"Life
will be a perennial picnic," I said, "with Rosy and Cheon at the head of
affairs "; and for once I prophesied correctly.
Rosy, having been brought up among white folk, proved an adept little
housemaid and Cheon looked with extreme favour upon her, and held her up
as a bright and shining example to Jimmy's Nellie. But the person Cheon
most approved of at the homestead was Johnny; for not only had Johnny
helped him in many of his wild efforts at carpentry, but was he not
working in the good cause?
"What's 'er matter, missus only got one room?" Cheon had said, angry
with circumstances, and daily and hourly he urged Johnny to work quicker.
"What's the matter indeed!" Johnny echoed, mimicking his furious
gutturals, and sawing, planing, and hammering, with untiring energy,
pointed out that he was doing his best to give her more.
Finding the progress slow with only one man at work, Cheon suggested the
Maluka might lend a hand in his spare time (station books being
considered recreation); and when Dan came in with a mob of cattle from
the Reach country, he hinted that cattle could wait, and that Dan could
employ his time better.
But Dan also was out of patience with circumstances, and growled out that
"they'd waited quite long enough as it was," for the work of the station
was at a deadlock for want of stores. They had been sadly taxed by the
needs of travellers, and we were down to our last half-bag of flour and
sugar, and a terrifyingly small quantity of tea; soap, jams, fruits,
kerosene, and all such had long been things of the past. The only food
we had in quantities was meat, vegetables, and milk. Where we would have
been without Cheon no one can tell.
To crown all, we had just heard that the Dandy was delayed in a bog with
a broken shaft, but he eventually arrived in time to save the situation,
but not before we were quite out of tea. He had little to complain of in
the way of welcome when his great piled-up waggon lumbered into the
homestead avenue and drew up in front of the store.
The horse teams were close behind, the Dandy said, but Mac was "having a
gay time" in the sandy country, and sent in a message to remind the
missus that she was still in the Land of Wait-awhile. The reminder was
quite unnecessary.
There was also a message from Mine Host.
