A SUNDOWNER'S YARN.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 8156, 26 April 1892, Page 6

A SUNDOWNER'S YARN.

Bt AnTHrm HbwiETS Coates.

%VEITT3SN -OR THE WEEKLTT PBBSSS AN*KEFBBBS. _ During the long hot summer of ISBB, I was employed on a station which lies on the main road from Wellington to Orange (N.S. W.), and my principal duty consisted In clearing the road tor the immense numbers of sheep which, owing to the dry state of tbe back country, were passing through the.ua day by day, either travelling for feed or on the road to the saleyards at Bathur.sfc, Homebush, or _*iemington. One day I had been on horseback from five o'clock in the morning, and with the exception of a couple of hours midday camp with one of the travelling rnoba, when I shared a billy of tea with the drovers, and ate my own chunk of cold mutton and bread, I had had neither rest nor food, so chat after I bad aeen the whole of the 10,000 sheep through our boundary gate, and watched them slowly scramble down to the creek on the other side, bleating the while, I was very glad to accept the boss drover's invitation to take pot luck. Drovers /don't usually starve. Their tucker, as a general thing, is much batter than that of a station hand, and on thia occasion a flfie and a loast shoulder were in preparation, so say nothing of a plum pudding. - *- As soon as the sheep were comfortably settled and the horses hobbled for the night, the men gathered together, and wa were just falliug-to when an old' swagger walked up, and, after the manner of his kind, coolly seated himself amongst us. Of coarse the boss asked him to join ua, so he was soon giving us a sample of his appetite, which was enormous.-under ths cheering influence of this evidently unwonted abundance, his tongue loosened, just as most**'men's will afcer frequent attention to malt liquor, and, before lon® fa&. had-'.he-lot of. ualiatenlng to one of his adventures.; .'lt k impossible for rae to the rugged force with which he gave us this yarn, bat so far as I am able I will give it in the man's- own rough words. "Well, do you see here, chaps," he brok .iti after one of us had been remarking on ithe strange things that sometimes happen to the bushra&n in the course of his travels top and down, '" I can tell jou as carious a thing as happened to mc several years ago, as ever you heard on. It was about the time as Larabtn's Flat; broke out, and When I heard on it I made up my mind to leave the oyens* where I hadn't beeadofa' nver well, and make ray way over into the Sydney side and try my luck there. I hadn't much of a swag, for as my mate •decided to stop on till he'heard from rae _ left nearly everything behind, and started ott alone on foot. Well, as .fur as Icaii secolieet, I must have been close iato Hor'nfe, What was I doing there ? Never you mind, I was there, add had s reason tor going that way, too. Well, as I was - close into'Horinge.l-makes a mess ot the road, being a stranger to these parts then, and after goin' along all day J. found myself landed at a small-shanty just out of Ophlr, so I stayed there for the night, and started to cross the hills theteabouts and get into Moiong by way of Shepherd's Creek Station. -I should. b# sure'to be.all right* for the first night I was told, as the missus there was very kind to travellers. So I mads an early start and got along all right till I was about half way there I reckoxi, when I got bushed again through gain' off the track to fill my -water- bag at-a* small creek -1, saw down ia one of tha gullies. It seemed plain seiiin' enough down to the creek, sad I reckoned I'd got -oa the road agin, though lowas* down, hut .Isnasfj have .hit a. branch road, for after goia' along for over au hour, I noticed this .yer road had Barreled down to a sheep "track, windln' round the side of a hill, and then bymeby when I turned back I found "jis sich tracks goin' ail ways. Weil tnere was ao blinkiu* it, I was properly bushed. After a' little- thiukin"l climbed the hill and fortunately, as it was the highest thereabouts,. I gob a good view o_ the country round about. The sun wai still pretty high, and there right away to the southard, I thought I could make out a bit of a eiearia* and' some amoko ris'n', so I just took the hewing of it with roy compass, and started a bee line up and down, 'It was' fearfully rough country, but daren't trust myself to follow tho gullies, tos I couldn't tell where they would lead ,sa up and down these confounded moantains IgoeSjkeepin' as straight & course rs I could til the sua set, wbea I beftan to think I might aa well camp, for I" war* stfU & good way from the station when I I&ob my last, sight of it. Ho«-ever, just; aa I was making ready to check down ray 'swat?'in a*likely spot, I noticed a bit of a hut about a hundred yards ahead of mc. It was snugly built on the &Ida of & Rully, and. I could ss-s right oil tha: if* belonged. to & prospector by ths wiuku, and white flag aflyia* over the nhaffe. So I made .tracks cud soon reached It. When I .walks up to the dooe I reckon? to Sad open, but as it wasn't aacl there didn't seetn to be anyone afcierin', I thought at fiesfc the pl&cs was -ecerted, bus on castin' my eyen round, Co? febete was light" eaoush to see things _y } I noticed, set; on a, stool, a tin dish with ecmc water aud a utile sas_ Is Eh© bottom. Then I Jmoweii ac once there mast bo someone livitf on the premf<js3, and iovgettin' all aboat th© desolate J oak of the plac® in my curiosity, I too'x it up and shook ths sand round ia the p an. I could sco at once there was no 'co'ours,' aud it I bad'reckoned „or a rainlt I might have jmo«ra there wouldn't have been any Iqß lym. about, but as 1 sst the pus*, down ons of them horrid moreporka began tv saouraia, atsd then & j_c_ac3 attested Isnghm , s&yin* good night; to the sun I suppose, bus- I'm clcst if I feel a son of chill and uncomfortable feelin' acoojln* ortfr nae as if the place was lander haunted. Oh I yon may lac{jii s vonm? feller, you'd alaupjhed the t'other side <._ yer mouth, I'll warsaat, it yo'c. been • well, ness thing, however," I -sails tsyself together, and lifting she toieli'of lhe door, la I ©ess. It was qolfce dark at Itest, at-d when I struck & nsawh I could -nee at oa ?_ that» although there wag no cne In therf th«ji» Mad licea around lately, for tiies*© was a csadle stack to the tabll by *f as of Jts own grease, mud a J>it of F daasiMi", s»ot m® dry for catm". TM. it a bt the Uosse * Tfc-ftn it ntrcck mc lie mi-;ht nS^T-!***¥'*■ m l^^& -he vAnlnv> t ihave, uaat*„ & & tsavmw Thsn I uhvt flo «ji«w«tr. X xcckonaa be WiSQ-J iisrhtjj* bw ft IjJeej: aWftV . S : stUn wioos sjy imts or scaaeiSsla* % so°l gives % eaaple orthm gao« ®msm, hat I f cot no answer. Agfa %&_% | rzeiL&md hq i sans* m away at Urn gMtlaa, £"-**&*%' mm®

