Such Is Life

n's Bend. Warrigal A

Terribl

with buried treasure. Yet it is only the abstract and brief chronicle of a fair average day; a day happy in having no history worth mentioning; merely a drowsy

ng swamps; and long, serpentine reaches of the same, but higher in growth, indicating billabongs of the river. The river itself fringed, and the adjacent low ground dotted, with swamp box, river coolibah, and red-gum-the latter small and stunted in comparison with the giants of its species on

ain, no shimmering distortion of objects in middle-distance, but, to all appearance, a fine sheet of silvery water, two hundred yards distant, about the same in average width, and half-a-mile in length from right to left. Both banks are clearly defined; irregular promontories jut far out int

ul word-painter, in attempting to contrast the appearance of water with that of its fac-simile, would become as confused and hazy as any clergyman taxed to differentiate his creed from that of the mollah running the opposition. And Nature, in taking this mirthless rise out of the spectator, never repeats herself in the particulars

he illusion. Another fact, not so noteworthy in view of the general perversity of inanimate things, is, that you never see a mirage when you are watching for it to decide an argument. It always presents itself when you have no interest in it. In th

e's face, and shivering them off such parts of his own body as possessed the requisite faculty. And in the centre of a clear place, a couple of hundred yards away, you may notice a bullock-wagon, apparently deserted; the heavy wool-tarpaulin, dark

, reclining, pipe in mouth, on a patch of pennyroyal, trying to re-peruse one of Ouida's novels, and thinking (ah! your worship's a wanton) what a sweet,

d-up a little after sunrise, and turned out a little after eleven. Then a dip in the river, to clear away the cobwebs, and a breakfast which, if not high-toned in its accessories, was at l

I remembered the official letter I had received on the previous day. I had merely glanced over it before acting on the orders it contained;

8/11/83<

Col

ve instructions from me which is not practicacable on account of me being in the other Colonys. I write this principaly to aquaint you Communication from Mr Donaldson Mr Strong Mr Je

nnn

lnln

to spend in what civilians call rest, and soldiers, fatigue; whilst studying such problems as might present themselves for solution. Pup was safe by my side, and I had nothing to trouble myself about. A thought of

e hoped that kind hands will soothe his pillow, and so forth; and when, with dirges due, in sad array, they have performed the last melancholy offices, I trust that some one will be found to dr

-a-

oom for a successor. And this successor-thus favoured by a Providence which has kindly supervised the fall of the antecedent sparrow-will be entitled to live in a four-roomed weatherboard ho

a-a-

uarterman is not likely to forget a certain cavalier who called one day about a dog. Doubtless her memory holds him enshrined as a person of scientific attainments and courtly address; offering a contrast, I trust, t

a-a-

ide the rises I would take out of thy artlessness, and the way I would whip thy simplicity with my fine wit till thou wert as crestfallen as a dried pear-I confess a

-a-a-

an the easiest of all roads to travel by thy side. Peerless Jim! crowning triumph of Darwinian Evolution from the inert mineral, through countless hairy and uninviting types! how precious the inex

n-Soul l

rd a

s! poor little Jim! go thy ways, die whe

-a-a-a

aven o'er the infected house. Get thee to a nunnery, Jim. The chalk-mark is on my door; for Mrs. B. has no less than three consecutive husbands in heaven-so p

, come aw

cypress let

fly away

by a fair,

he importance of a departur

a-a-a-

leaves his possessions behind-a fact noticed by many poets-and the man himself is replaced without cost. When a well-salaried official departs-such as a Royal Falconer, or a Master of the Buckhounds, or

-a-a-a-

ities for cohesion to mature into Mammoth-tracks on the sandstone of Progress. All on the debit side of Civilisation's ledger, you observe. Consequently, he doesn't long to leave these fading scenes, that glide so quickly by. And when the poet holds it truth that men may rise on stepping-stones of their dead selves to highe

a-a-a-a-

phrase of sorrow makes the very lignum quiver in s

of the river, about eighty yards away, a man on a

that you? How does your

re you

or Yoongoolee yards, horse an' all; an' from there they'll

hall I f

in't a bad hand at sleepin'-no, I 'm beggared if you

t the bullo

Solli

get them from

beggar. I would n't len' him my knife to cut up a pipe o' tobacker, not if his tongue was stickin' out as long as yer arm. I was n't goin' to demean myself to tell him about his carrion, nyther; on'y I knowed your horses when I seen them; an' by-'n'-by I spotted you where you was layin' do

of a camp-fire. Under the wagon lay a saddle and bridle, and beside them the swollen and distorted body of Alf's black cattle-dog-probably the only thing on earth that had loved the g

scarcely intelligible whisper, from the suf

s, and breathing heavily, his face drawn and haggard with pain. I raised his head, and held the billy to his lips; but, being in too great a hurry, I let his head slip off my hand

he other side, or I'll

e hand under his shoulders, and the other under his ben

o lie on your back fo

heels might slip, and straighten my

y of water, but he turn

a sort of an effort

d away his face. I rose to my feet, and rolled back the tarpaul

can do for you just now,

pauses, "Have you any idea where my bullocks are?-I was trying to keep them here-in this corner of Mondunbarra-and they're reasonably safe unless-unl

ilst on our side, Mondunbarra and Avondale were separated by a boundary fence which ran into the water a few yards beyond where

w, Alf. Mosey Price told me

ed Alf, half-rising and

gled with the furious

vondale, and Tommy h

"Never mind. Let them g

are satisfied,

; and I was just lapsin

lli

s,

into the wagon? I have n't been able to c

a bait somewhere, and came home to die. He '

t love something.' (Ay, and short of being too morally slow to catch grubs, o

lay would make my journey after the bullock

oured whisper, as the water he had drunk took effect on his swollen tongue. "If you would come again in an ho

