'Very well, sir—I'm quite content to lie still now. The money is all safe, and the young lady and you knows all. Yes, the saddle of course must go, but if the young lady would put the notes and gold away till I get about; and if I don't there's the address of my father and mother on the back of my marriage-lines.'
'That was a curious little story—so characteristically Australian,' said Langdale, after they had left the sick-room, leaving Mrs. Claude with the patient, and were strolling toward the orchard, close to which Stella had discovered a hymenosperum in bloom a few days previously.
'Yes,' she answered slowly, 'it seems as if there were more heart-beats in situations that belong essentially to new countries. That reminds me of a little story I heard from a sick man before I left home.'
'May I hear it, St. Charity?'
'Yes—that is, if you are good, as the children say.'
'How can I be otherwise when I am with you?'
'A fine for saying that. Friends do not pay each other compliments.'
'No; nor yet fine each other for telling the truth.'
'Another fine. But seriously, you do not know how bad it is for me to be made vain.'
'If you wish to malign yourself, St. Charity, you must get a more sympathetic audience.'