"Ah! here you are, Nic!" she cried. "What a shame! your first morning, and not been to say 'how are you?' to mamma!"

Nic rushed by her before she had finished, and ran into the house, where Mrs Braydon was eagerly waiting to welcome him to the board.

"I needn't have been so apologetic," said the doctor drily, as he came in a minute later and took his place. "Here have I been preaching to this boy about the hardships of our life, and our rough fare, and-- humph! French ham, new-laid eggs, coffee, cream, honey, jam, hot bread-cakes, and--tut--tut--tut! My poor boy, I am so sorry there are no fried rolls. Can you make shift?"

"Yes, father," said Nic, laughing, as he thought of school fare. "I'm going to try."

He did.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

A STRANGE ENCOUNTER.

"Don't go too far, Nic," said Dr Braydon, a few mornings after the boy's arrival at the Bluff.

"Oh no, father; only I must see what the place is like all round."

"Of course; I have no time to-day, or I'd take you for a ride round."

"But ought he to go alone?" said Mrs Braydon.

"He must learn to run alone, my dear," said the doctor. "We can't chain him up like a dog."

"No," said Mrs Braydon, rather piteously; "but there are the precipices."

"Nic has eyes in his head, and will not go and jump down there. He can't very well fall by accident."

"The snakes, my dear."

"He must learn at once to keep a sharp look-out for them. I suppose there were plenty of adders on the common at school?"

"Plenty, father."

"But the blacks, my dear. I have not got over that scare."

"They're gone, my dear. That man came back last night and said that he saw them, and hid because he was afraid. The party hung about after the waggon for about an hour, and then went right off across the river."

"But they may come back."

"Oh yes," said the doctor tenderly; "but don't be afraid. Nic will not go very far--eh, boy?"

"Oh no, father; I'll really take care."

"And you will be very careful, my dear?"

"Of course he will," said the doctor.

"I will really, mother," said Nic. "I'll only go to-day and have a look round."

"Shall we go with him and take care of him?" said Janet mischievously.

"Yes, I'll come," cried Hilda, exchanging glances with her sister, while the doctor looked on quite amused, and waited for his son's reply.

"No, that you won't," cried Nic indignantly. "Just as if I were a little boy! I know: you want to take me for a walk and each hold a hand. I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I begin to feel at home in the place."

"Of course," said his father. "There, Nic, I'm going to trust to your discretion. Of course the snakes are dangerous, and you must keep a sharp look-out. You can take your gun with you."

Mrs Braydon started.

"Don't be alarmed, mamma. Nic can be trusted to carry a gun. It's of no use to wince, my dear. Nic has come out here to grow into a man, and he must begin to act like one. You'll be careful with the piece, of course?"

"Yes, father: very."

"That's right. Now then, I'll tell you the great danger--one, however, that you are not likely to fall into now, because you will not go far enough--the danger is, being bushed."

"Being bushed, father? what's that?"

"Wandering into the bush and losing your way."

"But I'm not likely to do that, father."

"Old experienced colonists have been lost, Nic. I have myself."

"You have, my dear!" cried Mrs Braydon. "I never knew."

"No, I did not wish to alarm you," said the doctor quietly. "It was on that occasion when I was a week away searching for stray cattle. You remember now?"

"Yes, I remember now," said Mrs Braydon, turning pale. "There, don't be alarmed now. Nic is not going anything like so far as the bush--not much out of sight of the house. The danger is this, Nic: once a man wanders into the scrub the trees and shrubs are all so much alike, the hills and mountains so much the same, that the mind gets deceived and at last confused. Then the country is so vast that, once he goes wrong, he may wander on and on till he frightens his mother out of her wits and makes his sisters cry," said the doctor merrily. "Now do you understand?"

"Yes, quite, father. But I've got a pocket compa.s.s."

"Good! Learn to use it well."

"And I promise you, mother dear, that I will not go into the bush, or anywhere to-day far from home."

"That's right, my boy," said the doctor. "Be off, then, and we shall have a big meal at sundown. You are free till then."

"Thank you, father," cried Nic, whose veins throbbed with eager antic.i.p.ation of the pleasures to be enjoyed in what seemed to be the first real holiday he had ever had. "You'll trust me too, mother, won't you?"

"Yes, yes, my boy," cried Mrs Braydon.

"Of course she will," said the doctor. "Mamma has grown quite nervous since she has had a fresh chicken to take care of: she makes more fuss over you than she does over the girls."

"But they know the place better, my dear," pleaded Mrs Braydon.

"Nic will know it ten times better in a fortnight," said the doctor.

"Eh, Nic?"