December

've lost count of the

ould think. My watch is at

think I ought to be dea

you here? I wan

l you through, if I can only hit th

ery day; till at last, one night, I just managed to climb in here, to get away from the mosquitos. I don't know what night it was, or how the time has passed

one of his wristbands, and drew up the sleeve. The long, sinewy arm, now wet and clammy from the effect of the water he ha

nees and ankles; and my head's fit to burst; and I'm one mass of pains all over. It's all

aid I, rising. "Keep your mind as easy as po

athlete; finally, I stuck the spare clothes, with the rest of my riches, among the branches of a coolibah, out of the way of the wild pigs. The next moment, I was in the saddle, and Cleopatra, after perfunctorily illustrating Demosthenes' three rules of

ght to light, a week afterward, per medium of a grappling-hook in the hollow of his eye. Perhaps the best plan of all-though no hero of romance could do such a thing-is to hang on to the horse's tail.

something started at the neck of the undergarment which I cannot bring myself to name, and ripped it to the very tail, nearly dragging me off the saddle. When we reached level ground, the vestment alluded to was hanging, wet and sticky, on my arms, like a child's pinny unfastened behind, or, to use a more elegant simile, like the front half of a herald's tabard. What I should have done

fresh tracks of the bullocks, mile after mile. At last I heard across the lignum the jangle of a brass bell, a

zeppa aspect seemed neither to surprise nor disconcert him. He was n't altogether a stranger to me. For several years I had known him by sight as a soli

le; and, even in the excitement of the time, I awaited the result with scientific interest. When a collision of this kind takes place, it sometimes happens that the Irresistible bounces off in a more or less d

in a tone which, I am sorry to say, reflected as l

ied indifferently, and wi

purchased land?" I as

," he remarked, rather than replied,

ay this is?" I inqu

" he repl

emoving of working-bullocks from pastoral leasehold, on Sundays, a misdemeanour, punish

!" he r

order, I hurried u

e bullocks belong to?

lips of the descendant of Hengist as, contemplating

hat's f'r w'y Oi b

-up; not able to

ard 'at ya

em back, and leave them at

wenty bob horf o' you afoor

pecies of vulgarity unbecoming an officer and gentleman. "I don't mind paying you the money, provided it c

g his hippopotamus, and looking me frankly in the face, wh

vely; and we rode together f

d in impenetrable ignorance. A compound idea, by the way: namely, that Alf's bullocks were going to the station yards, an

ter walk on hutheh foa

speration, at the heel by which mother Nature had held him during his baptism

he good arrow-point penetrated his ep

ou care for orders! A man in your po

int was forcing its way through th

corn. "Strikes me, you can do prett

sked in wavering expostulation-the poi

s, and still regarding him out of the comer of my eye. "I believe you

son filtered through his system. "Zpeak 'e moind feear atwixt man a

this was n't too strong). "I wish you were, both for my sake and your own. However, that can't be helped. Now, for the future, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you had your own way, and that you walked a man's bullocks off to the yard while he was helpless. Yes,

norted. "Oi calls

h his doubled cart-whip, and turned off the track at a right-angle, beckoning me to follow. When he had gone twenty yards, he pulled steadily on one

'em weare 'e got 'em, an' leab'm boide. Iggerant (pe

rtly erect, and with something like a smile on his expectant face. On hearing the order, he made a wide circuit round the cattle, and quietly turned them back along the track, wh

as a singularly eligible guardian for Alf's bullocks; and I knew that if I could once get him to accept the trust, nothing short of dynamite would shift him. But the seduction of a direct-action, single-cylinder purpose is a contract not to be t

respected all over the world. All over the world, sir; for, you know, the sun follows the English drum-beat right round the earth. Now, I can't flatter you;

at 's horrite. What d'y' think

f the speech, and arrogance in the last.

f any dog I've seen work

t beat the Sc

oan' 'e know a Smiffiel'

alls

lie has been in good hands for hundreds of years; and when you get the pure breed-Jus

naturedly. "Oi g'e 'e f

t him

y ag

im a p

y ag

nd h

ckly. Tro

ery common one, too, and good enough till the proper person comes interfering. Boys' dogs are genera

omed deaoun t

terance; but first, with a powerful facial exertion, he wrenched his mouth and nose to one side, inhaling vigorously through the lee nostril, then cleared his throat with the sound of a strongly-driven wood-rasp catching on an old nail, and sent the result whirling from his mouth at a butterfly on a stem of lignum-sent

mn afoor las'-leas'ways, 'e got 'ees 'oine leg deaoun a crack, an' cou'n't recoverate, loike; f'r 'e (beast) wur moo'n twenty y'r ole, 'n' stun blin', 'e wur. Ahterwahs, by gully! Oi got pepper-follerin' ahteh me

d n't you h

foor good heaours, 'n' me ahteh 'em all 'e toime. Noo 'osses 'ud dure sich gallerpin' in 'obbles. Doan' 'e preach 'obbles ter me, lad. Oi got good 'osses; noo man betteh; 'osses fit f'r a gentleman; on'y C'lonian 'osses 'es C'lonian fau'ts-ahd ter ketch-'ell ter ketch. F

to conceal my emotio

bbath, 'n' nubbody abeout f'r moiles; 'n' horf goos 'em 'osses loike billy-o; horf 'ey goos 'arf-ways reaoun' 'he paddick, 'n' inter 'e stockyaad 'n

