A Cut In The Dark

"I've been abouta bit in my time, sir, siire enough," eays our second offieer, as we look over the rail of tlie " look-out bridge " upon the floating masses of weed that dapple the smooth surface of the Sargasso Sca ; "and I've had some queer adventnres, too. If you care to hear one as a samplo (as there's a quarter of an hoiir or so left of my watch on de;k) 111 give it you. "It's a good many years ago nowsiuce I was at Victoria (in Australia, you know), and, of course, like everybody else, I must tiy my luck at the diggiuga. You may think it a queer thing for a fellow to be dieper and sailor turn about : but that liappens oftener than you think, too. But in those daya it was rough work, I can teil you. Tliere were no railways or beaten roads then ; just a cattle-track through the bush, and every thing to bc carried by wagons, in some places through mud up to tlio very axle. We used to travel in great gangs then, just liko a caravan going through the desert ; so tliftt if Jack got stuck fast, Toni and Jim and Sani would come up and lug him out ; and if eight oxen couldu't drag a load tlirough, thoy'd harness three eights to it but tliey'd do it soniehow. In those days I've kuown I transport to go as high aa L120 a ton ; I and a ton was sometimos just about as i much as two humee could manage, over í 3uch a rnashed-potato iimd of soil as they j had of it up country. "Then, you see, thia traveling in gangs told in another way ; it was a sort . of security against beicg bailed up (robbed) by the bushrangers, who were abontthen as thick as beetles in a sugareask. Now-a-days, of course, it's a [ ferent thing ; but in noy time, if a fellow went up the country by himself, or only i twoor three with him, he waspretty safe j to have to say a word or two to Frank Gardiner on the road." " Frank Gardiner ! was he there then ? I know his name well enough. A friend of mine got cleaned out by liim two day's march trom the nearest township, and ! he begged for just enough to keep him I when he got in. So Gardiner handed '■ him back three dollars, and filled I his 'baccy pouch for him into the bargain." "Ay, that's Frank all over.; he was' very fond of that style. I remember ; hearing of a lady tliat begged hard to be allo wed to ransom herwatch, because i her husband's miniature was iu the back j of it, when what does Master Frank do ■ but hand it bock to her, free gratis for nothing, sayitig, ' it should never bo i said that Gardiner ever gave a lady any cause of distress.' And, d'ye see, that w.is a wido-awakc game of his, too ; for when he did get cotched (as he did at last, sure enough) then a lot of these folk that he'd been civil to spoke up for him, and said he warn't as black as he was painted. "But, for all that, it wasn't bad funin thoe days - for thein at least as could rough it, and didn't want hot water and blacked boots every morning. You just brought a sack of flour with you, and a small caak of whisky, and mayhap a chest of tea (tea's agreatstand-byin thobush), and then you were independent of both baker and bar-keeper, so long as your stock held out. As for meat, it wasn't so dear as you'd think ; many's the time I've bonght a pound for a sixpence. And after a hard day's work, when you'd got into dry things, and shoved a good allowance of damper and niutton down your throat, with a gl ss or two of grog to send it down, and you lay by the flre on your blanket, smoking your pipe, why, you wouldn't oall the Emperor of Rooshia your father. " 3Iy mate was a young man f rom Trinity College, DuVilin, and a right gUOU iCllOW lie Wil. J UtiVtM ÜJieW IlOW he camc to that pass, for lie was mighty close about his past life, as most of tliat soit are ; but I supposo he'd just fooled I away his money, like many another, and then bad to shift for hiinself. Bui, for all tliat, lie could do a day's work with any mau out ; and instead of beirjg down in the mou'h whenevor aaything went wrong, or pfnimbling and grunting becaus(! everyüiing wasn't likc a Londou hotel, he was alwaya whistling and singing over his work, vuil laugliing and cracking jolíes, so fchat it was quite a treat to see liim. It nsed to be great ftin foi me sometimes, when the day's work was done, aud we wc.ro ]i:iiiig our pipes by the íire, to m:ike him chalk my ñamo on a log iu Qreek, or Epout nit; a bit of Homer, or some ot' those oíd chaps, for all the educatfon ever got was a vei'y different sort, and I don't know a B from a bnll's foot in cither Grcek or Latin. " But wh at I likcd best was hearing hitn siug, for lic had a