（させる）d and held a 会議 of war, when it was decided to take a 残り／休憩（する） and get some food, as by this time we were very hungry; その結果 we hobbled our horses and left them to forage for what grass they could find, while we 始める，決める ourselves 負かす／撃墜する to our improvised meal.

I questioned Snowball as to what he thought of the prospect of our coming up with them, but the only reply I could get out of him was, "On, up. On, up." So it was pretty evident that he considered they were making for the highest point in the 範囲s. Having 満足させるd the pangs of hunger, we lit our 麻薬を吸うs, and watched the 黒人／ボイコット endeavouring to find その上の traces to follow. He carefully 診察するd every 石／投石する, 権利 and left, and at last seemed 利益／興味d in a 示す that he saw upon a white, smooth 激しく揺する, that no one but himself would ever have noticed. When I perceived that he had discovered what looked like a 手がかり（を与える）, I went over, and was told that he was やめる sure one of the riders had touched this 激しく揺する with his boot as he passed by, and sure enough, this one led to others that we （機の）カム across as we moved その上の on.

Having 満足させるd ourselves that we were not mistaken, I returned to Braithwaite and 知らせるd him what Snowball had discovered. He then gave orders that we should 開始する. In a very few minutes we were again に引き続いて the 黒人／ボイコット, who was more careful than ever to 公式文書，認める any 明らかな 手がかり（を与える） that might guide us. Soon we reached a 公正に／かなり level 高原 of sand, and here we discovered the 跡をつけるs to be very 際立った: so much so, that it must have 夜明けd upon the riders that they might easily be followed, for they now separated, and took different directions, riding to three points at the distant 辛勝する／優位 of the 高原; but fortunately for us, and unfortunately for them, our guide was aware of a peculiarity in the 形態／調整 of the hoof of O'Connor's horse, and as we knew that the rascal was in the habit of finding his places of 避難 in the 範囲s, it was 井戸／弁護士席 価値（がある） our while to follow him, for the others would most probably go to his hiding-place 結局. With that end in 見解（をとる）, Snowball began to search for the hoof 示す that he 要求するd; and, sure enough, we 設立する that it led to a very 狭くする and difficult path, while each of the others passed to 平易な and 幅の広い ones. However, we felt that we were now on the 権利 跡をつける. It was a very toilsome and trying path to follow: up and up we went, 一連の会議、交渉／完成する 広大な／多数の／重要な 玉石s and sharp corners; ground over which, under any other circumstances, we should never have thought of taking a horse.

Before long we arrived at a very 広大な／多数の／重要な 高さ, and we began to feel the difference in the 気温: the 空気／公表する had become keen and chilly, and our thin 着せる／賦与するs did not afford us 十分な warmth. However, the good must be taken with the bad, and it was no use thinking of 高級な, although I must 自白する, I could have done with a good, warm coat.

The path had by this time become so 狭くする that not only had we to go in 選び出す／独身 とじ込み／提出する, but the 塀で囲むs of 激しく揺する touched our 脚s on either 味方する as we proceeded on our way; and in many 事例／患者s, it was the tightest of fits to get through at all. Higher and higher we went, until I began to wonder if we should come out 権利 at the 首脳会議. Now straight before us we saw the 跡をつける 主要な 直接／まっすぐに 上向きs. It was little more than a 狭くする cleft in the 激しく揺する, 原因（となる）d, most likely, by the 活動／戦闘 of tremendous 激流s of rain, that had 設立する their way in this manner to the plains for centuries, and had その為に worn this immensely long passage.

As we toiled 上向き, we could look above us and see the rocky 塀で囲むs 非常に高い over fifty feet high on each 味方する, with a thin line of blue sky above, and little or no light below to guide us. It looked as if the passage was endless, but at last I distinguished a point of light, that seemed to come from the left, 近づく the ground; and this, no 疑問, was an 開始 to the world once more.

All the time that we were in this cutting, there was a bitter 冷淡な 勝利，勝つd 涙／ほころびing 負かす／撃墜する the 狭くする, funnel-like passage, that 冷気／寒がらせるd one to the bone, and numbed the very 骨髄. It was an 極端に trying time, and I was most anxious to get to the end of it. My teeth were chattering in my 長，率いる like so many castanets, while my 手渡すs were 絶対 numbed with 冷淡な, so that I could hardly continue to 持つ／拘留する the reins. At last I was 軍隊d to dismount and lead my horse, as I could stand it no longer, and my example was followed by the others who, no 疑問, were 苦しむing やめる as 不正に as I was, although my 団体／死体, and that of my horse, must have kept a little of the bitter 爆破 from them.

