class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">XV.

A Cowardly Assault 123 XVI. The Morning of the Race 132 XVII. At the Post 141 XVIII. His First Race 149 XIX. Sal at Work 158 XX. Danger at Hand 168 XXI. A Clever Escape 177 XXII. Determined Men 187 XXIII. The Attack on Barker's Creek 196 XXIV. A Fierce Fight 205 XXV. A Stricken Woman 214 XXVI. Settling Day 223 XXVII. Neptune's Son 232 XXVIII. Grey Bird is Admired 240 XXIX. A Glorious Victory 249 XXX. In the Days of Prosperity 258

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SETTLING DAY

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CHAPTER I

THE LITTLE CHAP

He was riding hard and fast, the thud of his horse's hoofs resounded from the sun-baked ground. He rode for a life, the life of his child, a little chap six years old. As he urged on his mare he fancied in every moan of the wind he heard a cry of pain. His face was set and his eyes were tearless, but his heart throbbed painfully, and each pulsation seemed to increase his dread of what might happen in the homestead during his absence. In the Australian bush doctors are few and far between, and many miles have to be covered before assistance in case of sickness can be obtained.

Jim Dennis's had not been a happy life. He was practically an outcast from society, a solitary man, living in a lonely spot in the wilds of New South Wales. He had been grievously wronged, and knew it, but others did not, and the world's judgment upon him had been harsh and unjust. He hated the world, so he said, and thought he meant, it; but there was one connecting link with the past that softened his heart, and that was the little chap who lay fighting for life while he rode at a mad pace to fetch aid so necessary to save him; and the mare, with that unerring instinct which horses possess, knew she was set no ordinary task. The sun was glowing down upon man and beast, and the ground felt like hot bricks. There was no grass, for the wretched substitute in the dried shrivelled blades that nodded faintly in the wind