Page 121 - A Little Bush Maid

"T did. T managed to stand up, very much amazed to find T wasn’t drowned.
Two of the others walked out! T was too small to do more than just manage

to keep upright. The water was round my chest. T couldn’t have walked a
yard."

"How did you manage?"

"A boat came along and picked up the survivors," grinned Wally. "They
wouldn’t take us in. We were just caked with mud, so T don’t blame ’em--but

we hung on to the stern, and they towed us to the shore. We were quite
close to land. Then they went back and brought our boat to us. They were
jolly kind chaps--didn’t seem to mind any trouble."

"You don’t seem to have minded it, either," said Norah.

"We were too busy laughing," Wally said. "You have to expect these things
when you go in for a life on the ocean wave. The worst part of it came

afterwards, when we went home. That was really unpleasant. T was staying
at my aunt’s in Toorak."

"Did you get into a row?"

"Tt was unpleasant," Wally repeated. "Aunts haven’t much sympathy, you
know. They don’t like mess, and T was no end messy. We won’t talk about

it, T think, thank you." Wally rolled over on his back, produced an apple
and bit into it solemnly.

"Let us respect his silence," said Jim.

"You had aunts too?" queried Wally, with his mouth full.

"Not exactly aunts," Jim said. "But we had an old Tartar of a housekeeper

once, when we were small kids. She ruled us with a rod of iron for about
six months, and Norah and T could hardly call our souls our own. Father

used to be a good deal away and Mrs. Lister could do pretty well as she
liked."