Policy and Passion: A Novel of Australian Life

Front matter

Google to make the world's books discoverable online.

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject

to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books

Contents

•CHAPTER

I. AT BRAYSHER'S inn II. THE PREMIER

III. THE PREMIER'S STOREKEEPER .

CHAPTER I. AT BRAYSHER'S inn

Braysher's, the chief inn at Kooya, was a one-storied, wooden building, placed at the junction of the two principal streets of the township. A wide verandah, enclosed by dingy railings which had been originally painted green, and filled with squatters' chairs and small wooden tables, extended round the two visible sides of the hotel A bar, much frequented by the roughs who came down from the bush * for a spree,' faced one of the streets, and a coffee-room, which served as a rendezvous for the passengers by Cobb's coach to and from Leichardt's Town, and opened by glass doors on to the verandah, fronted the other thoroughfare.

It wanted now about an hour to the time at which the coach usually started, and the vehicle, ready to be horsed, was drawn up beside the sign-post It was a clumsy affair, painted red and yellow. A wooden framework^upported an awning, of which the leather curtains might be pulled up or down at will ; in front there was a high driver's box ; two wooden benches faced each other behind, and at the extreme end was a third, only to be approached by a scramble over the backs of the others. The coach was generally drawn by five horses.

The time was half-past four in the afternoon of a sultry day in February. A storm brooded in the distance, and there was an ominous stillness in the atmosphere. The oleanders and loquat-trees before the opposite houses looked brown and thirsty. The acacias in the inn garden drooped with sickly languor ; and the spiky crowns of the golden pine-apples beneath them were thickly coated with dust. Flaming hibiscus flowers stared at the beholder in a hot, aggressive fashion. There was no green shadow anywhere to afford relief to eyes wearied with brightness and colour. Brassy clouds were gathering slowly in the west, and the sun, beating pitilessly upon the zinc roofs of the verandahs, was mercilessly refracted from the glaring limestone hills that formed the eastern border of the township.

Two long roads intersected each other at the inn corner. One stretched away into the bush, where it wound among gaunt gum-trees, and lost itself in the dull herbage with which the country was overgrown ; the other seemed to terminate abruptly upon the summit of a chalky ridge, where a clump of grass trees, with their brown, spear-like tufts erect, looked like sentinels to the barren scene.

Wooden-porticoed shanties, alternating at intervals with brick public offices ; newly-painted stores, which displayed all varieties of wares ; and gaudy public-houses, round which clustered brawny, sunburnt navvies, lined, but did not shade, the streets. The general air of the place was one of inaction. Sometimes a bullock-dray, piled with bales of wool or station stores, would rumble by; or a covered cart, driven by a weather-beaten German woman from some neighbouring selection, would pause for a moment in front of Braysher's, while its owner interchanged a few words with some acquaintance lounging at the bar.

A T BRA YSHER'S INN, 3

More frequently a bushman, in Crimean shirt and moleskins, with his coat strapped before him, would clatter over the stony road and dismount before the inn. First, he would unsaddle his horse, hanging its bridle on to the railings of the verandah, while the animal, accustomed to the habits of the place, would find its own way to the water-trough. Next, the new-comer would don his coat, and sidle across to the post-office opposite, whence he would shortly return, laden with letters and newspapers, which he would place upon the arm of a squatter^s chair in readiness for inspection. Then, after carefully choosing the shadiest side of the verandah, he would stretch his legs at full length, dangle his feet over the railings, call for a glass of grog to wash the dust out of his throat, thereby intensifying the redness of a sun-baked face, and would finally set himself to the perusal of his correspondence.

Many bushmen had arrived at Braysher's that afternoon, and all had gone through exactly the same formula, with the occasional addition of a greeting to one or other of those already assembled on the inn verandah.

* Good-day to you ;' * Steaming hot ;' * Looks like a storm brewing ;* * Very dry up country ;' * Fine weather this for the cotton-growers;* and such-like interjectional remarks sounded unfamiliarly in the ears of an English gentleman but lately arrived in Australia, who was leaning against one of the verandah-posts, contemplating with languid interest the scene around him.

