Such Is Life

oyed a

*

to form our planet. Not this event alone, of course; but every occurrence, past and present, from the fall of captured Troy to the fall of a captured insect. According to another theory, I hold an independent diploma as one of the architects of our Socia

indomitable old Adversary has suddenly called to mind Dr. Watt

information, however narrow and feeble, across the path of such fellow-pilgrims as have led lives more sedentary than my own-particu

be only fair to notify him that his age and experience, even his captivating habits and well-known hospitality, will be treated with scorn, ra

ows me, I trust, with the more sterling, if less ornamental qualities of the chronicler. This fairly equitable compensation embraces, I have been told, three distinct attri

talent of which I am the bailee, I purpose taking certain entries from my diary, and amplifying these to the minutest detail of occurren

I think I shall undertake the annotation of a week's record. A man might, if he were of a fearful heart, stagger in this attempt; but I shut my eyes, and take up one of

Coop. &c. 10-Mile Pin

ept for inedible roley-poleys, coarse tussocks, and the woody stubble of close-eaten salt-bush; between sky and earth, a solitary wayfarer, wisely lapt in philosophic torpor. Ten yards behind the grey saddle-horse follows a

ns of Riverina Proper mark a straight sky-line, broken here and there by a monumental clump or pine-ridge. And away beyond the horizon, southward still, the geodesic curve c

d for dinner among the trees. One of the party was an intimate friend of mine, and three others were acquaintances; so, without any of the ceremony which prevails in more refined circles, I hooked Fancy's rein on

Three of the wagons, in accordance with a fashion of the day, bore names painted along the board inside the guard irons. Thompson's was th

s is my friend, N or M; if he steals anything, I will be responsible for it): a form of introduction, by the way, too sweeping in its suretyship for

rayed the terminal "g" from his participles. I knew him well, for we had been partners in dogflesh and colleagues in larceny when we were, as poets feign, nearer to heaven than in m

ven tons of this, for Kenilworth; had there met Thompson, delivering salt from Hay; and now the two, freighted with Kenilworth wool, were making the trip to Hay together. Kenilworth was on the commercial divide, having a choice of two evils-the long, uninviting track southward to the Murrumbidgee, and the badly wate

apped offspring of some rotund or ricketty aristocrat. But being, for my own part, as I plainly stated at the outset, incapable of such romancing, I must register Dixon as one whose igno

e I was about the height of this table; he was Old Price then; he is Old Price still; and he will probably be Old Price when my head is dredged with the white flour of a blameless life, and I am pottering about with a stick, hating young fellow

o walk on a carpet, so the aimless popinjay of adult age can never learn to take a man's place among rough-and-ready workers. Even in spite of Willoughby's personal resemblance to Dixon, there was a suggestion of latent physical force and leathery durability in the bullock driver, altogether lacking in the whaler, and equiponderated only by a certain air of

paid rather according to my grade than my merit, and not by any means in proportion to the loafing I had to do. Candidly, I was only a Deputy-Assistant-

t into committee on the subject of grass-a

gger at the best o' times, an' she's on full cock this year. Best watched station on the track. It's risk whatever way you take it. We're middlin' safe to be collared in the selection, an' we're ji

k," suggested Thompson. "You three can work on the selecti

mused Dixon. "I forgit what the

; and straightway the serene, appreciative expression of the bullock driver's face, rightly interpreted, sh

parated yesterday. I would n't misdoubt the selection, on'y Cunningham told me the other day, Magomery's shiftin' so

ction was empty a we

r I camped the

inquired a cho

est I've had

on ahead, an' see the coast clear. But they won't watch a bit of a pa

ol teams, an' glad o' the chance," obs

," commented Mosey, with a s

r, the crimson thread of kinship running conspicuously throu

atch!" retorted Mosey. "I wonder what fetched a feller like you

leg of mutton from Price's tuckerbox, and carried it out of sight. By-and-by, all eyes converged on a sha

to be able to tell us where the safest grass is, considering he's had a load in from the station. But to tell you the truth, I'm in favour of the ram-paddock. If we're caught there, we'll most likely only get insulted-and we can stand a lot of that-but if we're caught in the selection

hanges since you was h

nnin' to think he's

nsiderin' it's all purchas

minits on Valiparaiser

s as thick

ey," said I. "I've got

e on my do

the plain; the ponderous empty wagon-Sydney-side pattern-with eight bullocks in yoke and twelve travelling loose, coming more clearly into detail through

over for, Alf: They say things is middlin' hot here on Runnymede; an' we're in a (sheol) of a (adjective) stink about what to do with our f

on; took them out this mor

d sh

see how it c

's reasonable

ourself a

am-paddic

N

water in the tank

w? There was

le, that you were right about the boring rods; and he'll settle with you any

trouble, Collins," replied Alf, with

feller don't go to the bottomless for his disagreeableness, there's somethin' radic'ly wrong about Providence. I'm a great believer in Providence, myself, Tom; an' what's more, I try to live up to my (adj.) religion. I'm sure I don't want to see any pore (fellow) chained up in fir

y. Bought

ck up a bait with you; you're sich a careless &c., &c." And so t

lection should be patronised. This being so, there was no hurry-rat

the near corner of the ram-paddock about two miles farther still; whilst a perisher on the plain is seldom hard to find in a bad season, when the country is stocked for good seasons. Ru

n pressed me to camp with him and Cooper for the night, and I readily consented; thus temporarily eluding a fatality which was in the habit of

gon, and disposed Bunyip's pack-saddle and load on the top of the woo

n. A short, dark, irregular line, cleanly separated from the horizon by the wavy glassiness of the low

alutation; sullenly drawing off the track, in the deference always conceded to wool. Victorian poverty spoke in every detail of the working plant; Victorian energy and greed in the unmerciful loads of salt and wi

