Busby

“ Mr. Digby however, as he walked homeward to his hotel, saw the difficulties yet in store for him. How in the world was he to perform his promise of taking care of this wildfire girl? Her aunt surely, would be the fittest person to be intrusted with her. If he only knew what sort of person Mrs. Busby really was, and how much of Mrs. Carpenter's story might have two sides to it? ”

“ Busby. “Fine boy, Jimmy!” Busby ejaculated. “Guess you all know they've made him vice-president of Sedgwick Motors.”
“And I suppose Olivia will turn over the business to him,” said Mrs. Busby spitefully. “This is almost too much, Mark!”
“Wrong again; Olivia's going to incorporate the business and put me in to manage it. Jimmy's got enough to take care of Olivia; with the start he's got, ought to be a rich man in ten years.”
“It's wonderful!” cried Constance. “I've always liked Jimmy.” ”

“ She saw Harrigan Blood and Sassoon, but to their assiduous pursuit she flung only crumbs. She saw them in the tantalizing publicity of the down-stairs parlor—rarely, for an hour perhaps; but she steadfastly refused further concessions. Busby, clearly inspired, sought to entice her to many alluring entertainments, some conventional, others not quite so. She refused all. She avoided all parties where she might encounter the one man, avoiding too that entourage of his which she had so eagerly [Pg 206] sought with a sense of right on the occasion of the luncheon to De Joncy. ”

“ The valley had wakened early in expectation of an exciting day. The news of the capture of Busby and his companions had been telephoned from house to house and from ranch to ranch, and the streets were already filled with farmers and their families, adorned as for a holiday. The entire population of Shellfish Cañon had assembled, voicing high indignation at the ranger's interference. Led by Abe and Eli, who busily proclaimed that the arrest of Henry and his companions was merely a trick to divert suspicion from the Kauffman woman, they advanced upon the coroner. ”

“ In this mood he was inclined to refer to the subject of Gray's legacy, which he did at intervals, and at which times George, with his usual skill, let his own tongue run loose within bounds.
"You're a close dog," said Busby, at length, "nearly as close as Gray himself."
"What!" said George in astonishment. "You wouldn't have me tell——"
"Tell, be hanged!" said Busby. "He deserves it, doesn't he? Isn't he an outsider? Doesn't everybody know he is? Why, I'd tell anything about a man like that. Everybody knows he's a mean——"
"Ssh!" said George, looking behind him. "Don't shout ”

“ Busby, bus′bi, n. a fur hat with short bag hanging down from the top on its right side, of the same colour as the facings of the regiment, worn by hussars, and, in the British army, by horse artillerymen also. [Prob. Hung.]
Buscon, bus′kon, n. (U.S.) a miner paid by a percentage of the ore he raises. [Sp.]
Bush, boosh, n. a shrub thick with branches: anything of bushy tuft-like shape: any wild uncultivated country, esp. at the Cape or in Australia: a bunch of ivy hung up as a tavern sign, a tavern itself—'Good wine needs no bush.'—v.i. to grow thick or bushy.—v.t. ”

“ A charming voice has Busby; quite charming.' And there was a pause for a minute or so, after which Mr. Kantwise resumed the conversation. 'You'll allow me to put you up one of those drawing-room sets?' he said.
'Well, I am afraid not. I don't think they are strong enough where there are children.'
'Dear, dear; dear, dear; to hear you say so, Mr. ”

“ Busby had published his Apologetical Letter and Postscript, or I should have recalled them. But, I confess, I looked upon his conduct in a different light before its appearance. I see some mountebank has taken Alderman Birch's name to vituperate Dr. Busby; he had much better have pilfered his pastry, which I should imagine the more valuable ingredient—at least for a puff.—Pray secure me a copy of Woodfall's new Junius, and believe me," &c.
LETTER 117. TO MR. WILLIAM BANKES.
"December 26. ”

“ Until recently, Australian city artists and editors—who knew as much about the bush as Downing Street knows about the British colonies in general—seemed to think the horse-collar swag was still in existence; and some artists gave the swagman a stick, as if he were a tramp of civilization with an eye on the backyard and a fear of the dog. English artists, by the way, seem firmly convinced that the Australian bushman is born in Wellington boots with a polish on ’em you could shave yourself by. ”

