THE HIGHLANDERS REVENUE.

Southland Times, Issue 866, 16 December 1867, Page 3

THE HIGHLANDERS REVENUE.

A STOBT OF THE EAELY AT7STBAXIA2C SETTIBBB. By the Author of " Edith Travers," etc. CHAPTER I. "Weel, Maister Ellison," said Dr Dubious, " ye've made out a tale, and that's nae a bad thing on a cauld night, the mair that ifc gies a mon a pretext for sipping his toddy. But I'm no converted to the theory o' dreams, and by your am. showing, ye were in weakly health when ye dreamt o' the ship on fire, and that, nae doubt, accounted for a' the fancies, for ye ken when the stomach's heavy the head is apt to be licht." The doctor then laid down his pipe, and replenished his tumbler, looking the very picture of obstinacy, when Mr Ellison remarked, " But, my dear sir, how can you account for the likeness between the creature of my fancy (if you please to call the dream by such a name) aud the actual man I afterwards saw — the man who proved to be the culprit ?" " It's a'most a3 unreasonable to expect a mon to account for a thing he thinks agin reason, as to beleive in a' the daft nonsense o' dreams." " ' A man convinced against his will Is of the Bame opinion still,' " Baid Mr Lightfoot, sotto voce. " But," he added, in a louder tone, " the foundation of half the stories we read of or listen to are baseless as that of a vision and sometimes still worse — a complete perversion of facts." "As the fire is good, and the toddy is still better. I'll tell you a story, gentlemen, that has a more solid foundation than a dream ; nor will I pervert facts, though there are some I shall suppress." said a stout-looking Highlander, who had listened in silence to the narratives of the two lawyers. " Let us have it, Ferguson, for ye're not the man to trouble your head with dreams," said the doctor. " No ; my story is a stern reality, and that my friend M'-Lean can vouch for," replied the Highlander. " Ay, I can do that, Ferguson. lam not likely to forget those times, though it is long since they passed away," said a man whose countenance bore an expression of deep thought, tinctured perhaps with remorse ; and the reference to those times caused him to look still

