As Harry said, they might all now lie in bed for a day or two. The
rain had set aside for the time the necessity for that urgent
watchfulness which kept all hands on the station hard at work during
the great heat. There was not, generally, much rest during the year
at Gangoil. Lambing in April and May, washing and shearing in
September, October, and November, with the fear of fires and the
necessary precautions in December and January, did not leave more
than sufficient intervals for looking after the water-dams, making
and mending fences, procuring stores, and attending to the ailments
of the flocks. No man worked harder than the young squatter. But now
there had suddenly come a day or two of rest--rest from work which
was not of itself productive, but only remedial, and which,
therefore, was not begrudged.

But it soon was apparent that the rest could be only for a day or
two. The rain had fallen as from ten thousand buckets, but it had
fallen only for a space of minutes. On the following morning the
thirsty earth had apparently swallowed all the flood. The water in
the creek beneath the house stood two feet higher than it had done,
and Harry, when he visited the dams round the run, found that they
were fall to overflowing, and the grasses were already springing, so
quick is the all but tropical growth of the country. They might be
safe, perhaps, for eight-and-forty hours. Fire would run only when
the ground was absolutely dry, and when every twig or leaf was a
combustible. But during those eight-and-forty hours there might be
comparative ease at Gangoil.

On the day following the night of the ride Mrs. Heathcote suggested