The Gold Hunter's Adventures Or, Life In Australia Volume 2 ( Of 2 ) by William H. Thomes (books to read in your 30s TXT) 📕

Give The Reader The Sequel.

Mr. Herrets Removed His Wife To His Tent, And After The First Week Of

His Marriage Paid But Little Attention To Her Comfort Or Her Wants. A

Coldness Soon Sprang Up Between Them, And Then Bitter Quarrels Ensued.

The Husband, While Grasping For Gold In The Bowels Of The Earth, Little

Thought That His Neighbor Was Paying Court To His Wife, And That She

Received Those Attentions With Eagerness. Women In Ballarat Commanded A

Premium, For There Were But Few, And Those Principally Of The Lowest

Class. A Few Of The Highest Officers Under Government Had Their Wives

With Them, But The Husbands Guarded Them With More Than Oriental

Jealousy, And It Was A Rare Sight To See Them In The Street Or At

Windows. There Was Little Cause For Wonder, Then, That A Man, Whose Good

Looks Were A Passport, Should Have Ingratiated Himself Into The

Affections Of Mrs. Herrets, And That One Day They Should Leave Ballarat

In Company. We Were In The Store One Afternoon, About A Month After The

Marriage, When Mr. Herrets Rushed In.

"Is She Here?" He Demanded, His Face Looking Like A Demon's.

"Who Here?" I Asked, Calmly, Although I Suspected His Errand.

"My Wife," He Shouted. "Darn Her, I Don't Know Where She Is. She Is

Playing Some Of Her Pranks, And I'll Fix Her For It."

He Rushed Out Of The Store Frantically, And Uttered A Profusion Of Oaths

As He Dashed Through The Streets, Making Inquiries Of Every One That He

Met Respecting His Wife. Some Laughed At Him, While Others, After

Questioning Him Until They Had Arrived At The Facts, Would Gravely Shake

Their Heads, And Express An Entire Ignorance Of The Woman's Whereabouts.

Herrets Then Made Application To The Police Office, But Was Curtly

Informed That The Police Had Something To Attend To Besides Hunting

After Men's Wives.

Desperate With Rage, And Vowing All Sorts Of Vengeance Upon The Frail

Woman, The Baffled Husband Once More Sought Our Store And Implored Our

Aid. He Even Offered A Considerable Sum Of Money If We Would Unite With

Him And Make Search For Her; But We Refused His Money, And Declined For

A Long Time To Interfere, Until At Length His Importunities Caused Us To

Yield, And After We Extracted Promises That He Would Be Likely To Keep,

We Concluded To Help Him.

We Sent The Young Husband Back To His Tent, And Bade Him Make

Arrangements To Be Gone At Least Two Days, And To Bring Back With Him

Some Article Of Clothing That Had Belonged To The Runaway. He Obeyed Our

Instructions, And By The Time He Had Returned Our Three Horses Were

Saddled And Ready For A Start. We Lost No Time In Getting Under Way, And

In Less Than An Hour We Were Seven Miles From Ballarat, On The Road To

Melbourne, The Nearest City That The Runaways Could Reach. Sydney We

Considered As Out Of The Question, For Its Distance Of Five Hundred

Miles Was Not Likely To Attract Travellers Who Were Journeying For Speed

And Flying For Safety.

We Pushed On, Stopping Only Long Enough To Make Inquiries Of Men On The

Road, And At Length We Got On The Trail Of The Fugitives. They Were

Travelling On Horseback, Like Ourselves, But Were Mounted On Worthless

Animals, That Threatened To Break Down At Every Step; So We Were Told.

The Last Farmer That Gave Us Information Said That He Had Spoken To

Them, And Supplied Them With Bread, And That He Did Not Think They Were

More Than Ten Miles In Advance Of Us.

This Information Gave Us Renewed Life, And We Spurred On Until Our

Horses Were In A Foaming Sweat; And Just As We Began To Think That The

Runaways Had Diverged From The Beaten Path, We Caught Sight Of Them

Riding Along As Leisurely, And With As Munch Independence, As Man And

Wife.

Herrets Rushed Forward, And Uttered Oath After Oath As He Caught Sight

Of His Wife, While The Latter Applied Her Riding Whip To The Sides Of

Her Steed, In The Vain Endeavor To Escape; But Finding That We Gained On

Her And Her Paramour, She Suffered Her Horse To Fall Into A Walk, And

Apparently Took No Further Notice Of Us.

Not So With Her Companion, Whose Name Was Delvin, A Young And

Good-Looking Fellow; And Had We Not Been Present, He Would Have Laughed

At The Demands Of Herrets, For He Was As Bold As A Lion, And Was Just

The Kind Of A Man That A Romantic Girl Like Mary Would Take A Fancy To.