Over the rough 石／投石するs we つまずくd, dragging our poor, tired beasts after us, and I never remember a more difficult or arduous 仕事; it seemed as if we were never to reach that streak of light which, like a will o' the wisp, appeared to move その上の and その上の away the quicker we travelled. Snowball kept bravely on in 前線, guiding us with unflagging energy, never relaxing his scrutiny for one minute; I could not help admiring the marvellous patience and hardiness that kept him going, where we, 機動力のある men, were almost done.

At length, after exhausting 成果／努力s, we approached 近づく enough to make out that the 軸 of light （機の）カム from a turn in the passage, and soon we were rewarded for our toils and tribulations by seeing the end of the cleft only a short distance in 前線.

I hurried 今後, and 現れるd upon a flat 高原, covered with short, mountain grass almost like peat, where we revelled in the warm rays of the 拒絶する／低下するing sun, which after the 冷気／寒がらせる of the last 部分 of our ride was 慰安 itself.

The 高原 was about one hundred and fifty feet long, by some fifty feet 幅の広い, bounded on three 味方するs by 非常に高い cliffs of 激しく揺する, やめる perpendicular. On the remaining 味方する there was a precipice of the most awe-奮起させるing nature. I tied my horse to a jagged 激しく揺する, and then proceeded to look over the 辛勝する／優位, and nothing could equal the solemn grandeur of the scene that met my astonished gaze.

The precipice fell away sheer, hundreds and hundreds of feet, and my brain reeled at the awful depth of blackness far below me. A few cruel-looking, jagged 激しく揺するs jutted out here and there, as if they were 始める，決める for the 目的 of impaling the unfortunate human 存在 who had the ill luck to 宙返り／暴落する over the 辛勝する／優位. 直接／まっすぐに in 前線 of me, about three hundred yards distant, rose another 塀で囲む of 黒人／ボイコット 激しく揺する, 非常に高い hundreds of feet into the 空気／公表する, stabbing the sky with a keen, serrated 辛勝する／優位; while the whole valley or gorge was shrouded in the deepest purple 影をつくる／尾行する, except away to the left, where a glorious glimpse of plain lay bathed in sunlight far 負かす／撃墜する beneath us; and it was truly one of the grandest, and yet most dreadful 見解（をとる）s that I had ever looked upon.

Braithwaite joined me, and for a long time we gazed in 深遠な silence. Suddenly there （機の）カム up from the depths of the grim blackness of the silent gorge a 急ぐ of 勝利，勝つd that tore howling and shrieking along, just as if ten thousand furies were at war; and then it passed off into the distance, and we were left again to the silence of the mountain, except for the whirr of the wings of an 巨大な eagle, that flew up, 乱すd by the 急ぐ of 勝利，勝つd, and 急に上がるd away into the sky.

I looked around, when silence （機の）カム once more, to the 脅すd 直面するs of the men who had joined us to gaze at the 見解（をとる）, and I don't think I ever saw anything like the 表現s thereon. I am やめる ready to 自白する, too, that never had I experienced such a feeling of 絶対の awe, as was impressed upon me by this tremendous episode.

"By gad! Tregaskis," said Braithwaite, as he stepped 支援する three or four paces and gazed around, "It's just like the 入り口 to Dante's Inferno. I cannot 耐える to think what would happen if one of us were to 落ちる over."

"No, it's too gruesome to think about," I answered; "but, I say, I wonder where this place leads to. Look at Snowball! He surely doesn't 推定する／予想する us to take our horses 一連の会議、交渉／完成する there. By Jove! I don't believe they'd ever do it."

We both turned and watched the 黒人／ボイコット, who had passed along to the 権利, and の近くに to the precipice 辛勝する／優位. Presently, he disappeared 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the corner of the 巨大な cliff, and was lost to 見解（をとる）.

Braithwaite agreed with me that it would be most 危険な and foolhardy to 試みる／企てる to take horses 一連の会議、交渉／完成する a cliff such as that, with a 跡をつける いっそう少なく than six feet wide to pass along, and a sheer 減少（する） of thousands of feet. If one should happen to 落ちる! It made my 血 run 冷淡な to think of it. So we agreed to （軍の）野営地，陣営 there for the night. Leaving the men to endeavour to find something to make a 解雇する／砲火／射撃 with, I …を伴ってd Braithwaite to see what he made of the pathway, and to have a talk with Snowball. We passed to the corner, and 設立する that the 跡をつける did not 広げる out at all, and was worn やめる smooth by the rains of ages.

