An Outback Marriage

They always slept out of doors. In the intense heat it was no

hardship, and the huts, as a rule, fairly jumped with fleas. Once

they camped alongside a big lagoon, on whose surface were huge pink

and blue water-lilies and rushes, and vast flocks of wild fowl.

After the stretches of blazing plain and dull timber this glimpse

of water was inexpressibly refreshing.

On their way back they struck new country, great stretches of almost

impenetrable scrub, tropical jungle, and belts of bamboo. In this

cover wild cattle evidently abounded, for they frequently heard

the bellow of the bulls.

"There should be a terrible lot of wild cattle here," said Charlie.

"Don't you ever get any out of the scrubs?"

"Oh, yes, we moonlight for 'em." said Considine. "We take coachers

out. We have a very fair coaching mob. Some of our coachers are as

quick as racehorses, and they'll hustle wild cattle away from the

scrub just as if they understood."

"What do you mean by coachers?" asked Carew. "Not cattle that go

in carts, eh?"

"Carts, no. The way we get wild cattle here-abouts is to take out

a mob of quiet cattle, what we call coachers, and let 'em feed in

the moonlight alongside the scrub, while we wait back out o' the

road and watch 'em. When the wild cattle come out, they run over

to see the coachers, and we dash up and cut 'em off from the scrub,

and hustle 'em together into the open. It's good sport, Mister.

We might try a dash at it, if you like, before we go back; it's

moonlight now."

"Let's have a try to-night" said Gordon. "Are your coachers handy?"

"Yairs. They feed near the house. I'll send 'em on with the gins

to-night."

When they got back that evening, Carew was so dead-tired that he

wished the wild cattle expedition at Jericho. But Considine and

Charlie were in great form, directing, arguing, and planning the

expedition. One of the black boys rode out, and returned driving

a big mob of horses that dashed into the yard at full gallop. The

gins and the black boys caught fresh mounts out of these and started

away, driving some fifty head of cattle selected from a mob that

made their headquarters within a few miles of the house. Most of them

were old stagers, and strung away in the evening quite tranquilly,

while the blacks, always smoking, rode listlessly after. Considine

produced two stockwhips, and gave one to Charlie.

"No good givin' you one. Mister," he said to Carew. "You'd hang

yourself with it most likely. I've got a rare good horse for

you--old Smoked Beef. He'd moonlight cattle by himself, I believe.

You'd better have a pistol, though."

"What for?" asked Carew, as Considine produced three very heavy

navy revolvers and a bag of cartridges.