"No, thanks--manage it myself," said the fisherman, tugging manfully.

"Here she comes!"

The line came in faster now, and the strain on the rod was plain.

Excitement ran high.

"It's a great big perch, I do believe," Norah exclaimed. "Just fancy, if it beats Dad's big boomer--the biggest ever caught here."

"It'll beat some records," Wally gasped, hauling in frantically. "Here she comes!"

"She" came, with a final jerk. Jim broke into a suppressed shout of laughter. For Wally's catch was nothing less than an ancient, mud-laden boot!

CHAPTER VI. A BUSH FIRE

Wally disentangled his hook gravely, while the others would have laughed more heartily but for fear of frightening the fish.

"Well, I'm blessed!" said the captor at length, surveying the prize with his nose in the air. "A blooming old boot! Been there since the year one, I should think, by the look of it."

"I thought you had a whale at the very least," grinned Harry.

"Well, I've broken my duck, anyhow, and that's more than any of you others can say!" Wally laughed. "Time enough for you to grin when you've caught something yourselves--even if it's only an old boot! It's a real old stager and no mistake. I wonder how it came in here."

"Some poor old beggar of a swaggie, I expect," Jim said. "He didn't chuck it away until it was pretty well done, did he? Look at the holes in the uppers--and there's no sole left to speak of."

"Do you see many tramps here?" Harry asked.

"Not many--we're too far from a road," Jim replied. "Of course there are a certain number who know of the station, and are sure of getting tucker there--and a job if they want one--not that many of them do, the lazy beggars. Most of them would be injured if you asked them to chop a bit of wood in return for a meal, and some of them threaten to set the place on fire if they don't get all they want."

"My word!" said Wally. "Did they ever do it?"

"Once--two years ago," Jim answered. "A fellow came one hot evening in January. We'd had a long spell of heat, and all our meat had gone bad that day; there was hardly a bit in the place, and of course they couldn't kill a beast till evening. About the middle of the day this chap turned up and asked for tucker.

"Mrs. Brown gave him bread and flour and tea and some cake--a real good haul for any swaggie. It was too good for this fellow, for he immediately turned up his proud nose and said he wanted meat. Mrs. Brown explained that she hadn't any to give him; but he evidently didn't believe her, said it was our darned meanness and, seeing no men about, got pretty insulting. At last he tried to force his way past Mrs. Brown into the kitchen."

"Did he get in?" asked Wally.

"Nearly--not quite, though. Dad and Norah and I had been out riding, and we came home, past the back yard, in the nick of time. We couldn't hear what the fellow was saying to Mrs. Brown, but his att.i.tude was enough to make us pull up, and as we did so we saw him try to shove her aside. She was plucky enough and banged the door in his face, but he got his foot in the crack, so that it couldn't shut, and began to push it open.

"Dad slipped off his horse gently. He made a sign to us to keep quiet and went across the yard, and we saw him shake the lash of his stockwhip loose. You can just fancy how Norah and I were dancing with joy!

"Dad was just near the verandah when we saw the door give. Poor old Brownie was getting the worst of it. We heard the fellow call out something--a threat--and Dad's arm went up, and the stockwhip came down like a flash across the man's shoulder He gave one yell! You never heard such an amazed and terrified roar in your life!" and Jim chuckled with joy at the recollection.

"He turned on Dad and jumped at him, but he got another one with the whip that made him pause, and then Dad caught him and shook him like a rat. Mr. Swaggie was limp enough when it was over.

"'I've a very good mind to give you in charge!' Dad said--he was simply furious. It made a fellow feel pretty bad to see poor old Brownie's white face in the doorway, and to think what a fright she had had.

"The swaggie turned a very ugly look on Dad.

"'You give me in charge, and I'll precious quick have you up for a.s.sault!' he said.

"Dad laughed.

"'As for that, you can do exactly as you choose,' he said. 'I'll be quite ready to answer for thrashing a cur like you. However, you're not worth carting seventeen miles to Cunjee, so you can go--the quicker the better."

"And he cleared, I suppose?" Wally asked.

"He just did--went like a redshank. But when he got outside the gate and a bit away he stopped and turned round and let fly at Dad--such a volley of threats and abuse you never heard. It finished up with something about the gra.s.s; we didn't quite understand what; but we remembered it later, and then it was clearer to us. However, he didn't stop to explain, as Dad turned the dogs loose. They lost no time, and neither did the swaggie. He left the place at about the rate of a mile a minute!"

Jim paused.

"Thought I had a bite," he said, pulling up his line. "Bother it! The bait's gone! Chuck me a worm, young Wally." He impaled the worm and flung his line out again.

"Where was I? Oh, yes. Norah and I were a bit scared about the swaggie, and wondered what he'd try to do; but Dad only laughed at us. It never entered his head that the brute would really try to have his revenge. Of course it would have been easy enough to have had him watched off the place, but Dad didn't even think of it. He knows better now.

"I waked up early next morning hearing someone yelling outside. It was only just light. I slipped out of my window and ran into the yard, and the first thing I saw was smoke. It was coming from the west, a great cloud of it, with plenty of wind to help it along. It was one of those hot autumn mornings--you know the kind. Make you feel anyhow."

"Who was yelling?" asked Harry.

"One of Morrison's men--he owns the land adjoining ours. This fellow was coo-eeing for all he was worth.

"'You'd better rouse your men out quick 'n lively,' he sang out.

'There's a big gra.s.s fire between us and you. All our chaps are workin'

at it; but I don't fancy they can keep it back in this wind.'

"I just turned and ran.

"The big bell we use for summoning the men to their meals hangs under the kitchen verandah and I made a bee-line for it. There seemed plenty of rocks and bits of gla.s.s about, and my bare feet got 'em all--at least I thought so--but there wasn't time to think much. Morrison's chap had galloped off as soon as he gave his news. I caught hold of the bell-pull and worked it all I knew!

"You should have seen them tumble out! In about half a minute the place was like a jumpers' nest that you've stirred up with a stick. Dad came out of the back door in his pyjamas, Norah came scudding along the verandah, putting on her kimono as she ran, Brownie and the other servants appeared at their windows, and the men came tumbling out of the barracks and the hut like so many rabbits.

"Dad was annoyed.

"'What are you doing, you young donkey?' he sang out.

"'Look over there!' I says, tugging the bell.

"Dad looked. It didn't take him long to see what was up when he spied that big cloud of smoke.

"'Great Scott!' he shouted. 'Jim, get Billy to run the horses up. Where are you all? Burrows, Field, Henry! Get out the water-cart--quick. All of you get ready fire-beaters. Dress yourselves--quickly!' (You could see that was quite an afterthought on Dad's part.) Then he turned and fled inside to dress."

"How ripping!" Wally said, wriggling on the log with joy.

"Ripping, do you call it?" said Jim indignantly. "You try it for yourself, young Wally, and see. Fire's not much of a joke when you're fighting it yourself, I can tell you. Well, Dad was out again in about two shakes, ready for the fray, and you can bet the rest of us didn't linger long. Billy had the horses up almost as soon, and every one got his own. Things were a bit merry in the stockyard, I can tell you, and heels did fly.

"After all, Norah here was the first mounted. Bobs was in the stable, you see, and Norah had him saddled before any of us had put our bridles on. Goodness knows how she dressed. I guess it wasn't much of a toilet!"