This article of furniture having been supplied, Augusta was fain to descend upon it with as much dignity as she could manage, not being confident of her ability to drop down, like the agile Tottie, from a tallish horse, as was Osmund. Tottie, having given the horses in charge of a small brown-faced brother, who spent his whole time in considering Osmund, and apparently learning him by heart, welcomed Miss Neuchamp into her home. That young lady found herself for the first time under the roof of an Australian free-selector, and felt that she had acquired a new experience. ‘Come in, miss; I’m very glad to see you, I’m sure; please to sit down,’ was the salutation Augusta received, in tones that spoke a hearty welcome, in very pure unaccented English. Miss Neuchamp selected the most ‘reliable’ looking of the wooden-seated American chairs, and depositing herself thereon, looked around. The dwelling was, she thought, more prepossessing than the outside had led her to imagine. Though everything was plain to ugliness, there was yet nothing squalid or repulsive. All things were very clean. The room in which they sat was evidently only used as a parlour or ‘living room.’ It was fairly large and commodious. The earthen floor was hard, even, and well swept. A large table occupied the centre. The fireplace was wide and capacious, the mantelpiece so high that it was not easy to reach. There was a wooden sofa covered with faded chintz, and an American clock. Half a dozen cheap chairs, a shelf well filled with indifferently bound books, a few unframed woodcuts hung upon the walls, made up the furniture and ornamentation. Opening from this apartment laterally was evidently a bedroom. At the back a skilling, a lower roofed portion of the building, contained several smaller rooms. A detached two-roomed building, in what would have been the back-yard had any enclosure been made, was probably the kitchen and laundry. Mrs. Freeman insisted upon putting down the kettle to boil, in order that she might make a cup of tea for her distinguished visitor, evidently under the opinion that every one naturally desired to drink tea whenever they could get it. ‘And how have you been behaving yourself, Tottie?’ said she, addressing her daughter, as a convenient mode of opening the conversation. ‘I hope and trust you’ve been a help to Miss Neuchamp. Has she, miss?’ ‘Oh, certainly,’ answered Augusta; ‘Mary Anne has been a very good girl indeed. I don’t know how I should get on without her. And I have borrowed her side-saddle too. How long will it be before Mr. Freeman comes home?’ ‘Oh, he won’t be home much before dark. He’s always out on the run all day long. He hates coming in before the day is done.’ ‘Why is that, Mrs. Freeman?’ ‘“Because,” he says, “what can a man do after his day’s work but sit down and twirl his thumbs.” He haven’t got any garden here to fiddle about in, and he can’t sit still and smoke, like some people.‘