CHAPTER TWENTY.
LEATHER'S OTHER SIDE.
"Well, Nic, what does all this mean?" said the doctor on the followingday. "Brookes has been complaining to me that he was busy yesterdaydressing those sheep, when he found Leather, as they call him, myassigned servant, lazy, careless, and insolent. He was speaking to himrather sharply, when you suddenly appeared from behind the fence, flewin a passion, abused him, defended the other man, talked in a way thatwould make Leather disobedient in the future, and finally ordered theman to go away and leave Brookes to do all the work himself. Now then,my boy, is this true?"
"Well, about half of it, father."
"I'm sorry to hear it, Nic, though I'm glad you are so frank," said thedoctor, rather sternly. "You own to half. Now how much of the otherhalf would be true if judged by an impartial observer?"
"I don't think any of it, father."
"Humph!" ejaculated the doctor. "This is a great pity, my boy. Icannot have dissension here at the station. Brookes is a valuableservant to me, where men with a character are very scarce. He is, Iknow, firm and severe to the blacks and to the convict labourers I havehad from time to time, and I must warn you these assigned servants arenot men of good character. Has this Leather been making advances towardyou, and telling you some pitiful tale of his innocency to excite yourcompassion?"
"Oh no, father," cried Nic. "He has been as distant and surly to me ascould be."
"Ah! There you see! The man is not well behaved."
"He works well, father, and was doing his best; but Brookes does nothingbut bully and find fault, and he went on so yesterday at the poor fellowthat at last I felt as if I couldn't bear it, and--and I'm afraid I gotin a terrible passion and talked as if I were the master."
"I repeat what I said, Nic. I am very sorry, and I must ask you to bemore careful. You say you played the master?"
"Yes, father."
"Very badly, my lad. He is a poor master who cannot govern his temper.Men under you always respect quiet firmness, and it will do more inruling or governing than any amount of noisy bullying. There, I am notgoing to say any more."
"But you don't know, father, how cruelly he uses Leather."
"Neither do you, Nic, I'm afraid. You are young and chivalrous, andnaturally, from your age, ready to magnify and resist what you look uponas oppression. There, be careful, my lad. I shall keep an eye onLeather and take notice for myself. As to Brookes, I shall leavematters to you. I do not ask you to apologise to him, but I should likeyou to run over yesterday's business in your own mind, and where youfeel conscientiously that you were in the wrong I should like you toshow Brookes that you regret that portion of what you said. One moment,and I've done. I want you to recollect that he is a man of fifty, whileyou are only about sixteen. Do we understand each other?"
"Oh yes, father," cried the boy, earnestly.
"Then that unpleasant business is at an end. Did you get your specimensyesterday?"
"No," cried Nic; "the quarrel yesterday upset me, and I could only goand wander about in the bush thinking about it. I did not shoot abird."
"Then go and make up for it to-day," said the doctors smiling.
"But," said Nic, hesitating, "don't you want me, father--to begin work?"
"Yes, by-and-by; not yet. I should like you to have your run about theplace for a week or two more--or a month, say. It will not be wastetime. You cannot see what is going on about a station like this withoutlearning a great deal that will be invaluable by-and-by. Of course Ishall take you with me for a few runs or rides. By the way, did theyfinish emptying the waggon?"
"Oh yes, father; I saw that done, and kept account of the packages thatcame over in the _Northumbrian_. I didn't know the rest."
"That was businesslike, and the more so for its being done unasked."
"But Brookes didn't like my being there, father."
"Indeed!" said the doctor slowly. "And the other man--Samson?"
"He liked it, father. We're capital friends. I like him: he's such arum old fellow."
"Well, you must get to like Brookes too. Now have your run."
Nic felt better, for the previous day's trouble had sat upon him like anightmare. Hurrying to his room he took his gun, and leaving it at thedoor was guided by the voices to the big store-room, where Mrs Braydonand the girls were busy unpacking and arranging some of the storesbrought by the waggon.
