Not made
of the stuff that "lends a hand" in other people's affairs, they sat in
the shade of their tents and looked on, well pleased that men should
bustle for their advantage. As we rode past the drovers they favoured us
with a sweet smile of welcome, while Dan met us with a chuckle of delight
at the sweetness of their smile, and as Jack took our horses--amused both
at the drovers' sweetness and Dan's appreciation of it--the Dandy greeted
us with the news that we had "struck it lucky, as usual," and that a cup
of tea would be ready in "half a shake."
Dan also considered we had "struck it lucky," but from a different point
of view, for he had only just come into camp with the mixed cattle, and
as the bullocks among them more than completed the number required, he
suggested the drovers should take delivery at once, assuring us, as we
drank the tea, that he was just about dead sick of them "little Chinese
darlings."
The "little Chinese darlings," inwardly delighted that the Maluka's
simple trust seemed as guileless as ever, smugly professed themselves
willing to fall in with any arrangement that was pleasing to the white
folk, and as they mounted their horses Dan heaved a sigh of satisfaction.
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