Rolf Boldrewood

“ Wilfred was shocked at the appearance of the homestead of this thriving farmer. The falling fences, the neglected orchard, the dilapidated hut, the curiously patched and mended stock-yard, partly brush, partly of logs, with here and there a gap, secured by a couple of rude tree-forks, with a clumsy sapling laid across—all these did not look like the surroundings of a man who could give his cheque for several thousand pounds. However, the personal appearance of Mick himself, an athletic, manly, full-bearded fellow, as also that of his family, was decidedly prepossessing. ”

“ Not a foolish boy of five-and-twenty.’
‘Thank you, Beatrice,’ said Annabel, with dignity. ‘I’ll think over it and let you know. I don’t think it’s probable I should ever marry any one only a little older than myself. What could he know? I should laugh at him if he was angry. But Wilfred is going over to Badajos, or whatever is the name of the O’Desmond’s place, to-morrow, so he can bring us back a full, true, and particular account of everything, and whether Rosamond, or you, dear, would be the fitter helpmate for him. ”

“ From this time forth you may reckon upon a powerful, untiring friend in William Rockley.’
‘I know one friend, Harley,’ said Effingham as their hands met in a parting grasp, ‘who has been more than a brother to me in my hour of need. We can never divide the gratitude which is your due from me and mine.’
‘Pooh! pooh! a man wants more friends than one, especially in Australia, where a season of adversity—which means a dry one—may be hanging over him; and a better one than William Rockley will be to you, henceforth, no man ever saw or heard of. ”

“ But the long, lean head had never been overlapped; and as he pulls up, head down and distinctly ‘proppy,’ half-a-dozen men struggle for the honour of leading Mendicant into the weighing-yard, and his rider knows that he has won. Bolivar, with distended nostril and heaving flank, follows next, with Bob Clarke sitting languidly on his back, and looking nearly as exhausted as his horse; while No Mamma, eased at the distance, drags in, as if she had had enough of it for some time to come. Wilfred takes his saddle and mechanically goes to scale. ”

“ TOM GLENDINNING, STOCK-RIDER ‘Come in at once, this moment, and tell us all about everybody,’ said Annabel; ‘tea is nearly ready, and we are hungry for news, and even just a little gossip. Have you enjoyed yourself and seen many new people? What a fine thing it is to be a man!’
‘I have seen all the world, like the little bird that flew over the garden wall. I have enjoyed myself very much, have bought a few horses and many cattle, also spent a very pleasant evening at Benmohr. ”

“ THE DUEL IN THE SNOW Just before the commencement of the stupendous festivities of Badajos, a letter arrived, by which the parson was informed that Mr. Rockley, having business at Yass, had resolved to run up from Port Phillip and see them all. Mr. St. Maur, who had an equally good excuse, would accompany him.
This was looked upon as either a wondrous coincidence or a piece of pure, unadulterated good luck. When the hearty and sympathetic accents of William Rockley were once more heard among them, everybody was as pleased as if he, personally, had been asked to welcome a rich uncle from India. ”

“ It would be the only chance for their lives. As it was, the winter was fast coming upon them. Every blade of the ordinary herbage had disappeared. The nights commenced to lengthen. Frosts of unusual severity had set in. Even now it seemed as if their last hope might be destroyed and their raft dashed on the rocks ere it was floated.
But one morning Dick Evans came up to Wilfred, sadly contemplating the attenuated cows which now represented the once crowded milking-yard. He was riding his old mare, barebacked, with his folded coat for a saddle, and spoke with unusual animation. ”

“ To such a class belonged ‘dear Fergus,’ as Rosamond always called the matchless hackney with which Wilfred had presented her. Gay and high-couraged, temperate, easy, safe, fast, with a walk and canter utterly unapproachable, the former, indeed, assimilating to the unfair speed of a ‘pacer,’ while the latter was free, floating, graceful, and elastic as that of the wild deer, he was a steed to dream of, to love and cherish in life, to mourn over in death. ”

“ Wilfred and Guy walked ahead, fowling-piece in hand. Andrew drove the cow, which followed quietly in the rear. 45The coupled greyhounds looked eagerly around, as if sensible that they were now in hunting country. They were with difficulty restrained when a wallaby, in two bounds, crossed the road and disappeared in an adjoining scrub.
The dry air was pure and fresh, the unclouded sky blue as a sapphire dome, the winding forest road free from all impediment but an occasional ledge of sandstone. ”

“ Who loves vainly is stricken with a poisoned arrow. The wound rankles in the flesh of every son of Adam, oft producing anguish, even unto death, long after the apparent hurt is healed.
Wilfred Effingham was not more than ordinarily vain. He had not been, in so many words, rejected. Indeed, he had been nearly accepted. But he could not disguise from himself that it amounted to much the same thing. Yet he reflected that he had cause to be thankful that the girl had not been permitted to complete the measure of her self-deception—to promise her hand where she could not truly have given her heart. ”

