The Book Of The Bush, George Dunderdale [thriller novels to read .txt] 📗

The Night Of December 24th A

Gale Of Wind Came On From The South-East; One Chain Parted,  And After

Riding Until Three O'clock In The Morning Of Christmas Day,  The Other

Chain Also Parted.  The Vessel Drew Eight Feet,  And Was Lying In

Between Three And Four Fathoms Of Water.  As Soon As The Second Chain

Broke,  Davy Went Up On The Fore-Yard And Cut The Gaskets Of The

Foresail.  The Schooner Grounded In The Trough Of Sea,  But When She

Rose The Foresail Was Down,  And She Paid Off Before The Wind.  The

Shore Was About A Mile,  Or A Mile And A Half Distant,  And She Took

The Beach Right Abreast Of A Sheep Yard,  Where Her Wreck Now Lies.

The Men Got Ashore In Safety,  But All The Cargo Was Lost.

 

A Tent Was Pitched On Shore Near The Wreck,  But As There Was No

Vessel In The Bay By Which They Could Return To Launceston,  The Four

Men,  Captain Mills,  D. Fermaner,  Charles Ferris,  And Richard

Jennings,  On December 31st,  1837,  Set Sail In A Whaleboat For Port

Philip.  Davy Had Stolen Jennings From The 'Rhoda' Brig At

Launceston,  When Seamen Were Scarce.  He Was Afterwards A Pilot At

Port Philip,  And Was Buried At Williamstown.

 

The Whaleboat Reached Port Philip On January 3rd,  1838,  Having Got

Through The Rip On The Night Of The 2nd. Ferris Was The Only Man Of

The Crew Who Had Been In Before,  He Having Gone In With Batman,  In

The 'Rebecca' Cutter,  Captain Baldwin.  Baldwin Was Afterwards Before

The Mast In The 'Elizabeth' Schooner; He Was A Clever Man,  But Fond

Of Drink.

 

The Whaleboat Anchored Off Portsea,  But The Men Did Not Land For Fear

Of The Blacks.

 

At Daylight Davy Landed To Look For Water,  But Could Not Find Any;

And There Were Only Three Pints In The Water-Bag.  The Wind Being

From The North,  The Boat Was Pulled Over To Mud Island,  And The Men

Went Ashore To Make Tea With The Three Pints Of Water.  Davy Walked

About The Island,  And Found A Rookery Of Small Mackerel-Gulls And A

Great Quantity Of Their Eggs In The Sand.  He Broke A Number Of Them,

And Found That The Light-Coloured Eggs Were Good,  And That The Dark

Ones Had Birds In Them.  He Took Off His Shirt,  Tied The Sleeves

Together,  Bagged A Lot Of The Eggs,  And Carried Them Back To The

Camp.  Mills Broke The Best Of Them Into The Great Pot,  And The Eggs

And Water Mixed Together And Boiled Made About A Quart For Each Man.

 

After Breakfast The Wind Shifted To The Southward,  And The 'Henry'

Brig,  From Launceston,  Captain Whiting,  Ran In,  Bound To Point Henry

Story 3 (Discovery Of The River Hopkins.) Pg 34

With Sheep; But Before Mills And His Men Could Get Away From Mud

Island The Brig Had Passed.  They Pulled And Sailed After Her,  But

Did Not Overtake Her Until She Arrived Off The Point Where Batman

First Settled,  Now Called Port Arlington; At That Time They Called

The Place Indented Heads.

 

When The Whaleboat Came Near The Brig To Ask For Water,  Two Or Three

Muskets Were Levelled At The Men Over The Bulwarks,  And They Were

Told To Keep Off,  Or They Would Be Shot.  At That Time A Boat's Crew

Of Prisoners Had Escaped From Melbourne In A Whale Boat,  And The

Ship-Wrecked Men Were Suspected As The Runaways.  But One Of The Crew

Of The 'Henry',  Named Jack Macdonald,  Looked Over The Side,  And

Seeing Davy In The Boat,  Asked Him What They Had Done With The

Schooner 'Thistle',  And They Told Him They Had Lost Her At Port Fairy.

