Dad was glad enough to see us; he was almost civil, and when he heard that Rainbow had won the “big money” he laughed till I thought he’d do himself mischief, not being used to it. He made us tell him over again about Starlight and I going to the ball, and our seeing Aileen and Gracey there; and when he came to the part where Starlight made the bride a present of a diamond ring I thought he never would have done chuckling to himself. Even old Crib looked at me as if he didn’t use to think me much of a fellow, but after this racket had changed his mind.

“Won’t there be a jolly row in the papers when they get all these different characters played by one chap, and that man the Captain?” says he. “I knew he was clever enough for anything; but this beats all. I don’t believe now, Captain, you’ll ever be took.”

“Not alive!” says Starlight, rather grim and gloomy-looking; then he walks off by himself.

We stabled Rainbow, of course, for a week or two after this—being in training it wouldn’t do to turn him out straight at once. Hardy as he was, no horse could stand that altogether; so we kept him under shelter in a roughish kind of a loose box we had knocked up, and fed him on bush hay. We had a small stack of that in case we wanted to keep a horse in—which we did sometimes. In the daytime he was loose in the yard. After a bit, when he was used to the weather, he was turned out again with his old mob, and was never a hair the worse of it. We took it easy ourselves, and sent out Warrigal for the letters and papers. We expected to knock a good bit of fun out of them when they came.

Sure enough, there was the deuce and all to pay when the big Sydney papers got hold of it, as well as the little Turon Star and the Banner.