She was trying to adopt his tone; it was actually gay; and herein his degeneracy was more apparent to her than in anything that had gone before. He could not put himself in her place; the cruel dilemma that she was in, for his sake, seemed nothing to him; his solitary dog's life had deprived him of the power of feeling for another. And yet the thought of those boots outside in the sand contradicted this reflection; for he had put them on soon after her reappearance, thus showing her on whose account they had been taken off. Moreover, his next remark was entirely sympathetic. "It's very rough on you," he said. "What do you mean to do?" "I suppose I must go back to Melbourne." "And then?" "Get another place--if I can." He said no more; but he waited upon her with heightened assiduity during the remainder of their simple meal; and when they set out together--he with all his worldly goods in a roll of blankets across his shoulders--she made another effort to strike his own note of kindly interest and impersonal sympathy. "And you," she said as they walked; "what will _you_ do?" "Get a job at the next station; there'll be no difficulty about that." "I'm thankful to hear it." "But I _am_ in a difficulty about you." He paused so long that her heart fluttered, and she knew not what was coming. They passed the place where her resolution had given way in the dark hour before the dawn; she recognised that other spot, where, later, he had found her asleep in the sun; but the first fence was in sight before he spoke. "I can't stand the idea of your putting in another appearance in the township," he exclaimed at last, thrilling her with the words, which expressed perhaps the greatest of her own immediate dreads. "It won't do at all. Things will have got about. You must avoid the township at all costs." "How can I?" "By striking the road much lower down. It will mean bearing to the right, and no more beaten tracks after we get through this gate. But the distance will be the same and I know the way." "But my trunks----" "The boss said he would have them put on the coach. They'll probably be aboard whether you are or no. If they aren't, I'll have them sent after you." "I shall be taking you out of your way," objected the girl. "Never mind. Will you trust me?" "Most gratefully."