m of the country, to gossip with him as they passed. According to another

ith the linen coat,

a contractor. That hal

rses and so forth, fo

o great

y have the best horse,

that black one the h

eferring to the discussion we had this morning-that

the bag of bones beside him, is what you wou

h men expressly for rank and file; and I should imagine that their

you," remarked Thompson, seizing the opportunity

" replied Willoughby; "he abuses

," I rejoined. "He ought to be taking a spell of carrying that m

won this here saddle with her at a bit of a meetin' las' week, an' rode her my own self-an' that's oc'lar demonster. I tell you, if this here mare had a week spell, you could n't hold her; an' she'd go a hundred mile between sunrise an' sunset, at the same bat. Yes, boss; it's the breed does it. I seen some good horses about the King, but swelp me Gawd I

horse has carried a pack so long that he's about

ttle weed of a grey mare! At a word, mind! I'm a reckless sort o' (person) when I take the notion! but without a word of ex

it swappin' ye want wi' decent men? Sure thon poor craytur iv a baste hes n't got the sthrenth fur till kerry it own

hat wire at Poondoo. Been in the wars?" For M'Nab was lea

stapped las' night; an' wan word brung on another, an' at long an' at last we fell to, so we did;

" said Thompson, straini

half-caste aside; for the young fellow had a bu

't give a dam, s'posin' a feller's soul gits bashed out. Best sight I seen for many a day was see

on, whilst looking enviously at Fancy, hitched behind the wagon. "Boys o' dear," he added reflectively, "she's jist s

this s

nt, glancing first at the honest-looking hack he was riding, then at the magnificent animal which carried the half-caste. "H

s suicidal candour. The utter simplicity of his bracketing his own two horses-worth, respectively, to all appearance

, following my eye as I glanced over the half-caste's sp

is he, Mr

nd thractable. Ye kin luck at his mouth

ust five. I regret to record that I

im a long tim

day. There's the resate. An' here's the resate the man got when he b

to get rid of the

M'Nab resentfully. "But A want thon wee shilty, an' A evened a swap till

th the horse, Steve?"

urmured Thompson. "Try

y, powerful stride. To ride that horse was to feel free, exultant, invincible. His gallop was like Marching Through Georgia, vigorously rendered by a good brass band. All that has been written of man's noblest friend- from the dim, uncertain time when some unknown hand, in a leisure mo

gated M'Nab, as

a bit chest-foundere

he is, begog. Sure A hed n't him

give me?" I asked, with a feeling of

wee shilty ondher may oxther! Ye have a right till be giv

per; and receipts were soon exchanged. Then the saddles were shifted, and we cantered ahead till we rejoined Thompson. I tie

rd that the mare is just what you see. You may

ebbe he's foun' out som

stone dead off o' this saddle if the horse has any tricks, or anythin' wrong

as gold," I reiterated. "

her F

n' by gog ye'll fine him wan out iv a thousan'. A ch

replied affably. "I shou

to be a blunder. I have dwelt, perhaps tediously, upon this swap; my excuses are-first, that, having made few such good bargains durin

an, Billy," said M'Nab

up enny fardher," he a

e the night. A man t

hillin' in

ot o' good tailin' you up! A man that sets down to his dinner without askin' another man whether he's

r you! Houl' an'!- A'll bate ye a hundher'-two hundh

d, you fellers there!" th

quarrellin' while

Nab, treating Cooper with the silent contempt usually lavished

to-night," suggested Thompson

d, accompanied by his esquire, went on his way, pausing only to

across on the track sometimes," re

my voice and glancing furtively round, I asked exp

ly," he conjectured, w

horizon, at the sid

t, I am. Jist comin' ac

with the nex' team ahead-

Dix

mare forward, and attached himself t

he glitter had died off the plain as the sun went on its way to make

box which covered about fifty acres of the nearer portion of the selection, leaving a f

to show the public how to graze scientifically on a small area. Now Runnymede owned the selection, whilst its former occupier was vending sixpenny parcels o

eepening twilight. The bullocks were unyoked with all speed, and sto

war-"we ain't goin' to travel these carrion a mile to the gate, an' most likely fine it locked when we git there. Hold on till I git my internal machine to work on the fence. Dad! Where's that ole morepoke? O, you're there, are you?

e had had enough for one day; she stumbled, and fell, rolling heavily over her rider. "What the (quadruple expletive)'s the matter with her?" he continued, extricating himself, and kicking the beast t

Tom," he remarked to me; "this fixter'll put the crooked maginnis on any fence from ere to 'ell. It's got to come. No matter how tight rails is shouldered, they'll spring some; an' if every post'll give on'y half a inch, why then, ten posts makes five or six inches; an' that's about all you want. Then in the mornin', you can fix the fence so's the ole-man divil his self could n't ball you out. Ah!-

n, but too thirsty to feed. Then whilst Thompson, Mosey, Willoughby and I tailed them toward the tank, Dixon hurried on ahead with his five-gallon oil-drum, in order to replenish it before the water was disturbed; and Price, b

eized of the true inwardness of duffing; but to those who live cl

ery familiar with; it's a dirty transaction to refuse water to perishing beasts, but I've been refused times out of number, and will be to the end of the chapter; it's a dirty transaction to persecute men for having no

e. You've be

oice between two dirty transactions- one is, to let the bullocks starve, and the other is to steal grass for them. For my own part, I'm sick and tired of studying why some people should be in a position where they have to go out of their way to do wrong, and other people are cornered to that extent that they

asked Cooper, meeti

lied Thompson; "but very l

Deluge," obse

I'm sure we don't grudge nobody the benefit. Turnin' out nice an' cool,

deur, peace, and purity above; squalor, worry, and profanity below. Fit basis for many

s were soon boiling. And the tea, when cool enough, needed no light to escort a due proportion o

on and Bum were evidently old friends; they reclined with their heads together, occasionally laugh

at length, with the inevitable adjective; and, passing through th

d Price, in arrogant assertion of parental authority,

bout that before," ob

w. You ain't

member of the company thought the matter

e ain't the class o' feller that watches from behine a tree-keeps curs like Martin to do his dirty work. But he'd like to nip every divil of us if he got half a slant. I notice, the more swellisher a man is, the more miserabler he is abou

