two
o'clock
The men boiled the billy and made the tea , which we drank out of tin pots , with tinned fish and damper off tin plates as the completion of the menu , Mr Ledwood and I at a little distance from the men . Tea boiled in a billy at a bush fire has a deliciously aromatic flavour , and I enjoyed my birthday lunch immensely . Leaving the cook to collect the things and put them in the spring-cart , we continued on our way , lazily lolling on our horses and chewing gum-leaves as we went . When the last of the sheep got off the Caddagat run it was nearing two o'clock . Mr Ledwood and I shook hands at parting , each expressing a wish that we might meet again some day . I turned and rode homewards . I looked back and saw the drover gazing after me .