He was smoking, and apart from his air and physique, the silver-mounted match-box in his hand and the perfume of his expensive cigar sufficiently indicated him to the intelligence of the bushmen as * a chap from the old country.' Nevertheless, his tall, broadly-built figure, bronzed, high-bred face, and soldier-like bearing, had no generic affinity with the lank limbs, the fresh-coloured, supine features, and frank gullibility of the typical neiv chum. The boldest old hand would hardly have attempted to play a practical joke upon Hardress Harrington.

He looked about thirty-five. The upper part of his face was fine, with a touch of nobility in the high forehead, broad at its base, but slightly receding at the crown. The dark-brown hair fringed off in little rings from the temples. The brows were strongly marked and wrinkled together in a frown, which deepened the indentures of the sockets, and gave to the grey eyes a remarkable intensity of expression. The nose was straight, with a somewhat coarse conformation of nostril, and had on each side a deep line extending below the upper lip. The mouth was concealed by a heavy moustache, and the clean-shaven, slightly prominent chin was cleft in the centre. A handsome man, upon whom it would be impossible for the stranger not to bestow several glances of interest, and of whom it might be safely surmised that he had travelled much and had come into contact with various grades of society.

* I suppose that Cobb^s coach is on its last legs now,* said one of the squatters, relighting a short black pipe that had expired between his lips. * I shouldn^t wonder if we had steam-carriages to Leichardt's Town before December year. Do you think that Longleat will carry his railway bill this session ?*

* There'll be a stiff fight over the Speech,' said a red-faced bushman, in a cabbage-tree hat, laying down the Lcichardfs Town Chronicle^ which he had been diligently perusing. * Middleton has been blowing no end, up north ; and there are some snug berths to be given away. Folks must have an eye to their own pockets ; and for all the blather that people talk about impartiality, there's no doubt that bribery tells in the long-run.'

* ril back Longleat,' said another. * He is the devil for

A T BRA YSHEJi'S INN. 5

sticking to his purpose. He said he'd make the colony, and he is going the right way to work. What Leichardt's Land wants is money, and money means Immigration and Public Works. Hullo, Tom Dungie ! Down from the Koorong, eh ? Why, youVe given the little piebald a sore back w^ith your hard riding.*

Tom Dungie, the mail-man, who had halted at the post-office across the street, had just removed his saddle with its load of brown leather post-bags, and was ruefully regarding a puffy spot above the loin, which threatened unpleasant consequences to a dearly-loved pony. Two other horses which he had been driving, one of which bore a pair of empty saddle-bags, were browsing by the wayside. Dungie was a tiny fat man, with small, twinkling grey eyes, a round face, and a whining voice.

* It's from all the lies I'm a-carryin',' he squeaked. * The little piebald, she's a righteous 'oss ; and Lord ! them Parliamentary rigmaroles — there's seven of 'cm in blue envelopes from Kooralbyn — do hact like a James's blister upon a sensitive back.'

A shout of laughter greeted Tom Dungie's explanation ; but he maintained an imperturbable gravity during the explosion.

'Who's the hack for?' inquired one of the dwellers at Braysher's.

' It's that there lord at Dyraaba as has a new chum agoin' in for colonial experience,' squeaked Dungie, giving each of the supernumerary beasts a sharp smack on the wither. * I say, Mr. Braysher, put the 'acks up, and don't let 'em be turned out for any of your swell customers. My word I it's awful dry to-day — Longleat's on the road behind.'

'Longleatr shouted a group of men at the bar; and soon the cry spread through the township. Even the children playing at fives with the pebbles in the road caught it up, and their mothers rushed out to join in the excitement Before many minutes a small crowd had assembled in front of Braysher's.

* Who is Longleat ?* asked the Englishman.

' Longleat !* echoed a hirsute squatter, who expectorated freely, and frankly owned to American origin. ' Longleat !* he repeated, not looking at his questioner, but gazing over the heads of the crowd into the vista of houses and distant trees. ' Wal ! it's my opeenion, sir, that it 'ud be worth your while to study up the politics of this 'ere rising colony, ef it's only to become acquainted with the career of Thomas Longleat, of Kooralbyn — z. remarkable man, sir. The Champion of the working class ; the Pillar of Progress ; and the Enemy of a /j^rannical and parsimonious democracy.'

