At nightfall the Paramatta was in the midst of the icebergs, and
Reuben soon understood the antipathy which Bill had expressed for
them. As a spectacle, they were no doubt grand; but as neighbours
to a half-crippled ship, with half a gale blowing, their beauty was
a very secondary consideration to those on board.
Additional stays were fixed to the jury mast, as it might be
necessary, at any moment, to attempt to bring her up into the wind;
and the word was passed that both watches must remain on deck.
Fortunately the night was a light one, for the moon was up, and the
sky almost cloudless. The mate stood with two of the best hands at
the wheel; while the second mate took his place in the fore top,
with a lantern, to signal the position of ice ahead. Fortunately
there were but few small floating blocks about, and the Paramatta
threaded her way through the larger bergs, without once approaching
near enough to render danger imminent. It was a long and anxious
night but, when morning broke, it was seen that the sea was now
open ahead, and by the afternoon they had left the last berg
behind.
Two days later the wind went completely down, and the crew at once
set to work to repair damages. Reuben, with two men under him,
filled up the breaches in the bulwarks. A respectable jury mast was
rigged by the stump of the main mast; and the spar, which had done
such good service among the bergs, was replaced by a longer and
heavier one. All hands worked vigorously, and the sailors were
assisted in the heavier work by parties of convicts.
After two days' toil all was completed. Sail was hoisted again and,
under a greatly reduced spread of canvas to that which she had
carried before the gale burst, the Paramatta proceeded on her way.
The weather continued favourable and, without further adventure,
the Paramatta arrived off Sydney heads; having made the voyage in a
hundred and three days, which was, under the circumstances, a quick
one.
The last evening Captain Wilson asked Reuben to go with him to the
poop, as he and Mr. Hudson wanted to have a chat with him.
"Now, Reuben," Mr. Hudson said, "sit yourself down here. We must
have a talk together. Now we want to know exactly what you are
thinking of doing."
"I am thinking of getting work, sir," Reuben said, "at my own
trade."
"Well, my lad, I don't think you will make much at that. There are
mills, of course, but not a great many of them; and I fancy you
would find it difficult to get anything like regular work. The
distances here are tremendous, and you would spend the money you
made, in one job, in looking out for another.
"That is the first view of the case. The second is, that neither
Captain Wilson nor I mean to let you try it. You have saved my
daughter's life, and I am not going to let the man who did that
tramp about the country, looking for a day's work. Captain Wilson
is going to marry my girl shortly, and of course he feels just the
same about it. So the next question is, 'What is the best thing we
can do for you?' Now, if you have a fancy for squatting, you can
come with me up country and learn the business; and this day,
twelve-month, I will hand you over the deeds of a range, with five
thousand sheep upon it. Now, that's my offer.
"Now, don't you be in a hurry to refuse it, and don't let me have
any nonsense about your not liking to accept it. Ten such farms
would not pay the debt I owe you, and I tell you I should think it
downright mean, if you were to refuse to let me pay you a part of
my debt. Now you shall hear Wilson's proposal."
"My offer is not so brilliant, Reuben. Indeed, as far as making money,
the pay would probably be no higher, at first, than you might earn
at your trade. I am, as you know, assistant superintendent to the
constabulary force of the colony. Now, if you like, I will obtain you
a commission as an inspector. The pay is not high, but by good conduct
you may rise to a position such as I hold. It is the position of a
gentleman, and the life is full of excitement and adventure. Now, what
do you say?"
Reuben was silent for a minute or two.
"I am greatly obliged to you both," he said, "more obliged than I
can tell you. Your offer, Mr. Hudson, is a most generous one; but I
have not been accustomed to farming, and I would rather have such a
life as that which Captain Wilson offers me, although the pay may
be very much smaller.
"But, sir," he said, turning to the officer of constabulary, "I
fear that I cannot accept your offer, because, in the first place,
you see, I am not a gentleman."
"Oh, nonsense, Reuben! Your manners and language would pass you as
a gentleman, anywhere. Besides which, there are several officers in
the force who have risen from the ranks, and who have had nothing
like the education you have had. You can put that aside at once. Is
there any other reason?"
