The Book Of The Bush by George Dunderdale (top fiction books of all time .TXT) 📖

Glad To Hear That The Ring,  At Any Rate,

Is Not Lost.  It Will Be Ready For Another Cecily,  Won't It,  Mr.

Barlow?"

 

Barlow,  Looking Down On The Floor Of The Court And Shaking His Head

Slowly From Side To Side,  Said:

 

"No,  It Won't  No Fear.  There 'Ull Be No More Cecilies For Me."

 

There Was Laughter In The Court,  And When Frank Raised His Eyes,  And

Story 6 ( The Two Shepherds.) Pg 124

Saw A Broad Grin On Every Face,  He,  Too,  Burst Into A Fit Of Laughter.

 

I Saw Mr. Aspinall And Dr. Macadam Walking Together Arm-In-Arm From

The Court.  The Long Doctor And The Little Lawyer Were A Strange

Pair.  Everybody Knew That They Were Sliding Down The Easy Slope To

Their Tragic End,  But They Seemed Never To Think Of It.

 

Frank Returned To Nyalong,  Happier Than Either.  He Related The

Particulars Of The Trial To His Friends With The Utmost Cheerfulness.

Whether He Recovered All The Worldly Goods With Which He Had Endowed

Cecily Is Doubtful,  But He Faithfully Kept His Promise That "There

'Ull Be No More Cecilies For Me."

 

There Was A Demon Of Mischief At Work On Philip's Hill At Both Sides

Of The Dividing Fence.  Sam Was Poisoned By A Villainous Butcher;

Bruin Had Been Killed By Hugh Boyle; Maggie Had Eloped With A Wild

Native To A Gum-Tree; Joey Had Been Eaten By Pussy; Barlow Had Been

Crossed In Love,  And Then The Crowning Misfortune Befell The Hermit.

 

Mrs. Chisholm Was A Lady Who Gave Early Tokens Of Her Vocation.  At

The Age Of Seven She Began To Form Benevolent Plans For The Colonies

Of Great Britain.  She Built Ships Of Broad Beans,  Filled Them With

Poor Families Of Couchwood,  Sent Them To Sea In A Wash-Basin,  Landed

Them In A Bed-Quilt,  And Started Them Growing Wheat.  Then She Loaded

Her Fleet With A Return Cargo For The British Pauper,  One Grain Of

Wheat In Each Ship,  And Navigated It Safely To Old England.  She Made

Many Prosperous Voyages,  But Once A Storm Arose Which Sent All Her

Ships To The Bottom Of The Sea.  She Sent A Wesleyan Minister And A

Catholic Priest To Botany Bay In The Same Cabin,  Strictly Enjoining

Them Not To Quarrel During The Voyage.  At The Age Of Twenty She

Married Captain Chisholm,  And Went With Him To Madras.  There She

Established A School Of Industry For Girls,  And Her Husband Seconded

Her In All Her Good Works.

 

Mr. Chamier,  The Secretary,  Took A Great Interest In Her School; Sir

Frederick Adams Subscribed 20 Pounds,  And Officers And Gentlemen In

Madras Contributed In Five Days 2,000 Rupees.  The School Became An

Extensive Orphanage.

 

Mrs. And Captain Chisholm Came To Australia In 1838 For The Benefit

Of His Health,  And They Landed At Sydney.  They Saw Highland

Immigrants Who Could Not Speak English,  And They Gave Them Tools And

Wheelbarrows Wherewith To Cut And Sell Firewood.

 

Captain Chisholm Returned To India In 1840,  But The Health Of Her

Young Family Required Mrs. Chisholm To Remain In Sydney.

 

Female Immigrants Arriving In Sydney Were Regularly Hired On Board

Ship,  And Lured Into A Vicious Course Of Life.  Mrs. Chisholm Went On

Board Each Ship,  And Made It Her Business To Protect And Advise Them,

And Begged The Captain And Agent To Act With Humanity.  Some Place Of

Residence Was Required In Which The New Arrivals Could Be Sheltered,

Until Respectable Situations Could Be Found For Them,  And In January,

1841,  She Applied To Lady Gipps For Help.  A Committee Of Ladies Was

Story 6 ( The Two Shepherds.) Pg 125

Formed,  And Mrs. Chisholm At Length Obtained A Personal Audience From

The Governor,  Sir George Gipps.  He Believed She Was Labouring Under

An Amiable Delusion.  He Wrote To A Friend:

 

"I Expected To Have Seen An Old Lady In A White Cap And Spectacles,

Who Would Have Talked To Me About My Soul.  I Was Amazed When My Aide

Introduced A Handsome,  Stately Young Woman,  Who Proceeded To Reason

The Question As If She Thought Her Reason,  And Experience Too,  Worth

As Much As Mine."

 

Sir George At Last Consented To Allow Her The Use Of A Government

Building,  A Low Wooden One.  Her Room Was Seven Feet By Seven Feet.

Rats Ran About In It In All Directions,  And Then Alighted On Her

Shoulders.  But She Outgeneraled The Rats.  She Gave Them Bread And

Water The First  Night,  Lit Two Candles,  And Sat Up In Bed Reading

"Abercrombie."  There Came Never Less Than Seven Nor More Than

Thirteen Rats Eating At The Same Time.  The Next Night She Gave Them

Another Feast Seasoned With Arsenic.

 

The Home For The Immigrants Given Her By Sir George Had Four Rooms,

And In It At One Time She Kept Ninety Girls Who Had No Other Shelter.

