Part 34 (1/2)
”D----d if I knohether I got any,” replied his wife, with kindly concern, and with an easy mastery of expression seldom attained by her sex
”I'll fine out in about tinklin's of a goat's tail Sit down an' rest your weary bones, as the sayin' is I shoved the kettle on when I seen you coonal blue bottle, which she held up to the light ”Chlorodyne,” she explained; ”an there's so to keep about the house, but it ain't equal to Pain-killer for straightenin' a person up” She handed me the bottle, and proceeded to lay the table I endeavoured to make friends with Roddy, but he was very shy, as bush children usually are
”He's a fine little fellow, ma'am,” I remarked ”How old is he?”
”He o years an' seven months on last Friday week,” she replied, with ill-concealed vainglory
”No, no,” said I petulantly ”What is his age, really and truly?”
”Jist what I told you!” she replied, with a sunny laugh ”Think I was tryin'
to git the loan o' you? Well, so help me God! There!”
”Helenar!” murmured her husband sadly And, as he spoke, an inch of Helenar's tongue shot mo with merriment, toward me
”My ole man was cut out for a archdeacon,” she re But it's better to be that way nor the other way; an' he ain't a bad ole sort--give the divil his due
Anyway, that's Roddy's age, wrote in his Dad's Bible”
I laid my hand on the boundary rider's shoulder ”Look here, sir,”
said I ilishoing to have a race of people in these provinces such as the world has never seen before” And, as I looked at the child, I drifted into a labyrinth of insoluble enig with me, as the sympathetic reader is by this time well aware
The boundary rider shook his head ”Noa,” he replied dogmatically
”Climate plays ole Goozeb'ry wi' heverythink hout 'ere C'lonians bea n't got noo chest, n' reyhound” And he placed his hand on his own abdo ”W'y leuk at 'er; leuk at 'ee ze'f; leuk at 'e 'oss, ev'n Ees, zhure; an' Roddy'll be jis' sich anutheh
Pore leetle (weed)!”
He took the child on his knee with an air of hopeless pity, and aardly but tenderly wiped the little fellow's nose I was still lost in thought
We are theis easier than to build Nankin palaces of porcelain theory, which will fall in splinters before the first cannon-shot of unparleying fact What authority had the boundaryAustralian? Just the same authority as Marcus Clarke, or Trollope, or Froude, or Francis Ada of this kind is seldom safe Who, for instance, could have deduced, from certain subtly interlaced conditions of food, atmosphere, association, and what not, the developrace the upper lip of the Australienne? No doubt there are certain occult lahich govern these things; but we have n't evento forecast their operation?
Here was an exalishman, of his particular sub-species; his as a type Australienne, of the station-bullock-driver species; and their little boy was al Where are your theories now? Atavisht is the thinnest andAustralian is a problem
Mrs Vivian overwheled me to hurry back to his assistance I paid little heed to her advice, for I kneould soon come round; and in the meanti a cup of tea, I shook hands with her, and lingered at the door, looking at her husband, as he amused himself with Roddy
”I'll leave your coat on the fence, Mr Vivian,” said I at length
”Horrite”
”You want to be as lively as God'll let you,” said the excellent wo me to my horse ”I won't be satisfied till I see you off”
Very well, thought I; on your own head be it So I took off the linen coat, and handed it to her
”You should 'a' kep' on a inside shi+rt,” she reive you particular hell to morrow Why, you're like a boiled crawfish now Hides like that o' yours,” she added, testing with her finger and thuument on my near flank, as I hastily placed my bare foot in the stirrup, ”ain't worth a tinker's dam for standin' the sun”
(For the inforlected, it will be right to mention that the little morsel of chewed bread which a tin-smith of the old school places on his seam to check the inconvenient flow of the solder, is technically and appropriately termed a 'tinker's dam' It is the conceivable minimum of commercial value)
The sun was still above the trees when I unsaddled Cleopatra at ing anum, as the animals exerted themselves to make up for lost ti a cheerful professional air, as I swung on ”I've secured a drop of one of our istics, which is precisely what you require, as the trouble is distinctly anthrodyht in a couple of days”
”No, Collins,” replied Alf gently: ”I'll never be right--in the sense you
Help ive ”