"Yes, sir," Reuben said quietly. "I had never intended to have
spoken of it, and I came out to Australia in order that I might be
away from everyone who knew the story, but I couldn't accept your
offer without your knowing it. I am leaving England because I have
been tried for burglary."
"Nonsense!" both Reuben's listeners exclaimed, incredulously.
"If you don't mind, I will tell you the whole story," Reuben said,
"and then you can judge for yourselves."
Reuben then related at length the whole circumstances, with which
the reader is already acquainted.
"I remember reading your story in the papers, Reuben," Captain
Wilson said. "Being in the force, you know, I take an interest in
these things. I own I was puzzled at the time--because, you see, I
did not know you--but how anyone who did know you, could think you
guilty, passes my comprehension."
"I call it infamous," Mr. Hudson added warmly. "They must be a pack
of fools, down at that place Lewes."
"Well," Captain Wilson said, "I am glad you have told me your
story; for I have all along been puzzled as to what made you give
up your trade, and emigrate, at your age. However, the matter is
explained now; but now you have told me, I see no reason whatever
why you should not accept my offer. In the first place, no one but
ourselves will know your history. In the next, if they did so, that
is no reason why you should not hold the appointment. No man is
free from the risk of being suspected unjustly. You have been
acquitted by a jury of your countrymen and, even did everyone know
it, no one dare throw it in your teeth.
"No, I repeat, if you like I have no doubt that I can obtain for
you an appointment as officer in the constabulary. You need not
give me an answer now. Think it over for a week. You will have
plenty of time, for Mr. Hudson insists upon your taking up your
abode with him, when you land."
"That I do," Mr. Hudson said. "I have a place a mile out of Sydney,
and there you will stop for a bit. Then I hope you will go up the
country with me, for a month or two, and learn the ways of the
place; till Captain Wilson has got an appointment for you--that is,
if you quite decide to accept his offer, instead of mine. But
remember, if ever you get tired of thief hunting, the offer will
still be open to you."
Sydney was at that time but a very small place; for the great wave
of emigrants had not yet begun to flow, and the colony was in its
early infancy. As soon as the vessel cast anchor, Mr. Hudson and
his party landed, taking Reuben with them; and an hour later he
found himself installed, as a guest, at the squatter's house.
It was large and comfortable, surrounded by a broad verandah, and
standing in a garden blooming with flowers, many of which were
wholly unknown to Reuben. He had, of course, before landing laid
aside the suit he had worn on board ship, and had dressed himself
in his best; and the heartiness and cordiality of his host, his
wife, and daughter soon made him feel perfectly at his ease.
"We are in the rough, you know," Mr. Hudson said to him. "Everyone
is in the rough here, at present. Twenty years hence things may
settle down, but now we all have to take them as we find them. The
chief difficulty is servants. You see, almost every other man here
is either a convict, an ex-convict, or a runaway sailor; about as
bad material as you could want to see, for the formation of what
they call at home a genteel establishment. The number of emigrants
who come out is small. For the most part they have a little money
and take up land, or at any rate, go up country and look for work
there. A few, of course, who have been sent out by their friends at
home to get rid of them, loaf about Sydney and spend their money,
till they are driven to take the first job that offers. Well, they
may do for shepherds, in places where no drink is to be had for
love or money, but you would scarcely care about having them as
butlers; so you see, we are driven to the three classes I spoke of.
I have been exceptionally lucky. The man who carried the things
upstairs just now, and who is my chief man here, is an ex-convict."
Reuben looked surprised.
"He was assigned to me when he first got his ticket of leave. I
found him a good hand, and he stood by me pluckily, when my station
was attacked by the blacks. So next time I came down to the town, I
asked what he had been sent out here for. I found it was for having
been concerned in a poaching fray, in which some of the game
keepers got badly hurt. Well, that wasn't so much against him, you
know, so I got talking to him one day, and found out that he came
from my part of England. I found he had a wife, so I sent home
money to some friends, and asked them to send her out; which they
did and, finding she had, before she married him, been cook in a
gentleman's family, I engaged her here, and sent up the country for
Watson to come down. I had told him nothing about it; for I
thought, perhaps, his wife might refuse to come out, or might have
married again, or anything else.
