Chapter 17. Dad’s “Fortune.”

Dad used to say that Shingle¹ Hut was the finest selection on Darling Downs; but WE never could see anything fine about it — except the weather in drought time, or Dad’s old saddle mare². SHE was very fine. The house was built in a gully so that the bailiffs (I suppose) or the blacks — who were mostly dead — couldn’t locate it. An old wire-fence, slanting³ all directions, staggered past the front door. At the rear, its foot almost in the back door, sloped a barren ridge⁴, formerly⁵ a squatter’s sheep-yard. For the rest there were sky, wallaby-scrub, gum-trees, and some acres of cultivation⁶. But Dad must have seen something in it, or he wouldn’t have stood feasting his eyes on the wooded waste after he had knocked off work of an evening. In all his wanderings — and Dad had been almost everywhere; swimming flooded creeks⁷ and rivers, humping his swag from one end of Australia to the other; at all games going except bank-managing and bushranging — he had seen no place timbered like Shingle Hut.

“Why,” he used to say, “it’s a fortune in itself. Hold on till the country gets populated, and firewood is scarce, there’ll be money in it then — mark my words!”

Poor Dad! I wonder how long he expected to live?

At the back of Shingle Hut was a tract⁸ of Government land — mostly mountains — marked on the map as the Great Dividing Range. Splendid country, Dad considered it — BEAUTIFUL country — and part of a grand scheme he had in his head. I defy you to find a man more full of schemes than Dad was.

The day had been hot. Inside, the mosquitoes were bad; and, after supper, Dad and Dave were outside, lying on some bags. They had been grubbing that day, and were tired. The night was nearly dark. Dad lay upon his back, watching the stars; Dave upon his stomach, his head resting on his arms. Both silent. One of the draught-horses cropped the couch-grass round about them. Now and again a flying-fox circled noiselessly overhead, and “MOPOKE! — MOPOKE!” came dismally⁹ from the ridge and from out the lonely-looking gully. A star fell, lighting¹⁰ up a portion of the sky, but Dad did not remark it. In a while he said:

“How old are you, Dave?” Dave made a mental calculation before answering.

“S’pose I must be eighteen now . . . Why?”

A silence.

“I’ve been thinking of that land at the back — if we had that I believe we could make money.”

“Yairs — if we HAD.”

Another silence.

“Well, I mean to have it, and that before very long.”

Dave raised his head, and looked towards Dad.

“There’s four of you old enough to take up land, and where could you get better country than that out there for cattle? Why” (turning on his side and facing Dave) “with a thousand acres of that stocked with cattle and this kept under cultivation we’d make money — we’d be RICH in a very few years.”

Dave raised himself on his elbow.

“Yairs — with CATTLE,” he said.

“Just so” (Dad sat up with enthusiasm), “but to get the LAND is the first thing, and that’s easy enough ONLY” (lowering his voice) “it’ll have to be done QUIETLY and without letting everyone ’round know we’re going in for it.” (“Oh! yairs, o’ course,” from Dave.) “THEN” (and Dad lifted his voice and leaned over) “run a couple of wires round it, put every cow we’ve here on it straight away; get another one or two when the barley’s sold, and let them breed.”

“’Bout how many’d that be t’ start ’n?”

“Well, EIGHT good cows at the least — plenty, too. It’s simply WONDERFUL how cattle breed if they’re let alone. Look at Murphy, for instance. Started on that place with two young heifers — those two old red cows that you see knocking about now. THEY’RE the mothers of all his cattle. Anderson just the same . . . Why, God bless my soul! we would have a better start than any one of them ever had — by a long way.”

Dave sat up. He began to share Dad’s enthusiasm.

“Once get it STOCKED, and all that is to be done then is simply to look after the fence, ride about among the cattle every day, see they’re right, brand the calves¹¹, and every year muster¹² the mob, draft out the fat bullocks, whip them into town, and get our seven and eight pounds a head for them.”

“That’d suit me down to the ground, ridin’ about after cattle,” Dave said.

“Yes, get our seven and eight pounds, maybe nine or ten pounds a-piece. And could ever we do that pottering about on the place?” Dad leaned over further and pressed Dave’s knee with his hand.

“Mind you!” (in a very confidential¹³ tone) “I’m not at all satisfied the way we’re dragging along here. It’s utter nonsense, and, to speak the truth” (lowering his voice again) “I’VE BEEN SICK OF THE WHOLE DAMN THING LONG AGO.”

A minute or two passed.

“It wouldn’t matter,” Dad continued, “if there was no way of doing better; but there IS. The thing only requires to be DONE, and why not DO it?” He paused for an answer.

