" Even the
Dandy and the Fizzer were converted; and Jack having realised that there
are such things as Scotchwomen--Scotch-hearted women--a new bond was
established between us.
No one had much sleep that night, and before dawn there was no doubt left
in our mind about the outside cattle coming in. It seemed as though every
beast on the run must have come in to the Stirling that night for a
drink. Every water-hole out-bush is as the axis of a great circle,
cattle pads narrowing into it like the spokes of a wheel, from every
point of the compass, and along these pads around the Stirling mob after
mob of cattle came in in single file, treading carelessly, until each old
bull leader, scenting the camp, gave its low, deep, drawn-out warning
call that told of danger at hand. After that rang out, only an
occasional snapping twig betrayed the presence of the cattle as they
crept cautiously in for the drink that must be procured at all hazards.
But after the drink the only point to be considered was safety, and in a
crashing stampede they rushed out into the timber.
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