what lies at the other side of the hedge beforeI put my horse at it."
The first crops of wheat that were taken off the lands of Burley NewFarm were gathered without much straw. It seemed a waste to burn thelatter; but the distance from the railway, and still more from amarket-town, made its destruction a necessity.
Nor was it altogether destruction either; for the ashes served as afertiliser for future crops.
As things got more settled down, and years flew by, the system ofworking the whole station was greatly improved. Bob and Harry hadbecome quite the home-farmers and agriculturists, while the cattlepartially, and the sheep almost wholly, became the care of Archie, withGentleman Craig as his first officer.
Craig certainly had a long head on his broad shoulders. He did nothesitate from the first to give his opinions as to the management of thestation. One thing he assured the three friends of: namely, that thesheep must be sent farther north and west if they were to do well.
"They want higher and dryer ground," he said; "but you may try themhere."
I think at this time neither Bob nor Archie knew there was anything moredeadly to be dreaded than foot-rot, which the constant attention of theshepherds, and a due allowance of blue-stone, served out from Harry'sstores, kept well under.
They gained other and sadder experience before very long, however.
At first all went as merrily as marriage bells. The firstsheep-shearing was a never-to-be-forgotten event in the life of ourBushmen.
The season was October--a spring month in Australia--and the fleeceswere in fine form, albeit some were rather full of grass seed. Theywere mostly open, however, and everyone augured a good clip.
Sarah was very busy indoors superintending everything; for there wasextra cooking to be done now. Wee Diana, who had developed into quite aBush child, though a pretty one, toddled about here, there, andeverywhere; the only wonder is--as an Irishman might say--that she didnot get killed three or four times a day. Diana had long since abjuredgum-rings and rattles, and taken to hoops and whips. One of the colliedogs, and the pet kangaroo, were her constant companions. As previouslystated, both collies had been sent to Craig to be trained; but as Bouncehad a difference of opinion with one of the shepherds, he concluded hewould make a change by the way of bettering himself, so he had takenFrench leave and come home to the steading. He would have been sent offagain, sure enough, if he had not--collie-like--enlisted Sarah herselfon his behalf. This he had done by lying down beside little Diana onthe kitchen floor. The two kissed each other and fell asleep. Bounce'sposition was assured after that.
Findlayson, who did not mean to commence operations among his ownfleeces for another month, paid a visit to Burley, and brought with hima few spare hands. Harry had plenty to do both out of doors and in hisstores; for many men were now about the place, and they must all eat andsmoke.
"As sure as a gun," said Findlayson the first morning, "thatJoukie-daidles o' yours 'ill get killed."
He said this just after about three hundred sheep had rushed the child,and run over her. It was the fault of the kangaroo on one hand, and thecollie, Bounce, on the other. Findlayson had picked her off the ground,out of a cloud of dust, very dirty, but smiling.
"What is to be done with her?" said Bob, scratching his head.
"Fauld her," said Findlayson.
"What does that mean?"
Findlayson showed him what "faulding" meant. He speedily put up alittle enclosure on an eminence, from which Diana could see all withoutthe possibility of escaping. So every day she, with her dog and the petkangaroo, to say nothing of a barrow-load of toys, including a hugeNoah's ark, found herself happy and out of harm's way. Diana could beseen at times leaning over the hurdle, and waving a hand exultingly inthe air, and it was presumed she was loudly cheering the men'sperformance; but as to hearing anything, that seemed utterly out of thequestion, with the baa-ing and maa-ing of the sheep.
When the work was in full blast it certainly was a strange sight, andquite colonial. Archie had been at sheep-shearings before at home amongthe Cheviot Hills, but nothing to compare to this.
There was, first and foremost, the sheep to be brought up in batches orflocks from the distant stations, men and dogs also having plenty to doto keep them together, then the enclosing them near the washing-ground.The dam in which the washing took place was luckily well filled, forrain had fallen not long before. Sheep-washing is hard work, as anyonewill testify who has tried his hand at it for even half a day. Sheepare sometimes exceedingly stupid, more particularly, I think, about atime like this. The whole business is objected to, and they appearimbued with the idea that you mean to drown them, and put every obstaclein your way a stubborn nature can invent.
