E. Lee Ryan

“ When you came up here you wouldn’t think of such a thing.”
“Well, I’ll think of it now, and I know hundreds more, too. All men swear,” answered Willie, with two red streaks in his cheeks. “All men swear, and I’m going to, too. I’m not going to be an old ninny.”
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Willie!” said Eva.
“Well, I’m not, then. I’m not a bit ashamed, and another thing, I wish you’d stop calling me Willie. It’s nothing but Willie, Willie, Willie, all over the place. Willie’s an old woman’s name. It’s just like an old woman with half a dozen kids.” ”

“ The five children were together at the usual gum tree meeting ground when they heard the call, and they looked at each other in dismay.
“Look surprised, Doris, do you hear, when Mother tells us. We must all look surprised, and, for goodness sake, ask questions—somebody and everybody. It doesn’t matter what they are, as long as we’re talking, and let’s all look astonished. Oh, dear! it’s dreadful!” wailed Mollie.
“Yes, we must all help,” declared Eileen, staunchly. “Everybody must ask questions and ask all sorts of things, so as it won’t look funny.” ”

“ The end of the year is not far off, and on the whole it has been a year of interest, of pleasure. When one studies human nature, as well as the great open Book of Nature around one, then the time flies by all too quickly.
Soon I shall take a short holiday in Sydney, and just for a space become one of the busy, hustling crowd, and revel in the glimpses of shining water and twinkling fairy barques and harbour lights and white-winged yachts, and then back again to the life of the Bushland, and the pleasant task of teaching the dearest, funniest children I have ever met—Five Little Bush Girls. ”

“ Mollie was the eldest, and at times, for all her natural gaiety, felt her responsibilities.
“Now, don’t get sermony, Mollie. Let’s have a good straight-out talk sometimes. I do wonder why God doesn’t send rain, when the ground and all around is as black as the ace of spades.”
“I s’pose poor God’s busy,” said little Doris. “Goodness! we’re busy enough without havin’ the world to look after.”
“Yes,” put in Eva, eagerly. “Just think of all the big world He has to look after. I wonder He can manage it at all. ”

“ Oh, Uncle! you don’t know how we’d save and scrape, if we can only get money now——”
“And I have three pet lambs that I’ll sell when the drought breaks,” said Eileen, “and that will be a help towards it.”
“And Dadda gave me old Jennie’s foal, and I’ll sell it when it grows up,” said Eva, eagerly; “and then I’ll go out to work, too.”
“You are clever little girls,” said Uncle, gravely. “Don’t you think you would rather be something else than ladyhelps and governesses?”
“Oh, yes!” cried Mollie, “but we’ll do anything to make money if you will only help us now.” ”

“ What! let her little boy—her little Willie—go up to that outlandish place hundreds and hundreds of miles away: oh, she couldn’t hear of it! And Willie was heart-broken.
“Why, there’s no doctor within miles of your place, is there?” she asked Eileen.
“No, we don’t want doctors; nobody ever dies up there.”
“Nobody ever dies?” echoed Marcia, Willie’s sister.
“No. We’ve seen more funerals since we came to Sydney than we ever saw in our lives. And I believe Mamma only saw about three funerals up there, and she’s been there for years and years!” said Eileen, proudly. ”

“ No, they might live in books, but not in life, and don’t you forget it!”
“Oh, dear, it’s a hard life!” sighed Eileen, “just when things seemed to be going right, too; but it’s no use wishing or expecting or hoping for things to go right, because they never will.”
“No, they never will,” echoed Eva.
“No, dey never will,” agreed Doris.
“Never, never, never,” said Willie. “A fellow just thinks everything is goin’ on great, and something comes along to upset him.” ”

“ It’s the only excitement we’ve had since old Dave died. But it’s lots better. Oh, dear! oh, dear! it’s just grand! I won’t know whatever to do to put in the time till Dadda’s letter comes. And I do hope we’re not about when he gets it,” cried Eileen. “Oh, dear! whatever will he say? I do hope that he won’t guess that we’ve been writing. I do hope that Teddo never splits. Do you know what I’ll do when he comes? I’ll give Teddo a whole pound to spend as he likes, and I’ll ask him to take it. Oh, dear! I wish we had about a dozen rich uncles, and we’d never see a poor day again! ”

