Australian Tales - Setis

pipe whin he blow'd me brains out, leastwise whin he blow'd the top of
me old hat all to smithereens. Och, I thought I was sittled jist thin; I'd
have sowld my head for a peck av green peaches, so I wud.” Micky then
filled his pipe, and as he sat puffing away by the blazing fireside, he gave
a detail of his day's adventures with an occasional allusion to parts of his
previous history, while his companion sat and listened with deep interest.
Chapter III.
“WHAT thumpin whacks an cracks a poor mortial catches during a
day's tramp sometimes,” said Micky, as he laid aside his pipe after he
had finished his smoke, and the narration of his day's mishaps at the
same time. “This is a terrible worrld av thrubble, Misther Mefriend,” he
added, after a short pause, and with a very grave air, which contrasted
strangely with the grotesque appearance of his tattered and long cloak,
with its stringy-bark girdle, “a worrld of botheration an bad luck, sure
enough; an I've had my allowance av it if I niver git any more after this
blessid night. Jist fancy, Misther Thingummeebob — — ”
“My name is Hopewell,” interrupted the traveller, mildly. “Will you
tell me your name, if you please?”
“I ax yer pardin forty times, Mr. Hopewell; my name's Micky Mahony,
at yer sarvice. But I was going to say, I lift my home this lovely
summer's mornin wid a swag fit for a mimber of parlimint, an nineteen
bran new suvverins in me midcine chest, for-bye a rispectable suit on me
back, and a lovely pair av kangaroo cossacks on me feet, an here I sit tonight
— savin yer presence — as poor as a blind beggar, wid nothin to
cover me nakidness but this long, comical cloak, an me owld hat, which
looks as if it had bin in a sassage machine. Blow'd if I iver heerd tell av
the like run av bad luck, niver since I've bin on the frosty side av the
Blue Mountains. It bates all my bush exparience out an out, so it does.”
“Yes; you have certainly met with some strange disasters to-day, Mr.
Mahony, but I must tell you, I think some of them were the results of
your own improper conduct. You coveted that thief's plunder, and to
obtain it, you were untruthful in many particulars. Although punishment
does not always follow similar acts so soon as it has done in your case
to-day, it is certain that, sooner or later, all acts of deceit, and falsehood
receive their due; and you may depend upon it, my friend, that
truthfulness at all times, and under all circumstances, is the only safe
course you can adopt; and whether you work with your hands or your
head, honest work is the only work you can expect to prosper. I am,
however, far from thinking that this is the worst day in your history, after
all, for I have hope concerning you, which I cannot explain just now.
You are here, alive and well, and you have been mercifully preserved
from bodily injury; you should thank God for that. You have had food