Cheon saw to that,
returning the goodly slice to the Maluka under protest, and urging all to
return again and again for more. How he chuckled as we hunted for the
"luck" and the "wealth," like a parcel of children, passing round bushman
jokes as we hunted.
"Too much country to work," said one of the Macs, when after a second
helping they were both still "missing." "Covered their tracks all
right," said another. The Quiet Stockman "reckoned they were bushed all
right." "Going in a circle," the sick Mac suggested, and then a shout
went up as the Dandy found the "luck" in his last mouthful.
"Perhaps some one's given the "wealth" to his dog," Tam suggested, to our
consternation; for that was more than possible, as the dogs from time to
time had received tit-bits from their masters as a matter of course.
But the man who deserved it most was to find it. As we sat sipping tea,
after doing our best with the cakes and water-melons, we heard strange
gurgles in the kitchen, and then Cheon appeared choking and coughing, but
triumphantly announcing that he had found the wealth in his first
mouthful. "My word! Me close up gobble him," he chuckled, exhibiting
the pudding-coated threepence, and not one of us grudged him his good
omens. May they have been fulfilled a thousand-fold!
Undoubtedly our Christmas dinner was a huge success - from a black
fellow's point of view it was the most sensible thing we Whites had ever
organised; for half the Vealer, another huge pudding, several yards of
sweet currant "brownie,'" a new pipe apiece, and a few pounds of tobacco
had found their way to the "humpy"; and although headaches may have been
in the near future, there was never a heartache among them.
All afternoon we sat and chatted as only the bush-folk can (the bush-folk
are only silent when in uncongenial society), "putting in" a fair amount
of time writing our names on one page of an autograph album; and as
strong brown hands tried their utmost to honour Christmas day with
something decent in the way of writing, each man declared that he had
never written so badly before, while the company murmured: "Oh, yours is
all right. Look at mine!"
Jack, however, was the exception; for when his turn came, with quiet
humour he "thought that on the whole his was a bit better'n last
Christmas," which naturally set us discussing the advantages of
learning; but when we all agreed "it would be a bit off having to employ
a private secretary when you were doing a bit of courting," Jack hastened
to assure us that "courting" would never be in his line - coming events do
not always throw shadows before them.