lost the steers from the ram-paddock, here, and we found them away in the Sedan paddock. Certainly, we ca

s!" said Mos

echoed Dixon, Bum, and

growled; and Willoughb

ut about an hour after sundown. It was sort o' cloudy moonlight that night; an' I takes the carrion straight on, an' shoves 'em in the horse-paddick, an' shuts the gate. Then I fetches 'em into a sort of a holler, where the best grass was, an' I takes the saddle an' bridle off o' the horse, an' lays down, an' watches the carrion wirin' in. Well, you know, ole Martin, the head boundary man, h

y one ton lebm; for we was goin' out emp'y for wool, on account o' them two Vic. chaps snappin' our loads. I disremember if I tole you the yarn when I pulled you at the Willandra. Anyhow it was raining like (incongruous comparison)

ogated Mosey,

o' fetches up another," replied the

he station bullicks; an' me layin' there, laughin' in to myself. By-'n'-by he stops an' consithers, an' then he goes roun' examinin' them, an' smellin' about, an' then he has a long squint at Valiparaiser; an' in the heel o' the hunt he rounds u

, one o' the keys fits the lock, so I whips out the carrion, an' shoves 'em down to where the ole sinner took 'em from. Well, there was two station teams in the paddick-I s'pose they wanted 'em very early for somethin'- so I saddles Valiparaiser an' scoots across to where I seen these bullicks when I was goin' for the keys; an' I shoves 'em int

ot a set on you too?"

t the safest man in th

we got a leader in a swap at Deniliquin. Same time I made the keys. Yaller, hoop-horned bullick-I dunno if you seen him with us?

self," assented P

loot, appearingl

ack to the Sydney sid

an' whenever he seen a river, he'd swim it; an' the whole fraternity stringin' after, thinkin' he was on for somethin' worth while. Grand leader, but a beggar to clear. Well, las' year, when we went up emp'y to Bargoo

carrying a blanket and the little bag of dead grass which he used as a pillow. "I'm a good-tempered ma

?-Barg

n' Warrigal Alf, an' (sheol) knows how many

ed; an' as luck would have it, he'd sold the pick of his bullicks to a tank-sinker, an' bought steers in theyre place; an' he had n't another bullick fit to

ey?" demanded Price, roused from

him; an' me as thin as a whippin'-post with watchin' the yaller-hided dodger every night, to keep him from goin' overland to the bounds o' creation. Well, at long an' at last we swapped level for Valiparaiser. I seen the workin' o' Providence in it from fust to last. The horse he's worth twenty notes, all out; an' Pilot he was dear at a gift. I say, Tom; that's

tell him?" a

t where I'm goin' to camp. But you got a rakin' horse, Tom; an' I

ugh for poking about,

other fellow ge

there yet; an' no sign o' him nor his carrion. I was thinkin' he'd have some fun with Pilot, 'specially on account of havin' to do his bullick-huntin' on foot; for he could n't afford to git anoth

', off he scoots agen, an' jist before sundown he hears the bells, an' he pipes the tail end o' the string ahead; an' the front end was jist at the Bilby Well-sixty good mile, if it's an inch, an' scrub all the road. Pilot he had n't thought worth while to go roun' by the Boundary Tank, to git on the wool track; he jist went ahead like a surveyor,

d Thompson slowly: "I'd

own throat than do

ened of bringing a

in curses," replied Mosey- his altere

urse'll follow you like your shadow? Isn't it well known that if you're disobedient to your parents, something'll happen to you? Is n't it well known that Sabbath-breaking brings a curse on a man t

a case in point," remark

sure I allus worked on Sundays, an' I'm well sure I allus will; an' I'm well sure 'ere ain't no cuss on me. Why, I dunno what the (comp

as Mount Macedon, and he does

to Willoughby, "that the sinner, being

bit more respect, Mosey,"

u the truth," rep

the ole bunyip. Can't

n my jor, but I'd take him to be mo

about repentin', any

isons?" asked Willoughby, as Price rejoined the company.

e cube root-or the square of the hypotenuse, is it? I forget the exact term, but no matter. Well, the curse came on me in this way: Charley Webber, the young fellow I was travelling with, got a letter from some relations in New Zealand, advising him to settle there; so he offered me his plant for two-thirds of its value-fifty notes down and fifty more when he would send for it. Sheer g

ked Mosey. "I wish that same spe

ial!" assented Dixon an

but that was n't my style; I was n't a wheat-sample; I was a tare. Compromised with my conscience. Thought there was no time to lose in making an independence-making haste to be rich,

an's-him that was killed off the colt at Mossgiel- and that same winter the pleuro broke out in my lot, and they went like rotten sheep till fourteen were gone; and then, of course, the plague was stopped. Not having any use for Mulligan's wagon, I swapped her for a new thirty-by-twenty-four wool-rag, and a Wagga pot, good for eight or ten mile on a still night; and, within a month, Ramsay's punt went down with my wagon; she's in the bottom of the Murrumbidgee now, with eight ton of bricks to steady her, and the tarpaulin and bell to keep her company. She'll be fetching the most critical planks out of a steamer some of these times, and I'll get seven years for leaving her there. Afterward, when I was hauling logs for pontooning, on the Goulburn, I kept buying up steers and breaking them in, till I had two twelves; and one day I left sixteen of them standing in yoke while I went looking round for a good log; and suddenly I heard a crash that rattled back and forward across the river for a quarter of an hour. I had a presentiment that Providence was on the job again, and I wasn't disappointed. One of the fallers

unes was invidiously owin' to yer own (

r not havin' better

se, anyhow," r

s some people go

ar; perhaps next week; perhaps to-morrow. Let's see how you'll take it. Mind, there's a curse on every one of us. And look here-we had no business to travel to-day; there was a

till Willoughby politely sought to restore ease by co

ular. A student, returning from a stroll, encountered a countryman, carrying a hare in his hand. 'Friend,' said t

was worse than wasted, for t

ned to be a two-hundredweight bag o' rice in the bottom o' the load; an' something tore her, an' she started leakin' through the cracks in the floor o' the wagon; an' I could n't git at her no road, for there was seven ton on top of her; an' the blasted stuff it kep' dribble-dribble till you could 'a' tracked me at a gallop for over a hundred mile

dit," remarked Thompso

so often antecedes, and

swearing did any good;

would you?-well, then,

hink, seeing me so brisk an' cheerful, that I got more worry nor anybody on'y myself could stand. I got more trouble nor all you fellers put together." He paused

ter Molly; for my mother died of a cold she caught when I was about twelve or fourteen, and Molly she was hardly so

eight in the 40th. Las' word he says to me: 'Bob,' says he; 'be a man-an' keep

man; an' never take your Maker's name in vain, or by (sheol) He'll make it hot for you.' That was my father's style with me. Same with my sister. He used to lay a bit of a buggy-trace on the table, after supper: 'There, Molly,' says he; 'that's for girls as goes gallivantin' about after night ;' an' many's the dose of it Molly got for flyin' round in the moonlight. Consequently, as you might say, she growed up to be the best girl, an' the cleverest, in the district. The other girls was weeds aside of her; she stood inches higher nor any o' them, an' she was a picter' to look at. Strong as whalebone, s

man from the Queensland border, he bought the place next ours but one; an' our two fam'lies got acquainted. Wonderful clever ole feller he was, in regard o' findin' out new gases, an' smells, an' cures for sna

as you then?"

e an' him we soon got great cronies; an' by-'n'-by I seen he was collared on Molly, an' she was collared on

" queried Mo

nt on this way for a couple o' year; an' this feller's people was agreeable;

greeable, of cours

ope. He deserved to go there if ever any livin' man did. He died

ung feller's nam

an' she shoved her foot in the stirrup-leather; an' the horse he was a reg'lar devil; an' he played up with her in the yard; an' her heel went throu

r?" sugges

et her cryin'. I would n't go through that lot agen, not if I got a pension for it. Well, by-'n'-by she got her senses complete; an' this young feller he had been hangin' about the house every day, sayin' nothing to nobody; but when she begun to come round, he begun to-keep away. At last she was all right in regard o' health, but she was disfigured for life; she had to wear a crape veil down to her mouth. Then the young feller he used to

p-chandler?"

lies candles to

ust what ought to happen. Anyhow, the hand of God was on him, an' he got it hot an' heavy. Accordin' to accounts, he sold out, an' give her the bulk o' the cash, an' then he travelled. Last year, out on the Namoi, a man told me he seen him bullock drivin' in the Bland country, seven year ago. It might be him, or it might n't. I don't know, an' I don't want to know; for h

is she still at hom

when I come home, Molly was gone. She'd left a letter for me, sayin' she'd nothing to live for; an' we'd meet on the other side o' the grave; an' I must always think kind of her; an' to remember ole times, when there was o

to Thompson in a gratuitously lively tone, and

nk he's gittin' a cancer; mebbe it's on'y blight; I would n't say. An' that lyin' (individu

ied Thomps

place?" asked Mose

more money, an' buyin' more shares; an' I got sort o' muddled somehow; an' to make a long story short, the whole (adj.) thing went to (sheol). It was goin' that road when I seen the last o' pore Molly; an' when I lost her, I jist roused round an' got a team together, an' signed everything the lyin', cheatin' (financiers) told me to sign; an' then I cleared off. Must be gittin' on for-let's see-Molly was twenty-three when she got her accident, an' it was three year after when she made away with her

e of your sister?

most about it, an' we cared most; an' we was sure from the first, though we done everything that could be done. She went away at night, an' took nothing with her-not a single ite

the bright starlight was broken only by the faint jingle of the horses' hobble-

ool to this spot," rem

ly of Number Two to lay

m to do. He ain'

eneral rule, the more uncivilised a man is, till you come right down to the level of the blackfellow,

with Bum had caused him to lose step in the march of conv

I won't live two hours if I don't get it. It's Cooper's fault. When he keeps the meat fresh, it walks away; and when he packs it in salt, and then roasts it in the pan- like th

ly successful attempt at easy good-nature. "An' I'm a

ins from the lid of the tucker-box. "I would n't do it only that I'm fa

son's wagon, and filling the pannikins for my friends, I couldn't possibly avoid

the (sheol) he ain't at Runnymede to-night, doin' the

d Dixon. "Too thick with the (adj.) squatters for my

decent, easy-goin', God-send-Sunday sort o' feller; but I

thinking he knows everything, and other people know nothing. That's the principal point I've

ysark-if it's a fair q

rt of forty-second cousin to Mrs. Montgomery, and housekeeper a

haracteristic pleasantry, which you may not have heard. The story goes that Coleridge once asked Lamb, 'Did you ever hear me preach?' 'Preach!' said

o with Gub'ment lately

he's shadde

osed Bum hastily. "My 'pinion, he's a

pson threw his at the tucker-box, and Cooper was just aiming his,

please,

sympathetically, as the ripple of the water into th

ch worse," mu

e?" chuckled Mosey. "Ho

here colonies for a rubbage-heap," sai

to live, an' that pore (fellow)'s got jist as much right as m

f you gentlemen?" asked Willoughby, without

hile yer hand's

ed on the tuckerbox the empty pannikin which Bum had thanklessly tossed on the ground at his feet. Then he resumed his pl

rope, or making a yoke, or wedging a loose box in a wheel-and he has the best hands in the country. At the same time, it's plain to be seen that he has been brought up in the class

ne through the curriculum of a university, but has graduated, so to speak, in society-such a one has every advantage in any conceivable situation. The records of military enterprise, exploration, pioneering, and so forth, furnish abundant evidence of th

ho Columbus was," retorted Bum. "He discovered Ame

, gentleman or no gentleman, if a feller ain't propped up with cash

man fitted by birth and culture to be a leader of society; one whose rightful place would be at least in the front rank

down to his proper (adj.) level-like the bloke you'll see in

blanket, I'll kick"-(I did n't catch the rest of the sentenc

in ole Vic., anyhow," sneered Mosey

muttered Cooper, faithfully follow

ntlemen-gentlemen, remember- who have exhibited in a marked degree the qualities of the pioneer. Let

