The herald., 1895-12-15

getting times, 1t was undoubtedly
wild and unsettled place. Burketown,
a resurrected township smelling of saw
dust and whisky, was the Ultima Thule
of civilization in that part of Austria
liza. The country to the west of it was
inhabited only by few squatters at
long intervals apart, or by rowing bands
of wild blacks, and was the happy
hunting ground or hiding place of a
number Of men wanted by the police
for horse stealing or something worse.
The latter we're dangerous and trouble
some neighbors to have anything to do
with. For obvious reasons to recognize
a man and call him by his proper name
then was in nine cases out of ten to
commit an objectionable error and apt
to lead to disagreeable consequences.
1t was in the month of October, about
the commencement of the thunder
storms and the hot weather, when, in
charge of wagon load of goods, L
found myself on my way to cattle
station called Lily lagoons that had
Just been opened up 1870 miles to the
west of Burketown. 1t might have
been about B o'clock in the afternoon,
when, seeing storm gathering, our
party pushed on 80 as Ito reach the
shelter of one of those back-block
shanties that spring up as If by magic
wherever there is chance of intercept
ing few stray checks, and to unhltch
before the tropical downpour over
rndn n
the rough slab building, with its bark
roof. strip of veranda, and general air
of untidiness, that l caught glimpse
bush in rear of the buildings; they
we're making for yard hard by,
where | made sure their horses were.
Such an experience is by no means an
uncommon one in certain outlying
parts of the Gulf country, where, gen.
orally speaking, there are always few
men keeping out of the way of the
police, and who are apprehensive of
the approach of strangers and make
themselves scarce until they are as
sured as to their identity.
Let the reader not put any erroneous
construction upon my conduct when l
admit sending a certain precocious
lsrikin, whom l had met before, to
make their minds easy and fetch them
back. could not afford to be other
than on good terms with such crew
horsefesh was a costly and difficult
commodity to replace in the Gulf in
those days. When / entered the rough
barroom Cassidy, the publican, held
his right hand patronizingly toward
me, and with his left placed black
boftlo IN the cOuDtpr
l shook hands with him and eX-
changed compliments, for Jack was as
good as his master in the Gulf, 80 not
to be NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. with every
one argued sad lack of policy, and
marked one as the possible victim of
future misfortune. According to the
custom of stranger when entering a
bush "hotel," called upon the bleary-
eyed and shaky-looking devotees of old
Silenus, in the guise OF several bush
men present, to "breast the bar" This
they did with an alacrity which, if eX-
pended in q better cause, would have
been praiseworthy in the extreme. AS
soon as possible, however, | escaped
from the noisy and unpleasantly DEM
onstrative little crowd and went
outside to await the team. l was Sc
lecting q spot on which to halt the
wagon when, from behind huge
blood wood tree, there came sound
as of some one moaning, and going
around, | discovered man lying on
his face, evidently in the clutches of
that demon of the gulf, malarial fever.
He nervously grasped an empty can
vas water-bag in one hand, and did not
seem to be aware of my presence.
appropriated the bag, went down to the
lagoon, filled it with water, and came
back to him. Tapping him on the
shoulder, / said: "Here mate; have a
drink.
Now, no one knows, save those
who have experienced the tor
ments of the fierce fever-thirst,
what pleasant salutation this
is. When addressed he rolled over
ON his back and 1 saw his face for the
first time. Having good memory for
descriptions" l recognized him. He
was Billie Main, q young fellow not yet
four-andtwenty years of age, and who
had at least half a dozen warrants out
against him for DEMONSTRATING in vari-
GUS parts Of the colony. Not utterly
bad, however, or without certain good
points, strange as it may seem; but,
alas! easily led. One who, from the
commission of foolish and unpre-
meditated act of dishonesty and the
keeping of bad company, had been led
to commit more serious crimes, until
he had cut himself off from all chances
of honest employment and now led the
miserable life of a hunted wild ami
NAL.
There is little that is in reality at
tractive in the lives of such as Billie,
in spite of what certain absurd and
pernicious kind of literature says,
and which is generally penned by those
who know nothing of the stern and
hideous truth. There WAS nothing in
Billie's face that was suggestive of the
the criminal and foolhardy deeds for
which he had been noted. AS IT WIS |
was an utter stranger to him, moreover,
"some one whom he could not exactly
make OUT so for the minute he re-
garded me with not little apprehen-
sion on his face and then said: "Then
you're not trap?'
"What do you take me for?' / re-
sponded, knowing there WAS only one
way of talking to such men, and / con-
TESS feeling not a little sorry for him
in his helpless condition, he looked 80
utterly wretched and neglected
"You'd better take drink, like good
fellow. And look here you want to
get back to the shanty, for there's a
thunder storm coming up. I'll stow
your saddles and gear under the taur-
paulin of my wagon and when it comes
and here it u.s.