While the Billy Boils

While the Billy Boils

You remember when we hurried home from the old bush school how we were sometimes startled by a bearded apparition, who smiled kindly down on us, and whom our mother introduced, as we raked off our hats, as An old mate of your fathers on the diggings, Johnny. And he would pat our heads and say we were fine boys, or girlsas the case may have beenand that we had our fathers nose but our mothers eyes, or the other way about; and say that the baby was the dead spit of its mother, and then added, for fathers benefit: But yet hes like you, Tom. It did seem strange to the children to hear him address the old man by his Christian name-considering that the mother always referred to him as Father. She called the old mate Mr So-and-so, and father called him Bill, or something to that effect. Occasionally the old mate would come dressed in the latest city fashion, and at other times in a new suit of reach-me-downs, and yet again he would turn up in clean white moleskins, washed tweed coat, Crimean shirt, blucher boots, soft felt hat, with a fresh-looking speckled handkerchief round his neck. But his face was mostly round and brown and jolly, his hands were always horny, and his beard grey. Sometimes he might have seemed strange and uncouth to us at first, but the old man never appeared the least surprised at anything he said or didthey understood each other so welland we would soon take to this relic of our fathers past, who would have fruit or lollies for usstrange that he always remembered themand would surreptitiously slip shilluns into our dirty little hands, and tell us stories about the old days, when me an yer father was on the diggins, an you wasnt thought of, my boy. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 7144
Author: Lawson, Henry
Release Date: Dec 1, 2004
Format: eBook
Language: English