"Well, this went on for two years, and then the other woman drove me to drink. You know what a woman can do when the devil"s in her?"

Sound between a sigh and a groan from Lally Thompson. "My oath," he said, sadly.

"You should have made it _three_ years, Jack," interposed the joker; "you said two years before." But he was suppressed.

"Well, I got free of them both, at last--drink and the woman, I mean; but it took another--it took a couple of years to pull myself straight--"

Here the joker opened his mouth again, but was warmly requested to shut it.

"Then, chaps, I got thinking. My conscience began to hurt me, and--and hurt worse every day. It nearly drove me to drink again. Ah, boys, a man--if he is a man--can"t expect to wrong a woman and escape scot-free in the end." (Sigh from Lally Thompson.) "It"s the one thing that always comes home to a man, sooner or later--you know what that means, boys."

Lally Thompson: "My oath!"

The joker: "Dry up yer crimson oath! What do you know about women?"

Cries of "Order!"

"Well," continued the story-teller, "I got thinking. I heard that my wife had broken her heart when I left her, and that made matters worse.

I began to feel very bad about it. I felt mean. I felt disgusted with myself. I pictured my poor, ill-treated, little wife and children in misery and poverty, and my conscience wouldn"t let me rest night or day"--(Lally Thompson seemed greatly moved)--"so at last I made up my mind to be a man, and make--what"s the word?"

"Reparation," suggested the joker.

"Yes, so I slaved like a n.i.g.g.e.r for a year or so, got a few pounds together and went to find my wife. I found out that she was living in a cottage in Burwood, Sydney, and struggling through the winter on what she"d saved from the money her father left her.

"I got a shave and dressed up quiet and decent. I was older-looking and more subdued like, and I"d got pretty grey in those few years that I"d been making a fool of myself; and, some how, I felt rather glad about it, because I reckoned she"d notice it first thing--she was always quick at noticing things--and forgive me all the quicker. Well, I waylaid the school kids that evening, and found out mine--a little boy and a girl--and fine youngsters they were. The girl took after her mother, and the youngster was the dead spit o" me. I gave "em half a crows each and told them to tell their mother that someone would come when the sun went down."

Bogan Bill nodded approvingly.

"So at sundown I went and knocked at the door. It opened and there stood my little wife looking prettier than ever--only careworn."

Long, impressive pause.

"Well, Jack, what did she do?" asked Bogan.

"She didn"t do nothing."

"Well, Jack, and what did she say?"

Jack sighed and straightened himself up: "She said--she said--"Well, so you"ve come back.""

"Painful silence.

"Well, Jack, and what did you say?"

"I said yes."

"Well, and so you had!" said Tom Moonlight.

"It wasn"t that, Tom," said Jack sadly and wearily--"_It was the way she said it_!"

Lally Thompson rubbed his eyes: "And what did you do, Jack?" he asked gently.

"I stayed for a year, and then I deserted her again--but meant it that time."

"Ah, well! It"s time to turn in."

ANOTHER OF MITCh.e.l.l"S PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

"I"ll get down among the c.o.c.kies along the Lachlan, or some of these rivers," said Mitch.e.l.l, throwing down his swag beneath a big tree. "A man stands a better show down there. It"s a mistake to come out back. I knocked around a good deal down there among the farms. Could always get plenty of tucker, and a job if I wanted it. One c.o.c.ky I worked for wanted me to stay with him for good. Sorry I didn"t. I"d have been better off now. I was treated more like one of the family, and there was a couple of good-looking daughters. One of them was clean gone on me.

There are some grand girls down that way. I always got on well with the girls, because I could play the fiddle and sing a bit. They"ll be glad to see me when I get back there again, I know. I"ll be all right--no more bother about tucker. I"ll just let things slide as soon as I spot the house. I"ll bet my boots the kettle will be boiling, and everything in the house will be on the table before I"m there twenty minutes. And the girls will be running to meet the old c.o.c.ky when he comes riding home at night, and they"ll let down the sliprails, and ask him to guess "who"s up at our place?" Yes, I"ll find a job with some old c.o.c.ky, with a good-looking daughter or two. I"ll get on ploughing if I can; that"s the sort of work I like; best graft about a farm.

"By and by the c.o.c.ky"ll have a few sheep he wants shorn, and one day he"ll say to me, "Jack, if you hear of a shearer knockin" round let me know--I"ve got a few sheep I want sh.o.r.e."

""How many have you got?" I"ll say.

""Oh, about fifteen hundred."

""And what d"you think of giving?"

""Well, about twenty-five bob a hundred, but if a shearer sticks out for thirty, send him up to talk with me. I want to get "em sh.o.r.e as soon as possible."

""It"s all right," I"ll say, "you needn"t bother; I"ll shear your sheep."

""Why," he"ll say, "can _you_ shear?"

""Shear? Of course I can! I sh.o.r.e before you were born." It won"t matter if he"s twice as old as me.

"So I"ll shear his sheep and make a few pounds, and he"ll be glad and all the more eager to keep me on, so"s to always have someone to shear his sheep. But by and by I"ll get tired of stopping in the one place and want to be on the move, so I"ll tell him I"m going to leave.

""Why, what do you want to go for?" he"ll say, surprised, "ain"t you satisfied?"

""Oh, yes, I"m satisfied, but I want a change."

""Oh, don"t go," he"ll say; "stop and we"ll call it twenty-five bob a week."

"But I"ll tell him I"m off--wouldn"t stay for a hundred when I"d made up my mind; so, when he sees he can"t persuade me he"ll get a bit stiff and say:

""Well, what about that there girl? Are you goin" to go away and leave her like that?"

""Why, what d"yer mean?" I"ll say. "Leave her like what?" I won"t pretend to know what he"s driving at.

""Oh!" he"ll say, "you know very well what I mean. The question is: _Are you going to marry the girl or not_?"

"I"ll see that things are gettin" a little warm and that I"m in a corner, so I"ll say: