‘No; but we breed horses on rather a large scale. I must show you my pet, Camerton, by and by. Now I must dress for breakfast, for which I daresay you are quite ready.’
After a reasonable interval the partners appeared neatly attired, though still in garments adapted for station work. It was an exceedingly cheerful meal, the proverbial Scottish breakfast, admitted to be unsurpassable—devilled chicken and grilled bones, alternated with the incomparable round of beef, which had excited Wilfred’s admiration on the preceding day. Piles of boiled eggs, and such a jug of cream! fresh butter, short-cake, and the unfailing oatmeal porridge completed the fare, to which Wilfred, after his observations and inquiries, felt himself fully qualified to do justice.
‘Well, Charles,’ said Mr. Churbett, desisting from a sustained attack upon the toast and eggs, ‘how do you feel after your day’s work? What an awful number of hours you have been up and doing! That’s what makes you so frightfully arrogant. It’s the comparison of yourself with ordinary mortals like me, for instance, who lie in bed.’
‘You certainly do take it easy, Master Fred,’ returned Hamilton, ‘to an extent I cannot hope to imitate. Every man to his taste, you know. You have a well-grassed, well-watered, open country at The She-oaks; once get your cattle there and they are no trouble to look after. Nature has done so much that I am afraid—as in South America—man does very little.’
‘Shows his sense,’ asserted Mr. Churbett calmly. ‘Don’t you be imposed upon, Effingham, by these people here; they have a mania for bodily labour, and all sorts of unsuitable employment. I didn’t come out to Australia to be a navvy or a ploughman; I could have found similar situations at home. I go in for the true pastoral life—an Arab steed, a tent, cool claret, and a calm supervision of other men’s labours.’
‘Did the Sheik Ibrahim drink claret, or go to the theatre, leaving his flocks and herds to the Bedaween?’ said Mr. Forbes. ‘Some people appear to be able to combine the pleasures of all religions with the duties of none.’
‘Smart antithesis, James,’ said Churbett approvingly. ‘I’ll take another cup of tea, please, to keep. I’m going to read Sydney Smith in the verandah after breakfast. Yes, I am proud of that theatre exploit. Few people would have nerve for it.’
‘You would have needed all your nerve if you had found a hundred and fifty fat cattle scattered and gone next morning,’ said Mr. Forbes, a quietly sarcastic personage.
‘But they were not gone, my dear fellow; what’s the use of absurd suppositions? We got back before daylight. Not a beast had left the camp. Now there are a great many people who would never have thought of doing that.’
‘I should say not,’ said Hamilton. ‘Fred, your natural advantages will be the death of you yet. Come with me, Effingham, if you want to see the dam and the old horse. They are our show exhibits, and we are rather proud of them.’