Fern Vale; or, the Queensland Squatter. Volume 3

OR THE
QUEENSLAND SQUATTER.
A NOVEL. BY COLIN MUNRO.
IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL III. LONDON: T. C. NEWBY, 30 WELBECK STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE. MDCCCLXII.
EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY THE CALEDONIAN PRESS, The National Institution for Promoting the Employment of Women in the Art of Printing. SOUTH SAINT DAVID STREET.
Table of Contents
FERN VALE.
What sport shall we devise, here in this garden, To drive away the heavy thought of care? Richard II., Act 3, Sc. 4 .
Three days after that to which we brought down our narrative in the last chapter the morning broke calmly and serenely over the wooded wastes of the bush; and while the pleasant zephyr of the morning tempered the rays of the sun, as he sped his course to the zenith, a happy party of equestrians might have been seen cantering by the bridle path between Strawberry Hill and Brompton. That party consisted of our friends, Mrs., Miss, and Tom Rainsfield, and the Fergusons, accompanied by their black boy Joey. The van was led by the first named lady, accompanied by William Ferguson, while the others followed riding two abreast, having paired off in a manner most congenial to themselves. The rear was brought up by Joey and William's dogs, who coursed through the bush in seeming delight at the prospect of wearing off a little of the rust that had grown on them from their late inertness.
They had ridden for nearly four hours when they slackened their speed a little as the noon-day sun became more powerful; while, at that moment, they came to a beautiful little spot where a grassy slope terminated in a lagoon, whose waters appeared to the travellers clear and refreshingly cool. Here Mrs. Rainsfield drew up her horse, and proposed a halt for tiffin; which being generally assented to, the party dismounted. The bridles of their horses being each fastened round a tree, some refreshments were produced by Tom from his valise; and the friends sat down in a shady spot on the green sward, and partook with that hearty zest that can only be appreciated by those who have been similarly situated.