You did n't put

m hahteh my 'osses, a-yaadin' of 'em f'r me. My Missus, she 'lows a h

der will not fail to notice, marked a slight deflecti

s 'Cyows, Jack; we's y' cyows?' An' horf goos Jack, 'ees hown self, 'n' fetches 'e cyows. Hahteh breakfas' hit 's ''Osses, Jack; f

, desiring to minister occasion to this somewhat clumsy practitioner, I conti

'r tiew year pas'; 'n' 'e (reptile)

e riding," I remar

ing some half-dozen noteworthy reminiscences, as they occurred to my imagination, and always slightly or scornfully referring to the magnanimous and indomitable hero of my yarn as 'one of these open-hearted English fools,' or as 'an ass of a John Bull that had n't sense en

ood solidly in the way, rendering prevarication or quibble, or any form of subterfuge unnecessary on his part. He merely formed himself into a hollow square and casually glanced at the impossibility of those particular bullocks loafing on his paddock. If they came across the river again, he would hunt them back into Mondunbarra-he would d

e at the house, but could n't hit it with the missus. Muster M'Intyre wanted to see him settled down, and had fetched the parson a-purpose to do the job. He had only one of a family; a little boy, called Roderick, in honour of Muster M'Intyre. His own name (true to the 9th rule of the Higher Nomenology) was Edward Stanley Vivian

he had any medicine at home-Pain-killer, by preference. I hav

of society which Daniel O'Connell was accustomed to refer to as 'that highly important and respectable class, the men of no property'-true makers of history, if the fools onl

road. I jist bin slingin' up every insect-infected sanguinary thing I've et for the last month; an' I 'm as wea

be himself as sanguinary bad. That was all that was wrong with him. Nevertheless, having a little theory of my own respecting sickness, I always undertook to grapple with the complaint. I had noticed as a singular feature in Pain-killer, that the more it is diluted, the more unspeakably nauseous and suffocating it becomes; wherefore, my medicine chest consisted merely of a couple of bottles of this rousing drug. My practice was

rted at a canter, and, after riding a couple of miles, pulled up at a comfortable two-roomed cottage, half-concealed by the drooping, silvery foliage of a clump of myall. Sollicker turned his m

om zorter vizik f'r a zick man," rema

the sayin' is. I shoved the kettle on when I seen you comin'." She opened a box, and produced a small, octagonal blue bottle, which she held up to the light. "Chlorodyne," she explained; "an there's some left, better luck. Good thing to

ellow, ma'am," I rema

s on last Friday week," she repli

lantly. "What is his

sunny laugh. "Think I was tryin' to git th

inch of Helenar's tongue shot momentarily into view as she t

a person takes a thing. But it's better to be that way nor the other way; an' he ain't a

ut I tell you we're going to have a race of people in these provinces such as the world has never seen before." And, as I looked at the child, I d

'lonians bea n't got noo chest, n' mo'n a greyhound." And he placed his hand on his own abdomen to emphasise his teaching. "

ke, or Trollope, or Froude, or Francis Adams-and that is exactly none. Deductive reasoning of this kind is seldom safe. Who, for instance, could have deduced, from certain subtly interlaced conditions of food, atmosphere, association, and what not, the development of those silky honours which grace the upper lip of the Australienne? No doubt there are certain occult laws which govern these things; but we have n't even mastered the laws themselves,

heed to her advice, for I knew he would soon come round; and in the meantime, my mind was fully occupied with his team. After d

on the fence, Mr. Vivi

rri

aid the excellent woman, accompanying me to my

n head be it. So I took off the

ntegument on my near flank, as I hastily placed my bare foot in the stirrup, "ain't worth a tinker's dam for standin' the sun." (For the information of people whose education may unhappily have been neglected, it will be right to mention that

amp, and resumed my clothes. The bullock-bells were ringing among th

rm of the wagon. "I've secured a drop of one of our most valuable antiphlogistics, which is precise

Alf gently: "I'll nev

e any medicine. I've

ain, please, and give m

tell you s

half a pannikin-full of the oxide of hydrogen, and stirred the potion thoroughly with a stick. Then returning to my patient, I raised his head, and held the pannikin to

ged. I hear your voice through a ringing of bells, and a sound like a distant waterfall. I'm just on the border-land, Coll

think. I put your bullocks

o you; but what an age it seems to me! It was no dream, Collins; I saw everything as I see now, but I heard her glorious voice as I used to hear it in our happy days; and I felt that her spirit was bringing forgiveness at last. I'm not a religious man, Collins; I don't know what will become of me after death; but God does, and that's sufficient for me. I never believ

rs of feebleness had accumulated in the hollows of his sunken eyes, and, not having

hs afterward, he came home unexpectedly at about two o'clock one morning, and found his place occupied by an intimate friend of his own-a young barrister, who was staying at the station as a guest. He managed to conceal his discovery; and, within the next few days, he got his friend to draw out a new will, by which he

