CHAPTER XXV.
"THE COLONIAL SECRETARY ON THE LUYA."
Luya Dell was in a state of excitement. Workmen were busy at the new house, and curious looking "lean-to's" had been extemporized under the white gum trees at the back of the homestead. Lord Horace was in his element. He was determined to impress his sister and her husband with a true idea of Australian picturesqueness. He had been for some time beating up the blacks for a corroboree. He would have beaten the kangaroo coverts if that had been necessary. He had beaten up the youths of the neighbourhood, distinguished by their "local colour," which was Lord Horace's way of characterizing Australianisms. He was organizing a wild-horse hunt, and would have cheerfully consented to being "bailed up" by Moonlight and his gang as an exemplification of his theory of Bush romance. His one regret was that neither "Em Waveryng" nor his brother-in-law had any notion of the artistic values as applied to a pioneering life.
The Waveryngs had put in a trip to some great sheep-station, between the Leichardt's Town season and the visit to the Dell, and this interval and the assistance of Lord Waveryng's provisionary cheque, had enabled Lord Horace to prepare for festivities. Lord Waveryng had since drawn another cheque, and Lord Horace had rushed into the Tunimba drawing-room one day, radiant with glee, to announce that the Dell was now out of the hands of the bank, and that the creek was dammed, water laid on, and the tiled bath-room of the new house near completion.
Mrs. Jem Hallett raised her eyebrows slightly. She was a good woman of business.
"Waveryng has gone into partnership with me," said Lord Horace. "We are going to breed stud cattle."
"You had better breed kangaroos and sell their hides for saddles," said Jem Hallett, with his fat laugh.
Lord Horace was offended.
