“Humph! Well, what do you want me to do?”
“Come and take possession, Sir Gordon, and have the house taken care of. There’s her mare there, you see. Then there’s the money; no one but Hallam and me knows where it’s hidden. I shouldn’t like the place to fall into anybody’s hands.”
“But you? You want to give all this up to me?”
“Of course, sir. It’s all yours. It was the bank money that bought everything.”
“And what are you going to do?”
“Oh, I’m sick of it all, sir, and I want to start clear. I shall go up the country. I think I’m a clever stockman.”
“And you give up everything?”
The man set his teeth.
“Yes, sir,” he said, firmly, as he turned and patted the horse’s neck as it stood close by, cropping the tender shoots of a bush; and it raised its head and laid its muzzle in his hand. “I should like you to see that Joey here had a good master. I threw him down once, and doctoring seemed to make him fond of me. He’s a good horse. It’s a pity you’re too old to ride.”
“Confound you! how dare you?” cried Sir Gordon.