"Well, the meeting was a happy one, as you may suppose; and I then
settled him down here--at least, it wasn't here, but a smaller
place I had then--and he has been with me ever since. His time was
out some years ago, but that has made no difference. Nothing would
induce him to leave me; and I would not part with him for any
amount, for a more faithful and trusty fellow never lived, and when
I go away I know everything will go along like clockwork. As for
his wife, she's a treasure, and she knows how to cook a dinner, as
you will acknowledge presently.
"They form the mainstay of my establishment. Besides that, there's
an old chap who looks after the garden, goes down to the town, and
does odd jobs. He was a sailor. He was landed here when his vessel
came into port, five years ago. He had fallen off the yard on to
the deck, and had broken half his ribs. He was taken to the
government hospital. They did not think, at first, that he would
ever get over it; but though he pulled through, it was clear he
would never be fit for any hard work. So the surgeon of the
hospital spoke of the case to me, and I said I thought I could find
a job that would suit him, and here he has been. He is quite strong
enough for all the work I want him to do, and I can trust him about
the place. Of course, he breaks out and gets drunk occasionally,
but one cannot expect to find a man perfect.
"Then there is a black boy--they call them all boys here--he looks
after the horses, and has two black boys--they are boys--under him.
I found him out on the plains. He had been shot by some
bush-ranging scoundrels, out of pure mischief, I should say. He was
insensible when I found him, but I saw that he was alive, and
managed to get him up on my horse and took him home. We were six
weeks getting him round, for the bullet had gone through his body.
It would have killed a white man in an hour, but these black
fellows are as hard as nails.
"My wife nursed him, for she was living up the country with me at
that time; and when he got well, he declared that he would never
leave us. I don't know that I was much gratified at the news, at
first; but I soon found out that Sam, as I called him, was a
valuable fellow about a place. He could turn his hand to
everything, but I found he was specially happy when he was engaged
about the horses; so at last I handed over that department to him,
and when we set up this place here, I brought him down with me and
made him head of the stables. It's fifteen years since I first
picked him up, and I don't think I have ever had cause to find
fault with him, since.
"So you see, though my establishment can't be called a genteel,
it's a thoroughly good-working one, and I doubt if there's a man in
the colony who is as well off as I am.
"When we go up country they all go with me except the sailor, who
remains in charge. He's a great man, I can tell you, when he's left
in what he calls command of the ship. He's got hold of two old
muskets and a brace of pistols, and these he always loads before we
start, so as to be ready to repel boarders. He looks out sharply,
too, for I have never lost a thing since he came; and when you
consider what a number of gentry there are, about here, with
experience in housebreaking, I think that's pretty well. He is
always drunk and incapable, for three or four days after our
return, as a reward to himself for having kept from drink all the
time we are away."
"Dinner is ready," Frances Hudson said, running into the room.
"Here you are, papa, talking away as usual, whenever you get the
chance. Now run upstairs quickly, both of you; for Rachel will not
be pleased if you let the first dinner get cold, after she has been
doing her best to turn out something special, in honour of the
occasion, ever since she heard the Paramatta was in port."
"I won't be a minute, Frances.
"Ah, here comes Wilson. I was wondering what had become of him. He
promised to come on, as soon as he had seen his chief."
The dinner was an excellent one, and fully bore out Mr. Hudson's
assertion with respect to his cook. All were in high spirits, with
the exception of Mrs. Hudson, who was cool in her manners to the
young officer, and was evidently desirous of showing her
disapproval of his engagement to her daughter, which had only taken
place two days before.
"I have news for you, Reuben," Captain Wilson said, in the first
pause of conversation. "I saw the chief, and told him I wanted an
appointment for a young friend of mine, who had come out in the
Paramatta, and who had shown great pluck and presence of mind in an
affair at the Cape, which I described to him. He said that he could
appoint you at once, as young Houghton, a district superintendent,
was killed three weeks ago, in an affair with the bush rangers up
country. He said he was very glad to hear of someone likely to make
a good officer, to fill his place. So if you make up your mind to
be a constable, the place is ready for you."
"Thank you very much, sir," Reuben said, "I was thinking the matter
over last night, and quite made up my mind to accept the place you
were kind enough to offer me, if you think me fit to fill it."
