“Gives her something to do cleaning up after Willy-Willys,” he growled further, and in desperation took to outracing Willy-Willys—­“so the missus ’ull have a bit of time for pitching,” and was drawn into the wood-heap gossip, until Jack provided a little incidental entertainment in the handling of a “kicker.”

But Jack and the missus had found occupation of greater interest than horse-breaking, gossiping, or spring cleaning—­an occupation that was also affording Dan a certain amount of entertainment, for Jack was “wrestling with book-learning,” which Dan gave us to understand was a very different thing from “education.”

“Still it takes a bit of time to get the whole mob properly broken in,” he said, giving Jack a preliminary caution.  Then, the first lesson over, he became interested in the methods of handling the mob.

“That’s the trick, is it?  You just put the yearlings through the yard, and then tackle the two-year-olds.” he commented, finding that after a run through the Alphabet we had settled down to the first pages of Bett-Bett’s discarded Primer.

Jack, having “roped all the two-year-olds” in that first lesson, spent all evening handling them, and the Quarters looked on as he tested their tempers, for although most proved willing, yet a few were tricky or obstinate.  All evening he sat, poring over the tiny Primer, amid a buzzing swarm of mosquitoes, with the doggedness all gone from his face, and in its place the light of a fair fight, and, to no one’s surprise, in the morning we heard that “all the two-year-olds came at his call.”

Another lesson at the midday spell roped most of the three-year-olds, and another evening brought them under the Quiet Stockman’s will, and then in a few more days the four-year-olds and upwards had been dealt with, and the Primer was exhausted.

“Got through with the first draught, anyway,” Dan commented, and, no Second Book being at our service we settled down to Kipling’s “Just-So Stories.”  Then the billabong “petering out” altogether, and the soakage threatening to follow suit, its yield was kept strictly for personal needs, and Dan and the Maluka gave their attention to the elements.

“Something’s got to happen soon,” they declared, as we gasped in the stifling calm that had now settled down upon the Territory; for gradually the skirmishings had ceased, and the two great giants of the Territory element met in the centre of the arena for their last desperate struggle.  Knee to knee they were standing, marvellously well matched this year, each striving his utmost, and yet neither giving nor taking an inch; and as they strove their satellites watched breathlessly.

Even the Willy-Willys had lain down to watch the silent struggle, and Dan, finding himself left entirely without occupation, “feared he would be taking to booklearning soon if something didn’t happen!” “Never knew the showers so late,” he growled; and the homestead was inclined to agree that it was the “dead-finish”; but remembering that even then our Fizzer was battling through that last stage of the Dry, we were silent, and Dan remembering also, devoted himself to the “missus,” she being also a person of leisure now the Willy-Willys were at rest.