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Hassal sat was a box containing a beautiful gown, all daffodil silk and delicate wavelets of chiffon. And there were daffodil shoes and stockings, a plume fan in a hat-box on her knee, and a lovely trained white underskirt with billowy frills of torchon, the very sight of which made Meg wild to be grown up. But none of these things were to be donned for many an hour yet.
"Oh, let's go in," Nell said, attracted by the size of the padlock; "it looks like a treasure-house in a book mayn't we go in, please, little grandma?" They were exploring all the buildings the six children in a body, Mrs. Hassal, whom they all called "little grandma," much to her pleasure, and Esther with the boy. "You must go and ask Mr.
Years ago, when Esther was no bigger than her own little General, there had been only a rough, red weather-board place on the hill-top, and a bark but or two for outhouses. And Mr. Hassal had been in the saddle from morning to night, and worked harder than any two of his own stockmen, and Mrs.
At first he had been certain he could never tire of shooting rabbits. Mr. Hassal had given him the "jolliest little stunner of a gun," and, Tettawonga had gone out with him the first day; and had been very scornful about his enthusiasm when he shot two. "Ba'al good, gun do. Plenty fellow rabbit longa scrub, budgery way north, budgery way south; budgery way eblywhere.
Hassal did not like them going long distances alone; and, seeing Judy seldom walked her horse, and Meg's steed had not a canter in it, it fell out that he kept beside the slow and timid rider all the time. "You remind me of a little sister I had who died," he said slowly to Meg once, after a long talk. "Perhaps if she were alive now I should not be quite so contemptible."
But everybody else had gone to "cockatoo" to sit on the top rail of the enclosure and look down at the maddened creatures, so at length he fastened his bridle to a tree and proceeded gingerly to follow their example. At a sudden signal from Mr. Hassal the men dropped down inside, half along, one side and half the other.
Hassal refused it because it had an uncertain temper, so she had to be content with a brown with a soft, satiny nose. Meg asked for "something very quiet" in a whisper Judy and Pip could not hear, and was given a ruggy horse that had carried Mrs. Hassal eighteen years ago.
Meg hesitated nervously, and a man opened the door. Such a great, gaunt man, with restless, unhappy eyes, a brown, wide brow, and neatly trimmed beard. Judy stated that Mrs. Hassal had sent them for the keys, if he had no objection. He asked them to come in and sit down while he looked for them.
"Mis' Hassal," he said, "you to helpin' her ba`al good for stores to-day, Marse Gillet he, he, ha, ha!" So that was what had happened to him all these three days she had not seen him! She had heard he had ridden over to the next station on business for Mr. Hassal, but had not dreamed such 'a thing had overtaken him.
Fifteen years ago he had killed with his tomahawk one of two bushrangers who were trying to pick up Yarrahappini in the absence of his master, and he had carried little trembling Mrs. Hassal and tiny Esther to place of safety, and gone back and dealt the other one a blow on the head that stunned him till assistance came.
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