That Chap Had A Wooden
Leg," He Added, Unnecessarily Explicit; And Then His Argument Being
Nicely Rounded Off, He Lent A Hand With The Pack-Bags.
The traveller filled in Dan's evening, and Neaves' mate coming through
next day, gave the Quarters a fresh start
And then just before that
sundown we felt the first breath of victory from the monsoon - just a few
cool, gusty puffs of wind, that was all, and we ran out to enjoy them,
only to scurry back into shelter, for our first shower was with us. In
pelting fury it rushed upon us out of the northwest, and rushing upon us,
swept over us and away from us into the south-east, leaping from horizon
to horizon in the triumph of victory.
As a matter of course, it left a sweltering awfulness behind it, but it
was a promise of better things; and even as Dan was inquiring with a
chuckle "whether that chap in the Quarters had got a bath out of it," a
second pelting fury rushed over us, filling Cheon's heart with joy, and
Billy with importance. Unfortunately it did not fill the water-butts with
water, but already the garden was holding up its head, and Billy was
claiming that he had scored a win.
"Well?" he said, waylaying Cheon in the garden, "Well, me rainmaker?
Eh?" and Cheon's superstitious heart bowed down before such evidence.
A ten-minutes' deluge half an hour later licked up every grain of dust,
filled the water-butts to overflowing, brought the insect pest to life as
by magic, left a shallow pool in the heart of the billabong, and added
considerably to Billy's importance.
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