After passing the 激しく揺する, we 設立する Snowball 診察するing 跡をつけるs, and we （機の）カム upon 公正に／かなり smooth land. Here the 塀で囲むs of 激しく揺する began to 減少（する）, until we were able to 緊急発進する over them, and see for a comparatively long distance ahead. It appeared evident that we were nearly at the 首脳会議 of the 範囲s. Suddenly it 夜明けd upon Braithwaite that 黒人／ボイコット and O'Connor were endeavouring to get 権利 over the mountains, and away on the other 味方する, and the more we thought of it, the more 確かな this appeared to be.

Turning my gaze around, I called Braithwaite's attention to the sky, which now portended a 厳しい 嵐／襲撃する. 広大な／多数の／重要な 集まりs of lurid cloud were 涙／ほころびing up from the West, magnificently coloured by the 拒絶する／低下するing sun, but wild and angry to an alarming degree; and it behoved us to hurry 支援する to the 高原. Just as we arrived there, the light began to fade, and very soon it was dark. We 設立する that the men, on searching about, had discovered a long, lofty 洞穴, which would 証明する a most useful and warm 残り／休憩（する）ing-place for the night, as there was not the slightest 疑問 that we were in for a bad 嵐／襲撃する.

They had managed to dig up the turf, which was やめる 乾燥した，日照りの and tinder-like, and would 燃やす excellently; so in the mouth of the 洞穴 we lit a 解雇する／砲火／射撃, and very soon "billy" cans were in requisition, and tea was boiling.

We gave the horses their 料金d, and tied them out of 害（を与える）'s way at the 支援する of the 洞穴, where they would be warm, and not liable to 殺到, with the possible chance of 落ちるing over the precipice if they did so.

It was a most 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の and weird scene that I looked upon, as I walked a short distance off. The 解雇する／砲火／射撃, 炎ing away at the mouth of the 洞穴, flung up 広大な／多数の／重要な 炎上s, which lit up the surrounding 激しく揺するs and 玉石s into rugged 救済, casting 巨大な 影をつくる／尾行するs of 激しい blackness on every 味方する. When a 人物／姿／数字 passed in 前線 of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, the 影をつくる／尾行する was tremendously magnified on the distant 塀で囲む of 激しく揺する. As I first caught a glimpse of it, I was astonished at the awful 影響 it produced. To 追加する to the already weird and uncanny nature of the place, the 勝利，勝つd began to rise, and there （機の）カム the same 猛烈な／残忍な 急ぐs of sound that we had experienced before sundown, the same shrieks and howls, most human and terrifying in their intensity, far 負かす／撃墜する in the gorge below, which made everyone of us sit bolt upright to listen. I could plainly see that we were in for an experience that was beyond anything I had ever known in my life.

We had agreed that two should take turns to watch for a couple of hours during the night, and as soon as our meal was finished, the Superintendent and one of the 州警察官，騎馬警官s took their carbines, and went to the mouth of the 洞穴. The 残り／休憩（する） of us wrapped our 一面に覆う／毛布s 一連の会議、交渉／完成する us, and with our feet to the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, endeavoured to get some sleep. It was a long while before this could be 遂行するd in my 事例／患者, 借りがあるing to the roar and shriek of the 勝利，勝つd outside the 洞穴. In fact, the most terrific 嵐／襲撃する was 激怒（する）ing, and every now and then appalling peals of 雷鳴 衝突，墜落d 総計費, with the most brilliant forked 雷 に引き続いて, which 追加するd still more to the terrors of the night, while I could hear the rain 攻撃するing 負かす／撃墜する in perfect 激流s continuously.

At last my exhausted brain could 行為／法令／行動する no longer, and I sank into a troubled sleep, only to dream of horrors and 殺人s, until at last I felt myself violently shaken, and, starting up, 設立する Braithwaite ひさまづくing over me in the light of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, dripping with water from 長，率いる to foot.

"Your turn, George, old man," he said; "and I wish you luck of it. By gad, it's hell out there. Look!"

