“You mean Mr Aulain,” and Kate turned her frank eyes to his.
“How did you know?”
She flushed. “You remember the letter you brought me from him. In that letter he told me that he was leaving the Native Police, and intended going in for mining, as he knew of some very rich auriferous country near your station, and that you, who also knew of it, had promised him to keep it secret from any other prospecting party.”
“Yes, I did. I should like to see Aulain 'strike it rich' as your father says, Miss Fraser,” and then he smiled. “If only for the sake of my kind, patient nurse of last month.”
Again Kate's face flushed. “I know what you mean, Mr Gerrard, but——” she bent her head, and began to tie on a fishhook to the line she was carrying. “But you are mistaken. I like Mr Aulain very, very much, but I do not like any one enough to—to—oh, dear! I've broken the snooding.”
“Never mind, I'll fix it for you,” and as his hand touched her's, a new hope came into his life. He knew what she meant him to understand—that she was not going to marry Aulain—and then he went on quickly.
“I gabble like an old woman, do I not, Miss Fraser? Oh, this is what I was about to say, I believe that the Batavia River district is full of rich reefs and alluvial gold as well, and from what I hear from Lacey, I don't think the Gilbert will prove a permanent gold-field. Now, I will try to persuade your father to come to my part of the country instead of the Gilbert, which, by the time he reaches it, will probably be played out altogether, and abandoned.”
“Ah! do persuade him, Mr Gerrard; I liked the thought of our going to the Gilbert, but I like better—oh, ever so much better—your suggestion of the Batavia River, for there we should be near the sea; and I love the sea and the beaches. I am horribly selfish, I am afraid.”
Gerrard stroked his beard meditatively. “Yes, you'll be near the sea, Miss Fraser. But it is an awful country for a lady to live in; the fever is very bad there, and the blacks are a continual source of danger and trouble.”
“Anything that my father can go through I can face too,” she said proudly; “and besides that I have had fever, am not afraid of blacks or anything—except alligators,” and she shuddered, as she smiled.