“ Oh, it’s fine to be at something that you like—something that you can put all your energies into and use your brain power. Sometimes I think of the long, long days that used to seem so hopeless, and I shudder. But it’s great to be back among it all again for a while, and I’ll enjoy every minute of my holiday.”
They showed Frank their dresses, and there was much whispering and laughing among them.
“Guess what this used to be once,” cried Eileen, holding up Doris’s jaunty little “winter” cap.
“Couldn’t in a lifetime,” laughed Frank.
“The wadding out of the old tea cosy,” she cried. ”

“ My father was once a very wealthy man, but a big smash came, and I was obliged to earn my living, so I went to a City College, and——”
“Oh!” they all murmured, “we are sorry.”
“What was the smash—a motor-car?” cried Willie, eagerly.
Miss Gibson smiled.
“No, Willie; speculations and other things.”
“If it was a motor-car I’d never ride in one again,” declared Eva.
“Oh, dear! it must be awful to be real rich once and then get poor,” said Eileen. “I don’t know how you stand it.”
“It is hard for a while; but, after all, there are some things better than money.” ”

“ I just used to long for the bush, and the horses and the rides, and the wide, free, open spaces, and solitude when you wanted it, and to get up early and watch the sun rise, and then to watch the stars twinkle into space, and then just to gaze and gaze at the sky until there seemed nothing else in the world but yourself and the starshine. ”

“ There was shouting and commotion when the sulky drew up at the gate, and Eileen sprang to the ground. Then a babel of voices filled the air as everyone tried to speak at the same time.
“Oh, I am glad to see you all again!” Eileen told them over and over, and Mother actually had tears in her eyes, though she couldn’t for the life of her tell you why.
And Doris and Baby, with fat, happy faces and the roses of winter on their cheeks, danced round the new-comer.
“I have a little new pet lamb; you can have a nurse of it if you like when you have had a wash.” ”

“ Late that night, when the moon was shedding its glory over the Gillong garden, and glinting on the shining pepper leaves, Mollie stole out to where she saw a figure pacing to and fro among the moonbeams and shadows.
65
“Oh, Mollie! Mollie! Mollie!” cried Frank; “you’d never guess what’s happened! My dream’s coming true—at last! Uncle Harry is going to send me away after Christmas to learn the engineering! What do you think, Mollie—he said he knew I was out of my groove here, and he’s sending me off next year! Oh, Mollie! Mollie! I can’t believe it’s true.” ”

“ In an office in Sydney a man looked forward eagerly to the arrival of the mail from the North-West, for an eager enthusiast would write in glowing terms of the bushland. Miss Gibson would take her writing tablet to the paddocks, and write quickly page after page:
My Dear Basil,
We are in the depths of winter, and you know what winter in the country can be like at times. Well, it is just delightful. The clover spreads far and wide like a great green velvet carpet, up and down the gullies and away across the paddocks. ”

“ I’m not going to see Mother toiling from daylight to dark, and trying to keep nice and pleasant, and Father and Frank nearly too tired to talk when they come in of a night, and nothing but loneliness staring us in the face, when all the time we might be able to make things a little better. ”

“ Oh! but I’m glad to be back again, for all Sydney’s niceness, and I’ll never, never, never grumble any more at the bush or the quietness or the work or anything else. I’m never going to grumble again as long as ever I live.”
“Oh, dear!” gasped Doris, shaking her head solemnly and looking in wonder at Eileen.
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“Oh, dear!” said Eva, in tones of surprise.
“Oh, dear!” cried Mollie, in mocking tones of unbelief.
And “Oh, dear me! whoever is talking?” cried Willie, in sarcastic tones.
Baby’s teeth were stuck fast in some toffee that Eileen had brought her, so she could not say anything. ”

“ The children find new beauties every day in the bush life. “Why, we never used to notice half those things till you came here,” said Eileen the other day. “I think we must have been going about with our eyes shut half the time.” But I know, of course, that it is because the gift of observation has been cultivated lately, and everything appeals to them now, and where once the paddocks and the river banks were delightful places to run about and play in, now there are fresh points of interest in tree and flower and plant life. ”

“ The darning, which had been taken up again, was fairly banged on to the verandah now, and scissors and wool were scattered far and wide, while Eva threw a reel of cotton high in the air.
“Children coming! Playmates! Hurrah!”
“When are they coming, and who are they, and how many, and how old are the children, and are they nice?”
“Are you glad?” asked Dadda.
“Glad?” repeated Eileen. “Glad’s not in it! We’re overjoyed. Of course we all like Mrs. Gray; she can make lovely little cakes, and keep her house lovely and clean, but—little cakes and a clean house are not playmates. ”