About Six Hundred Females Were Then Wandering About Sydney Unprovided

For.  Some Slept In The Recesses Of The Rocks On The Government

Domain.  She Received From The Ships In The Harbour Sixty-Four Girls,

And All The Money They Had Was Fourteen Shillings And Three

Half-Pence.

 

She Took Them To The Country,  Travelling With A Covered Cart To Sleep

In.  She Left Married Families At Different Stations,  And Then Sent

Out Decent Lasses Who Should Be Married.

 

In Those Days The Dead Bodies Of The Poor Were Taken To The Cemetery

In A Common Rubbish-Cart.

 

By Speeches And Letters Both Public And Private,  And By Interviews

With Influential Men,  Mrs. Chisholm Sought Help For The Emigrants

Both In Sydney And England,  Where She Opened An Office In 1846.

 

In The Year 1856 Major Chisholm Took A House At Nyalong,  Near

Philip's School.  Two Of The Best Scholars Were John And David.  When

David Lost His Place In The Class He Burst Into Tears,  And The Blakes

And The Boyles Laughed.  The Major Spoke To The Boys And Girls

Whenever He Met Them.  He Asked John To Tell Him How Many

Weatherboards He Would Have To Buy To Cover The Walls Of His House,

Which Contained Six Rooms And A Lean-To,  And Was Built Of Slabs.

John Measured The Walls And Solved The Problem Promptly.  The Major

Then Sent His Three Young Children To The School,  And Made The

Acquaintance Of The Master.

 

Mrs.  Chisholm Never Went To Nyalong,  But The Major Must Have Given

Her Much Information About It,  For One Day He Read A Portion Of One

Of Her Letters Which Completely Destroyed Philip's Peace Of Mind.  It

Was To The Effect That He Was To Open A School For Boarders At

Nyalong,  And,  As A Preliminary,  Marry A Wife.  The Major Said That If

Story 6 ( The Two Shepherds.) Pg 126

Philip Had No Suitable Young Lady In View,  Mrs. Chisholm,  He Was

Sure,  Would Undertake To Produce One At A Very Short Notice.  She Had

The Whole Matter Already Planned,  And Was Actually Canvassing For

  Pupils Among The Wealthiest Families In The Colony.  The Major

Smiled Benevolently,  And Said It Was Of No Use For Philip To Think Of

Resisting Mrs. Chisholm; When She Had Once Made Up Her Mind,

Everybody Had To Give Way,  And The Thing Was Settled.  Philip,  Too,

Smiled Faintly,  And Tried To Look Pleased,  Dissembling His Outraged

Feelings,  But He Went Away In A State Of Indignation.  He Actually

Made An Attack On The Twelve Virtues,  Which Seemed All At Once To

Have Conspired Against  His Happiness.  He Said:  "If I Had Not Kept

School So Conscientiously,  This Thing Would Never Have Happened.  I

Don't Want Boarders,  And I Don't Want Anybody To Send Me A Wife To

Nyalong.  I Am Not,  Thank God,  One Of The Royal Family,  And Not Even

Queen Victoria Shall Order Me A Wife."

 

In That Way The Lonely Hermit Put His Foot Down And Began A

Countermine,  Working As Silently As Possible.

 

During The Christmas Holidays,  After His Neighbour Frank Had Been

Jilted By Cecily,  He Rode Away,  And Returned After A Week's Absence.

The Major Informed Him That Mrs. Chisholm Had Met With An Accident

And Would Be Unable To Visit Nyalong For Some Time.  Philip Was

Secretly Pleased To Hear The News,  Outwardly He Expressed Sorrow And

Sympathy,  And Nobody But Himself Suspected How Mean And Deceitful He

Was.

 

At Easter He Rode Away Again And Returned In Less Than A Week.  Next

Day He Called At Mccarthy's Farm And Dined With The Family.  He Said

He Had Been Married The Previous Morning Before He Had Started For

Nyalong,  And Had Left His Wife At The Waterholes.  Mccarthy Began To

Suspect That Philip Was A Little Wrong In His Head;  It Was A Kind Of

Action That Contradicted All Previous Experience.  He Could Remember

Various Lovers Running Away Together Before Marriage,  But He Could

Not Call To Mind A Single Instance In Which They Ran Away From One

Another Immediately After Marriage.  But He Said To Himself,  "It Will

All Be Explained By-And-By," And He Refrained From Asking Any

Impertinent Questions Merely To Gratify Curiosity.

 

After Dinner Gleeson,  Philip,  And Mccarthy Rode Into The Bush With

The Hounds.  A Large And Heavy "Old Man" Was Sighted; And The Dogs

Stuck Him Up With His Back To A Tree.  While They Were Growling And

Barking Around The Tree Gleeson Dismounted,  And,  Going Behind The

Tree,  Seized The "Old Man" By The Tail.  The Kangaroo Kept Springing

Upwards And At The Dogs,  Dragging Gleeson After  Him,  Who Was Jerking

The Tail This Way And That To Bring His Game To The Ground,  For The

"Old Man" Was So Tall That The Dogs Could Not Reach His Throat While

He Stood Upright.  Philip Gave His Horse To Mccarthy And Approached

The "Old Man" With His Club.

 

"Shoot Him With Your Revolver," Said Gleeson.  "If I Let Go His Tail,

He'll Be Ripping You With His Toe."

 

"I Might Shoot You Instead," Said Philip; "Better To Club Him.  Hold

Story 6 ( The Two Shepherds.) Pg 127