Alf," I suggested. "There's a

ten o'clock at night; and he had a horse run-in at once, and started off for the station through a raging thunderstorm, arriving next day only in time

t the husband, saw how things stood. Presently the husband began to circulate the report that he was going to New Zealand. In the meantime, he sent the two children to a boarding-school in Wagga. He was in no hurry. Afterw

But suppose I boi

e the sheep delivered. Curious coincidence: he met on the new station his old acquaintance, the tank-sinker, with his two children and a second wife. The tank-s

know the man you

he centre of one of the paddocks-in the loneliest, barrenest hole of a place in New South Wales-he found where a big fire had been made, and some bones burnt into white cinders and smashed small with a stick. He kicked the ashes over, and found the steel part of a woman's stays, and th

osition at that. But why should you

en they compared notes. The things were found three or four miles off a bit of a track that led to Wagga; and there w

lf. I'll make you a

ellow was a drunkard, occasional, but incorrigible. Misfortune had driven him to it. His wife was dead; his children had died in infancy; and at forty-five he was a hope

; "but I understood you to say that your father

e off his hands-for though I have two sisters, I was his only son. His great ambition was to bequeath some chemical discovery to future generations. But I demolished his castles in the air along with my own. It'

r?" I suggested

s before I left home," replied Alf,

measure, and unjust beyond comment; but, sad to say, it is true; and the platitudinous tract-liar, for the sake of verisimilitude, as well as of novelty, should make a memo. of it. Amongst all the hard-cases of my acquaintance, I can only think of one whose mother's unseen presence is a power

e, sitting on the edge of the shaft, ready to put his foot in the rope, suddenly overbalanced, and went down head-foremost. Of course, Cross was close beside him at the time, and no one else was in sight. Cross gave the alarm, and, in the meantime, went hand-under-hand down the rope, intending, like Bruce, to 'mak sicker'; for the shaft was only about forty feet deep. But it happened that the man's neck was broken in the fall. Cross forgave his wife, and never breathed a word of his discovery or his vengeance; bu

ing of your mind is about as good for you just

N

ke my advice, and give yoursel

ns, as well authentica

oung fellow of between

such questions in a scientific spirit, you'll find them-or unfortunately, you won't find them-envelop your reasoning faculties in a most unwholesome atmosphere. The perpetual brooding over any one evil, however fatal that evil may be, naturally side-blinds the mind into a narrow fanaticism which is apt to condone ten times as much wrong a

she was n't a woman to inspire love, though she was certainly good-looking. At her very best, there was nothing in her; at her worst, she was ignorant, and vain, and utterly unprincipled-no, not exactly unprincipled, but non-principled. She was essentially low-if you understand my mea

egan to suspect a temporary delirium. The presentiment of impending death was unreasonable, though not ominous; so also with the de

Try if you can settle yourself to sleep. I'm sure I'll have great pleasur

the blame on his paramour. And the amusing feature of the case was, that she, finding herself fairly run to earth, thought she had nothing to do but to turn from the evil of her ways, and take her husband's part against the other fellow. But no, no. Our hero, after thinking the matter over, took her into his confidence, without giving her any voice in the new arrangement. He sold-out to the best advantage, and divided the proceeds with her; reserving to himself enough to start him in a line of life that he could fol

rt was turned to stone. Still, through mere bitterness and obstinacy he followed the course he had adopted; meeting with a run of success that surprised himself. The very curse that was on him seemed to protect him from the mishaps that befell other men in h

inking how to fix things fo

acted right?-or did any of them? You know, there are two other courses open: to appeal to the law, or to pass the matter

the subject some thought, as I intend, if I can find time, to write a few words on the varied mani

ad bits

nity from retribution, Posthumus is afterward represented as disarming and sparing him in battle-a concession he would n't have made to an ordinary enemy. He looks to Imogen alone. Nothing but the sacrifice of her life will satisfy him. On the eve of the same battle, we find him, though seeking

ed Alf. "I was asking your opinion as to which

usbands so identical, we find them acting in directly opposite ways. Troilus entertains no thought of revenge upon his faithless wife; he gives his whole attention to the co-respondent. Now let u

question," moaned Alf. "Whi

e to lay down any hard-and-fast rule of conduct here, on account of necessary diversity in conditions. He would, perhaps, argue that, though abstract Right is absolute and unchangeable, the alternative Wrong, though never shading down into Right, varies immeasurably in degree of turpitude; so that the action which is intrinsicall

ted Alf, rolling his h

my que

urth, the saw-mill man. I don't see what better he could have done. It was n't the most romant

viction is that he acted

o a different, and much wider, region of philosophy. But I think we'll find it interesting to trace, step by step, from its genesis to its culmination, the involuntary process of thought which led each of your Potiphars, separately

and constraint which made it painful to listen to him. "Like poor Cross, I feel impelled to place my tragedy