fresh meat, or flour, or somethln' of t&at man «"g»j j l9 wmt initio agin aad Started to mage "V"" •} gSS^S M ma hack, and as I found p.enty or «ry Sfe& wad some atttaffy bark £ coon hifi • fnuvhloreon tt» hearth. After Ilwd Sfflhafef tooted round £or• somo Wctosr when I roticed for the Arst tia»o tha'ja 2rtof the hat wo? sorter eureGiuetl off fevel with one Bide of the ceo? by o btaubet struck nw 1 aadn't notloed any J>°%£-» * steps ova r to the? other end oi rbo w have a loot, and I di»woj6b» o l-^ a one shlu and pnahos »?f A c ,^ a T " nh't'?? very well see ea account or the Sre aad havltf tbe 315.r0 of v In w> v?-, yet, and ".bo firet thins! fcnowa «» tua».i runs my face acln a deadly cola *iana. £» i> Gawd f dldo'tVo-wl. law* eewn vatic ground, and I think I nnet have lost my senses altogether for a mmitoi* two, t?uc 53 soon as I could find my strength osto * jaot up and ran as hard as I could onymiexu, half out ofmy mind and notfecowin was I did. Atcw 1 had gone a couple Q*. hundred .yard* 1 eomo to a bit and ?. puii«u up, but I didn't care to look round aunt once, although I felt forced to do so, far fear something was alter mc. The ewe at was a ruunin* off mc, and yet I f«l6 ■awful cold and quaky too, ■ bat I palled- myself together, and tryin' not tc think too much of It, and shattiu' my eyes half "tfeo time to get rid of, the Image of it, wlttcV:scaled to flauh flery red in front of mc, I "started walking hard to get a good piece away. I had left my swag behind, but would' sooner frosan to death'ago back jis then. However, I coulda'o Sieip thlnkiu' oE it until tho walkia* warmed my blood and 1 began to feel a little more confidence, and bye arid by I 'jumped at tho truth. I had run agin a man who had hung faisself, and that was how the palm of his hand came to be on a level with my face. Tho tin dish explained the whole business; after workin* perhaps for several months the unfortnlt man had bottomed at last on useleus gravel, and beia' full up had given the •-whole thing best. Well, this happy thought . quite relieved mc, and f made np my mind not to leave my swag aJter all. but get It She nest day. Fort'aately for mc, I had made a straight enough course for the station, for I struck a road and was soon in the yard. The bos? came out at the barkla* of the dogs. and 1 give him partlo'iars of what h&d happened, and he told mc that there was a man prosipectin' about a mile away; lie was owln" him a lot for tucker, too; a&d he knew he hadn't had no luck, 1 was all right for tho night, and next mornlog we went over and found It was so, the mau who was hangin' was the prospector. We cat him down and some of the hao<ls buried him close by the hat. No ceo knew who he was, and there wasn't shy writing about the place to show it, but one of his shirt sleeves had got undone and I took notice he'd s;ot 3. Cody cattoed on his arm, I got my ■ swag agin, and' reached Lam bin* Plat, where I got a pocket of 5702, but I blu'd it all, thinkia' I'd only got to go to work a'gm to find plenty more. One chap offered mc a thousand for my cltti-.», though I wouldn't part; but when I did settle down to work agin I found fchs old girl had run out. bo I had to try my luck a'gln elsewhere. ** Then it must be close to here that you you found the man." " Yes; about sis miles to the west .of this. Didn't you never hear of it 8 "