The sheep, after being well scrubbed, were allowed a day to get dry andsoft and nice. Then came the clipping. Gentleman Craig was stationedat a platform to count the fleeces and see them ready for pressing, andArchie's work was cut out in seeing that the fellows at the clipping didtheir duty properly.
It was a busy, steaming time, on the whole, for everybody, but merryenough nevertheless. There was "lashins" of eating and drinking.Findlayson himself took charge of the grog, which was mostly rum, onlyhe had a small store of mountain dew for his own special consumption.
Harry was quite the Whitechapel tradesman all over, though you could nothave told whether the grocer or butcher most predominated in hisappearance.
The clipping went on with marvellous speed, a rivalry existing betweenthe hands apparently; but as they were paid by the number of fleeces,there was evident desire on the part of several to sacrifice perfectionto rapidity.
When it was all over there was still a deal to be done in clearing upand getting the whole station resettled, one part of the resettling, andthe chief too, being the re-establishing of the sheep on their pasturageafter marking them.
The wool was pressed into bales, and loaded on huge bullock-waggons,which are in appearance something between an ordinary country wood-cartand a brewer's dray. The road to the distant station was indeed a roughone, and at the slow rate travelled by the bullock teams the journeywould occupy days.
Craig himself was going with the last lot of these, and Archie hadstarted early and ridden on all alone to see to business in Brisbane.
He had only been twice at the town in the course of three years, so itis no wonder that now he was impressed with the notion that thewell-dressed city folks must stare at him, to see if he had any hay-seedin his hair.
Winslow was coming round by boat, and Etheldene as well; she had been athome for some time on a holiday.
Why was it, I wonder, that Archie paid a visit to several outfitters'shops in Brisbane, and made so many purchases? He really was wellenough dressed when he entered the town; at all events, he had looked asmart young farmer all over. But when he left his bedroom on themorning of Winslow's arrival, he had considerably more of the EnglishSquire than the Australian Squatter about his _tout ensemble_. But hereally looked a handsome, happy, careless young fellow, and that bit ofa sprouting moustache showed off his good looks to perfection. He couldnot help feeling it sometimes as he sat reading a paper in the hotelhall, and waiting for his friends, and was fool enough to wonder ifEtheldene would think him improved in appearance.
But Archie was neither "masher" nor dandy at heart. He was simply ayoung man, and I would not value any young man who did not take painswith his personal appearance, even at the risk of being thought proud.
Archie had not long to wait for Winslow. He burst in like a freshsea-breeze--hale, hearty, and bonnie. He was also a trifle betterdressed than usual. But who was that young lady close by his left hand?That couldn't be--yes, it was Etheldene, and next moment Archie wasgrasping a hand of each.
Etheldene's beauty had matured; she had been but a girl, a child, whenArchie had met her before. Now she was a bewitching young lady, modestand lovely, but, on the whole, so self-possessed that if our hero hadharboured any desire to appear before her at his ver
y best, and keep upthe good impression by every means in his power, he had the good senseto give it up and remain his own natural honest self.
But he could not help saying to himself, "What a wife she will make forRupert! And how Elsie will love and adore her! And I--yes, I will becontent to remain the big bachelor brother."
There was such a deal to ask of each other, such a deal to do and tosay, that days flew by before they knew where they were, as Winslowexpressed it.
On the fifth day Gentleman Craig arrived to give an account of hisstewardship.
Etheldene almost bounded towards him.
But she looked a little shy at his stare of astonishment as he took hergloved hand.
"Baby," he exclaimed, "I would hardly have known you! How you haveimproved!"
Then the conversation became general.
When accounts were squared, it was discovered that, by the spring wool,and last year's
From Squire to Squatter: A Tale of the Old Land and the New Page 37