I did look, and saw such a flash of 雷 as I never believed could have occurred. It was すぐに followed by the most tremendous peal of 雷鳴, that shook the entire mountain to its base, and we could distinctly hear enormous 激しく揺するs 落ちるing on all 味方するs. It was the nearest approach to an 地震 that I ever knew. Then the rain （機の）カム again in a deluge beyond words. It 攻撃するd 負かす／撃墜する in furious cascades on all 味方するs. Luckily, the men had been wise enough to pile the peat in the 洞穴, or the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 would have been 完全に 消滅させるd.

Calling the 州警察官，騎馬警官 who was to take his watch with 地雷, I told him to put more peat on, and as he 従うd with my request and the 炎上s leapt up afresh, I looked out of the 洞穴, and noticed that there was a perceptible 調印する of 夜明け coming up. As I gazed に向かって the cliff corner, to my astonishment I saw in the 薄暗い light a 人物／姿／数字 riding a terrified horse 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the corner, 権利 at the 辛勝する／優位 of the precipice. At first I thought it must have been imagination on my part. I could hardly believe my senses. I rubbed my 注目する，もくろむs and looked again. Yes, there was 絶対 no 疑問 about it. I called softly to Braithwaite, who was standing 乾燥した，日照りのing his 着せる／賦与するs at the fireside, and he （機の）カム over on 審理，公聴会 me.

"Look; can you see a man coming 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the cliff there?" I whispered, pointing to the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す.

We both gazed with the 最大の 切望 at the place, when suddenly another terrible flash of 雷 （機の）カム, followed 即時に by a 衝突，墜落 of 雷鳴 more awful than before, and to our horror we saw the horse 後部 straight up in the 空気／公表する. 権利 on the 辛勝する／優位 of the 恐ろしい precipice horse and rider stood for a second or two, and then both fell 支援する into the abyss. Never as long as I live shall I forget the heartrending shrieks that man and horse gave vent to, as they dropped thousands of feet 負かす／撃墜する, to be dashed to pieces on the cruel 激しく揺するs below.

Only a few seconds passed when another 人物／姿／数字 appeared, that we easily recognised as O'Connor; but he was wiser and led his horse. We saw him go to the 辛勝する／優位 of the chasm, and heard him cry out, "黒人／ボイコット, 黒人／ボイコット"—but there （機の）カム no answering 発言する／表明する, except the echo of his own.

Braithwaite called out to me to come on, and we both 急ぐd to the place where he stood. He turned and saw us. In a second, he took a spring for the saddle, but his horse swerved 一連の会議、交渉／完成する, and before we could utter a word, slipped on to his 膝s, throwing the rider 完全に over his 長，率いる. The man still held the reins, and hung there with this flimsy rope alone between himself and eternity. The horse struggled and tried to 回復する its 地盤, but nothing could save it, and at last it overbalanced, and both disappeared. I covered my 直面する with my 手渡すs to shut out the horrible sight, but the cry the wretch gave as he felt himself 落ちるing into the abyss, will （犯罪の）一味 in my brain as long as I live.

Never shall I be able to banish this awful 悲劇 from my mind. Bad as these men were, it was a most terrible end, even for them: so sudden and 予期しない, not one moment given them for repentance—投げつけるd into eternity in the twinkling of an 注目する，もくろむ! To me, this was most harrowing; even the feeling that poor Flaxman was avenged had passed away, and only the sincerest 悲しみ remained.

Nothing could be done now but to return to the 洞穴 and を待つ the day. Sitting around the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, in hushed and awed トンs, we discussed the 悲劇, while we listened to the 嵐／襲撃する outside, that was slowly passing away, just as if it had 完全にするd its work and earned its 残り／休憩（する）. All the while I thought of those poor wretched creatures lying dead and mangled upon the 激しく揺するs below in that 深い and 黒人／ボイコット chasm. God 許す them for their sins, which they had so awfully expiated!

At last it was やめる daylight, and we went out to find the world bathed in sunlight, and a blue sky above us. Surely, a good omen of halcyon days to come! While breakfast was 存在 用意が出来ている, Braithwaite …を伴ってd me to the corner where the 事故 happened, and we could see the awful folly of the 行為. They must have been in 広大な／多数の／重要な 海峡s to have 試みる／企てるd such a thing. We shall never know the 原因（となる） of their return, but, no 疑問, the 雷鳴-嵐／襲撃する had cast 負かす／撃墜する some natural 橋（渡しをする） which they had 推定する／予想するd to pass over. However, it was 確かな that we should never again be troubled by 黒人／ボイコット or O'Connor in this life. We did not 関心 ourselves about the other man. Whoever he was, no 疑問 he got off scot-解放する／自由な.

