What is there to look at?"
Having parted with Maggie and Lucy, they pushed onwards, the old
man beguiling the time with disquisitions on the horse-hunting
capabilities of his gins, whom he seemed really sorry to leave. As
they got near Pike's, he became more restless than ever.
"See here, Mister," he said at last, "my wife's here, I expect,
and if she gets wind of this, I'll never get rid of her. The only
thing to do is to slip away without her knowing, and she might never
hear of it. I won't go into the place at all. I'll go on and camp
down the creek, and get the coach there after it leaves the town,
and she'll never know."
The town of "Pike's" consisted of a hotel, a store, a post-office,
a private residence, and coach-stables; these were all combined in
one establishment, so the town couldn't be said to be scattered.
Pike himself was landlord of the "pub," keeper of the store, officer
in charge of the post-office, owner of the private residence, holder
of the mail contract, and proprietor of the coach-stables. Behind
him was only wilderness and "new" country.
Nobody ever saw him at home. Either he was on the road with a
bullock-team, bringing up supplies for the hotel and store, or he
was droving cattle down on a six months' journey to market; or he
was away looking at new country, or taking supplies out to men on
the half-provisioned stations of the "outer-back;" or else he was
off to some new mining camp or opal-field, to sell a dray-load of
goods at famine prices.
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