The Book Of The Bush - George Dunderdale (tharntype novel english .txt) 📗
- Author: George Dunderdale
Book online «The Book Of The Bush - George Dunderdale (tharntype novel english .txt) 📗». Author George Dunderdale
WHOM HE HAD HITHERTO KNOWN, AND RETURNED TO THEM NO MORE. HE WENT FIRST TO
PHILADELPHIA, AND AFTERWARDS TO EUROPE. HERE HE WAS NOTICED BY MANY GREAT
PEOPLE, BUT RETAINED ALL THE SOBRIETY AND SIMPLICITY WHICH HE HAD LEARNED
AMONG THE QUAKERS. IT IS RELATED OF HIM, THAT, WHEN HE WAS PRESENTED AT
THE COURT OF THE PRINCE OF PARMA, HE KEPT HIS HAT UPON HIS HEAD, EVEN
WHILE KISSING THE PRINCE S HAND.
WHEN HE WAS TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD, HE WENT TO LONDON, AND ESTABLISHED
HIMSELF THERE AS AN ARTIST. IN DUE COURSE OF TIME, HE ACQUIRED GREAT FAME
BY HIS PICTURES, AND WAS MADE CHIEF PAINTER TO KING GEORGE THE THIRD, AND
Story 4 (Among The Diggers In 1853.) Pg 67PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS. WHEN THE QUAKERS OF PENNSYLVANIA
HEARD OF HIS SUCCESS, THEY FELT THAT THE PROPHECY OF THE OLD PREACHER, AS
TO LITTLE BEN S FUTURE EMINENCE, WAS NOW ACCOMPLISHED. IT IS TRUE, THEY
SHOOK THEIR HEADS AT HIS PICTURES OF BATTLE AND BLOODSHED, SUCH AS THE
DEATH OF WOLFE, THINKING THHE
BABY IN ITS CRADLE, AND THE INDIANS, AND THE WHITE COW AND THE PIGS, AND
KIND MR. PENNINGTON, AND ALL THE GOOD OLD QUAKERS, ALMOST AS PLAINLY AS IF
THEY WERE IN THIS VERY ROOM."
"IT IS BECAUSE YOUR ATTENTION WAS NOT DISTURBED BY OUTWARD OBJECTS,"
REPLIED MR. TEMPLE. "PEOPLE, WHEN DEPRIVED OF SIGHT, OFTEN HAVE MORE VIVID
IDEAS THAN THOSE WHO POSSESS THE PERFECT USE OF THEIR EYES. I WILL VENTURE
TO SAY THAT GEORGE HAS NOT ATTENDED TO THE STORY QUITE SO CLOSELY."
"NO INDEED," SAID GEORGE, "BUT IT WAS A VERY PRETTY STORY FOR ALL THAT.
HOW I SHOULD HAVE LAUGHED TO SEE BEN MAKING A PAINT-BRUSH OUT OF THE BLACK
CAT S TAIL! I INTEND TO TRY THE EXPERIMENT WITH EMILY S KITTEN."
"OH, NO, NO, GEORGE!" CRIED EMILY, EARNESTLY. "MY KITTEN CANNOT SPARE HER
TAIL."
EDWARD BEING AN INVALID, IT WAS NOW TIME FOR HIM TO RETIRE TO BED. WHEN
THE FAMILY BADE HIM GOOD NIGHT, HE TURNED HIS FACE TOWARDS THEM, LOOKING
VERY LOTH TO PART.
"I SHALL NOT KNOW WHEN MORNING COMES," SAID HE SORROWFULLY. "AND BESIDES I
Story 4 (Among The Diggers In 1853.) Pg 68WANT TO HEAR YOUR VOICES ALL THE TIME; FOR, WHEN NOBODY IS SPEAKING, IT
SEEMS AS IF I WERE ALONE IN A DARK WORLD!"
