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

Attracting Them To His Fatal Snares.

The Bodies Of The Birds Were Sold By Kow, And If He Could Find No

Market, He Would Hold On To Them Until He Did; And If, After All His

Trouble, None Of His Countrymen Were Disposed To Buy, The Unhappy

Chinaman Would Devour Them Himself; And Even If Fly-Blown And Slightly

Decomposed, It Made No Difference To Kow; His Greatest Anxiety Was On

Account Of Not Being Able To Get A Shilling For The Body Of The Bird

That He Was At Length Compelled To Eat. With The Plumage Of The

Birds--And The Feathers Of The Birds Of Australia Are Of The Most Gaudy

Hue--He Made, During Evenings, Rare Trinkets, And Magnificent Wreaths,

And Sold Them To Miners At A Fair Price, To Be Taken Home As

Curiosities. I Had A Box Filled With Such Articles, And Which I Valued

Highly; But They Were Lost On My Voyage Home, While Crossing The Isthmus

Of Suez.

We Found Old Yam Kow Seated Before His Hut, Which Was Made Of Bits Of

Sticks, Pieces Of Boards, Stones, And Mud, All Cemented And Fitted

Together In The Neatest Manner, And What Was More Wonderful Than All,

Perfectly Water Tight, And As Clean Inside As Possible.

The Old Man Was Hard At Work, Or Pretended To Be, On One Of His Wreaths,

And Seemed Not To Notice That We Were Halting In Front Of His Abode.

"Hullo, Yam Kow!" Cried The Inspector, "Putty Mi More Money, Hey?" Which

Barbarous Jargon, It Seems, Is Always Considered Necessary To Use When

Talking With A Chinese, No Matter Whether The Latter Understands English

Or Not.

The True Meaning Of Mr. Brown's Interrogation Was, Whether Yam's Tax

Money Was Ready Or Not.

"No Hab," Returned The Chinaman, Without Looking Up.

"How, No Hab?--Putty Mi More Day. No Can See?" Demanded Mr. Brown.

"No Hab," Repeated The Old Fellow, Continuing His Work Industriously.

"Why No Hab?" The Inspector Asked.

"All Go--Buy Ricey--Buy Torayun Tan Pon, And No Hab."

"Then Workey On Rodey Ten (Holding Up His Fingers) Day. Chinaman No Good

For Shovel--Work More Days Englishman. Come." "No Can Come Now. Pay

Money By By," The Chinaman Said, Thinking That His Promise To Pay Before

Long Would Suffice.

"Pay Money Now--No Pay Money Now, Go!" Repeated The Inspector, Who

Managed To Make Himself Understood.

"No Pay," The Old Fellow Said, And As The Sounds Escaped His Lips, The

Sergeant Dismounted From His Horse And Approached Him.

"Come," That Worthy Said, And He Laid His Huge Hand Upon The Celestial,

In Close Proximity To His Pigtail.

"No Go," Repeated Yam.

"Start Your Stumps," Cried The Policeman; And He Lifted The Chinaman

From The Ground By His Pigtail, And Almost Held Him At Arm's Length.

"Me Pay! Me Pay!" He Roared, To The Great Delight Of The Police, And A

Few Of Yam's Countrymen Who Were Standing Near.

The Sergeant Released The Old Fellow, And He Rapidly Uttered A Number Of

Expressions In His Native Tongue, That I Will Swear Were Not

Complimentary To The English Character.

After He Had Thus Vented His Anger, He Drew From The Folds Of His Inside

Trousers A Little Bag Of Dust, Which, Upon Being Weighed, Was Found To

Contain Just The Amount, To A Scale, That Was Required For The Payment

Of His Tax, And After Checking His Name, We Rode On.

In This Manner The Tax Was Collected From The Miners Of Ballarat.

We Were Sitting In Our Store Eating Supper One Afternoon, About A Week

After Our Tax-Collecting Tour, And Were Wondering Why Smith Did Not Make

His Appearance, As He Certainly Had Been Gone Long Enough, And Were

Debating The Propriety Of Writing Or Visiting Melbourne For The Purpose

Of Finding Him, When A Person, Dressed Quite Respectably, But Wearing A

Slouched Hat Over His Eyes, That Entirely Concealed His Face, Entered

The Store And Looked Around As Though Anxious To Purchase Goods, But Was

Disappointed In Not Meeting With An Assortment.

"We Shall Be Happy To Serve You In A Few Days," Fred Said. "Our Stock Is

On The Road, And Will He Here Shortly."

"Vell, I Guess I Can Vait," Returned A Voice That Sounded Familiar, And

Our Visitor Removed His Hat And Revealed The Not Over-Pleasing

Countenance Of Steel Spring.

We Could Hardly Believe The Evidence Of Our Senses, Yet There Stood The

Cunning Scamp Before Us, With His Long Limbs And Lank Body, As Supple As

Ever, And Grinning With Delight At Our Astonishment.

