Application of soap, and razors, and towels before they considered
themselves fit for presentation.
With only one room at our disposal it would seem to the uninitiated that
the accommodation of the homestead must have been strained to bursting
point; but "out-bush" every man carries a "bluey" and a mosquito net in
his swag, and as the hosts slept under the verandah, and the guests on
the garden paths, or in their camps among the forest trees, spare rooms
would only have been superfluous. With a billabong at the door, a
bathroom was easily dispensed with; and as every one preferred the roomy
verandahs for lounging and smoking, the House had only to act as a
dressing-room for the hosts and a dining-room for all.
The meals, of course, were served on the dining-table; but no apology
seemed necessary for the presence of a four-poster bed and a washing
stand in the reception-room. They were there, and our guests knew why
they were there, and words, like the spare rooms, would have been
superfluous.
Breakfast at sun-up or thereabouts, dinner at noon and supper at
sun-down, is the long-established routine of meals on all cattle-runs of
the Never-Never, and at all three meals Sam waited, bland and smiling.
