When he intended simply to ride round his fences or to visit the hut of some distant servant, a few minutes signified nothing.

He would stand under the veranda and talk, and the women would endeavor to keep him from the saddle.

But now there was no loitering, and but little talking.

He said a word to Jacko, who brought the horse for him, and then started at a gallop toward the wool-shed.
He did not stop a moment at the shed, not even entering it to see whether the heap of leaves had been displaced during the night, but went on straight to Medlicot's Mill.

He rode the nine miles in an hour, and at once entered the building in which the canes were crushed.