Part 18 (1/2)

There was a certain element of ht reasonably be expected from cushi+ons which had been subjected to ten years of the Birralong climate, and from balls which had been played with by such visitors as ca over each corner pocket, is not the best light a billiard-table can have, ed insects are nuely round the laed, on the cloth of the table To these drawbacks Gleeson earnestly attributed the bad luck which usually attended the play of his opponents, and the extraordinary strokes hich he was able to win the hardest fought ga circumstances could quite reconcile the miners to the constant loss they suffered at his hands, and so it came about that he was the first one at whom they shi+ed

In this he was personally responsible to a very large extent, for being a man of exalted opinions as to his own i maintain the attitude of reserve and self-effacement which Barber had imposed as a condition of service under the scheht shy of hiot the necessity for caution, and ignored the gentle persuasive influence of an occasional defeat Instead of the tact which anier and ”side,”

and talked largely of his powers as a billiardist, and patronizingly to the men who made matches between themselves and declined even his bets

When the table was disengaged and there were onlookers in the rooed proer stakes, until the souls of theyearned in silence for the return of Tony, who alone of all the townshi+p had succeeded inlike the degree Gleeson had

But Tony had not yet returned frothe creek in the scrub than the others had done on Ripple Creek, had located the extent over which gold was to be found in the wash-dirt, and had then carefully and syste theround quickly and effectively As none of the men froed that their find was purely their personal concern and that no one else knew of its existence Under the spell of exciteendered by the find, Gleeson passed entirely out of old in the creek before any one else could come and share the spoil was the one idea in their ot When he sneaked away after the thrashi+ng that Palmer Billy had ad out of reach of the vengeance of the men he believed he had fooled He did not know exactly in what direction he journeyed, save that it ay frohness of which made him ache in every bone, joint, and , as fast as he could, away froer; and in accordance with that unexplained lahich induces two bubbles on a tea-cup to run together, or two shi+ps on the face of the boundless ocean to collide, or two buggies on a plain to run into one another, or a single horseh the one rabbit burrow in an area of twenty square le-hearted desire to escape from honest associations, ran upon the temporary caue adue who can cheat him, and Gleeson fraternized with his old coation revealed the fact that there really was gold in Ripple Creek, and with that resource which, more than necessity, is the mother of invention, communications were opened up with Walker, and the plan laid for the relieving of the successfulthe season of holiday and festivity Learning the way Peters and his coone, Barber had tracked them over the creek to the scrub, and had watched them, from a safe cover, as they worked the payable dirt In order to include their winnings in the general haul it was intended to make, Walker was deputed to proceed to their camp, after the men had left Ripple Creek, and stay with them until, by fair means or foul, he had either induced the and into the trap, or had succeeded in carrying off their gold single-handed The latter was more than he could accomplish, so he had to stay with them and induce theave Gleeson tiold from the miners to himself before the arrival of Palmer Billy and his mates--an incident he had neither the desire nor the intention to witness

With that perversity which sometimes afflicts the issues of deep-laid schemes, the end of the drift on the creek by the scrub was reached several days sooner than was expected, and when the labour of an entire rew i in the holiday season He told the others they could stay, if they liked, but he was off to give the festivities at Birralong the benefit of his vocal art Peters and Tony fell in with the proposal, and started off without giving Walker tiht

They happened to co road near Marmot's store at aone another to lose their teer in the billiard-room The appearance of Tony was hailed as a God-send The story of how the ”flashy,” as they ter his chest up at the expense of the townshi+p, was poured into the ears of the new-comers, and Tony was adjured, by all the ties of patriotism and loyalty, to ”sail in and knock him cold,” as one of the crowd expressed it

It came to some one that a surprise party would be an excellent idea--a surprise party which would enter the billiard-room at a moment when the ”flashy,” flushed with victory, would be uttering his loud-e; a surprise party which would quietly ”take him on and paralyze him stony,” as another of the crowd explained

Walker deht the trick would be unfair andinstinct which is the hall-mark of Australians; but the others were rather taken with it, and Palood luck than either--insisted that Walker, as he had conscientious scruples, should coe sent to Gleeson

A game was just over when the new-comers reached the Rest, and as no one seemed to be in a hurry to take the table, and the room was exceptionally full, Gleeson knocked the balls about with a good deal of swagger as he offered swaame Tony was in the lead, with Palmer Billy and Peters close after him, as they entered the room by a door to which Gleeson's back at thewith you all? Haven't you the cash or the pluck, or what's in the wind? I'll give any one seventy-five in a hundred and play him for twenty notes Now, then, who's on?”

”Well, I am,” Tony exclaimed; and Gleeson turned at the voice

He saw Tony; he saw Peters; he saw Palmer Billy; and behind them he saw Walker; and for the , as a quick suspicion flashed through his mind whether he had been sold by the man

”Oh, we're sports all square, you bet yer bloochers,” Pal with a curious gleam, met Gleeson's

A hubbub,the hting for the tiether

”I'll play you level,” he jerked out, facing Tony

A roar of dissent came from the audience Only Palmer Billy's voice penetrated it as he yelled--

”On yer own terms We ain't no sharks”

The senti the onlookers, and the roar of dissent changed to a cheer of approval, so loud that it brought every

Recovering his coer as quickly as he could, Gleeson offered to back himself--and had his answer frolances with Walker, and guessed as in the air

”I think I'll take those that you don't,” he said slad of the hint that his friends were sticking to him, accepted the partnershi+p

”Perhaps soroup by the doorway