ten strong; for tumbrils carrying water or refuse--or worse; for droves
of cattle, mobs of wild colts bound for auction, flocks of sheep on
their way to be boiled down for tallow. Stock-riders and bull-punchers
rubbed shoulders with elegants in skirted coats and shepherd's plaid
trousers, who adroitly skipped heaps of stones and mortar, or crept
along the narrow edging of kerb.

The visitors from up-country paused to listen to a brass band that
played outside a horse-auction mart; to watch the shooting in a
rifle-gallery. The many decently attired females they met also called for
notice. Not a year ago, and no reputable woman walked abroad oftener
than she could help: now, even at this hour, the streets were starred
with them. Purdy, open-mouthed, his eyes a-dance, turned his head this
way and that, pointed and exclaimed. But then HE had slept like a log,
and felt in his own words "as fit as a fiddle." Whereas Mahony had sat
his horse the whole night through, had never ceased to balance himself
in an imaginary saddle. And when at daybreak he had fallen into a deeper
sleep, he was either reviewing outrageous females on Purdy's behalf, or
accepting wagers to kiss them.

Hence, diverting as were the sights of the city, he did not come to them
with the naive receptivity of Purdy. It was, besides, hard to detach his
thoughts from the disagreeable affair that had brought him to Melbourne.
And as soon as banks and offices began to take down their shutters, he
hurried off to his interview with the carrying-agent.

The latter's place of business was behind Great Collins Street, in a
lane reached by a turnpike. Found with some trouble, it proved to be a
rude shanty wedged in between a Chinese laundry and a Chinese eating-house.
The entrance was through a yard in which stood a collection of