fine, olear pipe oí his own ; and ho wroto liis om Hongs, top, be did - words and niusio and all. Xhere wis one I ikod specüdly! bcwuse it was just my cjwb way of thinking put wvrit ; and it wbst te the tune of ' Hl Hmig My Harp on a Willow Tree.' I made him give me a copy, and here it is : " Tilia worid isa good oue ín its waj-, I f .you will but tako it fair ; ■ henever the euu shincp, mulic yonr hay, And LiUíjh at sorrow antï care. And what if at times tho sky turlis black, And down cnnop pelttng r.iih? Juut wait, tihd yuu'll Bee the sun come back, ADd all will go righís again ! ' 'Wherevr r we go there 8 work io be dono, 1 hen do it, and never say die ; There isn't a thinp boneath the sim That'8 worth a whine or a High. So never you fret when thingfi go Wrung; For it'e nselens to colnftiB ; Jus set your teeth ahd hahinur aloug, TIll üil eotnca WRht aaiu : ' " Well, we workoil together, hirn nnd me, for a sprfl of fonr month.s or so, and didpretty well, e one doy ivith another - notlxicg very tremcndous, but quite enougli to keep oivr pipes aligbt. At last, oue fine day, we bappened on a fine rich pocket, and made a very tidy haul ; aud the news of it got abont (rolling lip as it went, as a story always does) till we got the name of being lucky uns. And that, mark ye, is just tvbout the Worst nanie yon can get at tlie diggings ; for if a fellow's overbultlened with money there, there are always plenty of kind Cliristians to relieve him of it, and, if he don't eee itin their way, to let light into bis understanding witli a big knüe. But as the thing was done, wby, itcouldn't be helped, and the only thing then was to change tlie best part of onr gold into notes of the Sydney Bank, and carry them always ■ about OB. "Wel!, sir, just about t-llis time I noticed tliree fellows loafing about, whoin 1 1 hadn't seen before ; for, you see, this gully of ours was a small place at best, j witli not many in it, so Üiat you could ; spot a new face directly. They wei-en't quite the sort you'd have Hked to meet out on tlie loóse after dark, a good way i from home, thfit's a faot. One was a long, skinny, black-haired fellow, with a com: plexion like a bad cucumber, whom I ! took to be a Greok ; the Recond was a i tall, bony, sly-looking Yankee, with a ! j very vicious look in the corner of his j eye ; and the third was a great hulking, : red-headed beast, with a broken nose and i one eye, precions like a lag (convict) - wliich was just wbat he was, as I af terI wards found out. They planted their j 1 tent not very far from oiu's, and tried to j scrape acquaintance Avith us a bit ; but I kept as clear of them as 1 could, and warned my mate to do the same ; not that he Jieeded much warning, for he liked the cut of their jibs as little as I did, " However, it's not very easy to be stiind-offlsh at the diggings, especially if J you're naturally fond of company, like me ; and by duit of doing us little turns every now and then, and always having plenty of liquor going, these three beau- ties mannged to get pretty thick with us'! at last. The xankee and tne ü,ngiishman had a hail-fellow-well-met way with 'em tliat rather took niy mate, and me too, af tor a bit, bilt I nevcr could quite fancy ; the Greek. For, d'ye see, I'd had a : taste of their quality up the Levant, and j was quite of the same mind as the old saying, ' The Greek wines steal all heads, the Greek women steal all hcarts, and the Greek men steal everything.' " Well, it happened one day that I was left aloco in the tent (my partner had : gone to meet some stores that were coming np from the township for us) yrhea up comes this big red-haired chap, and asks me to come over in the evening and have a glass of grog with l.im and lus pal?. It was a murdering hot day, and the very mention of grog made me lick my lips like a dog in front of abutcher's shop ; befsides, there was nothing in our tent wortli taking, and even if there had been, I knew I should be back again long before dark ; so, as yon may suppose, the short and the long of it was - that I went ! " I found the three beauties sitting at their tent-dooi", seeming to have knocked off work pretty eorly. For at the diggings, yon see, one don't iind many watches about ; a fellow just look.3 up at the sun, and says, ' Must be towards noon - I'll have a bite of summut !' or else, ' Sun's only a foot high now - time to knook off !' You never heard anything of half-hours or quarter-hours among us -not you ! " Well, they gave me a great welcome, and told me to sit down and make myself comfortable ; and we had a regular jollification. The Yankee spun some queer yarns that made us all lauph, and I sang'em one or twoof my mate 's songs; and, altogether, we wre as thick as thieves. At last the sun began to go down ; and then I thought it was about time for me to be stirring. " ' Gammon !' says the big sandyliairedchap. 