Page:Hornung - Irralies Bushranger.djvu/62

 would fit," pursued Young; "and they asked me to go and look for you."

"Who asked you?"

"Fullarton himself."

"It was like his impertinence!"

"It was so! I'm glad to hear you say that, for in my opinion a more"

"That'll do," replied Irralie, tartly. "Don't hang a man before you try him!" And with a sudden, feverish haste, she led the way homeward through the pines; the overseer following, with a very healthy craving for the new owner's blood. On the veranda, sure enough, were the portmanteaus, hat-box, gun-case, and dressing-bag of a sufficiently new chum. The labels of the voyage still adhered to the raw, unseasoned leather. Indeed, with the single exception of the gun-case, everything was flagrantly new and redolent of the London outfitter. And on the largest piece of all, the careless centre of a keenly interested group, sat a picturesque, unshaven adventurer, like a beggar enthroned.