“Well,” Dave said, “let us commence it straight off — t’morror. It’s the life that’d suit ME.”

“Of course it WOULD . . . and there’s money in it . . . no mistake about it!”

A few minutes passed. Then they went inside, and Dad took Mother into his confidence, and they sat up half the night discussing the scheme.

Twelve months later. The storekeeper was at the house wanting to see Dad. Dad wasn’t at home. He never was when the storekeeper came; he generally contrived¹⁴ to be away, up the paddock somewhere or amongst the corn — if any was growing. The storekeeper waited an hour or so, but Dad didn’t turn up. When he was gone, though, Dad walked in and asked Mother what he had said. Mother was seated on the sofa, troubled-looking.

“He must be paid by next week,” she said, bursting into tears, “or the place’ll be sold over our heads.”

Dad stood with his back to the fire-place, his hand locked behind him, watching the flies swarming¹⁵ on the table.

Dave came in. He understood the situation at a glance. The scene was not new to him. He sat down, leant forward, picked a straw off the flor and twisted it round and round his finger, reflecting.

Little Bill put his head on Mother’s lap, and asked for a piece of bread . . . He asked a second time.

“There IS no bread, child,” she said.

“But me wants some, mumma.”

Dad went outside and Dave followed. They sat on their heels, their backs to the barn, thoughtfully studying the earth.

“It’s the same thing”— Dad said, reproachfully —“from one year’s end to the other . . . alwuz a BILL!”

“Thought last year we’d be over all this by now!” from Dave.

“So we COULD . . . Can NOW . . . It only wants that land to be taken up; and, as I’ve said often and often, these cows taken ——”

Dad caught sight of the storekeeper coming back, and ran into the barn.

Six months later. Dinner about ready. “Take up a thousand acres,” Dad was saying; “take it up ——”

He was interrupted by a visitor.

“Are you Mister Rudd?” Dad said he was.

“Well, er — I’ve a FI. FA. against y’.”

Dad didn’t understand.

The Sheriff’s officer drew a document from his inside breast-pocket and proceeded to read:

“To Mister James Williams, my bailiff. Greeting: By virtue¹⁶ of Her Majesty’s writ¹⁷ of FIERI FACIAS, to me directed, I command you that of the goods and chattels¹⁸, money, bank-note or notes or other property of Murtagh Joseph Rudd, of Shingle Hut, in my bailiwick, you cause to be made the sum of forty pounds ten shillings, with interest thereon,” &c.

Dad understood.

Then the bailiff’s man rounded up the cows and the horses, and Dad and the lot of us leant against the fence and in sadness watched Polly and old Poley and the rest for the last time pass out the slip-rails.

“That puts an end to the land business!” Dave said gloomily.

But Dad never spoke¹⁹.

1 shingle   

n.木瓦板；小招牌(尤指医生或律师挂的营业招牌)；v.用木瓦板盖（屋顶）；把（女子头发）剪短

参考例句：

• He scraped away the dirt,and exposed a pine shingle.他刨去泥土，下面露出一块松木瓦块。
• He hung out his grandfather's shingle.他挂出了祖父的行医招牌。

2 mare   

n.母马，母驴

参考例句：

• The mare has just thrown a foal in the stable.那匹母马刚刚在马厩里产下了一只小马驹。
• The mare foundered under the heavy load and collapsed in the road.那母马因负载过重而倒在路上。

3 slanting   

倾斜的，歪斜的

参考例句：

• The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。
• The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

4 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

5 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

6 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

7 creeks   

n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪

参考例句：

• The prospect lies between two creeks. 矿区位于两条溪流之间。 来自辞典例句
• There was the excitement of fishing in country creeks with my grandpa on cloudy days. 有在阴雨天和姥爷一起到乡村河湾钓鱼的喜悦。 来自辞典例句

8 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

9 dismally   

adv.阴暗地，沉闷地

参考例句：

• Fei Little Beard assented dismally. 费小胡子哭丧着脸回答。 来自子夜部分
• He began to howl dismally. 它就凄凉地吠叫起来。 来自辞典例句

10 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

11 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。

13 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

14 contrived   

adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的

参考例句：

• There was nothing contrived or calculated about what he said.他说的话里没有任何蓄意捏造的成分。
• The plot seems contrived.情节看起来不真实。

15 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

16 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

17 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

18 chattels   

n.动产，奴隶( chattel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• An assignment is a total alienation of chattels personal. 动产转让是指属人动产的完全转让。 来自辞典例句
• Alan and I, getting our chattels together, struck into another road to reassume our flight. 艾伦和我收拾好我们的财物，急匆匆地走上了另一条路，继续过我们的亡命生活。 来自辞典例句

19 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。