Page:The Toll of the Bush.pdf/85

‘That’s all till next Sunday.’

‘But in time, I suppose, they get to know him and marry him.’

Sandy shook his head. ‘There are no marriages here,’ he said; ‘very few births and deaths only by accident. That’s how it is that when the Government sends a man up here to collect statistics he always goes back a confirmed dipsomaniac.’

‘I have wondered why that was so,’ Geoffrey said, and Major Milward laughed.

The band was now in full blast again, and the voices of the singers came at first with uncertainty through the hubbub. Then the voices mastered the air, and put the band back in its proper place.

The three waited until the service was over, and by that time the sun had set and the evening star glowed at the river mouth.

Major Milward rose and scanned the groups on the darkening beach below. ‘Home,’ he said succinctly. ‘Go and fetch Eve.’

Sandy departed obediently, and in a few minutes returned with his sister. Eve took her father’s arm, and the two young men following behind, the party made its way back to the house.

Lamps were glowing brightly in the big dining-room, as they went up through the sweet-scented garden on to the verandah. The Major went straight into the house, but Eve waited for the others. Her cheeks were glowing and her eyes sparkling as she looked from one to the other. ‘I hope you both enjoyed the service,’ she said.

‘I did thoroughly,’ Sandy replied; ‘and during our walk home, Geoffrey has exhibited all the