Midsummer's Eve

Matthew listened intently. He said: "I'll find him. His story would be worth recording-particularly as I know something of his origins.”

"How I should love to know what became of him," I went on. "I should be relieved if I could hear that he had settled down ... perhaps acquired a bit of land.”

"Let's hope that he came through," said my father. "He was a boy who wanted to be alone. He did not seem to care much for the companionship of others.”

"It was because of his circumstances," I said hotly. "Who was there?”

"You and Jacco did a good deal for him.”

"And so did you.”

"I don't recall that he was particularly grateful.”

"He didn't know how to show it.”

"He showed it by stealing ... unnecessarily. I could have understood it if he had been hungry. I'm afraid what happened to Digory was inevitable.”

"I shall see if I can find him and get his story," said Matthew.

He was leaving the next morning for Sydney.

"I shall make the Grand Hotel my headquarters while I'm there," he told us. "So that is where you can find me if I am wanted. From there I hope to be going to various parts of Australia ... at least where I am likely to find the information I need.”

"Have you any idea how long you'll be away?" asked my mother.

"So much depends on my success. When I have collected enough material I shall want to set about the writing.”

"And Helena ... her time is not so far off.”

He smiled at me. "I know she will be safe with you.”

Words trembled on my mother's lips. I knew she wanted to say that at such a time a woman wanted her husband with her. But of course this was no ordinary marriage and I supposed we should all be grateful to Matthew. We must remind ourselves that he was an earnest philanthropist and there was not time in his busy life to be delayed in his work by anyone-even though it be his wife.

The next morning we said goodbye to Matthew. I think Helena was relieved to see him go. It must be trying to be continually reminded that you owed so much to one person.

Not that he reminded her; but Helena could not forget.

My father was out a great deal with Gregory and Jacco was invariably with them. They would sometimes leave before we rose in the morning and come back before dark. Often we would sit out of doors in the evenings. The men made fires and cooked in the open air and it was quite pleasant when it was cooler after sundown. The men would sing songs which they had brought from home. "Coming Through the Rye," "Sally in Our Alley”

and "In Good King Charles's Golden Days." One of the men had a musical instrument which he called a Didgeridoo. It was a long wooden tube which boomed when blown; another had a banjo. They would grow very merry.

Gregory was always there. I would hear his voice above the rest. He had said that the convivial evenings were part of his duties.

"You've got a group of men about working hard all day ... they've got to have something to look forward to in the evenings. A little get-together with a bit of singing gets us all friendly," he had explained. "It keeps their minds off the women and there are not enough of them to go round. It's a consideration.”

Our arrival had added considerably to the female population. I had seen some of the men and girls together and I guessed that they were more than normally friendly.

I noticed the way in which the men looked at the women ... even us. I felt that there was a certain amount of tension in such a situation.

That Maud felt it I knew, because of her careful watch on her daughter. If any man talked to Rosa her mother's eyes would be immediately upon them. It must be worrying to have a pretty young daughter in such a community.

Gregory determined to show us the country. We saw a great deal of him for although he had given up the house when we came and had gone to one of the shacks, he dined with us every day.

One day he told us about the boat.

"You see we are not very far from the sea. An hour or so on horseback gets us there.

I often take a trip. I like to get some good sea breezes. We are less than two hours from Smoky Cape. You can bathe there if you've a fancy to. We must go there one day.

I've got a little boat house there and my boat, well ... she's a humdinger, I can tell you.”

I went with my father, Gregory and Jacco. Helena was unable to ride and my mother stayed behind with her. We had a picnic and then Gregory took us sailing. He managed the boat with skill and it was a wonderful feeling to be sailing along on the open sea.

We kept close to the coast.

"Storms can blow up pretty fast," Gregory told us, "and we've got precious cargo aboard." This with a wink at me.

He still disturbed me. I would find his eyes watching me, calculating almost.

I thought of what he had said about the men and women and I felt he was summing me up, waiting. That made me very uneasy and when I was in my room alone at night I was thankful that my father and brother were close by.