But he said he hadn’t quite finished thinking things out; but, all the same, they needn’t be too surprised if they heard of him later on being very famous! Then he tried to look very important, although until that moment the thought of being famous had never entered his head.
Then the shades grew long in the paddock, and they all scampered off home to the welcome glowing fire of myall.
In an office in Sydney a man looked forward eagerly to the arrival of the mail from the North-West, for an eager enthusiast would write in glowing terms of the bushland. Miss Gibson would take her writing tablet to the paddocks, and write quickly page after page:
My Dear Basil,
We are in the depths of winter, and you know what winter in the country can be like at times. Well, it is just delightful. The clover spreads far and wide like a great green velvet carpet, up and down the gullies and away across the paddocks. The deep tints of the clover, the vivid green of the crowsfoot and wild carrot mingle in a study of lights and shades, while the little blue flower of the crowsfoot and the golden one of the clover vie in scrolling floral effects on that vast green carpet. How I revel in the wealth of sunshine out here in the paddocks, but as evening draws in the chill air rises, and I hurry back home through the clear cutting freshness, and there a glowing fire awaits one. When the evenings are dull or rainy I sit there and gaze into the glowing, gleaming coals, and you never saw such beautiful, haunting colours as you see among the myall coals!—one can weave all kinds of fancies. Great sheafs of snow-white ashes fall silently on the hearth, like snow-white pall, and then I take the poker and stir up the glowing heart of the fire again, and amber and red lights gleam among the dancing flames. Some people think that I must have a very lonely life up here, but I assure you that the time simply flies.
I often gather the children round the fireside and tell them stories, and just to see their eager faces is payment enough, for, do you know, it always seems wonderful to me to watch the growing mind of a child and hear their impressions of life, etc.? And I have been trying to instil into them a love for and a very big interest in the beauties and wonders of nature; for in after years, if empty and lonesome days will come (as they too often come), they will have something to fall back upon, and perhaps find solace in, for it is wonderful how keen a joy we can find in the out-of-door pursuits if we have a love for and an appreciation of the beauties of nature.
And, oh, those glorious moonlight nights we have up here in the winter! Why, it is quite vivid. Trees and shrubs stand out clearly, and their shadows stand out blackly under the rays of the serene silver moon that swings high in the sky. Everything is transformed by the kindly rays into things of beauty, and sometimes I stand and gaze away across the paddocks bathed in the silver light and marvel at the stillness. And, do you know, as much as I love those moonlight nights, they make me feel lonely? I just don’t know why—only that it has that effect; and sometimes I almost welcome a rainy night, when the rain drops beat a wild tattoo on the iron roof, and I draw up my chair to the glowing fire and sit there and dream.
I am looking forward to the spring-time. I have promised to paint a big picture representing the Springtime in the North-West for old Professor Dawson, and I am all eagerness to begin.
Till then, adieu, for it will not be long ere “the whole world will wake and sing.”
CHAPTER XX.
GOOD-BYE TO “TEDDO.”
They were all under a shadow at “Gillong.” Teddo was leaving the line. Teddo, whom they remembered as long as they remembered anybody, was going to leave the district. His contract had run out, and a new man would soon take over the coach line, and a coach and four would take the place of Teddy’s sulky, for many passengers were travelling by the new railway line, and were clamouring for better accommodation than Teddy’s line of vehicles. Miss Gibson had hinted pretty plainly that there was to be no holiday in connection with Teddy’s departure.
“I do certainly think we ought to get a holiday the day he leaves,” said Eileen.
“Yes, indeed, he has been a good friend to us,” sighed Mollie.
“Yes, Teddo’s been a good friend to us,” agreed Eva.
“Yes, Teddo’s been a weal good fwiend to us,” echoed Doris.