Tommy, the Toff.

Observer, Volume 9, Issue 522, 22 December 1888, Page 14

Tommy, the Toff.

By Tht: .Observer Man. WW"IJITHIN fifty miles of Auckland is a m ffll II Maori settlement — a hilly, swanapy i little place, consisting of a few seat- [ tered houses and icharcs, and a general store, where the festive gumdigger trades off ! his gum for biscuit, tea, mutton, tinned meat, flour, bread when there is any, and black tobacco. The township — or village, rather — is surrounded by ti-tree, and in the swamps coarse [ grass and raupo weeds are growing. A couple of hundred yards from the store is a patoh of manuka, highly valued by the dwellers thereI abouts, for firewood is scarce ; and, besides, these tall, straight young trees, tough and hardy, are the very thing for ridge poles and uprights for tents, and the ribs of sod huts. I Over the broken range rising to the left of the i store, and nestling beneath a steep, fern-clad hill, are several tents and ivliares occupied by gum--1 diggers. One of the snuggest sod huts to be found at this spot was tenanted a year or two ago by a party of three diggers— Bill, Jack, and ' Tommy, the Toff.' | Bill and Jack were rough working men, strong as giants, and with a tine contempt for ' booklearning ' and .' scholards.' ' Tommy, the Toff,' as his nickname indicated, was a cut above his mates - a good many cuts, in fact. But he never put on ' side,' and endured the chaff and banter of the others with the utmost good humour. And so he was tolerated, and even liked. Had he attempted, in digger parlanoe, to ' come the bloomin' hairystocraok,' he would have been bounced out of the camp without ceremony. It was easy to perceive, in spite of his rough flannel shirt and his well-worn moleskins, that he had • seen better days,' and his voice— that unmistakable test of good breeding — was clear and well-modulated. There] was something mysterious about

'Tommy.' He was very reserved.;, --ISTp.-Vohe'. 1 "; knew whence he came or what he had been, and he never, directly or indirectly, hinted at the past. He worked hard, never shirked, and made a good mate — which was all his acquaintances asked. It is the 20th of December, and the trio having bad their tea and . ' washed up,' are lying within their sod house on outspread sacks, lazily scraping the gum collected during the day. At the side of the fire is a great billy, half full of tea,. th 3 bushman's invariable substitute for gvpg— when no grog is to be had, ' Say, mates,' says Bill, reoaoving his wellcoloured, clay for a moment from his mouth, 1 what we goin' fcer do fur Christmas ? I votes we just shet hup shop and goes inter town fur a jolly good spree.' ■ t ' 'Ear, 'ear,' remarks Jack, approvingly, ' an' if we're goin' why there ain't no tima ter lose. What do you say, Toff ?' 'What do you propose to do?' asked thelatter, kicking the dying embers together on the hearth, and settling the billy in the midst of them to keep the tea warm. 1 Oh, you know ! What do fellers gin'rally do< when they go to town ? 'Aye a bloomin' burist, and a rosy hold time ! We got the stamps. Ain't we bin savin' hup for this here little treat for the larst twelve months ?' ' In coorae we 'aye,' chipped in Bill with an oath, ' but I don't bleeve the Toff's game. \E'd , sooner put hon a clean biled rag an' 'is swell, togs an' call on the Goy'nor, wouldn'fc yer, Toff ?' ' Give 'im my compliments, and say I'm purty well considerin' the price of gum,' remarked Jack,. < will yer, Toff ?' 'I will come, boys,' said the Toff, ' but I must Bay that a prolonged booze is hardly my idea of a good time.' ' No,' remarked Bill, ' with withering contempt,. ' yer'd sooner set down in the Free Li-brairy and. read some bloomin' old book.' ' It would all depend on what the blooming old book was about,' replied the Toff. 'To tell you. the plain truth, I would far sooner stop in campwhile you are away.' 'That be blowed for a yarn,' said Bill, 'we'll all go together, or we won't go at all— unless,' he added, suspiciously, ' you're ashamed of the likes Of U8 ?' • 'Taint that,' said Jack. ' It's books he'sthinkin' of. He's borrowed some books from, the store, and he's goin' in fur a jolly good read. That's y 'is idea of enjyment,' added Jack, contemptuously. The Toff smiled, but said nothing. ' Yar, you an' yer books 1 Books an' sich is honely fit fur bloomin' hold women ! That's wot I say. I never 'ad no book learnin' an' I've never felt the want of it ! What's *,he good of eddication, anyway, Toff ?' But the Toff declined to discuss ihe question, and it was agreed that they shonld leave for towni in the morning, although the Toff only consented to go with great reluctance. The next day the mates, attired in new moleskins, and store coats and vests, left the campfor town. - Bill and Jack had each a cheque for £20. What the amount of the Toff's cheque was he kept lo himself. On the road to 1 the steamer, they passed through a tiny township, and stopped at theaccommodation house for 'just a wet.' The landlord, a rotund and red -faced individual,, greeted the travellers with a beaming smile, and pressed them to stay for dinner. So they stayed,, although the Toff was very anxious to push on, The landlord most obligingly offered to cash the cheques of the party, and the Toff was the only one that declined the accommodation. Thanks to his cool head and determined manner, the landlord dared not play any ' tricksupon travellers,' and the next morning he saw the trio depart with a smile upon his face, but rage in his heart. He was baffled. That night the mates were in Auckland. They put up at a cheap, but respectable boardinghouse, selected by the Toff. Aftei tea they went to get the first taste of that ' booze,' for which the souls of Jack and Billwearied. They walked down Queen-street abreast, all unconscious that they were being ' shadowed ' by a tall, stout man in a faded tweed suit, who had been ' keeping an eye upon them ' ever since they set foot on Queen-street wharf. Just as they were about to enter an hotel, the mysterious man sidled up to them, and laying his hand upon the shoulder of the Toff, said : ' John Eogers, I arrest you for embezzlement from your employers, Blank and Dash, of. Customs-street, in January, 1883.' The Toff went very white, but his voice never faltered. ' Boys,' he said to Jack and Bill, ' this is what I feared. My sin has found me out. Good-bye —for ever.' Jack and Bill were thunderstruck., As soon asthey could find their tongues, they burst out : 'What, Toff! Say it ain't true? Saythewordi an' we'll sail into this here sneakm' skunk and give him 'ell !' But the Toff would not hear of it. He thanked them, and with a farewell wave of the hand went with the detective. Bill and Jack were at the Police Court when the Toff was brought up, and heard him committed for trial. They did all they could for, him, engaged the best legal advice, and Bill was quite confident that he would be able to get; bfi by ' proving a halibi,' his own favouritp' loophole. of escape when in ' trouble.' But the unfortunate Toff/lidn't even attempt tp prove 'a halibi,' and. was sentenced at the. next sessions of the Supreme .Court to four years penal servitude, although -the- jury strongly recommended him to mercy! That he had erred there was no doubt, yet the evidence proved, that he had been more sinned against than sinning. Bill and Jack were heart-broken at the fate of their mate. They went back to" camp ; even the long-looked for *. booze ' lost its attraction in theface of this blow,, and they returned with nearly . all their money in their poglcels. - . ■4 ■ The incident has ; confirmed Bill in His opinion that book learnin' is. no good, and that a man is far better without it, and Jack is very much" of the same way of thinking. , ':_