Поющие в терновнике

           "Idon’tcare!OuthereI’mstuckthesamewayIwasinNewZealand;Ican’tgetawayfromhim."

           "Him?"

           ButFrankhadnotmeanttosayit,andwouldsaynomore.Helaylookingupattheleaves.

           "Howoldareyou,Frank?"

           "Twenty-two."

           "Oh,yes!Haveyoueverbeenawayfromyourpeople?"

           "No."

           "Haveyouevenbeentoadance,hadagirlfriend?"

           "No."Frankrefusedtogivehimhistitle.

           "Thenhe’llnotholdyoumuchlonger."

           "He’llholdmeuntilIdie."

           FatherRalphyawned,andcomposedhimselfforsleep."Goodnight,"hesaid.

           Inthemorningthecloudswerelower,buttherainheldoffalldayandtheygotthesecondpaddockcleared.AslightridgeranclearacrossDroghedafromnortheasttosouthwest;itwasinthesepaddocksthestockwereconcentrated,wheretheyhadhighergroundtoseekifthewaterroseabovetheescarpmentsofthecreekandtheBarwon.

           Therainbeganalmostonnightfall,asFrankandthepriesthurriedatafasttrottowardthecreekfordbelowtheheadstockman’shouse.

           "Nouseworryingaboutblowingthemnow!"FatherRalphshouted."Digyourheelsin,lad,oryou’lldrowninthemud!"

           Theyweresoakedwithinseconds,andsowasthehard-bakedground.Thefine,nonporoussoilbecameaseaofmud,miringthehorsestotheirhocksandsettingthemfloundering.Whilethegrasspersistedtheymanagedtopresson,butnearthecreekwheretheearthhadbeentroddentobarenesstheyhadtodismount.