"Never coming back?" said Jessie, with a choke in her voice.
"Never is a big word, Jessie. I hope certainly to revisit Tasmania before I go back to England, but it may be a long time first. I did not come to the colony with a notion of finally settling here."
Then he gave them a short sketch of the work he had been sent out to do.
"Humph!" said the farmer, "very good as far as it goes, but it seems to me a bit like lighting a fire and setting it in a blaze and then leaving it to die down to a heap of ashes."
"But we hope it may lead to an extension of the church's work."
"May be," said Butler, but his tone was incredulous.
Then Tom rose and said he must be getting on his way.
"You'd have some difficulty in finding it on a night like this," said the farmer with a chuckle. "Listen to it," and across the swirl of the rain upon the roof and windows came the roar of the wind through the bush. "Best stay here for the night. We can offer you a shake down in here, can't we, wife? And a sound roof to cover you."
Tom rose and went to the door before making a final decision, but the wild rush of wind and rain in his face made him close it again pretty quickly.
"Thank you; I'll stay, although I'm afraid I'm causing you some inconvenience, but it would take a more experienced bushman than I to find my way on a night like this."