Page:Coo-ee - tales of Australian life by Australian ladies.djvu/66

62 morning. In one of those pauses of silence that occur in a large party, his voice was heard saying,—

'I think it so dangerous to sleep on the bare ground, that I always take a h'air mattress with me into camp.'

'A hair mattress!' replied Mrs. Drummond, to whom he was talking, with a puzzled look. 'Surely that is very cumbersome?'

'Oh dear, no,' was the calm response; 'I only h-inflate it when it's wanted.'

I caught a glimpse of a look of horror on Mrs. Drummond's face. After that I dared not lift my eyes from my plate. There was a dead silence; the faintest suspicion of a giggle came from Miss Brown's direction. In another moment we should have broken down, when by good luck one of the youngsters dropped 'a plate, and we all broke out into a laugh that must have seemed perfectly idiotic to the real cause of our merriment.

I don't think I felt more amiable towards the fellow, as, a few hours after, I saw him going off with the rest of the visitors and Mrs. Creek towards Quondong. There he was, well mounted, and garbed in dazzling white, riding by Mrs. Drummond's side, and bending over towards her in earnest conversation; while I, scorched and grimy, and smothered in dust, was counting sheep in the yards.

I must say I was very glad they did not stop as they passed; and yet, as I caught a last glimpse of a lithe figure in a grey habit, I felt as if there was