Page 176 - A Little Bush Maid

guessed he was thinking of days of long ago.

She pulled her bait up, and examination told her it was untouched. The fish
were certainly shy, and another half-hour’s tempting did not bring them to

the hook. Tt was exceedingly dull. Norah wound up her line slowly. She
also had been thinking.

"T’m going for a walk, Daddy," she said.

"All right, dear; don’t go far," said her father absently.

Norah walked soberly along the log until she reached the creek bank, and

then jumped ashore. She looked round at her father, but he was absorbed in
his fishing and his thoughts, and so the little girl slipped away into the

bush. She made her way among the trees quickly, keeping to the line of the
creek. Presently she sat down on a moss-grown stump and thought deeply.

The Hermit had been pretty constantly in Norah’s mind since the troopers
had been scouring the district in their search for the Winfield murderer. She

had longed intensely to warn him--scenting certain unpleasantness to him,
and possible danger, although she was loyally firm in the belief that he
could not be the man for whom they were searching. Still, how like the

description was! Even though Norah’s faith was unshaken, she knew that
the veriest hint of the Hermit’s existence would bring the troopers down on

him as fast as they could travel to his camp. She put aside resolutely the
thoughts that flocked to her mind--the strange old man’s lonely life, his
desire to hide himself from his fellow-men.

"T don’t understand it a bit," she said aloud. "But T’ll have to tell him. He

ought to know."

With that she sprang up and ran on through the scrub. Tt was thick enough

to puzzle many a traveller, but the little maid of the bush saw no difficulties
in the way. Tt was quite clear to her, remembering how the Hermit had

guided their merry party on the first visit, weeks ago. At the exact spot on
the creek she struck off at right angles into the heart of the trees, keeping a