CHAPTER II.
A YEAR passed and midsummer came. And such a summer! There had been worse ones, I know, numbers of them, but for some reason that summer left a more lasting impression upon my memory than any other, The heat, I remember, was terrific, And the flies and other insect hosts swarmed everywhere. They seemed to come in a night; and you'd think they came to remain for ever. They were insufferable and savage as bull ants. Everyone so inclined cursed them, and in that way, at least, got some imaginary revenge and relief — but to dumb brutes they were Sheol. No rain had fallen for ten months, and all the fresh running creeks which the Governor and other cheerful optimists predicted would run an and babble musically for ever, were fast giving out and turning into bogs and traps for weak stock. And the big waterholes were getting very low and "sick" on it — so were some of the cattle, for the land was in the initial grip of a drought, and Runnibede already threatened with desolation.
Still, no one was idle, and work went on apace, for the Governor was a goer. If he didn’t do a great deal himself, he knew how to get the best out of others, and to get it from them willingly and cheer- fully. And so the axe and the maul rang out at different parts of the run to some purpose. A home