"YOU MUST HAVE FAITH, MY DEAR CHILD," REPLIED HIS MOTHER. "FAITH IS THE
SOUL S EYESIGHT; AND WHEN WE POSSESS IT, THE WORLD IS NEVER DARK NOR
LONELY."
CHAPTER III
THE NEXT DAY, EDWARD BEGAN TO GET ACCUSTOMED TO HIS NEW CONDITION OF LIFE.
ONCE, INDEED, WHEN HIS PARENTS WERE OUT OF THE WAY, AND ONLY EMILY WAS
LEFT TO TAKE CARE OF HIM, HE COULD NOT RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO THRUST
ASIDE THE BANDAGE, AND PEEP AT THE ANXIOUS FACE OF HIS LITTLE NURSE. BUT,
IN SPITE OF THE DIMNESS OF THE CHAMBER, THE EXPERIMENT CAUSED HIM SO MUCH
PAIN, THAT HE FELT NO INCLINATION TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK. SO, WITH A DEEP
SIGH, HE RESIGNED HIMSELF TO HIS FATE.
"EMILY, PRAY TALK TO ME!" SAID HE, SOMEWHAT IMPATIENTLY.
NOW, EMILY WAS A REMARKABLY SILENT LITTLE GIRL, AND DID NOT POSSESS THAT
LIVELINESS OF DISPOSITION WHICH RENDERS SOME CHILDREN SUCH EXCELLENT
COMPANIONS. SHE SELDOM LAUGHED, AND HAD NOT THE F
Bitterness. He Had Been Forced To March Along The Whole Day Like A
Convicted Felon, With An Ever-Increasing Crowd Of Prisoners, Had Been
Taken To The Camp At Nightfall And Made To Pay 6 Pounds 10s.--Viz.,
A Fine Of 5 Pounds And 1 Pound 10s. For A License.
The Feelings Of William Patterson, And Of Thousands Of Other Diggers,
Were Outraged, And They Burned For Revenge. A Roll-Up Was Called,
Story 4 (Among The Diggers In 1853.) Pg 69And Three Public Meetings Were Held On Three Successive Saturday
Afternoons, On A Slight Eminence Near The Government Camp. The
Speakers Addressed The Diggers From A Wagon. Some Advocated Armed
Resistance. It Was Well Known That Many Men, French, German, And
Even English, Were On The Diggings Who Had Taken Part In The
Revolutionary Outbreak Of '48, And That They Were Eager To Have
Recourse To Arms Once More In The Cause Of Liberty. But The Majority
Advocated The Trial Of A Policy Of Peace, At Least To Begin With. A
Final Resolution Was Passed By Acclamation That A Fee Of Ten
Shillings A Month Should Be Offered, And If Not Accepted, No Fee
Whatever Was To Be Paid.
It Was Argued That If The Diggers Stood Firm, It Would Be Impossible
For The Few Hundreds Of Soldiers And Police To Arrest And Keep In
Custody Nearly Twenty Thousand Men. If An Attempt Was Made To Take
Us All To Gaol, Digger-Hunting Would Have To Be Suspended, The
Revenue Would Dwindle To Nothing, And Government Would Be Starved
Out. It Was, In Fact, No Government At All; It Was A Mere Assemblage
Of Armed Men Sent To Rob Us, Not To Protect Us; Each Digger Had To Do
That For Himself.
Next Day, Sunday, I Walked Through The Diggings, And Observed The
Words "No License Here" Pinned Or Pasted Outside Every Tent, And
During The Next Month Only About Three Hundred Licenses Were Taken
Out, Instead Of The Fourteen Or Fifteen Thousand Previously Issued,
The Digger-Hunting Was Stopped, And A License-Fee Of Forty Shillings
For Three Months Was Substituted For That Of Thirty Shillings Per
Month.
Ii.