Circe, whose glorious voice had been silent in death for ten years, and lost to him for three years longer. Hence, by some sequence worth tracing, the voluntary exile, the Ishmaelite occupation; the morbid, malevolent interest in the Messalin

was guilty of one deliberately fiendish and heartless action, and following upon that action, I made a mistake that nothing but d

astily. "I must leave

anything b

ank you. Don

won't. Try if you

e, just as surely as words could have done, that the bullocks were mustered, and travelling away. My horses were not far off; and, to sav

y girl!-my poor lo

p. Body o' me! I thought-can a tawny-haired tigress be

lignum, I got a back elevation of the bullocks, half-a-mile out on the plain; and, rapidly overhauling them, I perceived that I should have to pit my

I'll run over you!" I shouted gaily, as I

lo!" remonstrated the unbeliever, dra

bullock. Me fetch-um you ole-man lick under butt of um lug; me gib-it you big one dressum down. Compranny pah, John?" The Chinaman had turn

asked, thanklessly quoting from the familiar

" responded the heat

an, who are scrupulously honest," I observed pleasant

"Me collal him bullock two-tlee time to-mo

spread-eagle; cut-um off you eye-lid; likee do long-a China; bimeby sun jump up, roast-um you eye two-tlee day; bull-dog ant comballee,

bimeby; all li." With this the discomfited Mongol turned his horse in the direction of Mondunbarra homestead, and, like a driver startin

erson-their owner would, there and then, and as often as this occurred, be liable for trespass; twenty times a day, if you like, and a shilling per head each time. If I wished to remove them across a five or ten-mile paddock, the only way I could legally do so would be by means of a balloon. The thousands of homeles

were out of reach; and besides, there was

had selected within sight of his wool-shed. Yoongoolee was avoided by all the floating population of the country, and particularly by those who could n't afford to be independent, forasmuch as there was not

fine about the station, had, a couple of years previously, taken Alf in the very act of running one of his own bullocks out of the station cattle. An altercation had ensued, followed by a summons; and Alf had been mulcted in five shillings trespass, with six guineas costs, besides having to travel seventy or eighty miles to Cour

on by his inexorable partner, M'Gregor; contemned by his social equals; hated by his inferiors, and popularly known as the Marquis of Canton. His only friend was his brother Be

, I knew his unhappy moral organisation well enough to be certain that neither policy nor magnanimity could intervene on behalf of a prostrate enemy. And t

o 'Our Pastoral Interests,' never failed to remark that no working beast had ever been impounded from Avondale. This, of course, conveyed the impression that it was a run flowing with grass and water for distressed teams; but the unhappy manager, watched and reported always by at least one narangy, and ground, as you see, between the upper mill-stone of Royce the munificent and the nether and much harde

erly benevolence, and were never discharged. They gradually got useless by reason of mere antiquity, a

and the installation of a new manager, a few weeks before the date of these incidents. But the appointment of a strange boundary rider to the paddock ad

g or lending. Mr. Ffrench could afford to be independent of such men as Alf, but couldn't afford to establish a precedent for invalided carriers loafing on the run. Of course, you would n't look at the thing in that light; but then, your name is not Wentworth St. Jo

deep dive into the mysteries of Nomenology to augur ill from the nickname of 'Terrible Tommy.' The title was,

melt the musing Briton's eyes; and though I had, in a sense, prevailed over the Mongol, I could make no

g accomplice; and, by my faith, I'll do so before I leave

ve with mosquitos; then on through scattered timber until, a mile from the fence, appeared the one-roomed abode of the man I wanted. I knew where to find the place, having stayed there one night when Bendigo Bill was in charge of the paddock. But now, nearing the house, how I w

th an urbanity born of the

lazy loun, flichterin' roun' wi' yir 'Gude evenin' sir!' an' a' sic' clishmaclaver. Awa' wi ye! dinna come fleechin' tae me! The kintra's I-sy wi' sic' haverils,

wha' the de'il fashes ye the noo? Ye ken, A was compit doon ayont the boondary, an' A thocht A wad dauner owre an' hae a wee bit crack wi' ye the nicht. A wantit tae ken wha' like mon yir new maunager micht be, an' tae spe

. "Ye ken, A'm sae owrecam wi' thir awfu' mustikies that whiles A canna-Bit cam awa' tae the biggi

apologetic and cordial monologue; and so we reached the hut, where, after directing me to

he fire, and surveying me with a kindly interest which made

though interrupted by a fit of c

'Callums o' Auchtermaucht

t them

n' wha' dae they ca

rt o' the kintra was ye born in syne?" A boggy-looking place for

be acquent wi'

lads on Y

hrough the bl

n, the time's gane lang wi' me sin' A rin aboo

sigh. "D'ye ken-A wadna' thocht ye was a Selkirksheer mon.

rae yirsel'?" I inte

ured out a handful of tea. He stood gazing into the fire till recalled to himself by the boiling of the billy; then a triumphant smile invaded his stern feat

ur, ma g

hoose an

ye ma b

o' Ecc

henna' thocht aboot yon a towmond syne," he continued, wiping the dew of merriment from his eyes; "bit ye hae brocht it bock the nicht. The lad o' Ecclefechan! ha-ha-ha! Ay, mun; A'm frae Ecclefechan, an' ma feyther afore m

