"It's just Jack's way," the Sanguine Scot said, anxious that his fellow
Scot should not be misunderstood. "He'll be all there if ever you need
him. He only draws the line at conversations."
But when I mounted the stockyard fence one morning, to see the
breaking-in of the colts, he looked as though he "drew the line" at that
too.
Fortunately for Jack's peace of mind, horse-breaking was not the only
novelty at the homestead. Only a couple of changes of everything, in a
tropical climate, meant an unbroken cycle of washing-days, while, apart
from that, Sam Lee was full of surprises, and the lubras' methods of
house-cleaning were novel in the extreme.
Sam was bland, amiable, and inscrutable, and obedient to irritation; and
the lubras were apt, and merry, and open-hearted, and wayward beyond
comprehension. Sam did exactly as he was told, and the lubras did
exactly as they thought fit, and the results were equally disconcerting.
Sam was asked for a glass of milk, and the lubras were told to scrub the
floor. Sam brought the milk immediately, and the lubras, after scrubbing
two or three isolated patches on the floor, went off on some frolic of
their own.
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