We peered over the 辛勝する／優位 of the precipice, but could see nothing; most likely they struck 激しく揺するs at once, and then bounded off and fell far below to a 位置／汚点／見つけ出す hidden from our 見解（をとる）. We therefore returned once more to the 洞穴, and 設立する breakfast ready. Having eaten, we started to descend to the plains. The return was almost as difficult as the climb up, but so very anxious was I to get 支援する to the 駅／配置する with the greatest 速度(を上げる）, that I did not notice it.

When we reached the lowlands, Braithwaite 示唆するd that the Superintendent and 州警察官，騎馬警官s with Snowball as guide, should endeavour to enter the gorge, to see if the 団体／死体s could be discovered and identified; and to that end they 始める，決める out, while we went on to Montalta.

In 予定 course, we saw the familiar roofs of the place before us, and I can 保証する you, I was very thankful to dismount at the horse-paddock, and walk up to the verandah with my friend. 涙／ほころびs 軍隊d themselves into my 注目する，もくろむs as I looked at the place, so 平和的な and pretty, nestling in its wealth of foliage, for it reminded me so 熱心に of the dear companion lying dead upon his bed within, waiting to be taken to his final 残り／休憩（する）ing place.

The Doctor sat on the verandah smoking his 麻薬を吸う, and he rose to welcome us. I すぐに enquired for Moira, and was delighted to hear that she was making the best of 進歩. I was told that I must get someone to take her away to the sea for a month or two, where she could 回復する her health and strength, for within a week she would be in a 明言する／公表する of convalescence, and fit to travel. This was indeed good news, and I すぐに despatched a letter to our old friend, Mrs. Dawson, the good lady who had been the innocent 原因（となる） of my quarrel with Flaxman. I told her all the terrible events that had happened at the 駅／配置する, and asked her whether she would arrange to go with Moira for two months' holiday? If so, would she come to me at once?

Later on the Superintendent returned, with the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） that Snowball had led them to the gorge, where they had discovered the 団体／死体s of the men and horses, fearfully mangled, at the foot of the precipice, and after they had been identified, they were buried.

The next few days were spent in going through the 合法的な 形式順守s made necessary by the nature of Flaxman's death; but at last we were given 許可 to bury him. A 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な had been 用意が出来ている の近くに to those that 含む／封じ込めるd the remains of the late owner's wife and son. My heart was 十分な of the most 激しい grief when I laid my dear friend and companion at 残り／休憩（する） for his long sleep, and never since have I been able to shake off the feeling of 無効の that his passing away has 原因（となる）d me. Now that I have everything else in the world that man can wish for, I still want him 支援する, and yet there is a 慰安 in the thought that we parted good friends. God 残り／休憩（する） his soul!

After the funeral, it was necessary for me to go through poor Flaxman's papers, and in his desk I discovered a will, leaving everything he 所有するd 平等に between Moira and myself; and I also 設立する that I was 任命するd executor. By this will, we 相続するd an 広い地所 in England 共同で, 同様に as his 株 of the 駅／配置するs in Australia.

There were also two letters, both 調印（する）d and 演説（する）／住所d, one to Moira and one to myself, and the latter I proceeded to open and read:—

"My very dear friend,"—it said.

"Something is 警告 me that my days are numbered. Soon, God knows best when, I shall be gone from you for ever. I know, dear friend, that this will 原因（となる） you 苦痛 when you read it, but the knowledge of my 広大な／多数の／重要な friendship for you, and yours for me, will, I hope, 慰安 you in your 悲しみ.

"It is 現職の upon me to tell you something of my life's history, and I hope that you will therefore 耐える with me for a while.

"Many years ago, I married a girl whom I loved beyond 表現. For one short year I was 極端に happy, until an enemy crept into my wife's heart, and, God 許す her! she left me for him.

"I do not complain now, since the Almighty has worked out the end as He has 任命するd, and His ways are always the best, although we poor 器具s of His Divine Will seem often to see in them nothing but 災害.

