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Rh walking along the dim straggling street on their way to the Riverside paddock.

They hardly spoke at first. At last he said abruptly, after some banal remark about Leichardt's Town gaieties, "Have you missed me?"

"Yes," she answered fearlessly. "And now tell me, have you missed me?"

"Oh, no—not in the least. I have only thought of you in almost every hour of daylight, and in some few hours during the night. I have only counted the days till I should get back to Leichardt's Town and to you. Does that satisfy you?"

She did not answer for a moment. Her heart was beating wildly. Presently she said, "Is this another move in the game?"

"If you take it so. I am going to ask you something, a great favour, will you pull me across to the other side and back again?"

"Yes. Come."

She ran on a little in advance of him and reached the Riverside fence first. Instead of taking the path which led to the cottage, she went down another, through the banana plantation and to the river bank. The boat was lying at the steps. The tide was at full, and lapped the drooping branches of the chucky-chuckie tree with a caressing sound.

Elsie threw off her cloak and stepped into the boat, which she untied. She looked, he thought, like some nymph of Greek days in her white dress and with her slim, erect form and well poised head bare to the night. The stars shone brightly, and the sky was intensely clear. She motioned him to sit in the stern, and shook her head when he asked if he. should take an oar, then pushed off into mid stream.

Her strokes were long and vigorous. He watched with fascinated eyes the movements of her lithe young body as she bent backwards and forwards to the oar. She never spoke a word, but rowed straight across and then turned and rowed him back again.

"Now," she said, "don't ever say that I made any fuss