In the Roaring Fifties

ing on reaching a clump of trees, and presently he w

!' gasped the latter. 'All the same,

at

r, while there's five hundred on your head, hot or cold, live or dead, a

ite wrong; I'm

h Long Aleck when you got away with the gold H

is Done. I'm a new chum, landed only

with his hands, examined Jim's face. 'Dunno,' he said, 'but p'r'aps you are a bi

n to the ship with me, and I'l

ough for me. Solo o

I'm obliged.' Done offered his hand, and the other shook it heart

ted by all the police 'tween here and the Murray, and his head's worth five hundred to you 'r

'But if he's such an infernal scoundrel, and he's

it's 'cause of his pluck 'n' the dashed pleasant, gentlemanly way he has o' doin' thin

. I can't say what field I'm makin

se, sound in wind and limb, know the country, know the game, been on three fields, want a mate. Name's Micah Wentworth Burton-Mike for short. Got all traps, pans, shov

tion, and his manner and his action indicated a characteristic impetuosity. Don

is desperate way with a man you don't know, but whom you suspect of being a noto

sense to mooch about Melbourne disguised only in a daily shave. As for the rest, blast it! we're men

The only objection to the arrangement

n Melbourne who'd jump at a mate of your stamp. Come along to my tent up Canvas Town to-night. There's

developed in an acquaintanceship of minutes? Why should Burton be so eager to bestow benefits upon him? That was not the customary way of men. He got up, dressed and washed, and took breakfast with his mate, and the sullen suspicion lingered; but Mike talked volubly, questioning nothing, and as the morning wore on his obvious sincer

lt; his face, clean-shaven but for the triangle of hair coming just below the ears, had a cameo-like correctness of outline; the lips were firm and full, the eyes deep. He wore one of the flat-brimmed bell-toppers fashionable at the time, a skirted coat, and a high collar. In a flash the whole man was photographed on Jim's mind-why he could not understand. The sensa

ike, following the di

u know

nous wear and tear on soap. Used to go round collecting the wool the sheep scraped off on his fences an' trees, an' for years cadged his toby, (tobacco, you know) off passing teamsters; then, when the teamsters sh

ame over in

That's as good a

the oth

uperior, likely. Mrs Mack's got a weakness for gentilit

not mean in the mat

pider-legs of his, and makes up for his misfortune when he splits across a horse

e camp-fire flickering palely at a distance, the wide-branching, dreamy gum-trees spreading their limbs above him, the warmth of summer in the scented air Already the instincts of the Bushman were developing in him. He began to feel a friendship for the towering gums in their flaunting independence; their proud individuality pleased him. To his mind they reflected the spirit of the people-it must be the spirit of the land. Nowhere in their feathery elegance did he find a law of conformity; each tree was a law unto itself, tall and strong and slender, youthful and buoyant, opening fond arms to the blue sky. The absence of

the Bush to the scant accommodation and some what boisterous company at the shanty lately established t

said. 'You'll find water just over t

before,' said Jim, unstrapping

is new cou

w I shall find water

ow,' Mike answered; 'but I'll wager

ts familiar animals did, and much in the same way, without being aware of his knowledge, which was mainly instinctive. The billy was on the blazing fire, and Done sat watching Mike smartly mixing a damper in the lid. To Jim this, too, was a wonderful accomplishment. Water and flour were deftly manipulated until a ball of dough that qu

aking concessions to him throughout their journey, that he could have walked miles further in the time without fatigue, carrying his swag as jauntily as if it were a butterfly poised on his back. His boyish exuberance of manner when stirred was in direct contrast to the quiet assurance with which he went about ordinary affairs. He was never in difficulties, never

merge into black, motionless masses, was upon the Bush, and it infected the men. All day they had marched with the throng; their tramp had never been lonely, thousands of men were moving upon Forest Creek, and every now and again they passed a toiling

ent, under the impulse of a common hope that begot friendliness in all; and yet each man was armed now-there was a revolver or a pistol in every belt. They came out of the Bush, and the Bush swallowed them again-strange groups. Two Jim passed h

tless urchin, a stowaway fresh from the streets of London, whipped behind, as he might have done a few weeks earlier on a Bishop's carriage in Rotten Row. The mates next encountered a band of Chinamen carrying their burdens on bamboos, covering the ground smartly with their springing trot and cackling gaily as they went; then a 'hatter,' drunk as a lord rolling heavily, his hands in his pockets, his hat jauntily set on the back of his head, bellowing the latest comic song, a lonely soul; then a dray, piled high with cradles, pans, picks, shovels, swags, and a mi

of devil, Jim,' said Mi

during the la

's t

. Worse still,

friends, and smoking's a convivial disea

u were bred a "hatter";

things rather too suddenly. I'm sort of mentally breathless. A year ago

o

ng things too keenly to

ashes from his pipe on his boot. 'I s'pose I'd best get some

looked about him

e on the swags. I won't be gone

ss again, with quite a luxurious sensation. The hard day's walking made this rest peculiarly agreeable: he had eaten w

f quiet, and when the sound broke in again Done sighed contentedly, and relapsed into his former position. He recognised the crack of a cattle-whip. In a minute or two he heard the voice of the bullocky admonishing Bally and Spot with a burst of alliter

ied someone beyon

o, th

o' water

down to t

ere, Stony. Woa, Straw

! Bla

prepare a meal, paying no attention to Jim, who lay watching him. It was not customary to say 'By your leave!' in little matters of this kind. On the track every man's company was supposed to be welcome. Following a habit of observation, Jim examined the man wi

o the fire, carrying the tucker-box. They were brothers, long, bearded, brown-faced Australians of the runs, go

ejaculated the elder of the two. 'I feel

o find himself at home in the society of men. The humanities were finding place in his soul. Everything about these people interested him-their work, their pleasures, thei

ion of their camp did not surprise him. He greeted the stra

t,' he said.

d they co

creek. Four shots, four duc

provide plucked bi

cleaned 'em a

n o'clock, and all hands were thinking of taking to their blankets for the night, when a sixth man came quietly through the trees, unobserved until his greeting disturbed them. Don

he Rest,' he said, 'and walked o

re's tea in the pannikin, an' there's grub i

ahead but this 'pos

ed, Done turned in the direction of his glance, and discovered the man Stony crouching on the other side of the fire, his weak, tremulous hands stretched out before him, his face gray as ashes and convulsed with horror. Glaring at the stranger, he lifted his hands, thrusting the vision

ou know me, you dog, and you know that

esh, he wrenched at Stony's

ostrate wretch. 'For

e hate that a face can carry and that a voice can convey was betrayed in his expression a

his arms became rigid with the power of his grip, and Stony lay choking, clawi

stranger, tearing him off his victim, and then Mike and a teamster laid hands upon him, while Stony was writhing and panting on the ground.

oded murder, mate!' said Mike

look at his enemy, turned away, and plunged into the b

y darted after the runaway. The four men listened to the retreating footsteps, and presently the Bush echoed two pistol shots fir