"I could not bring myself to 離婚 her, but tried to live alone at my place in Cornwall, and to endeavour to forget her, but that I 設立する was やめる impossible. I stood it for five years, and began to think that the 負傷させる was 傷をいやす／和解させるing, until I received a letter, 今後d by a 会社／堅い of solicitors in Adelaide, and written by my poor wife, 知らせるing me that she had a daughter who was my child, and imploring me to 保護する and love it, and to 許す her the wrong she had done me, for which she was now 支払う／賃金ing so dearly; giving me at the same time an 演説（する）／住所 in Adelaide where the child was to be 設立する.

"I 急いでd with all 速度(を上げる） to Australia, and to the 演説（する）／住所 given in Adelaide, only to find that the child had been taken away one year before by a man who 明言する／公表するd that he was the father. Heartbroken at my want of success, I called on the solicitors, who showed me a will they had received but had been unable to 証明する, as there was no one to 証明する it, the child having mysteriously disappeared. For years I searched high and low without finding any 手がかり（を与える）; but at last, utterly worn out, I took a position at Mr. Wilberforce's 駅／配置する, Carrandara. Then I met you, and up to the time of Moira's coming, have known what real happiness means.

"Then you brought Moira. I don't 非難する you for that, but 認める that it was the working of God's mysterious ways.

"I saw, 直接／まっすぐに I met her, a wonderful likeness to my wife; and yet I hardly dared to think that such a coincidence could be true.

"I learnt to love her, feeling all the while that she was my own daughter; but I 恐れる that I did not realise how others would take this affection. One day she told me that she was 苦痛d to see her presence at Montalta was 原因（となる）ing bitterness between us two friends, and that there was nothing left but for her to go. I tried to dissuade her, and told her that it would all come 権利, and that, if she went away again, it would break my heart. God knows, I meant it, too. Oh! how I longed to tell her who I really was, to be able to 保護する and guard her as a father should. But I dared not. I had to 立証する it first.

"The next day she went away, and you remember what occurred— our one quarrel. She wrote us each a letter, but made me 約束 not to shew you 地雷 until she had been gone a month.

"I enclose it now, and you will understand when you read it. I shall be dead. George, she is my daughter. Something tells me that I shall 証明する it before I die.

"Marry her, George, and make her happy. Love her for my sake, and for her own.

"God bless and 保護する you, dear friend, always, and give you every happiness you 願望（する）. "Yours in death. "

"ROBERT FLAXMAN."

When I finished this letter, I sat dazed; my 長，率いる swam. The poor fellow, so true, so 肉親，親類d and loving—what his 苦しむing must have been, God alone knows! How true his words all were. No 疑問, God did let him find out the truth, at the brink of the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な, when the brute 黒人／ボイコット （機の）カム 直面する to 直面する with the man that he betrayed so long ago, and 発射 him dead.

I opened Moira's letter to him, and read—

"My dear Mr. Flaxman,—

"My heart tells me that I must go away. For weeks I have noticed that both you and Mr. Tregaskis are 緊張するd in your behaviour に向かって one another; and I cannot help seeing that it is on my account.

"I am not worthy to be here. If you only knew the depths of degradation that I have been 軍隊d into, both by my father and my husband, you would turn me away, although I feel sure you would pity me.

"But I am 拷問d to think that 害（を与える） may come to you both by 推論する／理由 of my presence. For weeks I have been watched here by a scoundrel, who 脅すs if I do not give him a letter which is in my 所有／入手, and which 巻き込むs my husband and my father in a terrible 罪，犯罪, he will take steps to 燃やす the place 負かす／撃墜する, and I know only too 井戸／弁護士席 that he will keep his word.

"My heart is 近づく to breaking point now, as I 令状, for here is the only place where I have known what happiness and 尊敬（する）・点 mean. To lose two such true and noble friends 削減（する）s me to the heart, but it is best for all.

"Don't shew this letter to Mr. Tregaskis, I ask you on your word of honour, until I have been gone a month; I want him, more than anyone, to think 井戸／弁護士席 of

"Yours.

"MOIRA PENDRAGON."

I rose from my 議長，司会を務める as I finished the letter, and paced the room in an agony of mind. How it brought all 支援する to me again! That 哀れな, wretched 商売／仕事, my jealous brutality, my ungovernable and impetuous temper. What a fool I had been! What a contemptible cur! God knows that I was 存在 激しく punished for it now, but not more than I deserved.

I felt that the only possible return I could make was to endeavour to try and 原因（となる） Moira's life to be happy as long as I lived.

I took up the letter 演説（する）／住所d to her, and after having locked up the will in my desk, I passed out on to the verandah, where she was sitting in a 深い 議長，司会を務める with a 調書をとる／予約する on her 膝.