, nor yet a stock-keeper, from 'ere to 'ell that could n't 'a' bossed that expegition straight through to the Gulf, an' back agen, an' never turned a hair-with sich a season as Burke had. Don't sicken a man with yer Burke. He bur

Mr. Price connected

ist happened to be there with the (adj.) teams.

s party on their way to Menindie, seemed badly nonplussed. He m

an nothin' to do but wait on him; an'-look here!-a cubbard made to fit one o' the camels, with compartments for his swell

that Burke had a position to uphold in the party; and that, to m

ive past. And, no doubt, the old man was right; for a relic, answering to Mosey's description

l the thousands o' pore beggars that's died o' thirst an' hardship in the back country-all o' them a dash sight better men nor Burke knowed how to be-where's theyre statutes? Don't talk rubbage to me. Why, there was no end to that feller's childishness. Before he leaves Bray at Cooper's Creek, he drors out-what do you think?- well, he drors out a plan o' forti-(adj.)-fications, lik

deprecatingly. "Wants a experienced man fer sich work.

ver hear one good word o'

other explorers. Can't a

worth doing or said a thing worth saying; and that his management of that expedition would have disgraced a new-chum schoolboy; and old Victorian policeme

is an excellent maxim, Thom

he shape o' credit. Toffs is no slouches at barrickin' for theyre own push. An' I

h you could talk to some fellows that I know-Barefooted Bob, for instance. Now, there's a man that was never known to say a thing that he was n't sure of; and he's been all over the country that Burke was over, a

Robinson-whose souls, we trust, are in a less torrid climate than their unburied bones-should, in bare justice, have similar post-obituary recognition. For Burke's sake, of course,

many respects, as exclusive as ourselves. The impassable chasm which separates your illustrious explorer from Brown, J

're puttin' the boot on the wrong foot.'- 'You got the wrong pig by the tail.'-an' so on, as sweet as sugar. But by-'n'-by it's, 'To (sheol) with you for a (adj.)

nd Bat lately?" asked T

lf, but I'd go on one feed every two days before I'd come as low as them. Well, couple or three year ago, you know, ole M'Gregor he sent the (adj.) skunks out with cattle to some

"I don't bear them any malice, though they roun

rabbed us there once, an' it was touch-an'-go an

, and meeting one another in all directions, and not a word spoken, and not a hoof to be seen. At last the fog lifted a bit, and Cunningham spotted cattle in a timbered swamp, but Bat was between him and them; so he circled round gently, and was edging up to get a good start when Bat took the alarm, and saw the cattle; then it was neck-or-nothing with them for possession. Bob and I happened to be in sight and when we saw our mates go off on the jump, we both went for the same spot. Cunningham beat Bat by a few lengths, and got possession; but when I got within a quarter of a mile, I saw there was only part of our lot there. Just then I saw Bob turn h

" observed Coo

on for three years ag

s dirt for the whole t

night. That was on Wo-W

on to Stoddart, and jus

ut to the D

dart, of course?"

thought I mad

, Steve. I

ention i

Thompson got started on his reminiscences, he was apt t

en the liberty of totting up, in my own mind, some of your earnings. Will Thompson permit me to take his case as an illustration? I find, Thompson, that the tariff of your wool is exactly se

s journey," s

, appears to me by no means ruinous. It is not to be mentioned in comparison with other losses

ows were silently and futilely wrestling with the apparent anomaly. A metaphysical quest

gambling debts with the easy, careless grace which makes every P. of W. so popular in English sporting circles-in a word, the smallest of his many sins is parsimony. But the penal suggestiveness of trespass- penalty touches the sullen dignity of his nature; and the vague, but well-grounded fear of a law made and administered solely b

' wool right on ter Deniliquin, f'm Hay, f'r two-five hextry, 'count o' there bein' no river that season. An' that man 'e war shaddered hevery day acrost Wo-Winyar, an' hees bullicks collared hevery night with Bob or Bat; an' them bullicks har

ot a cent for it," remarked Dixon. "Same time, I got nothin' to say agen

y used to rush travellin' stock across M'Gregor's runs. Whenever there was dirty work to be did, them two blokes was on hand to do it. An' I got it on good authority that they chanced three years chokey f

hey secured for M'Gregor, by perjury, and personation, and straightforward dummyism, they would have been little squatters themselves. At the same time

s turned up. Lis'n!-that's the sound I like to hear!" The sound was the deep, heavy sough of a

ing question with you team

inuations, myself,"

r's got as much interest in the grass as a squatter. It's the traveller as don't gi

ff his boots, preparatory to wrapping himself in his blanket. "Time to vong tong cooshey,

s under the rear of their respective wagons. Bum simply lay where he was. I would do my companions what honour I can, but the stern code of the chronicler permits no quibbling with the fact that Mosey and Bum wound up the evening with a series of gestes and apotheg

and, unlapping from his feet the inexpensive substitute for socks known as 'prince-alberts,' he artistically spread the redolent swaths across his boots to receive the needed benefit of the night air; performing all these little o

latter. O, the wearisome nonsense of this kind which is remorselessly thrust upon a docile public! And what an opportunity for some novelist, in his rabid pursuit of originality, to merely reverse the incongruity-picturing a semi-barbarian, lassoed full-grown, and launched into polished society, there to excel the fastidious idlers of drawing-room and tennis-court in their own line! This miracle would be more reasonable than its antithesis. Without doubt, it is easier to acquire gentlemanly deportment than axe-man's muscle; easier to criticise an opera than to identify a beast seen casually twelve months before; easier to dress becomingly th