Here he was soon dismissed by his sisters, and after promising to beback in good time, he went off across the home part of the station,catching sight of Samson, Brookes, and a couple of the blacks busy oversome task in an open shed, which task looked like the stacking up ofbundles of wool rolled neatly together.
"I can't go and tell Brookes I'm sorry before them," thought Nic; "andI'm afraid I don't feel sorry. I suppose, though, I was a bit in thewrong. Father knows best; but he wouldn't have let Brookes speak likethat. Brookes wouldn't have dared to do it."
The boy had got about a mile away from the station and into a part ofthe doctor's land which looked as if it had been carefully planted withtrees, but his common sense told him that it must be in precisely thesame condition as when he took up that part of the country; and afterstopping to look round and admire the beauty of the place in everydirection, he began to wish that he had brought the two dogs for a run.
"Father says that they are better at home, though, for a bit," hemuttered, as he trudged on again, looking for birds or other game, butseeing nothing whatever, not so much as a snake.
His direction this time was parallel with the tremendous gorge whoseedge he had stood upon to gaze down; and as in comparison the presentpart of the huge estate was, though beautiful, somewhat monotonous inits constant succession of large ornamental trees and grassy glades, hewas beginning to wish that he had gone in the other direction, toexplore the gully down into which Samson had guided him on the way tomeet the waggon.
"I want to see that tree bridge, too, that we crossed. Never mind: thatwill do for another time."
Nic kept on in and out among the trees, glancing at his pocket compassfrom time to time, but satisfied of his ability to retrace his steps,for he was convinced that the huge gorge must be away to his left, sothat if he kept it upon his right in returning he would be certain tocome out correctly.
Every now and then he obtained a grand view of the mountains, with theirprevailing tint of blue in the distance gradually becoming grey,yellowish brown, red, and of many delicious greens, as the great spurs,bluffs, and chasms came nearer and nearer till they plunged down intothe gorge.
It looked to be a very fairyland of tempting mystery, waiting to beexplored; and till the trees hid the towering eminences from his sight,he went on planning endless excursions for the future.
"But it does seem so strange," he said to himself at last, as he wipedhis streaming forehead and stood in the shade of a great green tree,gazing up in its forest of boughs. "One would think that such anout-of-the-way place would swarm with birds and wild creatures; whileexcept flies and beetles nothing seems to live here. Ah!" he cried atlast.
For he had caught sight of something moving among the low scrubby bushesbeyond the next tree, and softly cocking his gun he began to stalk it.But the next minute he had made up his mind not to fire at what would inall probability be a kangaroo.
"And I don't want kangaroos," he said; "I want birds." But he wanted toget as close as he could to the animal, and he stole on and on slowlyfor about fifty yards, till, as nearly as he could judge, whatever itwas must be just beyond the next bushes.
Toward these he was creeping, when he started round with a quick jump,for some one had spoken.
"Are you looking for me, sir?"
There stood Leather bending over a sheep, whose fleece he was relievingof a strange growth of burrs and prickly, brambly strands with which thecreature was tangled.
"No," said Nic, as soon as he had recovered from his surprise. "I didnot know you were this way. What are you doing?
"
"Shepherding, sir," said the man, with a sad, weary-looking smile, whichhalf fascinated Nic, and he stared at one who seemed to be quite adifferent man. "The poor brutes get terribly tangled by these wildgrowths, and sheep are not very wise, sir. They're poor, helpless sortof creatures. As soon as they are helped out of one difficulty they getinto another."
"Yes, I suppose so," said Nic, speaking as if he thoroughly understoodsheep; though his knowledge of the popular old useful animal consistedin the facts that when they were young they were lambs, that they grewwool, and that when they were killed they became mutton.
They have so many diseases, too, sir, and so many enemies.
"What, the dingoes?" said Nic.
"Yes, they play the part of the wolf in Europe. It's astonishing howthey have overrun the country."
Nic stared again, but averted his eyes for fear the man should noticeit. This did not seem the Leather he had seen so much of on his wayhome and since.
"Are there no wolves, then, here?" he asked.
