The newcomer was unmistakably a man from Far Out; tall, wiry-framed,

and very dark, and so spare and lean of figure that he did not

seem to have an ounce of superfluous flesh anywhere. His face was

as hard and impassive as a Red Indian's, and looked almost black

by contrast with his white shirt-front. So did his hands. He had

thin straight hair, high cheek-bones, and a drooping black moustache.

But the eyes were the most remarkable feature. Very keen and piercing

they were, deep-set in the head; even when he was looking straight

at anyone he seemed to be peering into endless space through the

man in front of him. Such eyes men get from many years of staring

over great stretches of sunlit plain where no colour relieves the

blinding glare--nothing but dull grey clumps of saltbush and the

dull green Mitchell grass.

His whole bearing spoke of infinite determination and self-reliance--the

square chin, the steadfast eyes, telling their tale as plainly

as print. In India he might have passed for an officer of native

cavalry in mufti; but when he spoke he used the curious nasal drawl

of the far-out bushman, the slow deliberate speech that comes to

men who are used to passing months with the same companions in the

unhurried Australian bush. Occasionally he lapsed into reveries, out

of which he would come with a start and break in on other people's

conversation, talking them down with a serene indifference to their

feelings.

"Come out to old man Grant, have you?" he drawled to Carew, when

the ceremonies of introduction were over. "Well, I can do something

better for you than that. I want a mate for my next trip, and

a rough lonely hot trip it'll be. But don't you make any mistake.

The roughest and hottest I can show you will be child's play to

having anything to do with Grant. You come with me."

"Hadn't I better see Mr. Grant first?"

"No, he won't care. The old man doesn't take much notice of

new chums--he gets them out by the bushel. He might meet a man at

dinner in England and the man might say, "Grant, you've got some

stations. I've got a young fellow that's no use at home--or anywhere

else for that matter--can't you oblige me, and take him and keep him

out of mischief for a while?" And if the old man had had about a

bottle of champagne, he'd say, "Yes, I'll take him--for a premium,"

or if he'd had two bottles, he'd say, "Send along your new chum--I'll

make a man of him or break his neck." And perhaps in the next

steamer out the fellow comes, and Grant just passes him on to me.

Never looks at him, as likely as not. Don't you bother your head

about Grant--you come with me."




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