The morning call., 1894-02-11

Uut the NTH as IN my ear before L knew
ma they all came from the malice scrub
that spreads westward rom here 10 within
nail mile OF the twelve-mie whim.
Then / answered as well as / know how,
but the requirement was very recent one
IN my case, and besides, my wits were
still in tangle. For first | thoughts it was
the child herself, until | realized. with a
laugh at the absurdity Of the idea, that she
could neither walk so far nor coO-ee like
that; and then | supposed il must be some
chance traveller that had got hushed, like
others before him, in that deadly malice.
But all the while / was answering his
coo-ees as best could and running in my
socks in the direction from which they
seemed TO come. And long before | spied
my man, | made sure that il was Mad
Trevor himself. for knew no other with
such lungs, and who else would have
searched for BARN of five So many weary
miles from the spot where it had last been
seen?
But, as a matter of fact, he himself had
no notion where he was until he saw me
standing in front of HIN in the low moon
light. Then he wanted to know what |
meant by coming back from the twelve
mile; for, don't yod see, he thought he had
been cOastiDg around the home station all
night - and that'l tell you about our
malice. And when | set him right. he just
stood there, wrlnging his big hands like
woman; and it was worse to see than
ones nurse.
''Of course got him to come back with
me 10 the hut, and he leant ON my shout
der with his sixteen stone and he Just
said: We'll. Harry, don't believe she's
in the malice at all. I've been coO-eeing
Tor her the whole night-ay, ever since
you went lad, and George mas been COO
eeiDg for her ever since he came, and all
hands have been cOo-eeing for her in the
malice all night long. And / don't believe
she's there at all. | believe she's some
where about the homestead all the time. W.
never looked there. What fools we all are!
You shall MAKE me pannlkin of tea, and
I'll turn in aud have a sleep. Harry, and
We'll go back together when IT'S light;
and we'll find her asleep In the chGtfhOuse,
| shouldn't wonder, If they haven't found
her all eady-we'll find her safe and sound
IN some hole or corner, the rogue, after
frightening her old dad out of all his witSp
And indeed, as he Sp Ike, he gave a
mad laugh, even for him; and | surank
away from under his great hand. that
would keep tightening on my shoulder;
aud left him to sit down in the hut while |
went To the wood heap and then to the
tank 10 rinse and refill the billy.
But that notion of his about the home
stead has been my notion, too, 10 kind of
way, only j had kept 1t to myself berause
they were all so Geek sure ii was the malice
and they would kno W best. was think
= IL
and thinking 1t out as l rInsed the billy.
Now to do this where the water was clear
est had TO lean over from bit # a stag.
ing. the tank being low as | told you. But
tins time through thinking so much more
of Mona than of what / was doing lost
my balance and very nearly tOppled in.
And [ had to think nc more, for then
in fash | knew where little Mona was"
The instant he paused | saw him listen
ing. He was standing in front OF me now,
but my back was 8 i'll TO the little fl tree
and my hands had the hurdle tight |
neither spoke nor took my eyes OFF him till
he went Oh.
yes, she was under the ground you're
standing on" said he. nodding his head as
| started from the place 'she had fallen
in to the old well, and pulled down the liz
n trying TO save herself l knew it at the
moment l was near topping into the twelve
mile tank that wasn't one foot deep. 1t
turned out 10 be so. But | was never sureT
of it than when l went back to the hut,
spilling the water The whole way | was in
such a tremble. And the difficulty was 10
keep the knowedge-fOr knowledge il
was-frOm the pnor boss; ii had cheered
him so TO think the child had never been
near the malieei Why. before daylight he
ioZed off quite comfortably on Georges
bunk in my blanket; and sat and watched
him, and listened to him snoring, and could
have fetched the AK from the wood heap
aud Drained him where he lay so that he
might never know.
'And he took it so calmly after ALL Nv
boy, when we had buried her alongside her
mother. he stood where Ne are now, and
set ali hands digging the new well and fill
ing in the cid, and swoTe al us like
healthy man when we didn't do this or
that his way. 1t was lie who designed
those palngs, and would have no more
lids, bat pump, though there was EeIther
woman nor child Oh the station to meet
] 1, nofC hsrf
was smoking his pipe, too, when he planted
this fig, for l was by at the time, and he
told me his wife bad brought IL from
MoTeton Bay, in Queensland. / had seen
it often in a pot, and now l had TO say
whether ii was plumb; and with bis pipe
in his mouth and his head on one side he
seemed as callous as you please. And for
three weeks, to my certain knowledge.
he slept every night in his room, and |
would have thought nothing of sleeping
there with him, he was bearing 1t 81
grandly. Then came the full moon and
| bril- ht nights again, and we heard him in
the malice. coo-eeing for the child that lay
| beside her mother-that he had buried
! there with his own hands.
'Well, he didn't come back next MORN
| ing, so now all hands turned out to search
| for him. But we never found Elm all day,
for he had crossed his tracks again and
again: and all next night we heard him
c1o-eeing away for his dead child, but now
| his coo-ee was getting hoarse: and God
knows why. but none of us could manage
to set eyes on him. 1t was | who found
him neg day. He was living under hop
bush, but the sun had shifted and was all
| over him. His lips were black, and | felt
certain be was dead. But when | sung out
he jumped clean to his feet, with his fists
clenched and his long hair blowing in the
rot north wind. and his face and his eyes
on fire. And If he had never been III ad be-
fore lie was then.
"He opened his mouth, and l expected a
roar, hut / could hardly understand a word
he said until he had half empiied my
water-bag.
NV hat do YOU want with me?' he saws
at last; aud of course | said / wanted him
to come back to the station with me, So
| he says: You leave me alone-don't you
NEEDLE with me. Pm not coming back
till L find my little 'un that's pushed in
this malice So then / saw there was
nothing for it but firmness. and | said he
must come with meas If it had been Door
wee Mona herself. But he only laughed
and swCTe, and went on warning me not
TO NEEDLE with him. Well. L was Just
forced to. But sixteen stone takes lot of
olrar nfr nd bo ioc 1 t,,Cb AZ.