The Project Gutenberg EBook of On the Track, by Henry Lawson

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Title: On the Track

Author: Henry Lawson

Posting Date: August 26, 2008 [EBook #1231]
Release Date: March, 1998

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE TRACK ***

Produced by Alan R. Light

ON THE TRACK

by Henry Lawson

Author of "While the Billy Boils", and "When the World was Wide"

[Note on text: Italicized words or phrases are CAPITALISED. Some obvious
errors have been corrected after being confirmed.]

Preface

Of the stories in this volume many have already appeared
in (various periodicals), while several now appear in print
for the first time.

H. L.
Sydney, March 17th, 1900.

Contents

The Songs They used to Sing
A Vision of Sandy Blight
Andy Page's Rival
The Iron-Bark Chip
"Middleton's Peter"
The Mystery of Dave Regan
Mitchell on Matrimony
Mitchell on Women
No Place for a Woman
Mitchell's Jobs
Bill, the Ventriloquial Rooster
Bush Cats
Meeting Old Mates
Two Larrikins
Mr. Smellingscheck
"A Rough Shed"
Payable Gold
An Oversight of Steelman's
How Steelman told his Story

ON THE TRACK

The Songs They used to Sing

On the diggings up to twenty odd years ago--and as far back as I can
remember--on Lambing Flat, the Pipe Clays, Gulgong, Home Rule, and so
through the roaring list; in bark huts, tents, public-houses, sly grog
shanties, and--well, the most glorious voice of all belonged to a bad
girl. We were only children and didn't know why she was bad, but we
weren't allowed to play near or go near the hut she lived in, and we
were trained to believe firmly that something awful would happen to us
if we stayed to answer a word, and didn't run away as fast as our legs
could carry us, if she attempted to speak to us. We had before us the
dread example of one urchin, who got an awful hiding and went on bread
and water for twenty-four hours for allowing her to kiss him and give
him lollies. She didn't look bad--she looked to us like a grand and
beau