"Moira," I said softly, and took a seat の近くに to her, "I want to speak to you, on 商売／仕事 事柄s."

She looked up at me with a smile which spread like a ray of sunlight over her thin, pale 直面する. Her dark-rimmed, sad 注目する，もくろむs told of the unutterably horrible time that she had passed through, and I 約束d myself inwardly that I must change all this at once.

"井戸／弁護士席, what is it?" she replied, の近くにing her 調書をとる／予約する.

I felt very nervous when I realised what I had to say to the poor girl, for in her 現在の delicate 明言する／公表する of health, I knew that I must be 極端に careful; but the 事柄 had to be gone through, and the sooner it was over and done with, the better.

"I've just been through poor Flaxman's papers, and have 設立する his will; in it I see that we are 任命するd his 共同の 相続人s."

"We?" she said slowly; "I don't やめる understand you."

"What I mean is, that he leaves everything to us both, 共同で—Moira Pendragon and George Tregaskis."

"I—I really don't understand," she 繰り返し言うd, "he surely cannot leave me anything; I was nothing whatever to him."

"Don't you be so sure of that, my dear girl," I replied. "I don't want to 苦しめる you, but I think that it is only 権利 to let you know that I have 設立する, with his will, this letter, written by Flaxman before his death;" and I 手渡すd over my letter, which she read in silence. When she （機の）カム to the end she turned scarlet, but I went on—

"Now, I happen to be able to 立証する all this, if it is necessary, but I think you had better read a letter that he has left for you."

I gave her the 公式文書，認める 演説（する）／住所d to her in Flaxman's handwriting. When she had finished this, she burst into 涙／ほころびs. It read—

"My dearest Moira,—

"I, who am dead, yet speak. The good God has told me that you are my child. Your poor mother, who was more to me than words can 表明する, left me for another, but I have forgiven her. You are 地雷: I know this is true. George Tregaskis loves you; marry him, and he will tell you all.

"From your loving father.

"ROBERT FLAXMAN."

"Oh! George," she cried, as I finished the letter, "somehow I know it's true. I can never rid my mind of the horror of seeing my true father 直面するing that terrible man in the dining-room; I heard what was said before the 発射 was 解雇する／砲火／射撃d that killed him. Oh! my God, my God, it's too awful."

"Moira, Moira, my darling," I cried, as I flung myself on my 膝s before her, and took her thin white 手渡す in 地雷. "I love you, I always have, ever since we first met, and I want you to learn to love me, so that I may make you happy always."

"Oh! don't, don't," she replied. "You cannot tell, you do not know what you are 説. I am not worthy of your love. If you only knew the true story of my life, you would—"

"Moira, I don't want to know anything at all; all I want is you, yourself. I know enough to make me 登録（する） a solemn 公約する to give you for the 残り／休憩（する） of your life as much happiness as ever I can. Will you marry me, and make me happy?"

What she 結局 said in reply is sacred to me, and is not for the reader's ears. It is 十分な to say, I went about my work afterwards a 有望な and cheerful man, where only a few hours since I was a 暗い／優うつな and 哀れな one. The reader can, no 疑問, gather what 原因（となる）d this change.

As for Moira—井戸／弁護士席—when Mrs. Dawson arrived three days later, she did not appear to think that there was any 原因（となる） for alarm in Moira's 条件. However, I packed them both off to the sea, with 指示／教授／教育s that 確かな 準備s were to be made forthwith.

When they had 出発／死d, I 始める，決める about finding a purchaser for Montalta, for I had 決定するd to sell it, lock, 在庫／株, and バーレル／樽. It was not long before I 設立する one willing to give a good price, and having 完全にするd the 購入（する）, I joined Moira, and our wedding took place, with Mrs. Dawson as 単独の 証言，証人／目撃する.

After a short honeymoon, we started for England, to （問題を）取り上げる our abode in Flaxman's ancestral Cornish home, where I can see the blue sea and the ships passing, some of them on their way to Australia. It seems years since the occurrence of the events that 構成する the foregoing tale, but in reality it is only just two years ago.

To say that I am happy is to put it too mildly. With such a wife as Moira, who could be anything else? I can see her now, as I sit here 令状ing; she is walking in the garden carrying something, of which she seems inordinately proud. It's 指名する is Robert Flaxman Tregaskis, and I pray to God that he will turn out as good and worthy a man as was my partner Flaxman.

THE END

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