Over and over again she tried to convince herself that her fear was groundless, and over and over again the words came back to her, refusing to be forgotten or ignored—­“the white man from Bowker Creek.”  Who was this white man whom Mercer had fought, this man who had tried to shoot him?  She shuddered whenever she pictured the conflict.  She was horribly afraid.

Yet she played her part unfalteringly, and Mercer never suspected the seething anguish of suspense and uncertainty that underlay her steadfast composure.  He thought her quieter than usual, deemed her shy; and he treated her in consequence with a tenderness of which she had not believed him capable—­a tenderness that wrung her heart.

She was thankful when the morning came, and he left her, for the strain was almost more than she could endure.

But in the interval of solitude that ensued she began to build up her strength anew.  Alone with her doubts, she faced the fact that she would probably never know the truth.  She could not rely upon Beelzebub for accuracy, and she could not refer to her husband.  The only course open to her was to bury the evil thing as deeply as might be, to turn her face resolutely away from it, to forget—­oh, Heaven, if she could but forget!

All through that day Beelzebub slept, curled up in the straw.  She visited him several times, but he needed nothing.  Nature had provided her own medicine for his tortured body.  In the evening a man came with a note from Curtis.  The case was undoubtedly one of smallpox, he wrote, and he did not think his patient would recover.  There was a good deal of panic at Wallarroo, and he had removed the man to a cattle-shed at some distance from the township where they were isolated.  There were one or two things he needed which he desired Mercer to send on the following day to a place he described, whence he himself would fetch them.

“Beelzebub can go,” said Mercer.

“If he is well enough!” said Sybil.

He frowned.

“You don’t seem to realize what these niggers are made of.  Of course, he will be well enough.”

She said no more, for she saw that the topic was unwelcome; but she determined to make a stand on Beelzebub’s behalf the next day, unless his condition were very materially improved.

XII

It was with surprise and relief that upon entering the kitchen on the following morning Sybil found Beelzebub back in his accustomed place.  He greeted her with a wider grin than usual, which she took for an expression of gratitude.  He seemed to have made a complete recovery, for which she was profoundly thankful.

She herself was feeling better that day.  Her arm pained her less, and she no longer carried it in a sling.  She had breakfasted in bed, Mercer himself waiting upon her.

She was amazed to hear him speak with kindness to Beelzebub, and even ask the boy if he thought he could manage the ride to Wallarroo.  Beelzebub, abjectly eager to return to favour, professed himself ready to start at once.  And so presently Sybil found herself alone.