The Gold-Stealers A Story of Waddy

, now in unpicturesque ruins and hanging limply to the school front like an excrescence. Here Richard Haddon and Edward McKnight were standing in at

d them most nearly: how to take cuts from a cane so as to receive the l

ceiving condign punishment, 'holdin' yer hand like this, you know, keepin' yer eye on Jo; an' jes'

othin' at all,' added

n cheerful c

ok in his eyes, nodded his head hopefully,

nflict. Dick was rather superior to little girls; his tender sentiment was usually lavished on ladies ten or twelve years his senior; but he could not hide from himself the fact that Kitty Grey's affection, however hopeless it might be, was at times most gratifying. Once he had resented its manifestations with bitterness, imagining that they were likely to bring him into contempt and undermine his authority; and when she interfered in his memorable fight with Bill Cole and fiercely attacked his opponent with a picket, cutting his head and incapaci

e later with a

m,' he said, fumblin

n my hand oust when I went to ole Pepper's school at Yarraman, an' n

uced a piece of resin about the size of

ck,' said he confidently,

nd Dick developed a keen interest in the pounding. Dolf pulverised the 'rosum,' declaring that it should be powdered in one particular way which was a great secret known only to a happy few. If it were powdered in any other way, the resin lost its efficacy as a protection, and might even aggravate the pain. Several boys volunteered testi

if rosum every mornin', then he'd go to school an' kick

ded by an old swaggie with one eye, who gave it to him for a four-bladed knife and a clay pipe. So great was the effect of these representations that before Dick and Ted had trans

k,' said Peterson. 'Mus' be an awful lark to have Ham

aid Jacker Ma

orning,

his mottled face screwed into an expression of quizzical amiability, and his daily bottle

the boy who thinks he can outwit his dear master is an egotist, and egotism, Peter

about,' answered Peter s

again for near

' Then he turned to Dick and Ted with quiet court

ashes on the master's white trousers, kicked awkwardl

hat he harboured any intentions that were not entirely generous and friendly. The two culprits, working with quite astounding assiduity, were beset with conflicting emotions. Dick, who had a

, a six-foot Dane, an engine-driver at the Stream, and Billy's father, was volunteering for service in case Mr. Ham should need assistance in dealing with the two culprits; but Joel sent him

was well, that Joel seemed suddenly to recollect, and he called after Ted, blighting th

my boy. I have private business with

ood by the wall, a ver

is head buried in his arms, dumb and unapproachable. If a mate came too close, moved by curiosity or a desire to offer sympathy, Ted lashed out at him with his heels. For the time b

ting a task, stopped before the boy and stood eyeing him with the curiosity with which an entomologist might regard a

st forgotten that I am still your

oon, every now and again pausing in his vicinity to deliver some incomprehensible sentiment or a sarcastic homily. This performance affected all the scholars, but it excited Gable so much that the little old man could do nothing but sit and stare at

ught up the tail of the procession, turned at the door and walked back to the master timorously and with

n't cane him very much

tt

h when new, and now some of the letters were gone and the gilt was worn off, but it was still a priceless treasure in Kitty's eye

, little Miss Grey,' he sai

ase, sir,'

of infamy, a rebel and a riotous blackguard, who must be

little fellow.' The master's tremendous

grin down anoth

ff, and at a valuation, too, that proves you to be

dn't mean it-really

kle by wrinkle, until at times it appeared as if he were actually

promise you this, my dear, our friend Dick shall not get as much as he deserve

his lips were compressed tightly, and he stared straight ahead. Three faithful friends who had waited to know the worst joined him, but no words were spoken. They followed at his heels, showing by their silence due respe

aid. 'I don't care! He's a dog, and he

ick?' asked

jus' cut away till he was tired, chi-ikin' m

certain gratification on that account. Boys take much pride in the sufferings they have borne, and their scars are always exhibited with a grave conceit. Ted displayed his hands, still betraying evidence of the morning's caning, and Jacker M

e him a scare?' sai

ent experiences had made them unusually respectful of the

be let in for it. I know a trick that's quite

e chance of their complicity being disclosed, Jacker and Ted were quite agreeab

e in spite of all, an' he'll be as tight as a brick by ten o'clock. You know my joey 'possum? Well, I'll fix him up into the awfullest kind of a blue devil, with feathers a

't it!' ejacu

ted, and grinn

chased by 'em like he did las' Christmas hol

very Tuesday. These men were indiscreet and indiscriminate drinkers, and often a vagrant was left behind to finish a spree that surrounded him with unheard-of reptiles and strange kaleidoscopic animals unknown to the zoologist. It must be admitted, too, that Joel Ham, B.A., was in a measure responsible for the boys' unlawful knowledge. Twice at holiday times, when he was not restricted at the Drovers'

had reclaimed one room, furnished it much like a miner's but, with the addition of a long shelf of tattered books, and here he 'batched,' perfectly contented with his lot for all that Waddy could ever discover to the contrary. There was no other house within a quarter of a mile of the ruin, which was hemmed in with four rows of wattles, and surrounded by a wilderness of dead fruit-trees-victims to the ravages of the goats of the township-and a tangled scrub of Cape broom. The boys approached the house with qu

joey up there. Then we can wait till Hamlet com

whispere

an, 'r some o' the others is sure to roust

igure start forward from the pitch darkness beyond, heard an oath and the sound of a blow, and saw Dick fall face downwards upon the

hrown arms, and the figure stood

him?' cried someone in t

sed fool!' his

asked the oth

ed him to where the grey moonlight

the boy! a man never knows whe

hers 'y

y were on

places like this? No more of it for me. They've b

cackle! The boys hadn't

They couldn't have se

us together i

e boy's comin' round. Go the front way, an' make fo

he had only a vague idea of what had happened, and his head felt very large and full of fly-wheels, as he expressed it later; but a few moments in the open air served to revive him. Along by the big quarry he met his mates return

he wondering Jacker, 'd

ter another to a lump on his head that

; 'ain't he a one-er? The begga

nod

id; 'but 'tw

ys looked back

ust 'a' bin a bushranger, 'r a feller what's escaped fro

ve was made towards the township. The boys were

twas, we've gotter keep dark, see. If we don't it'll be fo

er with a lively account of how he slipped in the quarry and fell a great depth, strik