“I never had the luck to ride a pauser,” remarked Dr. Lane. “When I quitted the saddle they invariably quitted me, at the rate of knots, and I had to walk miles before I found them. Hence, I prefer motors, which do not run away——”
“Not even down a hillside?” asked Robin, wickedly. “I knew a Buick—”
“The very thing to prove what I was saying,” returned Dr. Lane. “Even when the wicked tracks of Gippsland let a good car over the edge, what does the good car do? Somersault to the bottom? Certainly not. It hastily finds a tree, and leans up against it, waiting for its master!”
“Uttering gentle bleats, to attract his attention,” finished Robin, softly. “That’s what I noticed about the car I mentioned. And everyone seemed so pleased with it!”
“It played us a very good trick, at all events,” remarked the doctor, shaking his fist at her. “Think what a holiday we have had because it chose that spot to fall over the edge, and what a hideous time we should have had if it had gone peacefully on its way to Baroin. I refuse to hear one word against my car. But there’s something else I want to consult you about, Robin. Do you know the way to the Merri Creek Falls?”
Robin knitted her brows.
“I’ve never been quite to the Falls,” she said. “I did go a good deal of the way with a camping-party more than two years ago. We gave it up: I was young then, and they were all soft, and the going was certainly very bad. I believe there is a better track now. Why, Dr. Lane?”
“Well, I’d like to go there,” he said. “A man I met fishing yesterday told me they were well worth seeing. It’s a bit of a rough trip, he said, but we could do it in the day if we made an early start. I thought you and Barry and I could tackle it, if your mother were willing. I have got permission from my headquarters”—he nodded meekly towards his wife. “This fellow told me there was good fishing in the creek below the falls. He had been camping there.”
“I am quite willing, but I should strongly advise against fishing,” Mrs. Hurst said.
“The track is exceedingly rough; I don’t think you realize what a nuisance rods would be to you on a long walk in such country: and fish, if you got them, would be an added burden on the way back.”