The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-06-09
Ole New "BullOCky."
A Tasmania Story.
A Tasmania Story.

81 dinna want a wood-cutter.' SAID
Moffat An | dinna want a SHOE
man An | dinna want cook
"You want a bullocky?"
AYE. But l hire men tae drive
ma bullocks. an no half-haked BOY
| dinnah give such-like billets tae ne"
chums"
Never asked you to-" said Tony,
hotly.
.Iye driven a twenty-team on the
Murrumbidgee heaps of times
"Harnessed tae a SO-cart WI you
tied intae it,
"Harnessed to a threshing- plant
with three rivers to ford, and the fire
box alight all the time" said Tony
Moffat looked straight at him. Tony
was the slim-run, light-built Austrai-
ian breed that grows pluck first and
last and in between, and muscle Wnen
It has time. Tony had not much mus
Gle as yet.
Moffat rubbed his nose slowly. I'll
tax We, he said. Ma men air sey
rough DOT at the camp; but | Jalouse
ye haze tongue tae hauld ye safe. 1ell
need it. Weel; III send oopward by
ye tae Robinson. Dye ken the way?
!.Up to Tregellan's Gap, round the
ironstone shoulder, and follow your
nose till you strike the tramline
Moffat grinned "Ye has come WI
we're lessen weel conned. Yell dae
Aye; I'll send Robinson a screed, an
yell git oop theer afore the nlcht.
Tony had tramped eight miles along
the Western Tiers tand these hoid
some of the toughest country IN Ias-
mania) that day. He tramped ten
more before he sighted the logging
camp, sunk deep in great green shad-
ows of heavy bush, and flooded with
scarlet of the after-glow that sifted
through the half-cleared gun-scrub.
Twenty men loafed, smoking, about
the long hut made Of unsquared tree
trunks. Tony walked straight into the
midst Of them, and handed over his
letter to a red-bearded hawk-eyed
man who carried himself as one in
authority. Robinson tore open the
envelope, STlunluS.
What yer wantin', sonny he said.
He read the note through. Then he
sat down on the chopping-block.
well, am blest," he said. us old
Mcffat gone OF his chump?" Tony's
neck and ears burnt, but he stood the
volley Of stares unf1inchingly. Il had
a look at the bullocks as came
through. the clearing" he said.
They're not bad lot; but you ought
to have more sense than to keep that
aged brute with the twisted horn and
the swelled nearfore. He's got tenn
per, I'll bet
A low-browed, bull-necked man
up that kid?" he demanded. 1T TUX
US all O ten months ter find out what
Buster cuu do when he liked"
The kids a bullocky like yerself,"
said Robinson, dryly. "Moffat sent
him up ter take Cobham's place He'll
run on the lines with you, jake" Jake
heaved his huge bulk upright But
the blare of great cowbell in the
cooks two hands broke Jake's words,
and the men poured headlong into the
hut
Under the rattle of tin plates and
pannikins, the shouts for tea and milk,
and the rough chaff that flew broad
cast down the length of the unplaned
table, Tony found a place on a form,
and stared round. The smell Of the
clean peppermint wood and the wat
tie was in the very breath of the room,
and the gum Of bleeding trees was on
the hair Of the mems necks and arms |
Tony Rugged himself and his eyes
shono By the movements hazy |
through the steam from pannikins and
hot meats; by the great ripping mus
cles, and the great roars of laughter, |
he knew that he had come to hold his |
own amongst men.
Bullock driving is done by the
swing Of twenty-foot whip, and the |
tones Of the voice. There are no reins |
and just little more harness. A bull |
lock team can tangle itself more eff
fciently than a kitten with a skein of |
wool when 1t likes; and it is not so
easily picked up and Strengthened.
Tony knew all this. But he had the
love for animals which is really gen
ius, and thu cool head which is the
most valuable asset Of the man who
MpWd work AmQpgst them. He saw !