Page:While the Billy Boils, 1913.djvu/77



scene is a small New South Wales Western selection, the holder whereof is native-English. His wife is native-Irish. Time, Sunday, about 8 a.m. A used-up-looking woman comes from the slab-and-bark house, turns her face towards the hillside, and shrieks:

'T-o-o-m-may!'

No response, and presently she draws a long breath and screams again:

'Tom m-a-a-y!'

A faint echo comes from far up the siding where Tommy's presence is vaguely indicated by half-a-dozen cows moving slowly―very slowly―down towards the cow-yard.

The woman retires. Ten minutes later she come out again and screams:

'Tommy!!'

'Y-e-e-a-a-s-s!' very passionately and shrilly.

'Ain't you goin' to bring those cows down to-day?'

'Y-e-e-a-a-s-s-s!―carn't yer see I'm comin'?'

A boy is seen to run wildly along the siding and hurl a missile at a feeding cow; the cow runs forward a short distance through the trees, and then stops to 57