The speaker drawled out with lagging eloquence his emphasised adjectives, hitched up his trousers, and slouched to the other end of the verandah, his eyes still fixed upon the distant object of his attention, which was rapidly resolving itself into a flying speck advancing mid a cloud of freshlyraised dust

* But who is Longleat ?* inquired Barrington again.

* Member for Kooya, and Premier of Leichardt s Land,' replied a spry little stockman in moleskins.

' Thank you,' said Barrington.

*A r«narkable specimen, sir, of the wcissitudes of Australia,' said the first speaker, returning to his former position against the verandah-rails. ' It's a known fact that Thomas Longleat began life in this colony as a bullock-driver. He ain't ashamed to own up to it A bullock-driver on these verj' roads that he is spanking over now with the finest team in Leichardt's Land A man as yoked his own beasts, and spread his tarpaulin, and chewed his quid of tobacco when the day's work was over ; and now, why if he floats his Railway Loan, her Majesty will make

A T BRA YSHEK3 INN. 7

him a Knight of St Michael and St George, as sure as we're standing in Braysher's verandah. Here he comes.'

A buggy, drawn by four steaming chestnuts, rattled down the road, and was pulled up in front of the hotel. A stout red-faced gentleman with a swelling chest and commanding presence, clad in white linen clothes, and wearing a broadbrimmed puggareed hat, descended from the vehicle. He was followed by a wizened-up little man, with very thin legs and a hooked nose, whose ferret-like face was fringed by a border of iron-grey hair, and wore an unpleasant, saturnine expression.

The mob set up a cheer, which Longleat acknowledged by a good-humoured salutation, while his voice, sonorous but unrefined, sounded clearly above the uproar, as he addressed the innkeeper.

* Hi, Braysher ! Good-day to you. I am going to Leichardt^s Town by the coach to-night ; but Mr. Ferris will be stopping here for a day or so. Look after my horses, will you ? Have you got four stalls empty ?*

The innkeeper advanced and touched his hat, a mark of deference he had not shown to any of the previous arrivals.

'Well, sir, we're pretty full, but we'll manage. There's Dungie brought down two hacks for that there lord up your way ; but they can go off to the paddock, and we'll make room somehow for your team.'

Mr. Longleat smiled, tickled and somewhat flattered by the evident fact, that * that there lord ' was in Braysher's estimation of very small importance compared with himself.

He shook hands with some of the men in the verandah, called for a tumbler of cold water which he drank standing, and said in a patronising tone to his companion, who had ordered a glass of brandy in the coffee-room :

*A bad thing, Ferris. Stick to Adam's ale in a hot climate. Temperance and success, that's been my motto, and IVe got no cause to complain of the way IVe got on in life.'

Mr. Ferris retreated scowling to partake of his refreshment ; and the Premier, after throwing a * chaffing ' word to Dungie, who was inclined to resent the summary expulsion of his horses, turned his eyes upon Harrington. He stared at the Englishman with a half-angry curiosit)', as though he recognised in him the representative of an order for which he had no liking.

CHAPTER 11.

THE PREMIER.

The mob round the hotel had thickened fast, and as the Premier stood in Braysher's verandah surveying the crowded street, the rowdies set up a series of shouts.

* Hooray for Thomas Longleat ! Go it, old chap, for the Railway; pitch into the obstructionist crew! Do\\ti with Middleton and his sneaking northerners !' concluding with an unanimous cry, * I say, Longleat, give us a bit of talk. Open your jaw while you're waiting, and let 'em have it hot*

The Premier shook his head, half deprecating, half acknowledging his popularity with the Kooya mob, now considerably augmented by a band of idle navvies in blue shirts and felt caps, to whom the cry of * the Railway ' was the herald of a new era of pay and plent}'.

