Bob was glad enough to rest. He watched Ben, smoked his pipe, and smiled to hear his friend swearing at the horses.
“I’m so fearfully tired, Ben,” he said. “I suppose it is the worry and the disappointment and all that. But I shall be rested in a day or two, and then I must tackle that waste land. I daresay in a fortnight’s time, if we don’t have any more rain, the ground will be solid enough to be worked.”
“It will be a big business,” Ben said, glancing in that direction.
“I shall have no peace until I have started it,” Bob said doggedly.
“Well, we are all coming to help,” Ben answered. “All the fellows are sorry, and you will have quite a little gang round you. Holles is a splendid worker when he chooses, and he will go ahead like a ship on fire for your sake.”
“You boys are good to me,” Bob said gratefully. “I know you will help me.”
Then he added half-shyly:
“The little wife is ever so kind about the whole affair. And I do believe she is beginning to like the life out here better than she ever thought she would. I’ve been terribly worried about her, Ben. In spite of my great happiness, I feel it was selfish of me to ask her to leave England and her people, and the many pleasures and interests she has always had in her life over there.”
“She needn’t have come,” Ben answered stoutly.
Bob smiled happily.