"It was just because I had nothing else to throw. Do you think father would say I'd frightened a giant."
"He might," said Betty guardedly, "but I know what I must say, that you must go to sleep as quickly as you can. You are a very tired little boy to-night. Good night, dear boy. I'll leave the door open so that if that naughty head does not stop aching you can give me a call."
"He's not a bit himself to-night; he's just a bundle of nerves. I do hope it won't make him timid in future," she said a little anxiously as she rejoined the family in the verandah.
"Not a bit of it," said her father, taking his pipe from his mouth. "I can tell you from practical experience it's not a pleasant feeling to see a creature with horns making a dead set at you. No wonder the child is upset, but in the morning he'll forget all about it."
And Mr. Treherne was right. The only lasting effect of little Jack's adventure was a grave sense of responsibility when he and Eva were together, for she was a girl to be protected and cared for.
CHAPTER IV
A BUSH BROTHER
It was soon an established fact that the children spent most of their days together, an intimacy that at first was rather a trouble to Mrs. Kenyon, who felt that from mere force of circumstance she could make no adequate return for the kindness shown to her little girl at the farm. Her days were of necessity spent almost entirely from home, as her expectation of obtaining work was fully justified. For half the day, either morning or afternoon, Eva would go with her, but the other half was almost invariably spent with Jack, who was always lurking near the gate in readiness to carry off his playmate. It was in vain for Betty to assure her that this was a satisfactory arrangement for both parties, that before Eva's coming Jack's life had been a lonely one.
"It's delightful for the children, but for your people it must be very often a terrible nuisance; I must think of some way of making things equal, or it cannot go on," said Mrs. Kenyon, not many weeks after her coming.
The opportunity presented itself on the first occasion when Betty brought a message from her mother, asking if Mrs. Kenyon could reserve the next week's work for them.