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come?”
    Dickon nodded. Forestalling the second question, he grasped Luke’s rein and jerked his head in the direction of the homestead.
    So it was not all over, Luke decided, with a sinking heart. And if Dickon was urging him to hurry, there must still, alas, be cause for anxiety. He kneed his tired horse into motion and, with Dickon beside him, rode at a headlong gallop for the station buildings.
    In the living room of the homestead, he found his father-in-law and Edmund awaiting him. Rick Tempest, tall and white
    haired, greeted him with a reassuring smile and the news that Elizabeth had gone into labor at about midday.
    “Her mother and the midwife are with her,” he added.
    “It’ll be best if you stay here, Luke. It takes time, you know, when it’s the first one. But I thought I ought to send Dickon to fetch you-I knew you would want to be here.” He splashed brandy into a bulbous glass and, ignoring Luke’s headshake, thrust the glass into his hand. “Drink it, lad-there may be a long night before us.”
    Luke obediently gulped down the neat spirit, and his father-in-law resumed his seat, his own half-finished drink in his hand. Addressing his son, he continued what had evidently been an earlier topic of conversation.
    “I had a long talk with Henry
    Osborne of Marshall Mount-we dined together, after the Legislative Council meeting.”
    “Osborne?” Edmund’s interest quickened. “Was he not the enterprising fellow who drove the mob of cattle to Adelaide a few years back, when the settlers there were hard put to it to feed themselves?”
    Rick Tempest nodded. “Indeed he was …
    and it was an incredible journey, which took him over four months. I’d never heard the full story before, and, I confess, after hearing Osborne’s account of the hardships they endured and the difficulties they encountered, my admiration for him knew no bounds. It was in December of thirty-nine that they set off-Osborne, with his foreman, three convicts, and three abo stockmen. They gathered a mob of nearly nine hundred cattle and about the same number of fat wethers, and, of course, when they finally reached Adelaide he was able to ask his own price for them.”
    “He must have lost some,” Edmund demurred, frowning. “For God’s sake, Father, it’s-what?
    Close on a thousand miles from Lake Illawarra to Adelaide, and in thirty-nine there were no roads-just wild bush. And I don’t imagine that all the black-fellows he met were friendly.”
    “Quite the reverse,” his father confirmed. “And at one point, Osborne told me, he came pretty near giving up, abandoning the herd and making tracks for home as best he could. They had been ten days without finding water, but then-miraculously, Osborne said-the wind veered and the cattle suddenly William Stuart Long
    picked up the scent of water and made for it. He lost a few head, but he delivered the bulk of both sheep and cattle in good condition … and made his fortune.” Rick Tempest smiled. “By heaven, he deserved to! It beats gold digging.”
    “That’s debatable,” Edmund retorted, echoing his father’s smile. “And coming from you-was He turned his gaze on Luke, anxious to draw him into the conversation, but the younger man was sunk in his own thoughts and appeared not to hear him. Edmund shrugged. “You said you met Mr. Osborne at the Legislative
    Council. He’s a member, I take it?”
    “An elected member, yes. But now that the new constitution is about to give us a Legislative Assembly and fully responsible government, thanks to William Charles Wentworth’s efforts, Osborne intends to stand down. His eldest son is to take his place and stand for election in one of the Illawarra seats. As-was Rick Tempest paused and laid heavy emphasis on his next words. “As I wish

my
    son would!”
    Edmund’s explosive reaction had the effect of disrupting Luke’s reverie, and he looked up, startled, as Edmund exclaimed, “Oh, for God’s sake, Father! Perish the