All dressed
in white, first looking up at the operator as, clinging to his pole, he
tapped the line, and then looking down at him as he knelt at our feet
with his tiny transmitter beside him clicking out our message to the
south folk. And as we stood, with our horses' bridles over our arms and
the horses nibbling at the sweet grasses, in touch with the world in
spite of our isolation, a gorgeous butterfly rested for a brief space on
the tiny instrument, with gently swaying purple wings, and away in the
great world men were sending telegrams amid clatter and dust, unconscious
of that tiny group of bushfolk, or that Nature, who does all things well,
can beautify even the sending of a telegram.
In the heart of the bush we stood yet listening to the clatter of the
townsfolk, for, business over, the little clicking instrument was
gossiping cheerily with us - the telegraph wire in the Territory being
such a friendly wire. Daily it gathers gossip, and daily whispers it up
and down the line, and daily news and gossip fly hither and thither:
who's "inside," who has gone out, whom to expect, where the mailman is,
the newest arrival in Darwin and the latest rainfall at Powell's Creek.
Daily the telegraph people hear all the news of the Territory, and in due
course give the news to the public, when the travellers gathering it,
carry it out to the bushfolk, scattering it broadcast, until everybody
knows every one else, and all his business and where it has taken him;
and because of that knowledge, and in spite of those hundreds of
thousands of square miles of bushland, the people of the Territory are
held together in one great brotherhood.
Among various items of news the little instrument told us that Dan was
"packing up for the return trip"; and in a day or two he came in,
bringing a packet of garden seeds and a china teapot from Mine Host,
Southern letters from the telegraph, and, from little Johnny, news that
he was getting tools together and would be along in no time.
Being in one of his whimsical moods, Dan withheld congratulations.
"I've been thinking things over, boss," he said, assuming his most
philosophical manner "and I reckon any more rooms'll only interfere with
getting the missus educated."
Later on he used the servant question to hang his argument on. "Just
proves what I was saying" he said. "If the cleaning of one room causes
all this trouble and worry, where'll she be when she's got four to look
after? What with white ants, and blue mould, and mildew, and wrestling
with lubras, there won't be one minute to spare for education."
He also professed disapproval of the Maluka's devices for making the
homestead more habitable.
