第46章 Part II.(10)

`"Never mind --you'll see,"I said.

`So we unstrapped our swags and hid them in the mulga scrub by the side of the road;then we rode on to the shanty,got down,and hung our horses to the verandah posts.

`"Poisonous"came out at once,with a smile on him that would have made anybody home-sick.

`He was a short nuggety man,and could use his hands,they said;he looked as if he'd be a nasty,vicious,cool customer in a fight --he wasn't the sort of man you'd care to try and swindle a second time.

He had a monkey shave when he shaved,but now it was all frill and stubble --like a bush fence round a stubble-field.He had a broken nose,and a cunning,sharp,suspicious eye that squinted,and a cold stony eye that seemed fixed.If you didn't know him well you might talk to him for five minutes,looking at him in the cold stony eye,and then discover that it was the sharp cunning little eye that was watching you all the time.

It was awful embarrassing.It must have made him awkward to deal with in a fight.

`"Good day,mates,"he said.

`"Good day,"we said.

`"It's hot."

`We went into the bar,and Poisonous got behind the counter.

`"What are you going to have?"he asked,rubbing up his glasses with a rag.

`We had two long-beers.

`"Never mind that,"said Poisonous,seeing me put my hand in my pocket;"it's my shout.I don't suppose your boss is back yet?

I saw him go in to Mulgatown this morning."

`"No,he ain't back,"I said;"I wish he was.We're getting tired of waiting for him.We'll give him another hour,and then some of us will have to ride in to see whether he's got on the boose,and get hold of him if he has."`"I suppose you're waiting for your cheques?"he said,turning to fix some bottles on the shelf.

`"Yes,"I said,"we are;"and I winked at Jim,and Jim winked back as solemn as an owl.

`Poisonous asked us all about the trip,and how long we'd been on the track,and what sort of a boss we had,dropping the questions offhand now an'then,as for the sake of conversation.We could see that he was trying to get at the size of our supposed cheques,so we answered accordingly.

`"Have another drink,"he said,and he filled the pewters up again.

"It's up to me,"and he set to work boring out the glasses with his rag,as if he was short-handed and the bar was crowded with customers,and screwing up his face into what I suppose he considered an innocent or unconscious expression.The girl began to sidle in and out with a smart frock and a see-you-after-dark smirk on.

`"Have you had dinner?"she asked.We could have done with a good meal,but it was too risky --the drovers'boss might come along while we were at dinner and get into conversation with Poisonous.

So we said we'd had dinner.

`Poisonous filled our pewters again in an offhand way.

`"I wish the boss would come,"said Jim with a yawn."I want to get into Mulgatown to-night,and I want to get some shirts and things before I go in.I ain't got a decent rag to me back.I don't suppose there's ten bob amongst the lot of us."`There was a general store back on the creek,near the drovers'camp.

`"Oh,go to the store and get what you want,"said Poisonous,taking a sovereign from the till and tossing it on to the counter.

"You can fix it up with me when your boss comes.Bring your mates along."`"Thank you,"said Jim,taking up the sovereign carelessly and dropping it into his pocket.

`"Well,Jim,"I said,"suppose we get back to camp and see how the chaps are getting on?"`"All right,"said Jim.

`"Tell them to come down and get a drink,"said Poisonous;"or,wait,you can take some beer along to them if you like,"and he gave us half a gallon of beer in a billy-can.He knew what the first drink meant with Bushmen back from a long dry trip.

`We got on our horses,I holding the billy very carefully,and rode back to where our swags were.

`"I say,"said Jim,when we'd strapped the swags to the saddles,"suppose we take the beer back to those chaps:it's meant for them,and it's only a fair thing,anyway --we've got as much as we can hold till we get into Mulgatown."`"It might get them into a row,"I said,"and they seem decent chaps.

Let's hang the billy on a twig,and that old swagman that's coming along will think there's angels in the Bush."`"Oh!what's a row?"said Jim."They can take care of themselves;they'll have the beer anyway and a lark with Poisonous when they take the can back and it comes to explanations.

I'll ride back to them."

`So Jim rode back to the drovers'camp with the beer,and when he came back to me he said that the drovers seemed surprised,but they drank good luck to him.

`We rode round through the mulga behind the shanty and came out on the road again on the Mulgatown side:we only stayed at Mulgatown to buy some tucker and tobacco,then we pushed on and camped for the night about seven miles on the safe side of the town.'

II.Told by One of the Other Drovers.

`Talkin'o'Poisonous Jimmy,I can tell you a yarn about him.

We'd brought a mob of cattle down for a squatter the other side of Mulgatown.

We camped about seven miles the other side of the town,waitin'for the station hands to come and take charge of the stock,while the boss rode on into town to draw our money.Some of us was goin'back,though in the end we all went into Mulgatown and had a boose up with the boss.But while we was waitin'there come along two fellers that had been drovin'up north.

They yarned a while,an'then went on to Poisonous Jimmy's place,an'in about an hour one on 'em come ridin'back with a can of beer that he said Poisonous had sent for us.We all knew Jimmy's little games --the beer was a bait to get us on the drunk at his place;but we drunk the beer,and reckoned to have a lark with him afterwards.

When the boss come back,an'the station hands to take the bullocks,we started into Mulgatown.We stopped outside Poisonous's place an'handed the can to the girl that was grinnin'on the verandah.

Poisonous come out with a grin on him like a parson with a broken nose.

`"Good day,boys!"he says.

`"Good day,Poisonous,"we says.

`"It's hot,"he says.

`"It's blanky hot,"I says.