Bertie Had Expressed Himself Quite Agreeable To The Arrangement, But At The Eleventh Hour Refused To Go Without Nellie; And Nellie, Preferring The Now Fascinating Homestead To The Company Of Her Lord And Master, Refused To Go With Him, And Mac Was At His Wits' End.

It was impossible to carry her off by force, so two days were spent in shrill ear-splitting arguments the threads of Nellie's argument being that Bertie could easily "catch nuzzer lubra," and that the missus "must have one good fellow lubra on the staff."

Mac, always chivalrous, said he would manage somehow without Bertie, rather than "upset things"; but the Maluka would not agree, and finally Nellie consented to go, on condition that she would be left at the homestead when the waggons went through.

Then Mac came and confessed a long-kept secret. Roper belonged to the station, and he had no claim on him beyond fellowship. "I've ridden him ever since I came here, that's all," he said, his arm thrown across the old horse. "I'd have stuck to him somehow, fair means or foul, if I hadn't seen you know how to treat a good horse."

The Maluka instantly offered fair means, but Mac shook his head. "Let the missus have him," he said, "and they'll both have a good time. But I'm first offer when it comes to selling." So the grand old horse was passed over to me to be numbered among the staunchest and truest of friends.

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