Part 3 (1/2)
”Well, well, gentlemen, I have always been an unfortunate person, and so we'll drop the subject, and discuss what is taking place in the great world”
Without more ado he did turn the subject, and showed that he was a man of considerable information, and had received a superior education
This only h he was now free, they suspected strongly that he had been a convict They could scarcely believe that with his abilities he would not otherwise have been eher position After their inspection of the runs, they had been engaged for a day in turning everything out of the hut, and in having it thoroughly cleansed They then re-arranged the furniture and contents, according to their own taste For several days after Mr Basha about the hut in search of so, and at last he asked them if they had seen his books
Ja to the direction of the trustees, taken possession of them, and should keep theed his shoulders as he observed, ”My hard fate again! And so, I suppose, if anything goes wrong, those books are to be brought as evidence against h I may be as innocent as the babe unborn” There was a sinister expression in his countenance as he spoke, of which he was probably unaware, but which convinced the young ers that they must be careful how they dealt with him till they could receive authority froilance and activity, things continued to go on wrong Sheep disappeared, carried off by dingoes, or by the native blacks; the shepherds asserted that cattle strayed, and could not be recovered; and two valuable horses, intended to be sent to Sydney, for shi+p More than once the brothers were inclined to wish that they had commenced as squatters on their own account in a s undertaken their present task, they were not the men to shrink from it They came to the determination, however, not to eot everything to rights, and th the looked-for authority arrived to disht behave ill, or be suspected of ested that, as trustworthy men were difficult to procure, it would be injudicious to proceed on light grounds, at the same time, as proof positive would in many cases be impossible, it would not be necessary to wait till it was found This was throwing a large amount of responsibility on their shoulders, but they determined to do their duty
Mr Bashaain his features assumed the expression the Gilpins had before observed He clai his personal property on one of these and bestriding the other, early the next rey eye leaving an impression which for many a day remained fixed on the minds of the brothers
CHAPTER FOUR
The Gilpins found that the superintendence of a large station did not afford a bed of roses All day long they were in the saddle, overlooking twenty stock the herds and flocks, and often the any which were found diseased or injured This they were obliged to do, in consequence of the ignorance or carelessness of the people in charge of them These, with few exceptions, had been convicts Of those who had been convicts, so out their sentences with tickets-of-leave, while others, ere free to go where they liked, were too old and destitute of energy to venture on a change of occupation, and remained as before, hut-keepers or shepherds At each inferior station there was a hut with a hut-keeper, whose duty was to look after the hut, to cook the provisions, and to tend the sheep or cattle brought for any special purpose into the fold or pen The office was usually held by soh occasionally there is enough to do, it is considered an idle, lazy life
The brothers often rode together to the stations, to assist each other; but they had lately, for the sake of covering round in the course of the day, taken separate districts, that the stock any ht pay the this, cattle and sheep continued to disappear as before, and they ca every es till it was replaced One day, after a hardthe rear of a hut, on an out station, at the extreed--the whole being considerably larger than round was soft, and his horse's hoofs ot in front of the hut that the dog, ever found as its guardian (either well-bred deer-hound or cur of low degree), ca loudly In this case the anith sufficient to drag hih sort of easy-chair, and was apparently fast asleep
”Hillo, , or he and I may do each other an injury,” shouted Arthur; ”he is a noble brute, and I should not like to hurt him, if I could help it!”
The ood Brian; coise, Mr Gilpin, for not hearing you; but I was overcome, I believe, by the heat,” he added, as he took the horse from which Arthur had just dismounted
As the stock-keeper unsaddled the anie of the book fro It was a superior edition of Horace, well used
Roughly clad and unshorn and haggard in his looks as the man was, Arthur could not but conclude that he had oncethe educated classes of society The ever-ready da satisfied his appetite,seemed to be satisfactory
”You appear to be fond of reading,” said Arthur, glancing at the Horace, which had been placed on a shelf a a few other books
”Ah! a friend of uile h
Arthur did not like to ask questions ”We brought a few books with us into the bush; I shall be glad to lend them to you,” he said
”They will be most acceptable, sir,” said the hut-keeper, his countenance brightening; ”my own stock is sain till I know them by heart I believe that if a chest of new books were to reach me, like the half-starved wretch who suddenly finds himself in the ht or s,” said Arthur kindly ”The life you lead h,” answered the hut-keeper; ”poverty out here can scarcely be said to pinch I often ask ht it have been, or what certainly would it have been, had I reone To rot in a poorhouse or to sweep a crossing would have been ht have been a worse alternative I had enough left to payI ever did inwere foolish, and before I could realise the a hut-keeper” The last re the rein of Arthur's horse
Arthur rode round the run, inspected the flock, and had to pass near the hut again on his return homeward The hut-keeper, Charles Craven he called himself, was on the watch for him
”I must have a ith you, Mr Gilpin,” he said ”You are the first man I have met since I landed on these shores who has sy to serve you First, I must warn you never to be unarmed, either in your hut or out of it; and especially advise you and your brother, when you ride out, always to keep together Many of the hands on the station are exasperated with you for your style of proceeding, and they think that if they could get rid of you they would have things their oay”
Thanking Craven for his advice, Arthur pushed on towards horey would carry hi that James had just before arrived He told his brother of the warning Craven had given hih at it ”The scoundrels dare not injure us!” he exclaieful looks, and the surly reed with his brother that it would be wiser to go arether
They had removed the hut-keeper to another post, and placed Green in charge of their abode This would have been necessary, if for no other reason, for the purpose of having it kept clean and habitable, which the dirty habits of the former occupant rendered impracticable The exact situation of the hut has not been described It stood on a hillside, the ground immediately round it cleared, but with bush both above it and on either side, extending to a considerable distance In soy-bark or low bushes A river passed in front at the distance of less than a quarter of ain winter, but after the heats of su of a succession of water-holes connected by a trickling rill
During the shearing season the river was a scene of the greatest animation, as all the flocks froht be washed before being deprived of their fleeces
After a sudden downfall of rain, the quiet strea onith terrific force, now forh and narrow banks, whirling along with rapid eddies; and at spots, where a few hours before a person could pass on foot, the current would test the strength of the strongest swimmer or most powerful horse to cross; at other times it relapsed into a state of silence, not without much picturesque beauty of a tranquil character The hut commanded a view of the river, but it, as well as the sheds, sheep-folds, and stock-yards, were placed far too high above it to be reached by the widest inundation it could cause
Arthur did not forget his promise to Craven, and, as soon as he was able, he rode toward his hut with several books in his pockets The hut-keeper was very grateful, and expressed hientlereed that it would be but an act of coht send another man to take his place
Craven considered a moment ”No; I had better not,” he answered; ”the men about here look upon me as one of theer be trusted by them They are mischievously inclined; and if I can turn the of their intentions, and help, if needs be, it will affordthat I have been of soree with him, and expressed a hope that an eht be found for hi, and think change is easy,”