"I have no fear on that score, Reuben. I am sure you will do credit
to my recommendation. So then, we may consider that as settled."
"There," grumbled Mr. Hudson, "that's just like you, Wilson; you
upset all my plans. It was arranged he was to come up to my
station, and there, before you are on shore two hours, you arrange
the whole business; and I suppose you will be wanting him to get
into his uniform, and be off before a week's out."
"I daresay we can manage a fortnight," Captain Wilson laughed, "and
I have no doubt he will have plenty of opportunities for visiting
you, later on. Indeed, I don't know why he should not be able to
look you up, as soon as you get there. He will, of course, be
placed under an old hand for six months, to learn his duties and
get to speak a little of the native lingo.
"Hartwell, who has your district, is as good a man as he can be put
with. He is a careful officer, though perhaps a little slow; but he
will be a good man for Reuben to serve under, and I know the chief
will put him with him if I ask him, as it can't make any difference
where he goes first."
"Well, if you can arrange that, Wilson, I will forgive you. And
now, where are you going to?"
"For the time, I am not going anywhere in particular," Captain
Wilson replied. "The chief says he thinks that things have got
rather slack, since I have been away. There are several bands of
bush rangers, who have been doing a deal of mischief up country; so
to begin with, he wishes me to make a tour of inspection, and to
report generally. After that, I think I shall be settled here for a
time. At any rate, it will be my headquarters. I think it probable
the chief himself will be going home on leave, before very long."
"The sooner you are settled here, the better," Mr. Hudson said;
"for I know I shall get no peace, now, till Frances is settled,
too. Ever since she was a child, when she once made up her mind
that she wanted a new toy, she worried me till I got it for her;
and you are the last new toy."
"Oh, papa, how can you say so!" Frances said, laughing and
colouring. "As far as I am concerned, it may be months and months."
"Oh, that is all very well," Mr. Hudson broke in. "I know what you
want. You want Wilson here to be always, neglecting his duty, and
galloping over from the other end of the colony to see you. No, no,
my dear, if Wilson is a wise fellow, he will bring you to book, as
soon as I can either build, or get hold of, a place fit for you. We
shall be having no peace, now. Every time he is off on duty, you
will be picturing him as engaged in some dreadful struggle with
bush rangers and blacks; and if letters don't come as often as you
expect them, you will be fretting yourself into a fever."
"What nonsense, papa! I know, of course, George will have to do his
duty. I don't suppose he's always going to be tied to my apron
string."
"You take my advice, Reuben," Mr. Hudson said, "don't you go and
lose your heart; for if you once do, there's a police officer
spoiled. It don't so much matter with Wilson, because he has done
his share of dangerous work, and is pretty well up at the top of
the tree; but a man that has to tackle bush rangers and blacks,
ought not to have a woman at home thinking of him."
"There is no fear of that, for a good many years to come," Reuben
laughed. "Are these blacks really formidable fellows, Captain
Wilson?"
"Formidable to the settlers," Captain Wilson said, "but not to us.
They drive off cattle and sheep, and sometimes attack solitary
stations, and murder every soul there; but they seldom stand up in
fair fight, when we come down upon them; but they fight hard,
sometimes, when they are acting with bush rangers."
"Bush rangers are mostly escaped convicts, are they not?"
"Almost always," Captain Wilson replied, "except that, of course,
they have among them a few men such as runaway sailors, and
ne'er-do-wells who get sick of shepherding and take to the bush;
but the great proportion are convicts. It is not to be wondered at,
when you look at the life many of these men have led at home, and
the monotony and hardship of their lives in many of the up-country
stations, allotted to men as ignorant, and sometimes almost as
brutal as themselves.
"Some of them, too, escape from the road gangs, and these are
generally the worst; for as often as not, they may have killed a
warder in making their escape, and know that it will go hard with
them if they are caught.
"It may be said that there are two sorts of bush rangers. The one
are men who have taken to the bush, simply from a desire of
regaining their liberty. Sometimes they join parties of blacks, and
live with them. Sometimes two or three get together, and all the
harm they do is to carry off an occasional sheep, for food. And the
other kind are desperadoes--men who were a scourge in England, and
are a scourge here, who attack lonely stations, and are not content
with robbing, but murder those who fall into their hands.
"They are in fact wild beasts, to whom no mercy is to be extended;
and who, knowing it, will fight to the last. They are not easy to
hunt down, their instinct having made them wary; and being
generally in league with the blacks, who are as cunning as foxes,
and can run pretty nearly as fast as a horse can gallop, they are
kept very well informed as to our movements and, the country being
so immense, we should never run them down, were it not for our
native trackers.
"These fellows are to the full as sharp as the Red Indians of North
America. They seem, in fact, to have the instinct of dogs, and can
follow a track when the keenest white's eye cannot detect the
smallest trace of a footprint. It is something marvellous what some
of them will do."
"Have you many of these trackers in your employment?"
"There are one or two attached to every up-country station. They
are, in fact, our bloodhounds; and although some of our men pick up
a little of their craft, we should do nothing without them."
The next morning, Reuben met Captain Wilson down in Sydney, and was
taken by him to the chief of the constabulary, who at once made out
his appointment. On his return, Mr. Hudson again started with him
for the town, and insisted upon ordering his equipment. As Reuben
saw that he would be hurt by any shadow of denial, he accepted Mr.
Hudson's kind offer; although he had intended to ask Captain Wilson
to make an advance of pay, in order that he might get what was
necessary. He could not, however, have purchased such an outfit as
Mr. Hudson insisted on getting for him; the latter ordering not
only uniforms but suits of plain clothes, together with saddlery,
holsters, a sword, and a brace of excellent double-barrelled
pistols. He did not need to buy a horse, having in his stables one
in every way suitable, being at once quiet and fast--it was,
indeed, one of the most valuable animals in the colony.
"You will have to keep your eyes open, Reuben," he said, as he gave
him the horse, "or he will be stolen from you. These bush ranger
fellows are always well mounted, and anyone at an up-country
station, who has an animal at all out of the ordinary way, has to
keep his stable door locked and sleep with one eye open; and even
then, the chances are strongly in favour of his losing his horse,
before long. These fellows know that their lives often depend upon
the speed of their horse and, naturally, spare no pains to get hold
of a good one.
"Ah, I have a good idea.
"Jim," he shouted to one of the black boys, "come here."
The lad, who was about eighteen years of age, trotted up.
"Jim, this gentleman is going to be a police officer, and he's
going to take the bay with him; now he wants a good servant. Will
you go with him?"
The lad looked longingly at the horse, which he had groomed and was
very fond of; but he shook his head.
"I no leave Massa Hudson."
"Yes, but I wish you to go, Jim. This gentleman is a great friend
of mine, and when bad black man attacked young Missy, he saved her
life. So I want him to be taken good care of; and the horse, too,
and to see no one steals it. So someone I can trust must go with
him. If you don't like him for a master, after you have tried him,
Jim, you can come back to me again. You have been a good boy, and I
have no wish to get rid of you; but this gentleman don't know the
ways of the country, and I want to be sure he has someone with him
he can trust."
The lad looked at Reuben gravely, with his small eyes deeply sunken
under the projecting eyebrows.
"Jim will go," he said. "He look after white man and Tartar, to
please Massa Hudson and young Missy."
"That's right, Jim," his employer said.
"That's a good stroke of business," he went on, as he turned away
with Reuben; "if you treat these black fellows well, and they get
attached to you, they are faithful to death."
"You will see that fellow will never let your horse out of his
sight. If you ride twenty miles across country, there he will be by
your side as you dismount, ready to take it, and looking as fresh
as paint. At night he will sleep in the stable, and will be ready,
at all times and places, to make a fire, and cook a damper or a bit
of meat, if you are lucky enough to have one by you. All the people
about the place would do anything, I believe, for Frances; and the
fact that you have saved her life will bind this boy to you, at
first. Afterwards he will get to care for you, for yourself."
A fortnight later Reuben, in his uniform as an officer of the
constabulary, rode out of Sydney. His baggage had been sent on,
three days before, by a waggon returning up country. Jim trotted,
with an easy stride, behind him. Reuben at first was inclined to
ride slowly, in order to give his attendant time to keep up with
him; but he soon found that, whatever pace he went, the lad kept
the same distance behind, without any apparent exertion; and he
was, therefore, able to choose his own pace, without reference to
Jim's comfort.
Four years passed. Reuben Whitney gave every satisfaction to his
superiors, and was considered a zealous and effective young
officer. So far he had not been placed in a position of great
responsibility; for although for the last two years he had been in
charge of a district, it was not far from Sydney, and his duties
consisted principally in hunting for convicts who had made their
escape, in looking after refractory ticket-of-leave men, and in
ordinary constabulary work. He had learned in that time to become a
first-rate rider, and a good shot with a pistol, accomplishments
which would be of vital service when he was ordered to an
up-country station. For his pistols he had as yet, however, had no
actual use, as neither bush rangers nor natives penetrated so far
into the settlement.
At the end of the four years' service, he received a letter from
Captain Wilson, who had just succeeded to the chief command of the
constabulary, ordering him to hand over charge of the district to
the young officer who was the bearer of the letter, and to report
himself at headquarters.
Reuben was now nearly three-and-twenty, and had grown into a very
powerful young man. A life spent for the most part on horseback had
hardened his muscles, and filled out his frame. He stood about five
feet nine, but looked shorter, owing to his great width of
shoulders. He was still quiet in manner, but he had the same bright
and pleasant expression which had characterized him as a boy; and
his visits to Sydney, where he was introduced by Captain Wilson and
Mr. Hudson into the best society, had given him ease and self
possession.
The native, Jim, was still with him. He had become greatly attached
to his master, and his fidelity and devotion had been of the
greatest service to him and, go where he would, the black was
always at his heels.
On his presenting himself at Sydney, Captain Wilson said, after the
first greetings:
"I know you have been a little disappointed, Reuben, because
hitherto you have been at stations where you have had but little
opportunity of distinguishing yourself. However, I thought better
to keep you at quiet work, until you were thoroughly master of your
duties; and had, moreover, got your full strength. I don't know
whether you have quite arrived at that yet, but I think you will
do, anyhow," and he smiled as he looked at Reuben's shoulders.
"I think I am as strong as most of them," Reuben said, smiling too.
"Four years' mill-wright's work, and four years on horseback in
this bracing air, ought to make one strong, if there's anything in
one to begin with. I think I shall do, in that respect."
"I think so, Reuben. I don't think there are many men in the force
who could hold their own with you, in a grapple.
"And now to business. You have heard of that affair of Inspector
Thomas, in the Goora district--it was a bad business. He and two of
his men were out, after some natives who had driven off cattle; and
he was set upon by a party of bush rangers, and he and his men
killed."
"So I heard, sir," Reuben said quietly.
"Well, I have decided in sending you up in his place. It is a bad
district--the worst we have, at present--and it needs a man of
great resolution, and intelligence. I am sure that you have plenty
of both, and that I cannot make a better choice than in sending you
there. Your age is the only thing against you--not with me, you
know, but others may think that I have done wrong, in selecting so
young an officer--but you see, I know my man. I know, too, that
several of the inspectors are getting too old for this sort of
work. I do not mean too old, perhaps, in point of years, but they
are married men with families, and for desperate work I prefer men
without encumbrances.
"The post should be held by an inspector, but I cannot promote you,
at present. It would be putting you over the heads of too many. But
you will have a good chance of earning early promotion, and I know
that is what you like."
"Thank you very much, Captain Wilson. I will do my best to show
myself worthy of your confidence."
"You will have all your work cut out for you, Reuben. The district
has, all along, been a most troublesome one. The number of
settlers, at present, is small. There is a good deal of higher bush
than usual about it, which makes it very difficult to run these
fellows down; and the natives are specially troublesome. Besides
which, at present there are two or three of the worst gangs of bush
rangers in the colony, somewhere in that country. You will have to
be cautious as well as bold, Reuben. It is a dangerous service I am
sending you on; still, the more danger, the more credit to you."
"You could not have given me a station I should have liked better;
and I hope, ere long, I may be able to give you a good account of
the bush rangers."
"And now, Reuben, if you will call again in an hour, I shall be
free, and then I will drive you home. You need not start for a day
or two; and you will, of course, stay with me till you do."