As No Man Who Had A Good Claim Would Be Willing To Run The Risk Of
Losing It, The Number Of Licenses Taken Out After The Last Meeting
Would Probably Represent The Number Of Really Lucky Diggers Then At
Work On Bendigo, Viz., Three Hundred More Or Less, And Of The Three
Hundred I Don't Think Our Gully Could Boast Of One. All Were Finding
A Little Gold, But Even The Most Fortunate Were Not Making More Than
"Tucker." By Puddling Eight Tubs Of Washdirt I Found That We Could
Obtain About One Pound's Worth Of Gold Each Per Day; But This Was
Hardly Enough To Keep Hope Alive. The Golden Hours Flew Over Us, But
They Did Not Send Down Any Golden Showers. I Put The Little That
Fell To My Share Into A Wooden Match-Box, Which I Carried In My
Pocket. I Knew It Would Hold Twelve Ounces--If I Could Get So Much
--And Looked Into It Daily And Shook The Gold About To See If I Were
Growing Rich.
It Was Impossible To Feel Jolly, And I Could See That Philip Was
Discontented. He Had Never Been Accustomed To Manual Labour; He Did
Not Like Being Exposed To The Cold Winds, To The Frost Or Rain, With
No Shelter Except That Afforded By Our Small Tent. While At Work We
Were Always Dirty, And Often Wet; And After We Had Passed A Miserable
Night, Daylight Found Us Shivering, Until Warmth Came With Hard Work.
One Morning Philip Lost His Temper; His Only Hat Was Soaked With
Rain, And His Trousers, Shirt, And Boots Were Stiff With Clay. He
Story 4 (Among The Diggers In 1853.) Pg 70Put A Woollen Comforter On His Head In Lieu Of The Hat. The
Comforter Was Of Gaudy Colours, And Soon Attracted Public Attention.
A Man Down The Gully Said:
"I Obsarved Yesterday We Had Young Ireland Puddling Up Here, And I
Persave This Morning We Have An Italian Bandit Or A Sallee Rover At
Work Among Us."
Every Digger Looked At Philip, And He Fell Into A Sudden Fury; You
Might Have Heard Him At The First White Hill.
"Yesterday I Heard A Donkey Braying Down The Gully, And This Morning
He Is Braying Again."
"Oh! I See," Replied The Donkey. "We Are In A Bad Temper This Morning."
Father Back BEFORE HIS GRANDMOTHER, AND ALL THE NEIGHBORHOOD, KNEW
WHAT ISAAC HAD BEEN ABOUT. HE HAD CONSTRUCTED A MODEL OF THE WINDMILL.
THOUGH NOT SO LARGE, I SUPPOSE AS ONE OF THE BOX-TRAPS WHICH BOYS SET TO
CATCH SQUIRRELS, YET EVERY PART OF THE MILL AND ITS MACHINERY WAS
COMPLETE. ITS LITTLE SAILS WERE NEATLY MADE OF LINEN, AND WHIRLED ROUND
VERY SWIFTLY WHEN THE MILL WAS PLACED IN A DRAUGHT OF AIR. EVEN A PUFF OF
WIND FROM ISAAC S MOUTH, OR FROM A PAIR OF BELLOWS, WAS SUFFICIENT TO SET
THE SAILS IN MOTION. AND WHAT WAS MOST CURIOUS IF A HANDFUL OF GRAINS OF
WHEAT WERE PUT INTO THE LITTLE HOPPER, THEY WOULD SOON BE CONVERTED INTO
SNOW-WHITE FLOUR.
ISAAC S PLAYMATES WERE ENCHANTED WITH HIS NEW WINDMILL. THEY THOUGHT THAT
NOTHING SO PRETTY, AND SO WONDERFUL, HAD EVER BEEN SEEN IN THE WHOLE
WORLD.
"BUT, ISAAC," SAID ONE OF THEM, "YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN ONE THING THAT BELONGS
TO A MILL."
Story 4 (Among The Diggers In 1853.) Pg 71
"WHAT IS THAT?" ASKED ISAAC; FOR HE SUPPOSED, THAT, FROM THE ROOF OF THE
MILL TO ITS FOUNDATION, HE HAD
Comments (0)