* We don't mean to let you clear out in this 'ere

coach till you've told us what's agoin to become of us when Parliament meets,' cried one of these insistents, perching himself upon a wheel of^Cobb's. ■

* We aren't the sort of chaps to be put off any longer with these 'ere screws,' shrieked another rough, who had clambered to the box-seat * It's steam 'osses that suits our money. Hooray for Longleat's railway ! Come, go it, old chap ! Tell us that you hain't got no intention of caving in to them stingy oppositionists.'

The Premier came forward to the edge of the verandah, and took off his hat As he stood in the glare of the declining sun, his head thrown back, his big chest expanded, with his broad capable forehead, his keen eyes looking out steadily from under shaggy brows, his under lip slightly protruding and giving to his coarsely-moulded face an expression of suave self-complacency, in spite of the drawbacks of evident low birth and vulgar assertiveness, there were in his bearing and features indications of intellectual power and iron resolution, which would have impressed a higher-class mob than that now waiting eagerly for his words. His brawny hands, rough still with the traces of work and exposure, grasped the verandah-rails, while he began to speak in an easy conversational style, unembellished by any flowers of oratory.

* Electors and friends,' said Mr. Longleat, * you've asked me to make you a speech before I travel down to Leichardt's Town, in Cobb's coach yonder ; and I dare say you would all cheer me as loudly as your lungs would let you, if I just took that vehicle for my text in a tirade against the petty jealousy of northern politicians, who grudge to the populated south a means of locomotion of which there ain't enough of squatters, let alone free selectors, to make any use up there. But it's not my way to abuse the bridge that has carried me over, and I won't cry down Cobb's coach, that, scores of times when I have been driving hard all day from KoQralbyn, has saved my horses' legs and my own temper. You can't have railways at a moment's notice, my men ; and it's not so very long ago that we all thought it a fine and wonderful thing to have any sort of a public conveyance between lo POLICY AND PASSION.

Leichardt's Town and Kooya. It's a nice, roomy, well-built vehicle, and has done its work well ; and I mean no disrespect to Mr. Cobb when I say to you here that I hope, before two years are out, to travel from this town to the metropolis in one thatll be easier about the springs, and more commodious for the carriage of our wool and cotton to port, and our meat and vegetables to market

* I have driven fifty miles to-day, along a roughish bit of country, and am not much inclined for public speaking ; but since you want to know what my policy is going to be this coming session, I'll tell you. Tm going to fight might and main for your railway ; and if the public feeling is what I take it to be, there's not much doubt but that you'll have it Not because you want it I do the best I can for my constituency, but I bear in mind that Kooya is not the only electorate in Leichardt's Land It's because our colony requires the fi-esh impetus which she will receive from the circulation of new moneys, that I'm going to move heaven and earth to float the Loan which I shall bring before Parliament at the opening of the session.

* There are folks up north, and down south too, that say the Ministry will knock under, and that when Parliament meets the Railway question will be shuflled over, and the Opposition conciliated, because Thomas Longleat likes power and place, and means to stick to his seat in the Treasury. Now, I say that's a lie ! Thomas Longleat never knocked under in his life, and he's not going to be trodden on now. If he is thrashed, and the country goes agen him, he'll take his licking and bide his time ; but if he knows that the country is with him, he'll fight for her while he has got a voice to speak with and a leg to stand on. The Railway Loan will be the party question of this session, and upon it my Government stands or falls. You all know me here ; it's my way to carry through what I've set my mind oa It's my determination — some call it luck and some call it obstinacy — ^that's got me on in life. I ain't ashamed to tell you that I began in Leichardt's Land bullock-driving along this very road I'm going over to-night I was a rough sort of chap in those days, my friends, but I'd got the will in me strong even then. I said to myself, " I'll rise," and I have risen. I've climbed inch by inch, step by step, till I'm nigh the topmost bough of the tree ; and I'm proud of what I've done. It's Leichardt's Land that has made me ; and when I see my benefactress low and sinking, it's not surprising that I want mine to be the hand to lift her up again. We are watching a critical point in her history. Nations have their turning-points, their times of weakness and depression, the same as human beings. Leichardt's Land is like a sick person whose powers have been enfeebled, and whose glorious capabilities have been contracted by years of parsimonious neglect She needs a fillip. You have heard of a wonderful operation called transfusion, by which fresh vitalising blood is sent coursing through languid veins, and a new impetus is given to the springs of life. It is the transfusion of money, the blood of nations, that Leichardt's Land requires to make her flush and strong.

