ome back open-mouthed, bringing us all sorts
of news. Everybody, he said, was coming up from Sydney. There would be
nobody left there but the Governor. What a queer start--the Governor
sitting lonely in a silent Government House, in the middle of a deserted
city! We found out that it was true after we'd made one or two short
rides out ourselves. Afterwards the police had a deal too much to do to
think of us. We didn't run half the chance of being dropped on to that
we used to do. The whole country was full of absconders and deserters,
servants, shepherds, shopmen, soldiers, and sailors--all running away
from their work, and making in a blind sort of way for the diggings,
like a lot of caterpillars on the march.

We had more than half a notion about going there ourselves, but we
turned it over in our minds, and thought it wouldn't do. We should be
sure to be spotted anywhere in New South Wales. All the police stations
had our descriptions posted up, with a reward in big letters on the
door. Even if we were pretty lucky at the start we should always be
expecting them to drop on us. As it was, we should have twenty times the
chance among the coaches, that were sure to be loaded full up with men
that all carried cash, more or less; you couldn't travel then in
the country without it. We had twice the pull now, because so many
strangers, that couldn't possibly be known to the police, were
straggling over all the roads. There was no end of bustle and rush in
every line of work and labour. Money was that plentiful that everybody
seemed to be full of it. Gold began to be sent down in big lots, by the
Escort, as it was called--sometimes ten thousand ounces at a time. That
was money if you liked--forty thousand pounds!--enough to make one's
mouth water--to make one think dad's prophecy about the ten thousand
pounds wasn't so far out after all.

Just at the start most people had a kind of notion that the gold would
only last a short time, and that things would be worse than before. But
it lasted a deal longer than any of us expected. It was 1850 that I'm
talking about. It's getting on for 1860 now, and there seems more of it
about than ever there was.

Most of our lives we'd been used to the southern road, and we kept to it
still. It wasn't right in the line of the gold diggings, but it wasn't
so far off. It was a queer start when the news got round about to the
other colonies, after that to England, and I suppose all the other o