'Take me, then,' said Jim through the soapsuds. He was washing over a bucket.
'I will not. You know you're safe, anyhow, when there's not priest or parson to be got for love or money. Come, hurry up, there's enough for all, and my contribution is an armful of Mary Kyley's hot scones.'
The butt of a tree lying a few yards from the fire served the diggers as table and on to this Jim lifted Aurora.
'That's your place,' he said, 'at the head of the board.'
'No, no!' cried the girl, slipping to the ground again. 'I am mistress. I mean to attend at table.' She served the men with the manners of a kindly hostess. 'There's milk for the tea!' she cried.
'Milk! I haven't seen the colour of it in Australia. Who work the miracle?' said Jim.
'Mary sent to a station out there by the ranges. She got a quart, and I cabbaged half for my tea-party.'
'You're an angel, Aurora!'
'There!' she laughed; 'and the trouble I've taken to keep it dark.'
'We'll be the envy of the whole field,' said Mike; and Con uttered a corroborative 'My colonial oath!' that was eloquent of a grateful heart.