* Let a temporary loan, which will, ere long, repay itself fourfold, be poured into her treasury, and we shall see, in a short space of time, railways penetrating to the very heart of her rich pastures ; bridges spanning her rivers ; her mines yielding gold and jewels, her plantations sugar and cotton ; the European market supplied with her wool, and the colonial market with her produce. My friends, the Loan Bill, which will come before the House immediately, is not a mere question of internecine jealousy and party rancour, but of the introduction of new life and vigour into a glorious but debilitated colony !'

Longleat, as he concluded his peroration, his rough eloquence kindling as he opened upon his subject, stood for a moment, his shoulders thrown back, his face bland, his under lip projecting, ere he proceeded with his address.

But at this moment the coach-horses, ready harnessed, were brought round from the inn-yard, and there arose some little confusion amidst the crowd in the street ; while the sound of a woman's cry arrested any further words with which Mr. Longleat might have intended to occupy the five minutes which must elapse before the starting of the coach.

A lady dressed in black, slight and delicate-looking, had been pushed somewhat violently against one of the posts of Braysher's verandah. She was evidently a passenger by Cobb's to Leichardt's Town, and being alone, and naturally alarmed at finding herself in the centre of a political demonstration, was making for the shelter of the hotel

The Premier, attracted by the cry, glanced downwards from his raised position, and met the appealing gaze of a pair of dark eyes which he knew well. With more agility than might have been expected, judging by his age and figure, he vaulted the railings, and in a moment was at the lady's side.

* Mrs. Valiancy !' he exclaimed. * How is it that you are here?*

She grasped his arm, and her eyes beamed with gratitude upon his face.

* I have been staying with the Ansons, at Cooranga. Mr. Anson brought me down, but could not wait to see me off in the coach. I am going to Leichardt's Town this evening.^

*So am I. I shall be able to look after you. YouVe been knocked agen the railings. I hope you are not hurt P

' No ; it was a mere nothing. I am not hurt — only a little frightened, but quite happy now that you are here. I am glad that I have heard you speak in this way. It impresses one in a different manner to the dull debates which one listens to from the Ladies* Gallery. And, you know,' she added in a lower tone, ' I make rather a merit of not taking any great interest in politics ; it would not do for me to side openly against my husband, whatever I might think and wish in private.'

Mr. Longleat pressed his companion's hand, appreciating her delicacy at its very highest pitch. A man of coarse fibre is apt to attribute ultra-refinement to a woman by whom he is attracted.

Mr. Valiancy was a member of the Legislative Council Though notoriously needy, and desirous of a Government appointment, he belonged to the Middleton faction, and had made himself peculiarly obnoxious to the reigning Ministry. The Premier had become acquainted with Mrs. Valiancy a short time before the present date ; and notwithstanding the inimical attitude of her husband, certain casual meetings and suggestive conversations had deepened a budding interest into something more than commonplace social intimacy.

* I am sorry that you should have been annoyed by the crowd I — they insisted upon my speaking — upon my word I could not have got out of it I wish I had known that you were to be here.'

He spoke with a nervous utterance that, except in the presence of ladies, was unusual to him.

* Ah !' said Mrs. Valiancy in a tone half-melancholy, halfarch, * I know that you are the idol of the mob ; such popularity must be very delightful I sincerely hope that you will carry your Railway Bill I had never before connected it so personally with you. Party questions have been sources of annoyance to me. This one will possess a more agreeable interest'

They had stepped on to the verandah, and Mr. Longleat placed one of the canvas chairs for his companion to sit upon. All the men turned to look at her, but not one, except Barrington, took his pipe from his lips. Though she was perfectly aware of the attention she excited, she did not appear to be embarrassed by it Her hat had been tilted back by the push she had sustained, and her low brow and fine eyes were fully visible. The latter were black, slightly prominent, and restless and dissatisfied in expression ; her mouth, a curved red line, was more characteristic than sweet ; her colouring was clear and pale : her voice low and remarkably distinct.