Alloway Kirk?"

ied magnificently. "A

loupit, an' Auld Nick himsel' screwt his pipes an' gart them skirl, till roof an' rafters a' did dirl! ye hae keekit intil yon e

uke, but the forced and deprecating smile which struggled

y requested me to ask a blessing, and sat with his elbow on the table and his face reverently veiled by his hand, whilst I wove a protracted and incoherent grace from the Lowland vocabulary, I seemed to sink to the level of a prince's equerry. In fact, I would almost as soon make one of a crowd to hurrah for a Governor as go through

r months in his present situation, and only nine in the country altogether. He had got employment on Avondale by a lucky chance; and, th

nce admitted into Avondale fellowship, the communicant might turn out a white sheep or a black one; but he was still a sheep, whilst all outside the fold, white or black, as the case might be, were goats. This may be illustrated by the incident which

tune on the diggings. His resignation was in due course forwarded to Captain Royce; whereupon that potentate sent him a peremptory order to mind his paddock, and not make an infernal exhibition of himself. The demon quaked and collapsed for the time, and Bill, in his proper person, acquiesced with the humility customarily manifested by Avondale people when Captain Ro

t, damper-shaped nugget that he could hardly lift. The third night found the ground richer than ever; but Bill, knowing it to be a dream, and having no way of permanently retaining the gold he might get under such conditions, very wisely contented himself with taking accurate observations of his landmarks, so that he might know the place again when he saw it by daylight. Whilst so engaged, his attention was attracted by two emus, which resolved themselves, respectively, into Captain Royce and Mick Magee-the latter being an old

low ranges broken here and there by the outcrop of a hungry white quartz. His dream intuitively conveyed the further knowledge that the surrounding country had been prospected for a f

n years. Therefore, Bill's notice was passed over with the contempt it merited. But something must be done; so a six months' leave of absence was granted; and the manager was instructed to employ, for that time only, the first likely-looking stranger who presented himself-the latter being clearly given to understand that he was only in the loosest sense of the word an Avondale employe. If Bill returned on the expiration of his fur

on the Yanko. The manager, being named Angus Cochrane, plumped Tom into the vacancy, and supplied him with a couple of old station horses. Bill remained a few days longer, teaching Tom the routine of his work; then the manager slacked-off, and Bill h

Chow had passed them on to him to save trouble, so he immediately passed them back to the Chow. Next evening, his neighbour had re-delivered them to Avondale f.o.b., and in the morning, Tom returned them to Mondunbarra c.o.d. Next night, the untir

the energy of his race. His title, after all, was no more quizzical in its application than that of Ivan the Terrible; and to understand how nasty a statio

the very spirit of Leviticus breathed in his tone as he informed me that gin he had umquhile kent the nowte belangit tae yon ill-hairtet r

I informed Tom that there was a trifle between Alf and me; and he was sick, just when I wanted to keep him on his feet for a while. Would Tom (and my patois became so hideously homely that, f

d me from the state of grace enjoyed by Lazarus; remarking, half-sullenly, that he could n't be expected to take all this trouble for nothing; and though I was a poor man like himself, it would pay me to get Alf at work again.

piled in the nethermost pit-a code which, under the heading of Thrift, frankly teaches the poor to grind each other without scruple, whilst religiously avoiding all inquiry into the claims of the rich-a code, in fact, which makes the greasing of the fat pig a work holy unto the Lord. The keen selfishness of my proposal touched a kindred chord in poor Tom's bosom; the mettlesome casting of my sprat upon

afterward drew the intolerable conference gently to a close. Upon the whole, I had impressed my host as a shrewd, well-informed person, too much taken-up with the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches to dwell upon personal memories of the auld k

n grant that that parting may be a Kathleen Mavourneen one; and l

ed by one touch of the switch two hours before, I made my way through the lignum to Alf's camp; guided partly by the instinct which we share unequally with the lower creation, and p

med to have relaxed a little. The backs of his hands were pretty bad with the external scurvy known as 'Barcoo rot'-produced by unsuitable food and extreme hardship-but that had nothing to do with the complaint which had so strangely overtaken him. His breathing was gentle and regular, though his face

s of Australian deterioration. His grandfather had probably been something like Sollicker; and the apprehensions of that discomfortable cousin were being fulfilled only too ruthlessly. The climate had played Old Gooseberry with the fine primordial

ose men who cannot learn to think systematically, but who make up their deficiency by feeling the more intensely. And now that the unseen Guide had given His beloved sleep

with a pulsating soft place on the top of the bald head which wobbled on his insufficient neck like a rain-laden rose on a weak stalk. Little dreamed that mother, poor mortal! when with tireless iteration she ticked off his extremities;-'This pig went to market; this pig stayed at home'-little did she dream, when she wiped the perpetual dribble from his

k; but the game was never yet worth a rap, for a rational man to play. This in clear view of the fact that most people lose more by their friends than by their enemies. But there are few sins more odious than ill-nature; and there's nothing blessed about the persecution you undergo on that account. Your position is not heroic; at best, it is only pitiable; at worst, it is detestable. Athanasius contra mundum is grand