“ Then they heard the thud of horses’ hoofs up on the bank, and Eva dropped the tomahawk and looked up as Big Tom rode to the top of the bank.
“Hullo! making mud pies?” he cried, as he dismounted.
“Ye-es,” shouted Willie, and they all exchanged telegraphic glances. They mustn’t let Big Tom into the secret. They mustn’t let anyone know until gold was discovered, and those wonderful Sydney men had examined it and told them what it was worth. Then they would tell their wonderful news, and then the rush to the gold-fields would begin! ”

“ They all cheered Willie’s speech, and then Teddo rose to his feet.
“I’m not much of a hand at a speech,” he said, “but I must say a few words and thank everyone of you for the nice things you have said. I think the five of you are the nicest little girls in the world, and Willie’s one of the nicest chaps, and wherever I go I’ll never forget you. It was real bosker of you to give me this spread, and Teddo never forgets old friends—never. I’ll always remember the lot of you; and I’m not much of a hand with the pen, but I’ll write you all a letter from Queensland—you see if I don’t!” ”

“ We have a very lonely life up here. I suppose you don’t know what loneliness is, as you are so rich and travel so much; but if you woke up day after day and saw only the hot sunshine and a few pet lambs and people working hard, and no one new and fresh to talk to, and the night comes on, and there’s another day gone, and nothing done. ”

“ That evening Eileen called a meeting, and they all talked in low tones.
“We ought to get up a subscription for her.”
“Oh, yes, let’s!” cried Doris, clapping her hands. She always loved anything fresh or exciting. “Let’s get it up quick!”
“Has anyone got any money? A subscription’s no good without money.”
“I have two shillings,” said Mollie.
“And I have ninepence,” said Eva; “it’s all in pennies, but I don’t suppose that makes any difference.”
“Not a bit, and I know Baby has sixpence. You’ll let us have your sixpence for nice Miss Gibson, won’t you, Baby, darling?” ”

“ Jolly hard on a fellow when he comes all the way from Sydney, and don’t get a holiday on his birthday.” He looked very glum.
“I’ll tell you what!” cried Eileen, excitedly. “I’ll give up my birthday for Teddo—there you are! Surely we can get one day between now and the end of the year, so we’ll beg off one for Teddo.”
“Oh, Eileen! will you?” they all cried. “That’ll be lovely!”
“That will be great!” said Willie. “But I’ll tell you what—mine comes sooner than yours, so I’ll give mine up. There you are!”
“Oh, Willie, you’re splendid!” cried Eva. “Do you really mean it? True?” ”

“ Its rays lingered lovingly on the children in their little white beds on the verandah. It flickered on the quivering leaves of the gum trees in the garden, where Frank and Willie were wrapped in a dreamless sleep in their swinging hammocks. Then it sailed serenely on, casting its magic glow over the paddocks and scrubs and creeks on “Gillong,” till it paled before the glow of dawn in the eastern sky.
234 CONCLUSION.
My dear Basil,
The days are growing longer. There is a tinge of summer warmth and drowsiness in the air. ”

“ We don’t want to beg, Uncle. We only ask you if you could give us a loan.’ We’ll have to mention money, girls,” said Mollie; “we can’t wait till he comes——‘perhaps you could give us a loan by helping Father and Mother (who work so hard) , and when we grow up we’ll pay back every penny of it. We’re all strong and healthy and willing to work.’”
“‘And we’re as clever as most people,’” put in Eileen. ”

“ How I revel in the wealth of sunshine out here in the paddocks, but as evening draws in the chill air rises, and I hurry back home through the clear cutting freshness, and there a glowing fire awaits one. When the evenings are dull or rainy I sit there and gaze into the glowing, gleaming coals, and you never saw such beautiful, haunting colours as you see among the myall coals!—one can weave all kinds of fancies. ”

“ A governess coming to keep them in musty old school, and make them study dry old books and lessons and figures. They never thought Mother could be so hard-hearted and so cruel and so mean.
“And I’m just sick and tired of old school. I got enough of it in Sydney to last me a lifetime. I did think I would be free from it now and get a rest at home,” sighed Eileen.
“I wish there were no such things as governesses,” wailed Doris. “Governesses and old school!”
“I ’ate old tool!” roared Baby. ”