Such is Life | Page 7

you what I'll do:
I'll slip over in two minits on Valiparaiser, an' consult with Alf. Me an'

him's as thick as thieves."
"I'll go with you, Mosey," said I. "I've got some messages for him.
Keep an eye on my dog, Steve."
Mosey untied the fine upstanding grey horse from the rear of his wagon;
I hitched Bunyip to a tree, and mounted Fancy, and we cantered away
together across the plain; the ponderous empty wagon--Sydney-side
pattern--with eight bullocks in yoke and twelve travelling loose,
coming more clearly into detail through the vibrating translucence of
the lower atmosphere. Alf did n't deign to stop. I noticed a sinister
smile on his sad, stern face as Mosey gaily accosted him.
"An' how's the world usin' you, Alf? Got red o' Pilot, I notice. Ever see
sich a suck-in? Best at a distance, ain't he? Tell you what I come 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 frames
to-night. Our wagons is over there on the other track, among the pines.
Where did you stop las' night? Your carrion's as full as ticks."
"I had them in the selection; took them out this morning after they lay
down."
"Good shot!"
"Why, I don't see how it concerns you."
"The selection's reasonable safe--ain't it?"
"Please yourself about that."
"Is the ram-paddick safe?".
"No."
"Is there enough water in the tank at the selection?"
"How do I know? There was enough for me."
"I say, Alf," said I: "Styles, of Karowra, told me to let you know, if
possible, that you were right about the boring rods; and he'll settle with
you any time you call. Also there's a letter for you at Lochleven Station.
Two items."
"I'm very much obliged to you for your trouble, Collins," replied Alf,
with a shade less of moroseness in his tone.
"Well, take care o' yourself, ole son; you ain't always got me to look
after you," said Mosey pleasantly; and we turned our horses and rode
away. "Evil-natured beggar, that," he continued. "He's floggin' the cat
now, 'cos he laid us on to the selection in spite of his self. If that 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 fire an'
brimstone for millions o' millions o' years, an' a worm tormentin' him
besides; but I don't see what the (adj. sheol) else they can do with Alf.
Awful to think of it." Mosey sighed piously, then resumed, "Grand dog
you got since I seen you last. Found the (animal), I s'pose?"
"No, Mosey. Bought him fair."
"Jist so, jist so. You ought to give him to me. He's bound to pick up a
bait with you; you're sich a careless &c., &c." And so the conversation
ran on the subject of dogs during the return ride.
On our reaching the wagons, it was unanimously resolved that the
selection should be patronised. This being so, there was no
hurry--rather the reverse-- for the selection was not to be reached till
dusk.
You will understand that the bullock drivers' choice of accommodation
lay between the selection, the ram-paddock, and a perisher on the plain.
The selection was four or five miles ahead; 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. Runnymede home station--Mooney and Montgomery,
owners; J. G. Montgomery, managing partner--was a mile or so beyond
the further corner of the ram-paddock, and was the central source of
danger.
Presently the tea leaves were thrown out of the billies; the tuckerboxes
were packed on the pole-fetchels; and the teams got under way.
Thompson 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 driving me from any given direction to Runnymede
homestead-- a fatality which, I trust, I shall have no farther occasion to
notice in these pages.
We therefore tied Fancy beside Thompson's horse at the rear of his
wagon, and disposed Bunyip's pack-saddle and load on the top of the
wool; the horse, of course, following Fancy according to his daily
habit.
A quarter of a mile of stiff pulling through the sand of the pine-ridge,
and the plain opened out again. A short, dark, irregular line, cleanly

separated from the horizon by the wavy glassiness of the lower air,
indicated the clump of