which were slowly retreating before the axe of the settler. These
fields, which had rather a harlequin aspect with their varied
colours, all melted together in the far distance into an
indescribable neutral tint, and ended in the dark haze of the bush,
which grew over all the undulating hills. On the horizon, however,
at intervals, a keen eye could see some tall tree standing boldly
up, outlined clearly against the pale yellow of the sky. There was a
white dusty road or rather a track between two rough fences, with a
wide space of green grass on each side, and here and there could be
seen the cattle wandering idly homeward, lingering every now and
then to pull at a particularly tempting tuft of bush grass growing
in the moist ditches which ran along each side of the highway.
Scattered over this pastoral-looking country were huge mounds of
white earth, looking like heaps of carded wool, and at the end of
each of these invariably stood a tall, ugly skeleton of wood. These
marked the positions of the mines--the towers contained the winding
gear, while the white earth was the clay called mulloch, brought
from several hundred feet below the surface. Near these mounds were
rough-looking sheds with tall red chimneys, which made a pleasant
spot of colour against the white of the clay. On one of these
mounds, rather isolated from the others, and standing by itself in
the midst of a wide green paddock, Mrs Villiers' eyes were fixed,
and she soon saw the dark figure of a man coming slowly down the
white mound, along the green field and advancing slowly up the hill.
When she saw him coming, without turning her head or raising her
voice, she called out to someone inside,

'Archie is coming, Selina--you had better hurry up the tea, for he
will be hungry after such a long day.'