Page:Hornung - Irralies Bushranger.djvu/17

 stockman—with a difference in the stockman's favor. He wore the orthodox rough shirt and baggy mole-skins; but the humble legging was replaced by a riding-boot of piratical length; and from a pocket of the dilapidated, loose coat there peeped the butt end of the revolver recently discharged. Now, revolvers were not even then in everyday use in the bush; nor were long boots often seen in the stirrups of the common stockman; and the girl felt a puzzled awe in thus encountering so new a type. She was taken, however, with her protégés appearance, which was quite romantically devil-may-care; and she chiefly viewed him with a very genuine curiosity as he returned to the buggy, dashing the water from his long mustache.

"Now we can push on for ourselves," said he. "You have saved us both, and we are grateful. Allow me to relieve you of my saddle and valise."

"But may I ask where you are going?"

"Surely; to the station."