Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 16, 2025
I saw Red Mick's and Peggy's horses at his office to-day, and now he comes up here as bold as brass." "Let him go round to the front," said Hugh, "and then he can ask the servants for whoever he wants. If we go out and meet him, we'll have to ask him to stay."
They were going it in fine style, when all at once Mick's foot slipped; and, missing his guard as his opponent made a vicious cut `one' at him, he received this on his chest, the cutlass cutting through his jumper and flannel and making a slight wound across his breastbone.
"Bedad, I don't say much differ," said Mick, after quickly gulping down the contents of his bowl with great gusto and much apparent inward satisfaction. "Pay-soup an' tay soup sure, they bees as loike as two pays!" This certainly seemed a very logical deduction; but, before we could argue the point out, or indeed laugh at Mick's Irish way of putting it, the bugle sounded again for `divisions.
It had been a narrow escape, and Red Mick knew it; and even as things had turned out, there was still ample chance of a conviction. On the way back to the homestead Hugh began to talk of the chance of a conviction, and the delight it would be to give Mick seven years, but his ideas were disturbed by thoughts of Mick's face as he said, "Why should I steal my brother-in-law's sheep?"
Here's Mick's nephews," he whispered, "come to take the sheep away. By George, we'll bag the whole lot! Sit quiet: don't make a sound." The crisis approached. Miss Grant, with strained attention, saw Red Mick strike a match, and light his pipe. Strolling on towards the sheep, he passed about thirty yards from where they lay hidden.
Murty came in with a trememdous lot of ferns, and he's been nailing them all on the wall in streaks, and he and Mick Shanahan nearly had a fight 'cause Mick leaned against one of them and the erection came down, and the nail tore Mick's coat. Still, it was Murty who seemed most aggrieved! And the musicians have come out from Cunjee, and they've been practising they can play, too!"
They had approached it on the black boys' side of the fire and had thus missed seeing Mick's saddle-horse, which was tied to a tree near its master. The rest of the story was easy to read. The wild blacks had enticed the camp boys away, and Ranui, Ted, and Teedee had left everything behind them and had fled with the horse-killers through the night in the direction of the ill-famed Musgrave Ranges.
Mick's boys had actually taken no part in the killing; that was one thing in their favour. Another satisfaction, which stood out like a dull gleam of light in the grim dark tragedy, was that now there were three fewer men to share their limited supply of water. But the greatest good of all, in fact the only real ray of hope, was the fact that one horse was still left, Mick's stanch gelding, Ajax.
He threw himself on the couch in the inner room, and before long a titanic snore showed that he had not over-rated his sleeping powers. Ellen Harriott sat by Red Mick's bedside and thought over the events of the last few weeks. As she thought she half-dozed, but woke with a start to find her patient broad awake again and trying to get at something that was under his bunk.
"Poor Mick would be better wid them than where he is now God have mercy on his soul!" said a neighbour, solemnly. But Mick's mother continued to bewail herself: "And I missin' the best of all the tunes they played, so Molly was tellin' me, for 'fraid he 'd be kep' waitin' for his supper, and he comin' home to me hungry; and now There's a terrible len'th of time in three year.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking