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  sharply to our host. 'Have you ever been in Australia, friend McAdoo?'

"One could see the man's heavy jowl drop a trifle beneath his coarse, red beard; his face looked flaccid—just for the second, and then the blood came pouring back until the veins across the side of his forehead became distended. His pale, little eyes began to dance, just as those of a hog when he is about to make a rush—you know the look.

Where is Mr. Cullen—the missionary?' asked Lynch, sharply, and at this direct question the congestion of McAdoo's face faded in blotches and the glitter of his eyes changed to a gleam of cunning.

" 'He's gone away, leavin' me in charge o' the station, and now if ye'll kindly step inside'—the brute actually mustered a sort of grin which was, no doubt, intended for an expression of good-will—'I'll leave ye for a minute or two.'

" 'Thank you, ' said Lynch, calmly. 'Doctor Leyden will wait here on the veranda, but I [ 96 ]