p, head to flank, while others lay chewing meditatively, reviewing the events of the day, and wondering what the morrow might bring forth. Amidst the reposing group stood the hardy bay horse, the world forgetting

boundary fence, carefully replacing the brush I had removed for their passage. From there I struck across to the sound of Cleopatra's bell, and brought my two most useful friends to where the most valuable was still chained-up. In ten minutes, I had packed my s

of nothing else. Philosopher-seer, I might say-as it has pleased heaven to fashion me, I confess I could arrive at no definite forecast of the or

g at a walk, brought my field-glass into use. Only an iron-grey man, in a pith hat, driving a pair of chestnuts in a buggy. No business of mine, I thought, in my human short-sightedness; and I was lowering the glass, when the figure of another traveller crossed its field. This last was a person bearing a startling resemblance to Mungo Park, inasmuch as he was evidently a poor white man, with no mother to bring him milk, no wife to grind his corn. The solitude of the place made the contrast between the two travellers impressive. I replaced the glass, thinking, with sorrow rather than conceit, that I co

on the foot-board and himself on the seat. Then the chestnuts tossed their heads, and the buggy resumed its way, surging across the crab-holes like a canoe on rough water. My soul went forth in a paean of joy, for, exactly as the perfect circle of a fly

and parsimonious-is another; patriarchal Royce is another; Montgomery-kind, yet haughty and imperious-is another; Stewart is another. My diary might, just as likely as not, have compelled me to introduce, instead of these, a few of the remaining nine-hundred and ninety-five types-any type conceivable, in fact, except the slender-witted, virgin-souled, overgrown schoolboys who fill Henry Kingsley's exceedingly trashy and misleading novel with their ins

socratic principle. When a member of the classes takes to his bosom that unclean thing, in its naked reality, he thereby forfeits the title of 'gentleman,' and becomes a mere man. For there is no such thing as a democratic gentleman; the adjective and noun are hyphenated by a drawn sword. If the said unclean thing eats into its victim to the same extent that the wolf did into Baron Munchausen's sleigh-horse, the metamorphosed subject comes perilously near being what the Orientals call a dog of a Christia

his spontaneous impulse; and now, though according to the shapen-in-iniquity theory, he must have had faults, no one in Riverina, below the degree of squatter, had proved sharp enough to detect them. I

at was happening in some other quarter of the globe, how the wool-market was going to move; partly to his being connected with a thing that paid; partly to his knowing when he was well off, and leaving the reflected meat to the inverted dog in the water; partly to a stubb

nd extravagance put together, and be better off all the while. An illustration may not be amiss here. I'll tell you what I saw in the Miamia Pad

ne part of the route, some frivolous person had stooked the dried mummies (they were lying so thick) in order that drovers and boundary men might have the pleasure of cantering on ahead to run the little mobs out of the way. And as human nature, thus sold, never grudges to others participation in the sell, the stooks improved in size and life-likeness for weeks and months. I remember noticing once, in passing along the fifty-mile stretch of that route which bisects the One T

. Stewart was n't the man to order them off, while ordering would have been of any use; and in affairs of this nature, the squatter who hesitates is lost. The time comes when

ints of the compass; some with sunburnt wives, and graduated sets of supple-jointed keen-sighted children-the latter, I grieve

august slang of the back country scented the air like myall; whilst the aggregate repertory of bona fide anecdote and reminiscence was something worth while. No young fellow in that great rendezvous dared to embellish his narrative in the slightest degree, on pa

This good man-he probably never had a sovereign which he regarded as his own; and, rest his soul! he needs no money now- this good man afterward told me, with tear

as the paddock consisted chiefly of purchased land, he felt that the conventionalities were,

king yokes, platting whips, fishing, pig-hunting, reading Ouida, yarning round fires, or trying to invent some new form of gambling; but he only saw their backs, and they did n't see him at all. He took a tour round the paddock, and found a racecourse duly laid out in a suitable place, with

to the quietest places they could find, and were there making the best of a bad job. Stewart lost his temper, for once;

tion hands; mustered the Mia-mia Paddock; distributed the sheep elsewhere over the ru

shift. Lots of perishing teams not able to get down out of the back country till now, and all making for this paddock. Must leave a bit of gr

tation paddocks, with the county map for reference, these people saw where the most eligible allotments were, and presen

Stewart pounce on the incident of the mammoth surprise-party as a clinching argument against land-monopoly, did that austere janitor hang his keys on his thumb, to hunt-up, far back in his book, the page reserved in case of rich men. And still the metaphor of the camel and the needle's eye stands unimpaired. The difficu

rning, C

Stewart. An early s

long stage before me to-day.

nner-time, or so. Tell you how it came. I was lying in the shade of a tree, having a smoke, and thinking about one thing

e, took thence three cigars, handed one to me and another to Mungo

tump of his cigar, and gathering his reins. "What'

orer. "I worked on Kooltopa, many years

for you, at all events. Collins, I give you credit. You should

s were only respited, and briefly at that. So, as I was telling you, I left them against the boundary fence, and walked across to interview this Terrible To

wly climbing the coppery sky, sighed again,

llins," he remarked gravely, throwing away his second

palliate it on the plea of necessity. And, if Adam fell in the days o

ggy; and I think we can do one of them now, early as it is. When shall we three meet again? Eh? How is that for aptness? A Roland for your (adj.) Oliver.-I look at the thing in this way, Collins-But you mustn't take anything on an empty stomach. I have some sandw