“ He was a typical bushman, not one of those tall, straight, wiry, brown men of the West, but from the old Selection Districts, where many drovers came from, and of the old bush school; one of those slight active little fellows whom we used to see in cabbage-tree hats, Crimean shirts, strapped trousers, and elastic-side boots―'larstins,' they called them. They could dance well; sing indifferently, and mostly through their noses, the old bush songs; play the concertina horribly; and ride like―like―well, they could ride. ”

“ He felt humiliated. That is just another way of saying shamed. Yes, Sir, Buster felt that he was shamed in the eyes of his neighbors, and he wanted nothing so much as to get away by himself, where no one could see him, and [Pg 107] try to get rid of that dreadful pail. But Buster is so big that it is not easy for him to find a hiding place. So, when he reached the Green Forest, he kept right on to the deepest, darkest, most lonesome part and crept under the thickest hemlock-tree he could find.
But it was of no use. The sharp eyes of Sammy Jay and Blacky the Crow saw him. ”

“ One who has knowledge of the bush, and is skilled in its ways. A "good bushman" is especially used of a man who can find his way where there are no tracks.
1868. J. Bonwick, `John Batman, Founder of Victoria,' pp. 78, 79:
"It is hardly likely that so splendid a bushman as Mr. Batman would venture upon such an expedition had he not been well. In fact a better bushman at this time could not be met with."
1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. ”

“ Tell Master Jim to coo-ee when lunch is ready.”
“Plenty,” said Billy intelligently.
Norah turned from the creek and entered the scrub. She loved the bush, and was never happier than when exploring its recesses. A born bushmaid, she had never any difficulty about finding her way in the scrub, or of retracing her steps. The faculty of bushmanship must be born in you; if you have it not naturally, training very rarely gives it. ”

“ More than any of us. Selby and old man Bussey antedate my time. They were here when there was only a beginning of a town, and it was mostly wild country. Bussey was a born Bohemian who lived among the Indians for years like one of themselves. Even after he was married, he would go off for the whole summer, leaving his wife and the kid to shift for themselves. Sometimes he took Ben along, and Mrs. Bussey would come around and work for Mrs. Underwood. ”

“ As those who are favourites find a number of followers at Court, these licentious young courtiers thought they might do whatever they pleased. Some new dispute betwixt them and Bussi was constantly starting. Bussi had a degree of courage which knew not how to give way to any one; and my brother, unwilling to give umbrage to the King, and foreseeing that such proceedings would not forward his expedition, to avoid quarrels and, at the same time, to promote his plans, resolved to despatch Bussi to his duchy of Alencon, in order to discipline such troops as he should find there. ”

“ The stab delivered by the Bushman can always be distinguished, because the wound is invariably square, and thus a clue only too certain has often been afforded to the assassin of many an unfortunate hunter. Whatever the Bushman in this case had hurled his club at, the club had gone into the willow bush, snapping the light branch and leaving its mark upon the bark of the larger. A moment's reflection convinced Felix that the Bushman had been in chase of a pheasant. ”

“ I advise you to turn back, before all my mates are down on you."
"Your mates will never be down on anyone again, Tom Thorne," Reuben said sternly. "We have wiped out seven of them, and the other is a prisoner."
"It's a lie!" the bush ranger said, furiously. "They are two hundred miles away, in the bush."
"With your friend Bobitu, eh? Yes, they were, but they are not now, Thorne. They are lying under the ashes of that hut of yours, close to the tree where you buried your treasure; and it's I who am going to have help, not you. ”

“ At last the sound of the returning chase was heard, the horns playing an air agreed upon with Jeanne, and Bussy left. As he approached the city, he remarked that the time was approaching when the gates of the city would be closed. He was preparing to ride on quickly, when he heard behind him the gallop of horses. For a lover who wishes to remain concealed, as for a robber, everything seems a menace. Bussy asked himself whether he should ride on or draw up and let them pass, but their course was so rapid that they were up to him in a moment. ”

