Only three weeks before, as we hunted for it through scrub and bush and
creek-bed, the Yellow Hole
Had been one of our Unknown Waters, tucked
snugly away in an out-of-the-way elbow of creek country, and now we found
it transformed into the life-giving heart of a bustling world of men and
cattle and commerce. Beside it stood the simple camp of the stockman - a
litter of pack-bags, mosquito-nets, and swags; here and there were
scattered the even more simple camps of the black boys; and in the
background, the cumbrous camp of the Chinese drovers reared itself up in
strong contrast to the camps of the bushfolk - two fully equipped tents
for the drovers themselves and a simpler one for their black boys. West
of the Yellow Hole boys were tailing a fine mob of bullocks, and to the
east other "boys" were "holding" a rumbling mob of mixed cattle, and
while Jack and Dan rode here and there shouting orders for the "cutting
out" of the cattle, the Dandy busied himself at the fire, making tea as a
refresher, before getting going in earnest, the only restful, placid,
unoccupied beings in the whole camp being the Chinese drovers. Not made
of the stuff that "lends a hand" in other people's affairs, they sat in
the shade of their tents and looked on, well pleased that men should
bustle for their advantage. As we rode past the drovers they favoured us
with a sweet smile of welcome, while Dan met us with a chuckle of delight
at the sweetness of their smile, and as Jack took our horses - amused both
at the drovers' sweetness and Dan's appreciation of it - the Dandy greeted
us with the news that we had "struck it lucky, as usual," and that a cup
of tea would be ready in "half a shake."
Dan also considered we had "struck it lucky," but from a different point
of view, for he had only just come into camp with the mixed cattle, and
as the bullocks among them more than completed the number required, he
suggested the drovers should take delivery at once, assuring us, as we
drank the tea, that he was just about dead sick of them "little Chinese
darlings."
The "little Chinese darlings," inwardly delighted that the Maluka's
simple trust seemed as guileless as ever, smugly professed themselves
willing to fall in with any arrangement that was pleasing to the white
folk, and as they mounted their horses Dan heaved a sigh of satisfaction.
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