Читать книгу The Last Chance: A Tale of the Golden West онлайн

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‘They know there’s nothing worth taking in the house of a Police Magistrate—why should they run the risk of a bullet or a gaol?’ he was wont to reply, when taxed by his wife with leaving the front door or the dining-room window open; and as no one ever essayed to break through and steal during their ten years’ sojourn in Barrawong, his argument apparently had force.

Since dawn he had been in Court or office for eight or nine hours—had ridden ten miles and walked five, so that when eleven o’clock came, he had done a fair day’s work. As a consequence, he slept soundly until cockcrow, when he arose with a clear head and renewed faculties, ready for whatever duties might be cast upon him.

The family breakfast concluded, the boys had been despatched to school, the girls to the daily ministrations of the governess, and the infantry division duly provided for, when Mr.and Mrs.Banneret departed for Barrawong, in the buggy of the period, behind a pair of extremely useful nags, moderate as to condition, to which the grass of the field had chiefly contributed, but exceptional ssss1 as to pace and courage. They were equally good in single or double harness, in saddle also, the near-side horse carrying Mrs.Banneret, who was a daring rider, with ease and distinction, while no pair within a hundred miles could, as to road action, ‘see the way they went.’ So the groom phrased it. They were, in fact, the Commissioner’s chief treasures and possessions. It was idle to lock up the house while these invaluable animals were left in an open paddock. Years since, when robbed by bushrangers, he had shivered in his shoes, not from personal apprehension, but for fear that the marauders should take a fancy to Hector, or Paris, and felt quite grateful when they only relieved him of a couple of gold watches, which he happened to have about him.