An Outback Marriage Banjo Paterson (philippa perry book .txt) đ
- Author: Banjo Paterson
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âThat I donât,â said the storekeeper. âI send out what they want by a Malay who sails a one-masted craft round the coast, and goes up the river to their camp, and brings the hides back. They send a blackfellow to let me know when they want any stuff, and where to send it.â
âPerhaps I could go out with the next lot of stuff,â said Hugh. âWhen will they want it, do you think?â
âWell, they mightnât want any more. They might go on now till the wet season, and then theyâll come in.â
âWhen is the wet season, then?â
âOh, a couple of months, likely. Perhaps three months. Perhaps there wonât be none at all to speak of. Whatâll you have?â
âOh, I have just had a drink, thanks. Fact is, Iâm a bit anxious to get out to this camp. Itâs a bit important. You donât know where they are for certain?â
âLord knows! Anywhere! Might be on one river, might be on another. Theyâll come in in the wet season. Better have a drink, anyhow. You must have something. Whatâll it beâ âsquare? Beer? Canât stand beer in this climate, myself.â
âOh, well,â said Hugh desperately, âIâll have another square. Make it a light one. Do you think I can get anyone who knows where they are camped to go out with me?â
âTommy Princeâd know, I expect. He was out in that country before. But heâs gone with a bullock-team, drawing quartz to the new battery at the Oriental. At least I saw him start out three weeks ago. Said he was in a hurry, too, as the battery couldnât start until he got the quartz hauled.â
âPerhaps he didnât start,â said Hugh; âperhaps he put it off till after the wet season?â
âWell,â said the storekeeper, meditatively, âhe might, but I donât think he would. Thereâs no one else, that I know of, can find them for you. Lord knows where they are. They camp in one place till the buffalo are all shot, and then they shift to new ground. Perhaps ten miles, perhaps thirty. Have another drink? Whatâll you have?â
âNo, not any more, thanks. About this Tommy Prince, now; if I can find him he might tell me where to go. Where can I find him?â
âDown at the Margaret is where he camps, but I think heâs gone to the Oriental by this timeâ âsure to be. Thatâs about forty miles down past the Margaret. There was a fellow came in from the Margaret for supplies, and heâll be going back tomorrowâ âif he can find his packhorses.â
âAnd supposing he canât?â
âWell, then, heâll go out next week, I expect, unless he gets on the drink. Heâs a terrible chap to drink.â
âAnd if he starts to drink, when will he go?â
âLord knows. Theyâll have to send in after him. His matesâll be pretty near starved by now, anyhow. Heâs been in town, foolinâ round that girl at the Royal this three weeks. Heâll give you a lift out to the Margaretâ âthatâs forty miles.â
âWhat is there out at the Margaret when I get there? Is it a town, or a station, or a mine? What is it?â
âOh, itâs not so bad. Thereâs a store there, and a few mines scattered about. Mostly Chinese mines. The storekeeper thereâs a great soaker, nearly always on the drink. Nameâs Sampson. Heâll tell you where to find Tommy Prince. Prince and his mates have a claim twelve miles out from there, and if Tommy ainât gone to the Oriental, he might go down with you.â
âSupposing Tommyâs at his claim, twelve miles out,â said Hugh, âhow can I get out?â
âI dunno,â said the storekeeper, who was getting tired of talking so long without a drink. âI dunno how youâll get out there. Better have a drinkâ âwhatâll you have?â
Hugh walked out of the store in despair. He found himself engaged in what appeared to be an endless chase after a phantom Considine, and the difficulties in his way semed insuperable. Yet how could he go back and tell them all at home that he had failed? What would they think of him? The thought made him miserable; and he determined, if he failed, never to go back to the old station at all.
So he returned to his hotel, packed his valise, and set out to look for the packhorse man. He found him fairly sober; soon bargained to be allowed to ride one of the horses, and in due course was deposited at the Margaretâ âa city consisting of one galvanised-iron building, apparently unoccupied. His friend dismounted and had a drink with him out of his flask. They kicked at the door unavailingly; then his mate went on into the indefinite, leaving him face to face with general desolation.
The Margaret store was the only feature in the landscapeâ âa small building with a heap of empty bottles in the immediate foreground, and all round it the grim bush, a vista of weird twisted trees and dull grey earth with scanty grass. At the back were a well, a windlass, and a trough for water, round which about a hundred goats were encamped. Hugh sat and smoked, and looked at the prospect. By-and-by out of the bush came two men, a Chinaman and a white man. The Chinaman was like all Chinamen; the white man was a fiery, red-faced, red-bearded, red-nosed little fellow. The Chinee was dragging a goat along by the horns, the goat hanging back and protesting loudly in semi-human screams; every now and again a black mongrel dog would make sudden fiendish dashes at the captive, and fasten its teeth in its neck. This made it bellow louder; but the Chinaman, with the impassibility of his race, dragged goat, dog, and all along, without the slightest show of interest.
The white man trudged ahead, staring fixedly in
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