Page 53 - A Little Bush Maid

face in the doorway, and to think what a fright she had had.

"The swaggie turned a very ugly look on Dad.

"’You give me in charge, and T’ll precious quick have you up for assault!’ he
said.

"Dad laughed.

"’As for that, you can do exactly as you choose,’ he said. ’T’ll be quite ready
to answer for thrashing a cur like you. However, you’re not worth carting
seventeen miles to Cunjee, so you can go--the quicker the better."

"And he cleared, T suppose?" Wally asked.

"He just did--went like a redshank. But when he got outside the gate and a
bit away he stopped and turned round and let fly at Dad--such a volley of

threats and abuse you never heard. Tt finished up with something about the
grass; we didn’t quite understand what; but we remembered it later, and

then it was clearer to us. However, he didn’t stop to explain, as Dad turned
the dogs loose. They lost no time, and neither did the swaggie. He left the
place at about the rate of a mile a minute!"

Jim paused.

"Thought T had a bite," he said, pulling up his line. "Bother it! The bait’s
gone! Chuck me a worm, young Wally." He impaled the worm and flung

his line out again.

"Where was T? Oh, yes. Norah and T were a bit scared about the swaggie,
and wondered what he’d try to do; but Dad only laughed at us. Tt never
entered his head that the brute would really try to have his revenge. Of

course it would have been easy enough to have had him watched off the
place, but Dad didn’t even think of it. He knows better now.