 

Captain Whiting Asked Macdonald If He Knew Them,  And On Being

Informed That They Were The Captain And Crew Of The Schooner

'Thistle',  He Invited Them On Board And Supplied Them With A Good

Dinner.  They Went On To Point Henry In The Brig,  And Assisted In

Landing The Sheep.

 

Batman Was At That Time In Melbourne.  Davy Had Seen Him Before In

Launceston.  After Discharging The Sheep The Brig Proceeded To

Gellibrand's Point,  And As Captain Whiting Wanted To Go Up To

Melbourne,  The Men Pulled Him Up The Yarra In Their Whaleboat.

Fawkner's Hotel At That Time Was Above The Site Of The Present

Customs House,  And Was Built With Broad Paling.  Mills And Whiting

Stayed There That Night,  Davy And The Other Two Men Being Invited To

A Small Public-House Kept By A Man Named Burke,  A Little Way Down

Little Flinders Street,  Where They Were Made Very Comfortable.

 

Next Day They Went Back To The Brig 'Henry',  And Started For Launceston.

 

In May,  1838,  Davy Was Made Master Of The Schooner 'Elizabeth',  And

Took In Her A Cargo Of Sheep,  And Landed Them At Port Fairy.  The

Three Old Convicts Whom Griffiths Had Sent There Along With His

Father Jonathan,  Had Planted Four Or Five Acres Of Potatoes At A

Place Called Goose Lagoon,  About Two Miles Behind The Township.  The

Crop Was A Very Large One,  From Fifteen To Twenty Tons To The Acre,

And Davy Had Received Orders To Take In Fifty Tons Of The Potatoes,

And To Sell Them In South Australia.  He Did So,  And After Four Days'

Passage Went Ashore At The Port,  Offered The Potatoe A BARONIAL RESIDENCE

FOR HIMSELF AND HIS POSTERITY, THE FIRE ROLLED DOWN UPON THE HEARTH, AND

CRUMBLED IT TO ASHES!"

 

GRANDFATHER NOW LOOKED AT HIS WATCH, WHICH HUNG WITHIN A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE

EBONY TEMPLE, SUPPORTED BY FOUR IONIC COLUMNS. HE THEN LAID HIS HAND ON

Story 3 (Discovery Of The River Hopkins.) Pg 35

THE GOLDEN LOCKS OF LITTLE ALICE, WHOSE HEAD HAD SUNK DOWN UPON THE ARM OF

OUR ILLUSTRIOUS CHAIR.

 

"TO BED, TO BED, DEAR CHILD!" SAID HE. "GRANDFATHER HAS PUT YOU TO SLEEP,

ALREADY, BY HIS STORIES ABOUT THESE FAMOUS OLD PEOPLE!"

 

 

 

 

 

PART III

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER I

 

 

ON THE EVENING OF NEW YEAR S DAY, GRANDFATHER WAS WALKING TO AND FRO,

ACROSS THE CARPET, LISTENING TO THE RAIN WHICH BEAT HARD AGAINST THE

CURTAINED WINDOWS. THE RIOTOUS BLAST SHOOK THE CASEMENT, AS IF A STRONG

MAN WERE STRIVING TO FORCE HIS ENTRANCE INTO THE COMFORTABLE ROOM. WITH

EVERY PUFF OF THE WIND, THE FIRE LEAPED UPWARD FROM THE HEARTH, LAUGHING

AND REJOICING AT THE SHRIEKS OF THE WINTRY STORM.