'The bush ain't run dry yet ; what the blazes are you in sucli a i iiurry for }' " 'You stop little bit yet, Johnny,' i says the Greek (these heathens always I cali everybody Johnny, you know), ' j by we hab supper, little game cards play - eh?' " And with tliat he gave me a tap on '. the side witli the back of his hand, as if ! in play. It was no more tlian any man might have done ; but it struck me all at j once tliat he did it to feel if I wore a j belt ; for, in that climate, men don't wear thick leathern belts under their j clothes for the fun of it ; and, if I had one, there was safe to be something in it. "Well, tliis put roe more and rnore on my guard, and I began to think I'd better not have come at all, as one always does when it's too late. However, to make the best of a bad job, I up and said I'd had a very jolly evening, and must liave anothcr soon ; but that now I'd got to go and see if my partner had turned up yet ; for I thought they wouldn't be so game to play any tricks if they fancied tliey'd got two men to deal with. So then Master Greek says tome: " 'Wel], Jolmny, yon toke parting glass before you ro; tliat much proper.' " And with that he opens a fresh bottle, tiu'ning bis back while he tlitl it I guessed directly what lie was up to, lmt Iuever let on that I'd spotted him; and I pretended to smack my lips over itand think it very good, but, in rcality, I ! managed to spill most of it into my board, which was i good thick 'un. Bul by tho droj or fcwo I did swallow, I tasted that it was drugged, just as I thouglit. "So then I said good-night, ciid carne aw.ay wishing very mucli that iny partner would tiun up, for I didn't mucli like the idea of having these three beauties on my hajids all at once. However, when I got to tho tent, there was no sigu oí' hiiu, so I lighted a caudle (for it was pretty dark by thia time) and nat down to tailor-up my elothes a bit, by way of passing the time. " I'd been workiug alxnit au hoor, as near as T could guess, when I bethought ïnyself that if I kept the light biirniag, they mipht pot me through tho canvue ; for, with a liaht behind you, ytrnv íhadow shows iErough a tent just like tbrough a blind ; so I lay tlown o n wy blanket. twk oft' roy jacïtot ml j" onder my liead, and thon blew out the light, and waited. " I don 't know how long I lay there in tho dark (it seeined loiig euough to me, I know that), when, all at once, 1 honrd solnebcidy breatliiiig close by the i tont. I liad heard no footstep, nor anything of that sort; but my ears arepretty fharp (especially wben niy lifo depende on keeping 'em cocked), and I was sure I heard this breathing. " ' Here they come ! ' tbonght I, and fisted lloltl oí my revolver, when- biest il' I hadn't forgotten to load it ! " There was no time to think about it. The very next moment I heard the canvas quietly ripped, and a hand came sliding in, riglit the place where my liead had been a minute before, and where my clothea (and the belt with 'em) oupht to be. "Now, there was a big log on that side of tho tent, and I'd noiled the canvas to it to keep it iii'tn nnd over this log the halid catne ereeping. Í watched till the wfist showed white in a stray gleam of moonlight that came through the hole, and tlien gi'abbed my hatchet and came down with oue good blow that chopped the hand clean off ! " Tlien carne a yell that I never heard the like of, and a sound of feet pattering away. I ran to the door and looked out ; but the fellow's screech had roijsed the whole camp, and there was such a rush from all the tents - aomo in their I shiit-sleeves, some iü their stockingI feet, and many with tiothing on at all - ! that I had no chance of seeing which j way my man went. In the crowd I cauglit siglit of a man I knew,and sang ■ out to hiin: " 'Sam, my boy, comeintomy tent for ] the rest of the night, and 111 stand you j a quart!' " 'Done with you,' says he, and in he carne, and we kopt watch till sunrise. But nothing carne near us, and about daybreak my partner turned up. So j tb en I too 't my revolver, and went to look after my three beauties; but, just as I expected, they and their tent were clean gone, and I nover saw any more of 'em. " Now, then, here comes my relief ; so I'll just go down and turn in. "