defining 'pastern' as 'a horse's knee.' And the Doctor was right (in his admission, of course, not in his definition). Ignorance, reader, pure ignorance is what debars you from conversing fluently and intelligibly in several dialects of the Chinese language. Yet a friend of mine, named Yabby Pelham, can do so, though the same person

cally, a man fit for anything- I can only reply, in the words of Portia, that I fear me my lady his mother played false with a smith. But this, again, would be claiming too much for heredity, at the expense of training. Remember, however, that our present subject is not the 'gentleman' of actual life. He is an unknown

ges, any one of whom would take his lordship by the ankles, and wipe the battlefield with his patrician visage; which makes the pale, elegant aristocrat punch Beelzebub out of Big Mick, the hod-man, who, in unpleasant reality, would feel the kick of a horse less than his antagonist would the wind of heaven, visiting his face too roughly; which makes the rosy-cheeked darling of the English rectory show the saddle-hardened specialists of t

le in his pocket, an axe on his shoulder, a leather apron on his abdomen, or any other badge of manual labour about him-his virtues else be they as pure as grace, as infinite as man may undergo-is carefully contradistinguished from the 'gentleman.' The 'gentleman' may be a drunkard, a gambler, a debauchee, a parasite, a he

ountry? In the back country, a penniless and friendless 'gentleman,' if sober and honest and possessed of some little ability, may aspire to the position of a station storekeeper. If destitute of these advantages-and reduced 'gentlemen' are not by any means always sober, honest, and

en's ignorance-their technical ignorance-that is their curse. Education of any kind never was, and never can be, a curse to its possessor; it is a curse only to the person whose interest lies in exploiting its possessor. Erudition, even in the humblest spher

n of this stamp among my ten thousand acquaintances. When the twofold excellence of such ambidexters is not stultified by selfishness, you have in them a realised ideal upon which their Creator might pronounce the judgment that it is very good. Move heaven and earth, then, to multiply that ideal by the number of the population. The t

ntage, and by mere virtue of caste-consciousness, and caste-eminence, an

ards me on his elbow, "but you know, Necessitas non habet leges. I find myself without the requisit

before? I had no idea you were a smoker

y lent me a supply this m

ocket that I was not

take a p

n your pocket. I've

these colonie

wo months in Melbourne,

have been-er-travelling

e colonies p

come, no doubt, the amenities of life will appear-for you have some magnificent private fortunes; but in the meantime one hears of nothing but work-business-and so forth. Cultivated leisure is a thing practically unknown. However, the country is merely

from his resting-place,- a lit

ould increase the letting value of this land more than a hundred-fold. Now, if the State would carry out such a system-by Heaven!

from the Ca

o conception of what England is. Among the upper middle classes-to which I belonged- the money-making proclivity is held in very low

he likes o' us (fellows)?" demanded Mosey impe

rdon me for saying so- you can form no concep

Mick Shanahan, he's one too; an' when anybody calls him a Port Philliper, or a Vic., or a 'Sucker, he comes out straight: 'You're a (adj.) liar,' says he; 'I'm a Cornstalk, born in New South

I replied. "I'm glad

elp thinking you must feel

lace, to a curious combination of circumstances, and in the second place, to some of my own little pranks. I am nephew to Sir Robert Brook, baronet, th

ft

their baronetcy, Heaven knows how! The baronetcy of the Brooks of Brookcotes dates from 1615, at which time my maternal ancestor, Sir Roger Brook, knight, procured his patent by

e Hark," observed Mosey, with a rudeness which

was distinctly stipulated-at the origination of the Order, by James I, that the number of baronets should not exceed two hundr

no remedy for

cotes being on the distaff side. My mother was Sir Robert's only sister. My father was a military man-3rd Buffs-died when I w

ink I

manufacturer's daughter- soap manufacturer-and with

on't s

pon my lady used her influence with the demd old dotard, and I was cut off with a shilling. However, he gave me a saloon passage to Melbourne, with an order on his

ve given you a fair

ne how the mind of a gentleman shrinks from the petty details, the meanness, the vulgarities of trade. You are aware, I presume, that all avenues of ambition e

heard Thompson wh

which is, perhaps, not without interest. I left Melbourne before my pittance was exhausted, and presented my credentials in Sydney. Mr. Wilcox, a relation of my lady's father, and a person of some local importance, treated me at first with consideration-in fact, there was always a knife and fork for me at his table-but I noticed, as time went on, a growing coolness on hi

ded Mosey. "I've of'en h

sheol) is

rincipally, Mos

in his new establishment. We had a few words in consequence; and shortly afterward

go strictly by seniority, but, as my immediate superior, the Assistant-Sub-Inspector, was not eligible for any higher grade- never having passed any examination whatever-and as I could not be advanced over his head, my only chance was to step into his place when he vacated it Now, I kne

ey that I would know by sight. My superior officer lives there.

you say? Yes, by Jove! r

I was introduced to h

met him frequently afterw

on two oc

a very

f Sir Richard Bourke. But I scarcely think Mr. Rudolph Winterbottom holds any Government situation. His private fortune is fully sufficient

id-is he not? Somethin

it. He was away on an excursion to the mo

oper. "Guarantee there'll be none o' this livel

o what Macbeth calls 'sore labour's bath'-the only

below. Nevertheless, it used to be my habit to wake punctually at 2 a.m., for the purpose of remembering whether I had to listen for bells or not, and determining how long I could afford to sleep. So, at that exact hour, I opened my eyes to see the calm, splendid stars above, whilst merciful darkness half

ominous to duffing bullock drivers; so, as I sprang to my feet, you may be sure my companions were not much behind me. Along the track, a m

ody livin' in the hut, aft

e could see, through a gap in the undergrowth of old-man salt-bush, a man chopping wood at the edge of the clump. But he seem

ghed Thompson, gazi

t to catch us.