“ Her eyes overflowed as, burying her face in her husband’s arms, which were opened to receive her, she wept long and silently.
‘How could we think of such a thing, my darling, for one moment?’ said Effingham. ‘It would kill you to part, at one blow, from a whole previous existence. I hardly foresaw what a living death it would be for you, more than all, to leave England for ever. There is a world of agony in that thought alone! I certainly gave Sternworth a full account of my position in my last letters. It was a relief. He has always been a true friend. ”

“ Effingham, ‘as you have doubtless observed. If you had known that such rain was to fall, it might have saved you all the journey.’
‘My dear sir,’ answered Wilfred, ‘don’t flatter yourself that, myself excepted, one of our old society will be contented to live here again. The land we have reached opens out such an extensive field that no sane man would think of staying away from it. Rockley will follow, and half Yass, I believe. No one will be left but you and I and the Parson.’
‘What an exodus! It amounts to a misfortune,’ said Rosamond. ”

“ A race day owns no tremendous possibilities, yet is there 163a savour of strife and doom mingled with the mimic warfare. Many a backer knows that serious issues hang upon the favourite’s speed and stamina; on even less, on chance or accident. The steeplechase rider risks life and limb; it may be that ‘darkness shall cover his eyes,’ that from a crushing fall he may rise no more.
These entanglements weighed not in any wise upon the soul of Wilfred Effingham, as he arose with a keener sense of interest and pleasure in expectation than had for long greeted his morning visions. ”

“ On one side stretched the shore of a lake, and on the other a deep and rapid river flowed, forming a natural enclosure many miles in extent, into which, when they had turned their herd, they had little trouble in keeping them safely.
‘My word!’ said Guy, ‘this is something like a country. Why, we have run for five or six thousand head, and not a patch of scrub or a range on the whole lot of it. Splendid open forest, just enough for shelter; great marshes and flats, where the stock are up to their eyes in grass and reeds. When the summer comes, it will be like a garden. ”

“ The stranger smiled, half-sadly, half-humorously, as he seated himself on a fence-rail.
‘That is not so easy as you think, sir,’ he said. ‘Though there’s very few people in this country would bother about trying. When a fellow’s been rambling about the bush, working and living with the men, for years and years, it is not so easy to turn him into a gentleman again. Worst of all when he’s come short of education, and has half-forgotten how to behave himself before ladies. ”

“ And to think that the only man of our party who fell a victim should be poor Warleigh, the discoverer of this land of promise!’
‘The way of the world, my dear fellow,’ said Ardmillan. ‘The moment a man gets his foot on the threshold of success, Nemesis is aroused. Poor Gyp had been fighting against his demon for years, and had reached the region of respectability. He would soon have been rich enough to conciliate Mrs. Grundy. She would have enlarged upon his ancient birth, his handsome face and figure, with the mildest admission that he had been, years ago, a little wild. ”

“ I’m not so young as I was, but I shall pitch my tent here and never go back to Sydney.’
‘I hope to see Sydney again,’ said St. Maur; ‘but in the meantime I shall stay and watch the markets. I quite agree with you that there is money to be made.’
‘Of course there is,’ said Rockley; ‘but how long will it last? People can’t live upon buying and selling to each other for ever. Some fine day there will be an awful smash, in which some of you brisk young people will be caught. But the settlement is so first-class in soil and situation that it must pull through. ”

“ Effingham,’ said the proprietor. ‘William, take this gentleman’s horse; you know your way, Dick. We’ll defer business till the morning. I have had the cattle yarded, ready for drafting; to-morrow you can choose the nucleus of a good herd. I shall be proud to put you in the way of cattle-farming in the only true way to succeed—by commencing with females of the right kind.’
As Wilfred followed his entertainer into the house, he felt unaffectedly surprised at the appearance of elegance mingled with comfort which characterised the establishment. ”

“ In the hunting field it would have been simply a matter for careful riding. But here, at the speed to which the pace had been forced, it was dangerous.
‘Why don’t they pull off there?’ muttered Mr. Rockley, virtuously indignant. ‘No one but a madman would go over ground like that as if they were finishing a flat race. That fellow Hamilton is as obstinate as a mule. I know him; he wouldn’t pull off an inch for all the judges of the Supreme Court.’
‘I’m afraid Bob Clarke won’t,’ said John Hampden; ‘that’s the worst of steeplechasing, the fellows will ride so jealous. ”

“ But no surprise was manifested when it was announced on the eventful Monday that Hampden and his friend Neville, together with Forbes, Argyll, and Churbett, had departed at daylight and taken the same road. Every one was in the confused state of mind which is prone to succeed a season of indulgence. There were bills to pay, clothes to pack, resolutions as to improvement to be made by those who had exceeded their usual limit in love, loo, or liquor. ”

