"Delighted to meet you," said Hil, shaking hands cordially.
"We called at the 'Grosvenor' this morning, and Mr. Goodchild told us we should find you here, so we took the liberty of coming over," said Hal.
"No liberty, I assure you. A pleasure."
"On both sides, I hope," said Reg.
"We have only recently returned from Brisbane, and Mr. Goodchild told us you, too, had been out of town."
"Yes, we went for a trip. I hope you weren't inconvenienced by the floods."
"We were; very much. The mere mention of them makes me look round, expecting to see a tribe of ants, or two or three snakes on the floor."
"Do tell us about your adventures," said May.
"When we left Brisbane we went on to Toowoomba and got on Wyck's tracks and chased him out West as far as Dalby. From there we set off in a buggy for Chinchilla, and we caught up his buggy, but found it had broken down, and that there was no trace of Wyck. We suppose he lost his way and was drowned in the creek, where his body was found."
"How did you manage in the bush? Did you have to camp out?" asked Hil, with an appearance of great interest, and gently touching May's foot.