“ The custom of placing a Bush at Tavern doors has already been noticed; we add a few notes:—In the preface to the Law of Drinking, keeping a public-house is called the trade of the ivy-bush: the bush was a sign so very general, that probably from thence arose the proverb "good wine needs no bush," or indication as to where it was sold. In Good Newes and Bad Newes, 1622, a host says:—
"I rather will take down my bush and sign
Than live by means of riotous expense." ”

“ But now they had seen Buster Bear and Farmer Brown's boy meet face to face; and while it was true that Farmer Brown's boy had run away as fast as ever he could, it was also true that Buster Bear had done the same thing. He had run even faster than Farmer Brown's boy, and had hidden in the most lonely place he could find in the very deepest part of the Green Forest. It was hard to believe, but it was true. And right away everybody lost a great deal of the respect for Buster which they had felt. It is always that way. ”

“ No one worried them; Miss Bussey was generally visiting the poor; or, as was the case at this moment, asleep in her arm-chair, with Paul, the terrier, in his basket beside her, and the cat on her lap. Lastly, they were plighted lovers, and John was staying with Miss Bussey for the express purpose of delighting and being delighted by his fiancée, Mary Travers. For these and all their mercies certainly they should have been truly thankful.
However the heart of man is wicked. ”

“ His mother called him Ernie and she alone, in all Chippewa, Wisconsin, was unaware that her son was the town tough guy. But even she sometimes mildly remonstrated with him for being what she called kind of wild. Buzz had yellow hair with a glint in it, and it curled up into a bang at the front. No amount of wetting or greasing could subdue that irrepressible forelock. A boy with hair like that never grows up in his mother's eyes.
If Buzz's real name was lost in the dim mists of boyhood, the origin and fitness of his nickname were apparent after two minutes' conversation with him. ”

“ Burton returned her look with keen interest. Had she been listening at the window?
"How do you do, Mrs. Bussey? And how's Ben? I'm coming up to see him in a minute. I have a little present from an old Indian who used to know him."
Mrs. Bussey relaxed into a smile, and hurried away, and Burton went on to the surgery to find the doctor.
"I don't dare say that my soul is my own in this house without first making sure that Mrs. Bussey won't overhear me and betray the damaging secret to my dearest enemy," he said, as he shook hands. "She is always at hand when I am indiscreet. ”

“ The bushman caught sight of him first, as he crouched about half a mile distant in a grove of lentisk.
“Sir John,” he cried, “fortune favours you: here is your chucuroo!”
“The rhinoceros!” exclaimed Sir John, with kindling eyes, for he had never before been so near the animal.
“Yes; a magnificent beast, and he seems inclined to cut off our retreat,” said the bushman. “Why he should attack us, I can hardly say; his tribe is not carnivorous: but any way, there he is, and we must hunt him out.” ”

“ Well, the next day Buster Bumblebee arrived at Farmer Green's place just as the cuckoo clock in the kitchen was striking nine. And he knew at once that Jimmy Rabbit must have told him the truth about the raising bee, for the farmyard was crowded with wagons and carryalls and buggies and gigs. There were people everywhere—so many that Buster thought all the world must be there. ”

“ The simply-conducted service was verging on conclusion when a stranger appeared upon the track from the high road. In bushman’s dress, and carrying upon his back the ordinary knapsack (or ‘swag’) of the travelling labourer, he strode along the path at a pace considerably higher in point of speed than is usual with men who, as a class, being confident of free quarters at every homestead, see no necessity for haste. A tall, powerfully-built man, his sun-bronzed countenance afforded no clue to his social qualification. ”

“ He did not need to buy a horse, having in his stables one in every way suitable, being at once quiet and fast—it was, indeed, one of the most valuable animals in the colony.
"You will have to keep your eyes open, Reuben," he said, as he gave him the horse, "or he will be stolen from you. These bush ranger fellows are always well mounted, and anyone at an up-country station, who has an animal at all out of the ordinary way, has to keep his stable door locked and sleep with one eye open ”