to Ned's want.
'Yes. Rodney Shaw has come back to Cudgegong. I don't know whether that can be reckoned as good news or bad, but it's true,' said Ned.
'It is a long time since he went away,' said Jim.
'Nigh on seven or eight years, I should think, maybe not quite so long.'
'He'll find his property all right. Benjamin Nix is a good manager,' said Jim.
'And a good fellow too,' answered Ned. 'Better than his boss, I reckon.'
Turning to Doonan, he said, 'There's likely to be trouble in this district before long, I hear.'
'How's that?'
'Horse thieves about again,' said Ned.
Jim Dennis thought of the strange stallion boxed in his yard, and glanced at Constable Doonan. Was there more rumour and suspicion to surround him?
'It's a rum go too,' said Ned. 'Rodney Shaw bought a fine stallion in Sydney, a thoroughbred, and sent him up to Cudgegong. The man in charge of him complains that someone either stole him or let him loose while he was resting at Potter's. There'll be a deuce of a row at Cudgegong about it.'
'That's queer,' said Jim. 'A strange horse galloped into the yard with my mob yesterday during the storm. I wonder if he belongs to Mr Shaw.'
'You don't say so!' exclaimed Ned.
'Yes, I do; and, what's more, the brute would have made short work of me had not Fred Doonan arrived in time.'
He then explained to Ned what had happened.
'If he's such a savage horse,' said Ned, 'I shouldn't be at all surprised if the man did not let him go through sheer fright and now wants to cast the blame on someone.'
'That's probable,' said Constable Doonan. 'I'm going round by Potter's and will make inquiries. In the meantime, Jim, I would ride over to Cudgegong and let Mr Shaw know about it.'
'I'll go to-morrow,' said Jim.
Doonan took his departure, and soon afterwards Ned, much to the relief of his two passengers, clambered into the box seat and continued his journey.
Next morning it was still raining, but Jim Dennis cared little for this, in fact was glad of it. He saddled Bess and rode over to Cudgegong, a distance of about fifteen miles.
The mare revelled in the good going, and the already green grass gave way beneath her feet. It was a luxury that had not befallen her for many a day, to gallop on yielding ground.
Midway between the two stations he saw a couple of mounted police, and recognised Sergeant Machinson and another constable he did not know.
'Wonder what brings him round here. Perhaps he has been to pay his respects to Rodney Shaw.'
Then he thought:
'If he has, he'll have heard of the loss of his horse. He's such a suspicious beggar, he might think I had a hand in "lifting" it. If the stallion in my place is the missing one, Machinson would be only too pleased to get me into trouble, though why I don't know. It's sheer spite because of that Potter's affair, and poor spite it is too. They have seen me, so I may as well ride over to them.'
He was passing them with a casual remark about the rain when Sergeant Machinson said, —
'We have just been over to Cudgegong. Mr Shaw has returned from England. He bought a valuable stallion in Sydney, which has been stolen. The man in charge of it says it was taken from Potter's. Have you seen anything of it yet?'
Jim Dennis did not hesitate to tell the story of how he found a stray stallion in his mob, and also said that Constable Doonan arrived at an opportune moment to rescue him.
'I was just riding over to Mr Shaw's to tell him about it,' said Jim. 'I heard from Doonan, and Ned Glenn, that he had lost a thoroughbred stallion.'
A suspicious, sneering smile came over Sergeant Machinson's face. 'Then you do not know who is the owner of this horse? It is not often you find stray thoroughbreds running about the country, I suppose?'
'No, do you?' asked Jim, who was not afraid of half-a-dozen Sergeant Machinsons.
'It is part of my duty to find them when they have been stolen,' said the sergeant.
'So I believe,' replied Jim; 'but if this horse I have is Mr Shaw's, it will save you any trouble in that line.'
'Except to catch the thief,' said the sergeant.
'Always provided the horse was stolen,' said Jim.
'Of course it was stolen; the man says so.'
'Then how did it come to be running about with my mob?' asked Jim.
'That's what I'd like to know,' was the suggestive and uncalled-for reply.
'What do you mean to infer by that?' asked Jim, hotly.
'Anything you please. Don't you think it needs some explanation?'
'I have told you what happened.'
'But you omitted to state how the horse came to be amongst your lot.'
'That is what I should like to find out. Perhaps you can help me,' said Jim.
'I shall do all in my power to apprehend the thief. There is too much of this sort of thing going on round here.'
'Yes, there is,' said Jim; 'and it is partly your fault, because you never catch the thieves. Why don't you try Dalton's gang?'
'That's my business,' said the sergeant, angrily. 'Remember I can make you account for having that horse on your premises.'
'I have accounted for it.'
'Shall you tell that story to Mr Shaw?'
'Certainly; that is what I am going over for.'
'Then we will ride back with you.'
'As you please,' said Jim; 'but I should prefer your room to your company.'
Sergeant Machinson bit his lip, but made no reply. He knew in his heart Jim Dennis's story to be true, yet this only aggravated him the more. Such is the nature of some men, but Jim Dennis was not of them. When they arrived at Cudgegong station they were received, after a brief delay, by Rodney Shaw.
'I am glad to see you back, Mr Shaw,' said Jim, holding out his hand, and looking him straight in the face.
Rodney Shaw took his hand in a half-hearted way and said hesitatingly, —
'I have been away such a long time I have almost forgotten all my old friends, but you are none the less welcome for all that.'
'How he has altered,' thought Jim. 'I should not have recognised him had he been anywhere but at Cudgegong.'
'So you returned with Dennis?' said Shaw to the sergeant.
'Yes. I fancy he has your horse,' said Sergeant Machinson.
'Let me tell you the story,' said Jim, 'or it may be misrepresented.'
He
