I
Sold The Horse, Then My Watch, And Spent The Money.
When that was gone,
I thought of the letters of introduction I possessed.
The first that
came to hand was directed to a Wesleyan minister. I called there,
looking as sanctimonious as I could. He heard my story, advised me to
go to chapel regularly, 'And for your temporal wants,' said he, 'the
Lord will provide.' I thanked him, and bowed myself off.
"My first act was to burn my packet of introductory letters, my
next was to engage myself to a stock-holder at 15s. a week and my
rations. He was going up to his station at once, and I accompanied him.
We travelled for about two hundred miles through a most beautiful
country before we reached his home. His house was, in my ideas, a
comical-looking affair - made of split logs of wood, with a bark roof,
and a barrel stuck on the top of the roof at one end by way of a
chimney-pot. His wife, a pale sickly little woman, seemed pleased to
see us, for she had been much alarmed by the natives, who were rather
numerous about the neighbourhood. There was only a young lad, and an
old shepherd and his wife upon the station, besides herself. Before I
had been there six weeks she died, and her new-born little baby died
too; there was not a doctor for miles, and the shepherd's wife was
worse than useless. I believe this often happens in the bush - it's not a
place for woman-folks.
"I was here eighteen months - it was a wild sort of life, and just suited
my fancy; but when I found I had some money to receive, I thought a
spree in town would be a nice change, so off I marched. My spree lasted
as long as my money, and then I went as barman to a
public-house at Clare, some way up the country - here I got better wages
and better board, and stopped about half-a-year. Then I turned brewer's
drayman, and delivered casks of good Australian ale about Adelaide for
30s. a week. The brewer failed, and I joined in a speculation with an
apple dealer to cart a lot up to the Kapunda copper mines. That paid
well. I stopped up there as overseer over four-and-twenty
bullock-drays. Well, winter came, and I had little to do, though I drew
my 30s. a week regularly enough, when the directors wanted a contract
for putting the small copper-dust into bags, and sewing them up. I
offered to do the job at 2d. a bag, and could get through a hundred and
fifty a day. How much is that? Oh! 12s. 6d. a-piece. I forgot to tell
you I'd a mate at the work. That was good earnings in those days; and
me and my mate, who was quite a lad, were making a pretty penny, when
some others offered to do them a halfpenny a bag cheaper.
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