-not in the way of penitence, certainly, but that I should be unfortunate enough to have incurred your displeasure. I wish you could

sh, Collins, and to (sh

put myself in your plac

seem to be alive to the

ner, I suppose?" And he

ou've got, poor fellow. S

, sir. I was a lad of ni

been a s

art of Havelock's column of relief." The placid, unassertiv

"Your cosmopolitanism is a d--d big mistake. Every man has a nationality, remember; and though you'

t!" murmured Stirling of Ours,

y you have been fleering at. Of course, I don't dwell on the subject because I happen to be a Scotsman m

ynic complaint, I fancy; at all events,

a d--n bad lot-a d--nation bad lot. Bitter, vindictive sort of man. You're familiar, lik

ou, Mr.

ou, Mr.

onsul. They could n't stand his d--d pride. He took up his abode in a cave, and, for the rest of his l

head upon the

ed those lines to memory

could rec

the passage, Mr. Stewa

hed corse, of wre

plague consume you

who, alive, all l

fill, but pass, and s

in the fascination of profitless gossip. "Now there y

haps a sullen despair-in fact, the variety of possible results corresponds exactly with the variety of possible circumstances and temperaments. In the case of the Greek misanthrope, the factor of temperament is first carefully stated; then the factor of circumstances is brought into operation; then

ably," muttere

erms; and from these it won't be difficult, I think, to calculate the term which should antecede them, namely, temperament. Morris is a widower. His wife w

children?" a

n. Anyway, she died some ten years ago; but at the time of

g long together; or else he mar

econdary to this, is a misunderstanding with his father, which caused Alf to clear off, leaving the old man to mind everything himself. Of course, I'm onl

much!" mutte

h is already before us. Now, I think that that temperament, though, perhaps, tending to the volcanic, must have been a sensitive a

likened unto a foolish man that built his house upon the sand.' You know the rest. If we take upon us to judge Morris at all, we must judge him as he is. Your judgment is generous, but nonsensical; mine is rational, but churlish-d---d churlish." He paused, in evident discomfort, flicked a roley-poley with his whip, and con

or it was evident that my unfortunate protégé had already

of goods, are cares that, as a rule, fall to the lot of the forwarding firms; and these resemble George IV., in having no predilections (though, let us hope, the similarity ceases here). Hence, the jolly good soul of a carrier, with lots of spring in him-the man who seldom buys any groceries, whose brea

st prospect England ever saw is the road that leads from Scotland." He checked himself, and continued in a gentler tone. "That just reminds me of a very able article I read some time ago-I think it was in Blackwood's. The writer proves that your Shakespear must have imbibed his genius, to a great extent, in Sc

f as a buffoon, I continued, "My own conjecture is that something must have occurred to irritate t

e, Collins. The writer I'm speaking of sees a landscape photographed in those two words. Pardon me for saying that your talent seems to run more in the line of low-com

have fallen in your estimation. But you were speaking of

ow how he came to leave the Bland c

luctantly; "rates are a l

he shot anyone? A bounda

tewart, is that he spoke of a certain boun

o you

the report; and in the second place, when a person shoots a boundary man

on, his heels on top of the splash-board, and his arms behind the back of the seat, whilst Bob held the reins. "It was on Mirrabooka. O'Grady B

ith people named O

seen taking down a fence and camping at a new tank, a couple of miles from the homestead; and at nine or ten o'clock that night he rode up to the station, and asked to see Mr. Prescott. When Prescott appeared, Morris drew him aside and told him, as cool as a d---d cucumber, that he wanted to make a deposition before him, as a magistrate, to the effect that he had just shot a man for attempting to remove his bullocks. Prescott refused to take the deposition just then; but he had a pair of horses put in a wagonette, and took the storekeeper with him, to accompany Morris to where the thing had happened. When they got there, d-n the sign of a body could they find; but Morris showed them the spot, and strictly charged them to note it well. Then he refused to have anything more to do with the d-d business, and went after his bells, while Prescott and the other fellow return

tch somewhere

u're at fau

fault-f

n remained in their power, was to transfer the tank to the Department, on condition that a section of land should be reserved round it. The Department accepted it on these terms, and struck the section off the Mirrabooka assessment; but Prescott got wind of the thing before it was gazetted, and was moving heaven and earth to secure the reserve, just at the time Morris camped there. How Morris came by this information beats the devil; but, of course, all he had to say to Prescott was, 'I caught some d--d scoundrel stealing my bullocks by night off the Government reserve close by here. I tried without effect to get them from him peaceably; and I was compelled t

of person that my own refractory nature clings to with the fellow-feeling which makes us wondrous kind. Therefore I'll go away sorrowful-not because

ssed the frank face of the fine old believe

g a normal position on the seat, and taking the reins from his companion's hand. "We

get your kindne

ee immediately why Bob was placed in my way. It's the legislation of an unsleeping Providence, Collins-nothing short of it. We meet with these Divine adjustments of circumstances every day of our lives, if we only choose to recognise them. Thinkin

ely

eensland. They'll tell you ab

e, Mr. S