gled sentiments of the company, as each man dragg

Collins, while we coller as

nd Martin lives in the hut after all. He's between us and the bu

thing. Make use of m

you. Sh

ver. Jist let me del

s all

' heverythink. I kep' misdo

round in a circle. "Out with those bullocks as quick as the devil'll let you! Martin's on top of you! I've j

ed off, followed by Price and Willoughby. Dixon and Bum were not in

ike a good feller,"

heek!" snapped Moriarty

ridle, and went off at

he hurry. Bright cards,

sfy them. You've been

ed here wit

dled horse, that you had just

ddled. There

d see across the old-man salt-bush, which I could not.) "But I say," he continued; "what do you mean by stopping here inste

Martin?

ram-paddock, trying

en't heard that h

me one was being sent t

keep out of sight of

ds. But I say-Mrs. Beaudesart is sorting out her own old we

to be at the ram-paddo

terr

to go to the ram-paddock, and quietly round up all the bullocks, and bring them to the station. No hurry, of course, so I got playing cards with some of the shearers, and Martin got yarning with the old wool-classer; and we timed ourselves to be at the ram-paddock just before daylight. Of course, the right plan would have been to go through the ration-paddock, and in by the Quondong gate; and that was what I wanted to do. Then we could have made a circuit of the ram-paddock, inside the fence, and given it a good rough overhaul. But because I proposed this, Martin insisted on going by the main road, for better riding, and to see if we could find the wagons, as a sort of guide. Sensible to the last. Well, he would have it his own way, and I didn't give a curse, so on we went; and just as we were crossing the sort of hollow at this near corner of the ram-paddock, the God-forsaken old fool thought he heard cattle in the timber. So we tied our horses at the fence, and

he said he had stayed here the night before last,

addock. Seems they got adrift from Bottara, while Alf was unloading, and had gone the thirty miles, right across country, with him after them full chase. Alf was too ill-natured to explain things at the time: and he never mentioned it when he loaded our first wool, a month ago. Montgomery heard the truth of it only the

may be here

nd off; for if Martin catches them, there'll be (sheol) to pay, and no pitch hot; and, by George! there's not half a second to lose. Just look at that fence! Ah! here they come! Good lads! Well, take care of yourself, Tom, and give us a call at the station as soon as you can. I'll keep out of sight till these chaps are started; then I'll have a bit of breakfas

's Martin's horse li

le till it's not worth a cuss. I say-if Martin should find his way here before the fellows get clear, will you just tell him I fancied I saw his horse going for the Connelly paddoc

heard Dixon's voice, in earnest entreaty. Looking

fetch my (adj.) bullock

'ly move th

you beat, if I can help

some tobacker an' matches; an' I come a buster on top o' on

us in Bum's ownership of such a piece of furniture. But being always, I trust, superior to anything like surprise, I saddled and mounted Bunyip, took Cleopatra by the rein, and joined the Ishmaelites, who, on their bare-backed horses, were hurrying contingents of cattle from different directions toward the gap of the fence, whilst the fascination of overhanging danger bore so heavily on their personal and profession

anded Dixon, limping slowly and pa

retorted Mosey, as he p

d expletive) don'

en I rouse roun'? I got the

' over, Rodney, or I'll

vin' nothin' wrong o'

ice among the salt-bush; and, the next moment, half-a-dozen beasts leaped the wires and darted, capering and shying, past the w

and invective from Price and Mos

y're off to (sheol); an' it's three good hours' work with a horse an' stockwhip, to git'em in here agen. An' that k

except when the latter offers him food. But there is always some penalty attached to the possession of anything really valuable. So, though I wasn't interested in the cattle, I was bound to follow them till I recovered my dog.

xclaimed. "I have ridden to hounds in England. May I take this hors

-lep," I remarked casual

hrew himself into the de

t of the saddle, and lit fair across the horse's loins; in the impulse of self-preservation grasping the cantle with both hands. The small thigh-pads afforded a good rough hold, and the next buck jammed the poor fellow well under the seat of the sad

ork, drawing near the spot with a carefully preserved air of indifference and pre-occupatio

ocation, and responded to the very best of his splendid ability. Early in the entertainment, Willoughby's hat was bucked off his head; presently the wellington boot was bucked off one foot, and the blucher off the other, the prince-alberts following in due course. Then the portion of attire known to one

marked listlessly; "thou ha

ut yet," said Thompson,

ughby! stick to

erved Dixon. "Gone

lay, anyhow," said Mose

le ought to steer cle

rise and reprehension; and he uneasily attempted to car

nger at that rate," repeated Thom

grass. "He can hold out till something gives way. That's what he's in the ha

eking to retrieve his dignity by turning his back on the performan

hoss all the (adj.) time,

ous, on'y I did n't

would do it," said Cooper, as the stern captive spum'd his

ggested Dixon. "Nail him now

etter have it out with him while he's warm. Or perhaps one of you

from time to time with grave sympathy at his lat

rse) quick!" r

pproached Cleopatra's head. "By Jacob's staff I swear I have no mi

feet. You could have struck a match on the smoothest part of my earthly tabernacle as I dodged him by about half an inch. Then he went on c

ddle with ostentatious offhandedness, though in a prayerful frame of mind, and presently climbed on as if nothing was the matter. I certainly anticipated Westminster Abbey rather than a peerage; but the horse, with a nonchalance greater than my own,

ming to meet me, limping and crestfallen. He had probably been kicked by one of the absconders; and as he could see no sign of civili

I, as I rounded up the scattering bullock

and make the station a present of Bum's mare besides, if we once get out of sight of this infernal camp-Stand up, Magpie-Just le

