"The Stuart Reef, then, and here's to his memory."
They drank the toast in silence.
"That reminds me," remarked Brown, "that portion of the diary relating the finding of the gold reef must be carefully eliminated from the original journal and our copies."
"We'll set about it now, to make sure. We can restore it at any time when needful; meantime we don't want anybody to jump our claim."
They soon had the work finished, and the part taken out was carefully put away.
"One more night and home," said Charlie delightedly the next morning as they mounted. "I never thought so much of the old station before."
The belt of scrub had still to be passed which had proved such a terror on their outward way. Sorely did they miss the well-cleared track of the Warlattas. Luckily the thunderstorm had extended most of the way, and they reached home by easy stages.
"We have not lost a single horse in spite of all the dry and desert country we have negotiated," said Morton, as they rode over the familiar ground some miles away from the station.
"No; that's something to boast of. Those long spells we had at different places were the salvation of our nags," replied Brown.
Their return that night caused great excitement on the station. The men had been getting impatient and anxious, and were thinking of starting on their tracks to see if they had come to grief.