Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-06-20
CHAPTER vi.
Hr RxxIxroN IN THE CAN'T.

That night we kept the horses vel
IN hand, but they were NOT interferet
with. Next day we continued the jour
ney, keeping q sharp lookout for tracks
% that we might discover the where
abouts Of the cattle the squatter hs'
sent on ahead. Toward the afternouz
SNOWFALL sang out:
master. track sit down--one fellow
COW and calf. mother fellow track yara
man belongin TO white fellow. That ont
been fetch i'm up.
SNOWFALL looked keenly At the ground
and where we could SEQ neither q sigr
nor mark he seemed 10 read his moth
er earth as il IL were an open book.
(Which way you think IL camp Gt
down, Snowballf" Nosah Msckenxi,
asked.
II aroused ones wonder 70 note how
trippingly the pigeon English came
from her lips.
A breath Of wind ever 20 faint JUS
then happened TO be straying down th,
valley. and Vary threw hack his head
and turned his broad nostris toward II
"It'ink IL that way. All a-same way
that one bullocky 90. me smell um FIRE
I tink some fellow bin roast um bul
locky alonga FIRE.
"Long way away. YArry, you thinl
it." she asked soberiy. but I could set
her eyes sparkle. She knew that thii
was riddle. for one thing the Austria
liam blacks can never do 10 10 estimat<
distance. They are utterly devoid ol
that faculty called "ssnse Of number, .
and their replies-for they do not likt
70 confess their ignorance-Are Otter
very amusing.
"Well, Yarry." repeated Norah Mac
kenxie. feigning impotence, ''how
many miles you think 10 TO where bul
locky dt downf'
A I have said before. Il was . riddle,
and Yarry scratched his head Savages
scratch their heads when puzzled all the
world over. whether they are white o,
black But Yarry answered with an al,
Of sang froid and supreme conviction:
"T'ree miles. maybe; might be two,
you know. Oh. well seben miles
tink It."
And with this ambiguous piece Of In
formation Yarry smiled with sense oi
superior intelligence and went or
ahead to follow mp the tracu Yarry
resembled q Scotsman or some gentle
man Of the legal persuasion In that hs
declined 70 commit himself TO any spe
ci6c statement
'.Do you think the fellow smells drs
and meat roasting on itf' Jack asked
Norah Mackenzie. There's q lot Of mi
raculous stuff talked about these chaps
but I can't smell FIRE. let alone the
roast "
THAT doesn't prevent them smell
ing" laughingly replied the girl Had
we been born . few thousand years ago,
when people hunted Tor . living. I've
an idea that our nostrils would have
been Just a. handsomely broad a Var
va It's sad 10 think what we've lost
shrough civilization. isn't itf'
Now that l think Of 1t. you're
right" commented Jack thoughtfully.
'.Of course the law Of 'disuse' can &C.
count for the modification OF our noses.
You know your Darwin better than
do"
"Never read him In my life," wa
the candid rejoinder.
"But you don't mean TO say you dis.
covered that truth for yourselfr' Jacl
persisted
'I did. honest Injun!' she protest
cd. with mock gravity. "But then it's
perhaps not altogether 4 matter Of in
tellect- Jack looked somewhat foolish.
There are plenty Of proofs every
where. Now, dare say I'm what some
Of your bluestockings would call very
ignorant young person. because don't
know much about books and haven't
got hundred different theories on the
dip Of my tongue, but do know enough
10 prevent my becoming . miserable
agnostic like some Of them. Evolution
may be as broad - it's long. but II
doesn't quite fill the bill-that's TO say.
IL isn't everything. It's only when one
goes direct to nature and finds out how
beautifully II all fits into our lives that
one can see it's only little bit OF q
great big design. OF course book learn.
ing's . great thing; It's only those who
won't look beyond them. who won't
take time TO study the proofs for them
selves. that I'm sorry for. ! don't sup.
pose. however, IL matters what think. "
Here she abruptly made q laughing
remark about one Of the black boys and
changed the subject
The particular cattle tracks We were
following were now lost In many others,
and q number of fresh horse tracks be-
came visible. We were evidently get
ting near the place where the cattle
were running. We skirted the base oi
Q high. wave worn bluff. down the sides
Of which spring Of water trickled,
shaded by . group Of magnificent feathel
palms; then we heard the crack Of Z
stock whip and the distant believing Of
. mob Of cattle. We could distinctly
smell fire, and SNOWFALL corroborated
Yarry's assertion that he smelled "bul.
locky" roasting. At length we came tc
beautiful open piece Of country
bordering on the hgoonlike creek, and
about mile of could see 4 large moi
Of cattle being rounded up for the night
and three or four mounted men riding
slowly round them. We could zee the
bell tent Of the drover. with q bough
shed in front Of II, and . little farthel
OF two or three other tents. At large
nrs were two or three black boys roast
Ing various parts Of . bullock. or. q
Gordon moro correctly put Il, ''toastins
benes," which bore ont Yarry's asser-
tion that he had smelled this process at
distance Of four mileA A tall. black
BEARDED rider. with . white pugares
round his cabbage trss hat, came gal.
loping up
"Gibson, BY Jovei' said the squsttes
q hs pressed forward and shook hands
warmly with the drovsr. ''How'sevesy-
thing. Tomi"
..An %. K A glorious country, a
Isvsnc said. But como right oyer to thl
amp and have some ~. 1ia Nae.
sensis. to - Jon = . light Tor sors
syes" He paused end hooked shyly
sSoand "And there's another q them, =
- aA6led IN N aved and audible noido