The nervous excitability and sensitive refinement which her face and manner suggested, were quite calculated to impress such a temperament as that of Mr. Longleat ; but although his admiration was obvious, it was evident that he had not acquired perfect ease in her society. In spite of the feminine experience implied by two matrimonial bereavements, and the bringing up of a daughter, companionship with women of a particular calibre gave him an uncomfortable sense of inferiority, and made him conscious of certain lapses in grammar, and faults in pronunciation, which considerable proficiency as a public speaker and years of unwearied selfeducation had not enabled him entirely to surmount.

* Is Miss Longleat with you ?* inquired Mrs. Valiancy.

* No,* he replied. * She is at Kooralbyn.'

* I am longing to see her again. Some friends of mine who met her in Syciney last winter wrote to me in raptures about her beauty. Is she as lovely as ever ?*

Mr. Longleat smiled, and elevated his head with an air of gratified pride.

* Yes,' he said, * I think she is handsomer now than IVe ever seen her. She took her place in Sydney amongst the best of 'em.'

As he spoke he caught Mr. Barrington's eye, and scowled with incipient dislike. Though Mrs. Valiancy was sitting a little apart from the other loungers in the verandah, Barrington was sufficiently near to have overheard her remark and the Premier's reply. An expression of amusement passed over the Englishman's face, as he mentally pictured a coarse, gaudily-dressed Antipodean belle, whose every gesture would inevitably offend against his refined European taste. His supercilious smile incensed Mr. Longleat still more deeply, and as Barrington turned away he asked angrily : ' Who is that man ?*

* He is evidently a stranger,* said Mrs. Valiancy.

* A new chum going up to Lord Dolph's,' explained bne of the bushmen.

* I could have sworn that he was one of those cursed English swells,' muttered Longleat; *we don't want that brood out here. I'm pretty quick at guessing what a man is made of, and my first impressions don't often deceive me. It's instinct ; and somehow I don't cotton up to Lord Dolph's new chum.'

The horses had by this time been put to the coach, and the driver, with the reins in his hand, was calling his passengers to mount

Mr. Longleat helped Mrs. Valiancy to ascend, and took his place beside her in the back bench unoccupied by anyone else.

*The box-seat has been reserved for you, sir,' said the driver.

* Never mind,' answered Longleat * I've got a lady to look after. I'll sit here.*

Mrs. Valiancy cast upon him a look of ineffable gratitude ; the other travellers clambered up ; the coachman flicked his whip upon the horses' backs, and the lumbering vehicle clattered off mid the shouts of the rapidly-dispersing mob.

' Hooray for the Premier ! Longleat and his railway for ever.'

CHAPTER III. THE premier's STOREKEEPER

Barrington Stood on the verandah of the inn and watched the coach till it was out of sight Mr. Ferris, who had now emerged from the coffee-room, stole softly to the railings and sidled towards the Englishman, casting at the stranger furtive glances from his keen grey eyes, while with one lean hand he stroked his grizzled beard.

The sun was setting behind a range of distant hills. Storm-clouds were still threatening, and the deepening dusk had mellowed the glaring white of the limestone ridges into neutral grey, and had subdued into harmony the hard outlines and ungraceful colouring of the wooden and brick erections upon each side of the street

* Not much of a view,' said Mr. Ferris, looking up in a bird-like way into Harrington's face ; * but picturesque in a manner of its own.'

* I suppose that one admires the landscape because it is unlike those with which one is familiar,' replied Barrington.

* European travellers say,' continued Mr. Ferris, 'that there are no striking features in Australian scener)\ Bah ! they cry — the eye wearies of endless gum-trees. But that is a mistake. Those who speak so have not penetrated into the heart of the country. Ah ! we have mountains in the Koorong district, sublime with a wild grandeur that I have never seen equalled It is nature — nature only which reconciles me to my exile.'