When O’Byrne no longer came to pick up tea and sugar at the Cab­bage Tree store, and when timber fellers no longer saw smoke rising from his chimney and when his pile of box sleepers did not increase it was no surprise to anyone. Splitters were in the bush for weeks at a time on their own and O’Byrne was a queer sort at the best of times and in these rest­less times men would often up and leave and never be seen again. That summer, O’Byrne was not a topic of conversation at all. A few farmers in the hills talked of a wild black dog raiding the chicken pens, but it was desultory talk. There were many such dogs in the bush and besides the heat of this incredible summer and the threat of fire were on every man’s mind.