 

MEANWHILE, GRANDFATHER S CHAIR STOOD IN ITS CUSTOMARY PLACE BY THE

FIRESIDE. THE BRIGHT BLAZE GLEAMED UPON THE FANTASTIC FIGURES OF ITS OAKEN

BACK, AND SHONE THROUGH THE OPEN-WORK, SO THAT A COMPLETE PATTERN WAS

THROWN UPON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ROOM. SOMETIMES, FOR A MOMENT OR TWO,

THE SHADOW REMAINED IMMOVABLE, AS IF IT WERE PAINTED ON THE WALL. THEN,

ALL AT ONCE, IT BEGAN TO QUIVER, AND LEAP, AND DANCE, WITH A FRISKY

Story 3 (Discovery Of The River Hopkins.) Pg 36

MOTION. ANON, SEEMING TO REMEMBER THAT THESE ANTICS WERE UNWORTHY OF SUCH

A DIGNIFIED AND VENERABLE CHAIR, IT SUDDENLY STOOD STILL. BUT SOON IT

BEGAN TO DANCE ANEW.

 

"ONLY SEE HOW GRANDFATHER S CHAIR IS DANCING!" CRIED LITTLE ALICE.

 

AND SHE RAN TO THE WALL, AND TRIED TO CATCH HOLD OF THE FLICKERING SHADOW;

FOR TO CHILDREN OF FIVE YEARS OLD, A SHADOW SEEMS ALMOST AS REAL AS A

SUBSTANCE.

 

"I WISH," SAID CLARA, "GRANDFATHER WOULD SIT DOWN IN THE CHAIR, AND FINISH

ITS HISTORY."

 

IF THE CHILDREN HAD BEEN LOOKING AT GRANDFATHER, THEY WOULD HAVE NOTICED

THAT HE PAUSED IN HIS WALK ACROSS THE ROOM, WHEN CLARA MADE THIS REMARK.

THE KIND OLD GENTLEMAN Wt Think You Are Of Much Account With All Your Brag.

Reckons He Could Lick You In A Couple Of Minutes."

 

Uttering Imprecations,  Jack Approached The Englishman,  And Dancing

About The Deck,  Cleared The Ring For The Coming Combat.

 

"Come On,  You Green-Horn,  And Take Your Gruel.  Here's The Best Man

On The River For You.  You'll Find Him Real Grit."

 

The Stranger Sat Still,  Said He Was Not A Fighting Man,  And Did Not

Want To Quarrel With Anybody.

 

Jack Grew More Ferocious Than Ever,  And Aimed A Blow At The Peaceful

Man To Persuade Him To Come On.  He Came On Suddenly.  The Two Men

Were Soon Writhing Together On The Guard Deck,  And I Was Pleased To

Observe The Desperado Was Undermost.  The Englishman Was Full Of

Fear,  And Was Fighting For His Life.  He Was Doing It With Great

Earnestness.  He Was Grasping The Throat Of His Enemy Tightly With

Both Hands,  And Pressing His Thumbs On The Wind-Pipe.  We Could See

He Was Going To Win In His Own Simple Way,  Without Any Recourse To

Science,  And He Would Have Done So Very Soon Had He Not Been

Interrupted.  But As Jack Was Growing Black In The Face,  The Other

Englishmen Began To Pull At Their Mate,  And Tried To Unlock His Grip

On Jack's Throat.  It Was Not Easy To Do So.  He Held On To His Man

To The Very Last,  Crying Out:  "Leave Me Alone Till I Do For Him.

Man Alive,  Don't You Know The Villain Wants To Murder Me?"

Story 3 (Discovery Of The River Hopkins.) Pg 37

 

The Desperado Lay For A While Gulping And Gasping On His Bed Of

Glory,  Unable To Rise.  I Observed Patches Of Bloody Skin Hanging

Loose On Both Sides Of His Neck When He Staggered Along The Deck

Towards The Starboard Sponson.

 

There Was Peace For A Quarter Of An Hour.  Then Jack's Voice Was

Heard Again.  He Had Lost Prestige,  And Was Coming To Recover It With

A Bowie Knife.  He Said:

 

"Where's That Britisher?  I Am Going To Cut His Liver Out."

 

The Englishman Heard The Threat,  And Said To Him Mates:

 

"I Told You So!  He Means To Murder Me.  Why Didn't You Leave Me

Alone When I Had The Fine