“ He returned with what Beatrice called a rose-coloured description of the whole establishment; notably of the marvellous beauty of Christabel Rockley, the only daughter.
‘Why, you haven’t seen girls for I don’t know how long,’ said Annabel, ‘except us, of course—and you don’t see any beauty in fair people—so how can you tell? The first young woman with a pale face and dark eyes is a vision of loveliness, of course. Wait till we go to Yass, and you will hear a proper description.’
‘Women are always unsympathetic about one another,’ he retorted. ”

“ The early rising was splendid, the droving full of enjoyment, the scenery enthralling, the watching romantic, the shooting splendid, the society characteristic. He made friends with all the men of the party, but the chosen of his heart was old Tom, who discovered that O’More had known of his old patron in Mayo. He thereupon conceived a strong liking and admiration for him, as a ‘rale gintleman from the ould counthry.’
Daily the old man recounted legends of the early days of colonial life, and instructed him in the lore of the sportsmen of the land. ”

“ But as he heard the approaching hoofs, he too commenced to ‘do the impossible,’ and found that, though nearly level, Bolivar was unable to improve his position, while Mendicant, answering whip and spur, gradually drew in advance, as the winning post and the judge’s stand (and, as it seemed to Wilfred, half Yass at gaze) came to meet him. A few strides, a deafening shout, a rally of whips, and the race is over. ”

“ God Almighty never intended me to stop long in one place, I expect.’
‘A rolling stone gathers no moss, Dick,’ said Wilfred. ‘You’ll never save up anything if you carry out those ideas always.’
‘I don’t want to save nothing, sir. I’ve no call to keep money in a box; I can find work pretty well wherever I go that will keep me and my old woman in full and plenty. I’m safe of my wages as long as I can work, and when I can’t work no more I shall die—suddent like. ”

“ There are only blacks; and there’s no water to drown us, that’s one consolation.’
When did generous youth perceive the possibility of danger until forced upon him by sudden stroke of fate? ‘Whom the gods love die young’ is true in one sense, inasmuch as they escape the melancholy anticipations which cloud the joys of maturer life. For them trains never collide, nor coaches upset; sword-strokes are parried, and bullets go wide; ships founder not; disease is only for the feeble; they are but the old who die!
Wilfred more truly understood the matron’s tender dread, and her reasons. ”

“ Leaving Fred Churbett to follow with Guy, Mr. Effingham and his heir departed to Rockley House.
‘There is something exhilarating, after all, in dressing for dinner,’ said he. ‘After the day is done it is befitting to mingle with pleasant people and drink your wine in good society. It reminds one of old times. My blood is stirred, and my pulses move as they have not done since I left England. Change is the great physician, beyond all doubt.’
‘I did not think that I should have cared half as much about these races,’ said Wilfred. ”

“ But let us remember in our prayers to-night whose hand has shielded us from the perils of the deep, and whatever dangers we may have escaped upon the land.’
‘I feel as if we had all been acting a charade or an extended tableau vivant,’ said Rosamond. ‘Like you, Annabel, dear, I am not sorry that the theatricals are over, though the play has been a success so far. It has no more nights to run, fortunately for the performers. Our everyday life will commence to-morrow. ”

“ Let us be consoled that we are not conspicuously inferior to our neighbours, and chiefly strive, in spite of that mysterious Disappointment—poor human nature—to gain some modest eminence. Let Wilfred Effingham, then, enjoy his undeserved good fortune, comme nous autres, assured that with such companionship he will be stronger to battle for the right while life lasts. ”

“ Poor Mrs. Malahyde, Bob Clarke’s sister, is dreadfully anxious; the tears keep coming into her eyes. She knows how reckless he can be when he’s determined to win.’
177‘I fancy Mr. Hamilton’s St. Andrew will win,’ said Mrs. Snowden; ‘he is better bred, they say, and he looks to me so well-trained. What do you think, Mr. Effingham?’
‘I am a thick and thin supporter of the Benmohr stable,’ said Wilfred. ‘The Cid is a grand horse, but my sympathies are with St. Andrew.’
‘I’ll bet a dozen pairs of gloves The Cid wins,’ said Miss Christabel impetuously, looking straight at Mrs. Snowden. ”

“ If there is any portion of the day ‘when the poor are rich in spirits and health,’ when the heart of youth stirs, when age is soothed with dreams of happiness, it is in that sweetest hour which follows the early morning meal in rural Australia. Dawn is austere, mid-day often sultry, but nowhere will he, whose heart and intelligence respond alike gratefully to that charmed time, find its inspirations more invigorating than in the early summer of Australia. ”