The Cross Country Maitma

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume V, Issue 1437, 22 September 1905, Page 4

The Cross Country Maitma

, ('' Buihwomau," in tho Argus) " IJfow, tlisn, get up, ma'am," the mail man said. "I'mlato to-day; tho road's ■ liko a gluepot, and there's a shower ahead of us.". With a jerk of the reins and "giti away there ?" wo aro \ The mailman is a sharp-faced man,' muffled up in a mud baspatiered oilskin coat, He siti gingerly forward on the " Bulky." Well ! ie may, for ho has pref ( clous settings of eggs to dolirer to the farraars' wires along the wad, as. well as ■ boxes of fiiery and new hats for the races . w'nioh must ha kept dry. ' " Look'out for the mud, ma'am, he warns mo. Just then a clod comes right into my face, and the mailman remotes ih« traces of it for ma with my handkerchief. , ~ • " How do you manage with one horse in very wet weather ?" I ask. " Ob,'l hitch a horso on the off sitlo with & pair of spare tracos and a sapling for a > SWingle-bar, The Mtn horse rum a bit wide sometimes, but I got through to time. Last Moy it wai to wet, iu.d the ground so boggy, ttat I couldn't got through with the sulky-liu'l to leave it ■''bilf-way and rido ono of tho liorsts twensy piiles, carrying tho maiitage. " Prett-» hard life ?' I ■ _ "Thai's right," ho replies "I'm going every day. ■ln this sort ot weather I. get in at ton o'clock at night, ami leavo at four next morning; ought to start at throo , by rights. Noxt day I don't itirt til' after dinner, so I slitip the round of the • clock properly." Vfo pull up to drop the Ti-ti-Bung mil bag into o box at ttie >ta'ion ga'o. ' " Old Jones is particular aboat his row, remarks my driver- " Blowed it ho didn't : report mo to the postmaster once becaueo I loft it on tbo ground." Next we come to "Old Smorty g lion, who'ro a rusty kerosene tin is nailed to a tree, The mailman does not p'tll up, ' but tosses a bundle of letters and papers : . over the fence. " Out they go I" ho Eays, " Old Smarty puts on enough for a member of ■: farliament." At Tillybong Spring, on tho Government water reserve, are campefi diays, horse ■ waggons, and bullock teams. 11l one whioh is hooded, aro a man and e woman and three children. ' ' "Bee that turnout?" tho mailman remarks. "That's a Victorian cookie como across the Murray, looking for land to take up, ot go sharo-farmiiig. Ailthesqua'terS are keen on Victorians; reckon tlmy do better farming than tho Cornstalke." "What are those two little carts ?" I 1 • question. • . , t " They are spielers' turnouts going to the races. They are table-carts for play- ; ing ' iweat' on." v We pass a man carrying a sweg, He < has a flat tin enseundor bis arm. The mailman tells me that ho is a '■ cove aellicg . i : pictures." _ Mist envelopes the ranges, The grass ' in the paddocks is long and rank, and ■ beaten down by the rain, Drenched rabbits scuttle from' ono burrow to another. The trunks of tho, ironbark trees are a rich ■ moist black, and the scent of the blossom

is flung to us as wo drive along. A!bush publichoußß nexs takes my, attention. "Th«t'« a registered racecourse along i' side," tho mailman volunteers. "The ■' grandstand i&that bough shed and there's •' the judge's box. Last racoa tho'rccordu of -tho weights got blotted by the tain so that' ■ you cotildb't tell t'other from which. • Nice mix it was! Murphy gets a good crowd together a Boxing Day," As we pass I ice a roaring fko within ' doors. Curtains and tablecloth aro red, .. - and there are bunches of crysantliemuins ■;■■■< 'in glassed on the table. All looks cosy and watm as if there wero a smart housekeeper in charge, 1 ' ".What a pretty homo tbat is," I remark aa'wepass ft cottage surrounded by acacia trees, The garden is a biazo of colour. . "That is Bill the Digger's house. He has plenty of money; found a big nugcet ■ at the' New Rush diggins. His missus is ; • Bpending it properly on dress, Tbey have ono girl, a terror. She ran out when I ' . had b pair of young horses in the big i; ■ coach, and threw a pocket of lighted crackers in front of them. They did go to market properly. Wo shot' Jhther t" ' O'l'.ourk into a gilgi hole full of water." " Then father fell in that time ?" I ro- ' marked, yes; with a fp'ash," he an■v swered, \ ' , <