more gloomy, for he sighed heavily as he prepared himself a glass of the stimulant, which, on that night, seemed to be equally essential to speaker and to listener. Mr Ferguson, whilst similarly engaged, introduced his story by saying, cc It is not a tale of well-dressed miscreants, who might have run the gauntlet with the London police, nor of a rascally digger defrauding and murdering a poor credulous ' mate,' that I am about to tell, but of enemies who caused our lives to be a constant scene of anxiety, and a succession of hair-breadth escapes. Ah ! they are not very much to be feared now. "We took down their mettle, did'nt we, M'Lean?" "Ay, by destroying nine-tenths of them," replied M'Lean, with another sigh. " "Well, you need not look so dismal about it, man ; there was no other plan, for us to adopt — no other way, gentlemen, to make this land habitable for you. And even if there had been, were we not entitled to our revenge ? But, M'Lean, do you remember what year it was when you and I first met ?" " No ; that business on the Murray seems to have put all dates out of my head. Ferguson, why iv'ill you force me to think of those days ?" "It is not what toe did that disturbs my reflections. But as none of you gentlemen were out in this hemisphere at that time — some of you not even in existence — you cannot imagine the place where you are all sitting so comfortably overrun by a set of blackfellows like " " Like the man they have got to sweep' out the bar and to help the chambermaid with her work ?" asked a dandy recently arrived in the colony, who had no idea of Australia beyond that which he had acquired between the limits of Melbourne and its suburbs ; even this colonial experience being chiefly confined to the pit of the theatres, a few cafes and similar places of resort, until destiny compelled him to seek employment as a lawyer's clerk up-country. " Like that fellow who wears a green baize apron, and who follows Mary about the house, with a pail in one hand and a broom in the other ? No, Mr Skiintnilc; the blacks we had to encounter were as unlike that poor animal as tlie hammer of a Highlander to the dainty article with which you were driving a few tintacks into your mosquito-net yesterday. Tush ! What do you Cockneys know of Australia in the old times? Ha, you may thank us for taming the blackfeflows, and making them exchange their spears for sweep-ing-brooms." Mr Skimmilc had always adored Highlanders since he became acquainted with the pages of Sir "Walter Scott, and, inspired by the " Wizard of the North," he had once spent a fortnight in Scotland, had experimentalised in grouse shooting till he found that he was putting himself into more danger than the game he tried to bring down ; since then he had worn a kilt at a fancy ball, where he afforded considerable amusement to every Scotchman present by the smallness of his legs, as well as by the adjustment of his pouch. And now, thinking, perhaps, he could hereafter emulate the prowess of the Highlander on whom he was gazing with admiration mixed with awe, he resolved to try the effect of strong drink, -and immediately set about brewing a tumbler of whisky punch. But the experiment was unsuccessful, as it made the adventurous youth cough most piteously for at least a quarter of an hour. " Gang into the kitchen and ask the cook to gie ye a spoonfu' o' jam ; its mair in your line than toddy an' the like," said Dr Dubious, with a sly wink ; and the young man left the room till the violence of his cough abated. Several of the guests laughed heartily at this mischance, and as soon as silence "was restored Mr Ferguson commenced hia narrative : — "When people walk about the streets of this rising township, he said, and admire the rapid progress of different institutions, they seldom reflect that a quarter of a century has scarcely elapsed since this spot was trodden only by a few settlers, or by the race they were to exterminate ; but it was not in this locality where I became the enemy of the aborigines. I see a gentleman in that corner look rather scandalised at this remark • and it may, perhaps, appear uncharitable to those who came into these colonies long after we had tamed or driven aAvay the remnant of the natives. "Well, I was their enemy — I am so still — and their enemy I shall ever remain ; and a very good reason have I for feeling the most deadly hatred towards them. I had been residing rather more than a year in Sydney, after my arrival in this part of the world, when I became informed of the " whereabouts " of an uncle, who had settled in a locality to me utterly unknown — a lonely place, and one at that time seldom visited, excepting by a few adventurous explorers, but now a thriving district near to Deniliquin. My uncle had two sons and three daughters — the two younger girls being mere [ children, the eldest a fine young woman of seventeen. One of her brothers was two years older, the other a year and a half younger than herself. I was then about twenty ; as tall, and nearly as stout as lam now ; strong and resolute, and, therefore, not unfit to assist my uncle in clearing his land and looking after his stock ; and it was to aid him in these undertakings, that I accompanied the men — who had been sent to Sydney with wool — to the district in which my uncle resided. It was a long and hazardous journey — a great portion of it lying through a country that had only been partially explored; a circumstance which compelled us, on several occasions, to make a very circuitous route, in order to avoid an attack from the natives. At length we reached a hut which had been hastily put up by my uncle as a temporary abode, till a more commodious dwelling could be erected in its stead. This hut was tenanted only by a shepherd and his son, whose business it was i

to tend the cattle which my v' ad© %ad lately bought, together wit a a few thousand acres ; the farther boi nadary of the land being about twenty- fi.we miles from the station. "Thank God! there is the Shut — we can rest there," said M'Tavish, Hae leader of the party, when the small stn jcture appeared in sight. " Had we not better push on to the rStation at once ?" I asked ; for I thought if I yielded to a growing sense of fatigue, I should hays some difficulty in resuming my journey. " We'd make for the sta tion fast enough, if there was a chance oi 'leaching it," replied M'Tavish; " bnt i there are blackfellows on our track, and we may think ourselves fortunate if w e can obtain shelter in the hut. As I'j n alive ! I see a dozen or more of their ugly faces behind the scrub ! Ride on, 3 aay men ! We have not an instant to lose ! '" We spurred on our jaded ho rses, and in a few minutes reached the hmt The door was fastened, but the g ,Teat bar which protected it was at once v withdrawn by the shepherd, who said, " I 'or God's sake, come in quickly, and 1 »cad your horses through into the kitchi ai — there is no other place for them." (To be continued.)