. "I seen him there-Back, Snailey, or I'll knock the (adj.) horn off o' you-but I thought it was

rom the lips of the

ed himself by a

im's above gro

'a' knowed him-Wub-back, Major," replied Mo

hy, had known the Scriptures from a child-a long, involved litany of seething malediction, delivered, moreover, with a measured and effortless eloquence and a grammatical exactitu

se ten across, an' they'll (adv.) soon snake him out. G

very extremity of the clump, and not fifty yards from the house, was one of those bottomless quagmires too common in Riverina. It was about twenty yards across; and, in the very centre, Damper's head and the line of his back appeared

he fall. Then a slow, steady strain drove Damper's nose into the ground, and gently shifted him, first forward, then upward, then on to the surface, where he slid smoothly to the so

g glances of frantic apprehension toward the ram-paddock. His anxiety was not unreasonable, for there had just come into sight an upright speck, too small to be a horseman; and it was easy to guess who was the

tiddy, an' keep ye

bang up to him; jam h

There! block him! (Sh

the" &

xon! I mus

yer other (adj.) shoulder. Right. Git well up agen him this time. Lay yer whole (adj.

s, essaying a light touch on the near-sider's shrinking shoulder. The next moment, he was reeling backward, and both

your helpless condition was my incentive to these well-meant efforts on

tin he'll be on top o' me in about two (adj.) twos; an' me left by my own (adj.) self, like a (adj.) natey cat in a (adj.) trap

I pleasantly; "the hor

tra-no, let's see-Ne

e. I took my degree of

f Divinity-before

the unspeakables as D

hby, instantly recovering his temper. "Smoke

as one of the most humane and skilful drivers in Riverina; therefore, abou

along o' me for a change

ether. I'm a quiet, agr

' I would n't wish for bet

u won't be

x feet of handle and twelve feet of lash-he aimed at the team, collectively, a clip which, in the most literal sense, recoiled on himself. And so the officer's s

e trace of the camp, except Bum's mare, standing asleep outside the fence. The ominous speck on the plain had approached much nearer, but had taken definite form as an emu; and now the negative bl

ed, however, in Thompson's case, by salutary remorse, for his companion ha

ver to the off side; bogged, evidently. Dixon's wagon was close in front of us; Willoughby was zea

had n't gone down six inches, but Price had happened on a bad place, and his wagon had found the bottom. All Mo

' ole morepoke he goes crawlin' into the rottenest place he could fine. You shove your team in nex' the polers, an' I'll hook our lot on in f

am through, and were hurrying along. Cooper, growling maledictions on everything connected with Port Phillip-roads in particular- h

ked to me; "another bale

it, with all h

means of extracts from the sermons of Knox's soundest followers, to do something like justice to the contingency. Thompson sighed, glanced tow

"Take the leaders yerself, Thompson. Stiddy now, till I give the word,

gon crept forward. A low grumble, more a growl than a bellow, passed from beast to beast along the team-sure indication that the wagon would n't stop again if it could be taken th

Cooper. "Keep her goin

ine of springing blood, followed each detonation-the libretto being in keeping. A few yards forward still, while both off wheels rose

e-man job, by rights. Will you give us a hand, Collins?" F

inly,

'll git some breakfast ready, while

nfastened the ropes, and brought the wagon down to it

arn, yarn; an' your wagon ain't greazed, an' your tarpolin ain't looked to; an' nothin done but yarn, yarn; an' you floggin' in your own mind at not gittin' ahead o' your work. That's where women's got the purchase on us (fellows). When a lot o' women gits tog

ilworth shed on a Friday; Thompson, untrammelled by such superstition, contended that the misadventure was solely due to travelling on Sunday; whilst I held it to be merely a proof that Cooper, in spite of his sins, wasn't deserted yet. Each of us supported his argument by a wealth of illustrative cases, and thus fortified his own stubborn opinion to his own perfect satisfaction. Then, d

mpathy as he drove past; then far ahead, we saw two wool teams, evidently from Boolka, converging slowly toward the main track; then more wool came in sight from

n' another (fellow) on a brown horse comin' across the plain," he remark

o-night," replied Thomp

s under the what-

Limitations?

drink of tea, and a

s n't fatten, b

ted himself on the ground beside the tucker-box. "Is this Mart

ed; "he's a s

g, Tom, if you can. Don't let him drive us into a lie about last night, for, after all, I'll be h

man on the grey ho

on's invitation, he s

l like you the better, as the sayin' is

(which liberal shepherds give a grosser name), and eating it with relish, while the interior lamina of dough

hing brok

ds passed? I see thei

d man and a young fellow, with wool-grey horse behind one

eplied the stranger.

Martin-six or seve

ind, with another fe

brother, a

anded Martin, his eye resting on the sun-cracked stucco wh

d bridle on?" I asked. "I ran across Moriarty this morning," I continued, turning politely t

red-headed young fellow; tweed pants, strapped with moleskin. I met him at the Nalrooka boundary shortly after sunrise-thirty miles from here, I should say. I was speaking to him. He told me the horse had slung

to be had by a scoundrel than to commit a felony yourself; therefore Martin

d, pitying Martin's dilemma, and admiring his greatne

borrow a pipe of toba

out across the pl

y slowly, so that the stranger might overtake him soon. Come weal, come wo

pull my chaps, and I'm thinking about my horse. I say"- glancing after Martin

ht," replie

ll think you're on for the ration-paddock; then, betwee

ass there," s

dozen young fellows, every one of them with a horse and a dog, kicking up (sheol)'s delight. There has n't been a smell of a sheep within coo-ee of the sw

hompson hesitatingly-"Are y

ft on Satur

tfully, "that Permewan and Wright had three ton of d

replied the Encyclo

, and I've no doubt they

and there's not a blad

ys." And, nodding to us c

go fooling with high explosives,- c

spoon or spoil a horn; and if that infernal thing would only keep off till I got t

be wantin' a way-bill that'll take me safe out o' Port Phillip. Say, Collins; I'll buy t

ut I'll tell you what I'll do: I'll sell you my own sadd

to take a good drink of water, knowing he would need it before the day was over. It was absolutely imperative that I should go thirty miles, and t

y of Riverina as well as if I had laid out the whole territory myself, I was aware of a sandhill composed of material unstable as water; an unfavou