Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-02

to his men. Always the master first and
the man afterward, he was little selfish, as
becomes your masterful man. On the other
hand, he was a singularly frank young fell
low. He would feebly own, for instance,
that he was the luckiest man in the
back blocks. This, to be sure, was
no more than the truth. But Deverell
never lost sight of his luck, nor was be ever
ashamed to recognize 1t; wherein he differed
from the average lucky man, who says that
luck had nothing to do with it. Deverell
could gloat over his luck, and do nothing
else-when he had nothing else to do. And
in this way he faced contentedIy even this
lonely, hungry might. his back to pine at
the north side of the ridge, and a short brier
pipe in full blast.
He was the new manager of Dandong. to
begin with. That was one Of the best
managerships In the colony. and Deverell
had got it young-.in his twenties, at all
events, if not by much. The salary was R700
a year, and the homestead was charming.
of his marriage; and the coming Mrs. Dew
erell was girl of some social distinction
down in Melbourne; and belle into the
bargain, to say nothing Of another feature,
which was entirely satisfactory, without
being 30 ample as TO imperil a mans inde-
pendence. The homestead would be
charming indeed In few weeks, in
time for Christmas Meanwhile, the
"clip" had been a capital one, and the rains
abundant; the paddocks were in prosperous
state, and the tanks overhowing, everything
going smoothly in its right groove Gas things
do not always 60 on big station), and the
proprietors perfectly delighted with their
new manager. Well, the new manager was
sufficiently delighted with himself. He was
lucky in his work and lucky in his love-
and what can the gods do more for you?
Considering that he had rather worse than
no antecedents at all-antecedents with SO
dark a stain upon them that, anywhere but
in colony, the man would have been q
ruined man from his intangible was really
incredibly lucky in his love affair.
But, whatever his parents had been
or had done, he bad now no relatives
at all of his own: and this is q great thing
when you are about to make new ones in an
inner circle: so that here, once more, Dew
erell was in his usual luck.
It does one good to see man thoroughly
appreciating his good luck. The thing is so
seldom done. Deverell not only did this,
but did it with complete sincerity. Even
tonight, though personally most unoom-
Portable, and tightening his belt after every
plpc, u0 Cou4u 6aAS ~ wv osoAS WIN
grateful eyes, obscure them with clouds Of
smoke, watch the clouds disperse and the
stars shine bright again. and call himself
again and again, and yet again, the very
lucklest man in the colony.
While Deverell sat thus, returning thanks
on an empty stomach, at the northern edge
of the ridge, man tramped into the pines
from the south. The heavy sand mufled his
steps; but he stopped long before he came
near Deverell, and threw down his svag
with an emancipated air. The man was
old. but held himself more erect than does
the typical swagman. The march through
life with a cylinder of blankets on ones
shoulders, with all ones worldly goods
packed in that cylinder, causes certain
stoop Of very palpable kind; and this the
old man, apparently, had never contracted.
Other points slightly distinguished him
from the ordinary run Of swsgmen. His
garments were orthodox, but the
felt wide-awake was stiff and
new, and 80 were the moleskins;
these, indeed, might have stood upright
without any legs in them at all. The old
mans cheeks, chin and upper lip were coy-
cred with short gray bristles, like spikes of
steel; above the bristlss he had that ''lean
and hungry look" which cesar saw in
Csssiua
he rsstsd little on his sxag. $50 this
ID Dandong," he muttsred, - If speaking