"No, sir, fortunately for the squatters; and it's a pity they introducedthese dogs."
"They? Who did?"
"Impossible to say, sir. The captain of some ship, I suppose--perhapsof more than one ship; and they increased and multiplied till they runwild all over the land."
"Oh no; surely they must always have been here?" said Nic.
Leather shook his head.
"This is a land of surprises, sir," he said quietly. "There were hardlyany, if any, animals here but the kangaroos and the like, when the placewas first settled. Haven't you read all this?"
"No," said Nic; "I have only just left school. But there doesn't seemto be many even of them."
"Millions," said Leather, smiling, "if you know where to look for them."
"But I haven't seen one since I left home this morning."
"And perhaps passed dozens, sir, from large ones, bigger than I am, downto the kangaroo rats and mice, not much bigger than those at--inEngland."
Nic noticed the man's hesitation, but appeared not to heed it.
"But could you show me any of them?"
"Oh yes, sir, if you wish. They want looking for, but I spend so muchtime alone here in the bush that I get to know their habits. Some ofthe small ones are pretty little long-legged creatures. Wonderfuljumpers too."
"And you call them all kangaroos?"
"Some people do, sir."
"Kangaroo! Why, that must be a native name."
"Haven't you heard about that, sir?"
"Heard what?"
"About their name, sir?"
"No--nothing."
"They say that when the first people met the blackfellows they askedthem what they called the leaping creatures they saw hopping along sofar on two legs, like animal grasshoppers; and the blacks said`Kangaroo.'"
"Yes, I thought it would be a native name."
Leather smiled.
"No, sir; `kangaroo' is the blackfellows' way of saying `I don't knowwhat you mean.'"
"Could you show me where I could shoot one of those Blue Mountainparrots, Leather?" said Nic, after a pause, during which the boy stoodthoughtful and wondering at his companion's change of manner.
"Oh yes, I think so, sir. There are plenty about."
"I haven't seen one for days; when I did I had no gun; and besides, Iwas not ready to stuff it."
"This is not a good time of day to look after them, sir; but I dare sayyou have passed plenty."
"No--not one."
Leather smiled faintly.
"They are very quiet, like most birds in the heat of the day, and aresitting up among the leaves, huddled up and with their feathers allloose, so that you don't see the bright underpart, and their backs andsides are all green like the leaves. It wants practice to see them."
"When is the best time, then?"
"Early in the morning, when it is cool and fresh, and they are just offto feed. You hear them whistling and shrieking to each other then."
"But do you think you could show me one now?"
"I'll try if you like, sir," said Leather quietly. "One of the blackswould soon show you, but my eyes are not so well trained as theirs."
The man led on, and Nic followed on tiptoe, thinking of how different hewas, and wondering why so strong a feeling of dislike to him had sprungup: why, too, a man of bad character and a convict should be able tospeak so well and take so much interest in the things about him.
"You need not walk so carefully, sir," he said; "and you can talk. Thebirds will not fly off. They trust to their colours keeping themhidden. These sheep look well, sir."
"Yes," replied Nic, without glancing at the white-fleeced creaturesfeeding about, for he was thinking of the scene of the day before andfelt afraid that Leather would allude to it.
But he did not, for he seemed disposed to talk quietly and respectfullyof the different things about them as they went on through the openlywooded region for about a mile.
"Like honey, sir?" he said.
"Oh yes. Do people keep bees out here?"
"Well, sir," said Leather, smiling pleasantly, "Dame Nature does. Thereare plenty of wild bees. There's a nest up just above that fork."
He pointed to a spot about forty feet from the ground, where whatappeared to be some flies were darting about a hole.
"Those are not bees," said Nic, gazing up at the place where the barkappeared to be split and a portion of the tree decayed.
"Yes, sir--Australian wild bees. They make plenty of delicious honey."
"Where you can't get at it!"
"Oh yes; a man who can climb would get it. The bark of these trees issoft and easily cut through."
"But the bees would sting him to death while he was doing it."
"If they could, sir; but these bees out here are harmless. I've seenthe naked blacks climb up, with a piece of smouldering, smoking wood todrive the insects away, and then rob a nest. They would not have muchprotection from the insects if they were attacked."
"Well, no, not much," said Nic, laughing. "But the nests must be hardto find. You won't know that place again."
"Oh yes, sir," said Leather quietly, as he stood glancing up in thetree. "You see I brought you straight here. Besides, after seeing oneof the blacks track the bees home it is very easy, for the country is soopen. It is not like being in the dense scrub."
"How do they track them?" asked Nic.
"Catch a bee when it is busy in a flower, touch its back with a tinyspeck of gum from one of the trees, and touch the gum with a tuft ofthat white silky wool--"; and he picked a scrap from the seed-vessel ofone of the trees.
"And what good does that do?" asked Nic.
"Good, sir? The white cotton is easily seen when the bee flieshomeward, the black chasing it till perhaps he loses it. But he has gotnearer to the nest, and he will do this again with other bees, till hecomes at last to the place where the nest is."
"And did you find that nest so?"
"Yes," said Leather quietly. "I lost sight of the first bee about fortyyards away; the next bee I missed too, but the last showed me the way atonce. Now, then: look straight up there."
"Oh, I can see them flying in and out plainly enough," replied Nic.
"I was not talking about the bees then, sir. I mean away to the right alittle, and a good fifty feet higher."
"Don't see anything, only the sun coming through like silver rain."
"To the right of that, sir, where the leaves are thickest. Now can yousee?"
"I can see where the leaves are thickest, that's all. What am I to lookat?"
"The paroquets."
"What?" cried Nic excitedly, as he gave himself an aching sensation inthe back of the neck from the awkward position he assumed: "I can't seeanything."
"Look again, sir. They are hard to see. I can count six together, andone which seems to be a handsome cock bird, quite by itself."
"That's the one I want," said Nic in a whisper, as he cocked
his gun andstood peering up in the part indicated, but only to have his eyesdazzled by the rays which shot down from above.
"You see it now, sir?" said Leather quietly.
"Nor; nothing but leaves and twigs--nothing else. Are you sure you cansee the birds?"
"Yes, sir, quite. My eyes are more used to this sort of thing thanyours. I have been so much alone in the bush, often with no companionsbut the sheep or the blacks."
"And are they friendly to you?"
"Oh yes; in their way, sir."
"But look here: are you really sure that you can see some of thoseparrots now?"
"Certain, sir," said Leather, smiling. "Try and follow my finger.There: now you can see them."
Nic had a long look, and then shook his head in despair.
"I'm sorry you cannot see them, sir. Would you like me to shoot thatbird for you?"
"Yes," cried Nic, holding out his gun. "No!" he said, drawing itsharply back.
"Because you think, sir, it is a ruse on my part to get possession ofyour gun and then go off as a bushranger," said Leather bitterly.
Nic coloured deeply as a girl, but he tossed up his head.
"Well," he said sharply, "that's true; I could not help thinking it."
"I suppose not," said the man sadly. And he turned away.
"You know you got hold of me out there by the precipice and talked aboutdropping me over."
"Yes," said Leather, starting. "It was the act of a fool; but I feltvery bitter that day, sir."
"And how do I know that you don't feel bitter to-day?"
"Hah! How indeed!" cried the man.
Nic hesitated a moment, and then, ashamed of his suspicions, he held outthe gun.
"Shoot the bird for me," he said.
Leather looked at him keenly.
"I don't think so now," said Nic, as the man drew back frowning. "Iwant the bird. I can't see it. I know you wouldn't trick me."
The man snatched the gun almost fiercely, examining the priming; and itwas hard work for Nic to stand fast and force himself not to believethat he had done a foolish thing. But he did stand firm and metLeather's flashing eyes.
He was not long kept in suspense, for, without a moment's hesitation,Leather took aim. There was a flash, a puff of smoke and loud report,and a bird came rustling down through the twigs and boughs.
"A fact--not a ruse, sir," said Leather bitterly, as he handed back thegun.
"I beg your pardon," said the boy excitedly; and the man looked at himin wonder.
"People do not beg pardon of convicts," he said very shortly; and,bending down over the spot where the bird had fallen, he carefullyparted the low growth into which the specimen had dived head first, andthen, taking the beautifully coloured little creature by the hookedbeak, he tenderly drew it out with the feathers falling back into theirplaces, and hardly showing a mark.
"That is about as perfect as one can be, I think, sir," said Leatherquietly.
"Lovely!" cried Nic enthusiastically. "How am I to get it home safely?"
"Take hold of it by the beak, sir, a moment," replied Leather; and,being relieved of the bird, he looked round till his eyes lit upon apeculiar-looking grass, one of the waving strands of which he picked,drew through his hand, and then passed it through the bird's nostrils,twisted the ends together lightly, and handed the loop to Nic.
"That grass is nearly as tough as wire, sir," he said. "Carry it bythat, letting it swing. Are you going to collect bird-skins, sir?"
"I'm going to try, Leather. I shall want to get a good white cockatoo,"said Nic, eagerly plunging into the subject, so as to try and make upfor the suspicion he had displayed.
"Oh yes, sir," said the man, who now showed not the slightestresentment. "There will be plenty of work for you in that way. You canget the sulphur crests, and those with orange crests, and therose-coloured, and the pretty grey creamy-yellowish-cheeked birds whichhave the cockatoo's crest and the long tail of the paroquet."
"I don't know of these," said Nic eagerly.
"The country swarms with beautiful birds, sir, especially with those ofthe parrot tribe. There is the black cockatoo, for instance--not thatyou'll care for it."
"Why?" said Nic.
"Because it is ugly," said Leather, smiling, as if he enjoyed the boy'senthusiasm. "It is wanting in bright feathers, but it is a curiousbird, with a tremendously strong beak."
"I must have a specimen, though," said Nic. "What others are there?"
"I can hardly tell you, sir. The parrots are in great variety. Stop:there are two grass parrots that I know of. One is a green bird stripedall over across with a darker green, like the breast of a cuckoo or ahawk, and it has fairly long legs, which enable it to go about activelyon the ground. Other parrots have, as you know, very short legs, onlysuitable for clinging and climbing in the trees."
"And the other--grass parrot you called it?"
"A lovely little creature, cross-barred like the ground parrot; but itscolours are brilliant, and it is one of the most graceful-looking littlebirds of the kind."
"Why, Leather," cried Nic, "you are quite a naturalist! How do you knowall this?"
"How could I help knowing, sir--spending days and weeks and monthsalone, out here in this great wild country, watching sheep or helping tohunt our stray cattle? What should I have done in a solitary bit of ahut without speaking to a fellow-creature perhaps for a month?"
"But you have not been like this?"
"Not since I have been at the Bluff, sir. When I came up the country tobe Mr Dillon's servant I was almost constantly alone. They used tosend me my rations now and then. It was a very solitary life."
"How lonely!"
"Yes, sir--lonely," said the man, with a tinge of bitterness in histones; "but it had its advantages. There was no Brookes."
Nic started and looked keenly in the man's face; but he frowned andturned hastily away, as if angry at what he had said.
"I must be getting back to the sheep, sir," he said hurriedly. "Theyare terribly weak, foolish things, always catching some disease. I hopeyou will get your bird home safely, sir. I should skin it directly.Things so soon go bad out in this hot place."
He turned away in among the trees; and Nic walked off with his gun overhis shoulder, very thoughtful as he picked his way in and out among thebushes, till, feeling hot, he rested his gun against a bough, and satdown in the shade of one of the thick-foliaged, huge-trunked trees whichseemed an exception to the rest--so many being thin-leaved and castingvery little shade.
He had laid his specimen carefully down upon the grass, and was gazingat it without seeing any of its beauties, when a sudden thought struckhim, and he sprang up to carefully reload his gun and place it beforehim.
"Mustn't forget that," he muttered. "Never know what may happen."
He sat down again in the pleasant shade to inspect his trophy; but oncemore he did not see it, for the convict's face filled his mind's eye,that lowering, sun-browned, fierce countenance which lit up at timeswith a smile that was sad and full of pain, and at others was so brightthat the deep lines in the man's face faded, and he became attractive.
"It's queer," said Nic to himself. "One minute you regularly hate thefellow, and feel half afraid of him; the next you quite like and feel asif it would be nice to know more about him. No, it wouldn't: he's aconvict, and they warned me about him."
Nic became very thoughtful, and though his lovely Blue Mountain parrot,the object of his morning's walk, was close to his side, he did notglance at it, and the beautiful birds the convict had mentioned were forthe time forgotten. For he found himself wondering what Leather haddone, and why he had done it; whether he was a very bad man; andgradually found his head getting into quite a muddle of conflictingsurmises.
"I wish I hadn't let him think I was suspicious," he said to himself."He jumped at it directly. I suppose I showed it pretty plainly. Butno wonder! Any one would have felt as I did. To hand over one's gun toa convict, and give
him a chance to point it at you and say, `Now then,hand over that powder flask and that belt and all your wads.' Ofcourse, so that he could go off--bush-ranging, don't they call it? Why,it seemed a mad thing to do.
"And yet I did it," said Nic to himself, after a thoughtful pause; "andhe didn't run off. Why, he acted just as a gentleman would under thecircumstances. I did feel sorry for him. There, I don't care: he can'tbe such a bad fellow as old Brookes wants to make out. Brookes is anold beast! I'd tell him so for two pins."
Nic's thoughts were flowing very freely, and feeling quite excited hewent on:
"He must have done something very bad, and he has been severelypunished; then they let him come out from the gang to be an assignedservant, and he's trying hard to make up for the past, and when he getsbullied and ill-used it makes him look savage and fierce, of course.
"Well," said Nic, after a thoughtful pause, "I can keep him in his placeand yet be civil to him. I'm not going to jump on a man because he hasdone wrong; and I don't see why he shouldn't be forgiven--if he deservesit, of course, and--somehow, though I don't like him, I seem to like hima good deal, and that's about as big a puzzle as some of the things inmathematics, and--" This next was aloud:
"Oh, murder! Needles and pins! Wasps and hornets! Oh!"
Nic had jumped up, to begin dancing about, slapping his legs, shakinghis trousers, pulling off his shoes, and trying hard to get rid ofsomething that was giving him intense pain.
"It's those bees!" he cried. "They've got up the legs of my trousers;and he said they had no stings. No! ants!--You nasty, miserable,abominable little wretches--no, big wretches," he muttered, as he pickedoff and crushed one by one the virulent creatures, which had made alodgment upon his legs and evidently come to the conclusion that theywere good to eat.
He soon freed himself; but the tingling, poisonous nature of their biteswas still very evident, and excited an intense desire to rub andscratch.
"Why, there's quite a regiment of the little vicious wretches!" criedthe boy as he was going back to where his gun stood by the tree. "Isuppose they smelt me."
It seemed so for the moment, for a long line of the ants could be tracedthrough the grass on and on; and then Nic uttered an exclamation, sprangforward and caught up his specimen, to hold it at arm's length and beginshaking it.
"Why, it's covered with them," he cried, as he swept them off, got themon his hands, saw them racing up his arms, and found them so quick andso tight-clinging that the task grew painful in the extreme before hecould get rid of them, and when he did he tossed the rumpled, disfiguredbird back amongst his enemies.
"There!" he cried: "eat it then. It's completely spoiled. What a pityI did not let it live!"
"Never mind, Nic," said his father that evening, as he sat at home,giving himself from time to time a vicious rub. "Take it as a lesson.We all have to go through that sort of thing, and you'll know betternext time. But it was a fine specimen, you say?"
"Lovely," replied Nic eagerly; but he did not say a word about who shotthe bird, for he felt that if he did his father would be annoyed.