"Villain!" Shouted Herrets, Presenting An Old Horse Pistol, That Looked

As Though It Had Seen Service In The War Of Cromwell, "Stop, And Account

To Me For The Seduction Of My Wife, Or I'll Shoot You As You Fly!"

"Shoot And Be D----D!" Replied Delvin, With A Sneer; "But Remember, I

Can Use A Pistol As Well As You." And As He Spoke, He Drew From His Belt

A Six Inch Revolver, And Coolly Waited For Herrets To Commence

Hostilities.

This The Latter Was In No Hurry To Do, When He Saw That His Opponent Was

Better Armed Than Himself; So He Checked His Horse, And Waited For Us To

Come Up.

We Rode Leisurely Towards The Runaways, And Did Not Think It Worth Our

While To Make A Show Of Hostilities, For While We Had Promised The

Husband To Assist Him, We Did Not Consider That We Were Bound To Fight

His Battles.

"Put Up Your Pistol," Said Fred, Calmly, When We Had Reached The Woman

And Her Paramour; "There Will Be No Use For It At Present."

Delvin Hesitated For A Moment, And Only For A Moment; Then, With An

Oath, He Returned His Pistol To Its Case, And Waited Our Proceedings.

As For The Woman, She Appeared The Most Indifferent Person In The

Group, And Instead Of Being Overwhelmed With Shame, Actually Smiled At

The Expression Of Misery Depicted Upon Her Husband's Face.

"We Shall Have To Relieve You Of Your Fair Charge," Fred Said,

Addressing Mr. Delvin; "Civilization Has Hardly Arrived At Such A Point

In Australia That A Man Can Run Off With Another's Wife, And Expect To

Escape Punishment."

"The Woman Goes With Me!" Cried Delvin, Fiercely, And His Hand Again

Sought His Pistol; But Seeing That We Took No Notice Of The Movement, He

Withdrew It Slowly, And Appeared Undecided What To Do.

"Of Course, You Are Not In Earnest When You Speak Thus," Replied Fred,

Quite Coolly; "You Must Be Aware, If You Enter Melbourne In Company With

This Man's Wife, And We Are Disposed To Lodge Information Against You,

That A Long Residence At The Hulks Would Be Your Portion."

Delvin Remained Silent, But He Looked As Though He Would Like To Try The

Issue Of The Affair With An Exchange Of Shots.

"We Have Promised This Man To Help Recover His Wife, And We Mean To Keep

Our Word. We Have Nothing Against You, And Therefore Do Not Think It

Worth While To Risk Our Lives Exchanging Shots; But Herrets, Here--"

"Ah, Then He Can Meet Me," Cried Delvin, Eagerly.

"By No Means," Replied Fred, With Great Distinctness; "You Have Injured

Him Sufficiently Already, And It Appears To Me Strange That The World

Should Think A Husband Bound To Demand Reparation By Receiving The

Contents Of A Pistol, And Then Consider That Satisfaction Has Been

Accorded."

"Then You Deny Me A Chance To Satisfy The Husband Of This Woman?"

Demanded Delvin, And His Looks Showed How Eagerly He Would Have Shot

Herrets Had He Been Allowed.

"Certainly We Do, And We Have A Piece Of Advice To Give You--Don't

Return To Ballarat For A Few Months, Or You Might Fare Badly. The Miners

Have A Prejudice Against People Who Run Off With Wives Not Belonging To

Them, And But Little Agitation Would Be Necessary To Serve You As Men Of

Your Kind Are Served In California."

"May I Ask Now That Is?" Delvin Inquired.

"They Are Tried By Lynch Law," Was Fred's Laconic Answer.

The Seducer Glared At Us As Though He Would Like To Encounter Each

Individual Singly, And I Did Not, Know But That He Would Charge Upon Us,

And Risk The Odds, Great As They Were.

"What Have I Done, Mary Ann, That You Should Run Off And Leave Me?"

Cried Herrets, Speaking For The First Time.

His Wife Maintained A Profound Silence.

"Didn't I Do All That I Could To Make You Happy And Comfortable?" He

Continued.

"No," She Replied, With A Defiant Air, "You Did Not. You Never Spoke To

Me Kindly, Or Asked If I Was Contented. I Went To Your Tent With But

Little Love For You, And Now I Have Less. Did You Seek To Gain My

Affections, Or To Banish From My Mind The Image Of A Man That I Felt I

Could Die For?"

She Looked Hard At Fred, But The Latter Avoided Her Glance.

"I May Have To Go Back With You, But I Warn You That I Feel Only

Loathing And Contempt For Your Home, For You, And Every One In

Ballarat."

We Did Not Seek To Check Her, For We Knew That Her Outburst Of Rage

Would End In Tears, And We Were Not Mistaken. She Wept Bitterly, And

Upbraided Fred And Myself As The Authors Of Her Misfortunes; And Even

While She Was Lamenting Her Fate, We Turned Her Horse's