"I 'Ope You've Not Forgotten Old Friends," He Said, Extending His Hand,

Which Neither Of Us Accepted, But Which Act Did Not Discompose Him In

The Least; For He Only Grinned The Harder, And Appeared To Look Upon Our

Refusal As A Matter Of Course. "Where Did You Come From?" I Asked, As

Soon As I Recovered From My Astonishment.

"The Old Place--Melbourne; 'Ave 'Ad Lots Of Fun There, But Thought I'd

Look At The Country For A Change Of Air. Can't Stay Long, Though; So

Don't Press Me To Stop Over A Week."

"You Certainly Have Lost None Of Your Impudence By Residing At

Melbourne," Fred Replied, And The Fellow Grinned At The Compliment. "But

Tell Us How You Escaped From Prison," Fred Continued.

"Escaped?" Asked Steel Spring, With An Injured Look; "I'd Scorn Such A

Breach Of Confidence Between Gentlemen. No, Sir, I Did Not Escape, But

Was Pardoned For The Service I've Rendered My Country."

"And The Bushrangers That Murden Carried To Melbourne?" Fred Asked, With

Some Anxiety.

"Vell, They Suffered For Their Crimes, And Are All Forgotten By This

Time," Replied The Wretch, With A Grin.

"Hanged?" I Asked.

"Every Mother's Son Of 'Em, And Served 'Em Right, Too. Property Is

Respected, Nowadays, And A Miner Can Travel All The Way From Ballarat To

Melbourne, And Lose Nothing If He's Got Nothing To Lose," The Grinning

Scamp Replied.

"I've Got A Friend Vid Me," Steel Spring Said At Length, "And Perhaps

You'd Like To See Him."

"Who Is He?" We Asked.

"O, A Man You Used To Know--Murden I Believe Is His Name, And He's In

Some Vay Connected With The Police Force Of Melbourne."

The Grinning Rascal! He Had Been Sent By Our Friend To Notify Us Of His

Arrival, And That Was The Way He Performed His Duty. But Before We Had

Time To Administer To Him A Sound Kicking, The Lieutenant Was With Us.

We Need Not Tell The Reader That We Welcomed Him With Our Whole Hearts,

And That He Appeared As Delighted To See Us As We Were Glad To See Him.

"I Have Just Arrived In Time, I See," Murden Said, Glancing At Our

Supper, "And, By George, I'm Glad That I've A Place To Rest To-Night,

For I'm Tired. We've Been Three Days On The Road, On Horseback All The

Time, With The Exception Of A Few Hours During The Extreme Heat Of Noon.

Our Animals Got Used Up About Five Miles From Ballarat; So I Footed It

To Town. I Suppose That You Recollect That Scamp,"--Pointing To Steel

Spring, Who Bowed Low At The Compliment. "I've Taken Him Into My Service

On His Promise To Be Of Good Behavior; But I Don't Think That His Word

Is To Be Relied On; So I Cane Him About Once In Twenty-Four Hours, To

See If What Little Goodness There Is In Him Cannot Be Brought Out."

Steel Spring Shrugged His Shoulders, As Much As To Say, There Is No Joke

In What He Is Telling, As I Can Testify.

"But How Came Steel Spring To Find Us First?" I Asked.

"Well, When Our Horses Broke Down I Sent Him Ahead To Find Out In What

Quarter Of The Town You Were Located, And I Followed More Leisurely. The

First Policeman That I Met Directed Me Here, So That I Found No

Difficulty, And Was Not Compelled To Wait For My _Notorati_

Fellow-Traveller At The Cross-Roads."

"But How Comes It That You Are In Citizen's Dress, Instead Of The Blue

Uniform?"

"Ah, My Boys, That Is The Secret; But As I Have Nothing To Conceal From

You, I Will Confess I Am The Bearer Of Secret Despatches To The

Inspector Of This District In Relation To The Mining Tax. But While I Am

Talking, Set Steel Spring At Work Cooking Supper, For I Am Famished, And

I Suppose That He Is Also."

It Was Only Necessary To Nod Acquiescence To The Lieutenant, When Steel

Spring Stripped Off His Coat And Set To Work In Earnest. In A Few

Minutes He Had Ransacked Our Private Stores And Spread Our Few Dishes

Upon A Box, That Answered For A Table, In The Most Tempting Array; And

With A Few Dried Branches He Set The Teakettle To Boiling, And Almost

Before We Thought That He Had Made A Beginning, He Announced That Supper

Was Ready For His Superior.

"By The Way," Murden Said, While Partaking Of Our Fare, "I Overtook

Smith On His Way To This Place, And I Should Think That He Would Arrive

By To-Morrow Morning. He Has Two Large Loads Of Goods, And I Think That

He Has Made A Speculation In Buying Them, From The Hints That He Dropped

To Me In Confidence. One Of Your Large American Clipper Ships Arrived At

Melbourne With An Assorted Cargo Of Yankee Notions, And As The Market

Was, In Mercantile Parlance, Glutted With Goods Of All Descriptions, A

Forced Sale Was Effected, And Smith Bought Largely At A Low