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FRENCH POLITICS, SOCIETY AND CULTURE

The French Centre Right and

the Challenges of a Party
System in Transition
William Rispin
French Politics, Society and Culture

Series Editor
Jocelyn Evans
School of Politics & International Studies
University of Leeds
Leeds, UK
This series examines all aspects of French politics, society and culture. In
so doing it focuses on the changing nature of the French system as well as
the established patterns of political, social and cultural life. Contributors
to the series are encouraged to present new and innovative arguments so
that the informed reader can learn and understand more about one of the
most beguiling and compelling of European countries.

More information about this series at

http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14991
 William Rispin

The French Centre

Right
and the Challenges
of a Party System
in Transition
William Rispin
Hessle, UK

French Politics, Society and Culture

ISBN 978-3-030-60893-4 ISBN 978-3-030-60894-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60894-1

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2021
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 Acknowledgements

This book grew out of my Ph.D. research. I would like to thank Professor
Nick Hewlett and Dr. Jessica Wardhaugh, who acted as supervisors for
both this thesis and my M.A. by Research, and who offered many very
useful comments on numerous drafts of the chapters. My two examiners,
Professor Andrew Knapp and Professor Jeremy Ahearne also provided
helpful suggestions as to how to transform my work into a book.
I am also particularly thankful to my parents, for their love, support
and encouragement throughout the whole process.

v
 Contents

1 Introduction 1
Defining the ‘Centre Right’ 7
Understanding the Problems Faced by the Centre Right
Through a New Model 9
References 12

2 A Changing French Society and the Rise and Fall

of Consensus (c.1981–2012) 15
Introduction 15
The Decline in Voter Identification with Parties 16
The Evolution of the Party System 20
The Impact of Globalisation 22
The Importance of the Cultural Element of Globalisation
in the Rise of ‘Populism’: The Issue of Cultural Insecurity 24
Triggering a Realignment 28
The Decline of Political Parties and the Rise of Individualism 29
Conclusion: The Emergence of a New Model 33
References 36

3 Parties, Party Systems and the Electorate 41

Introduction 41
The Impact of the Fifth Republic’s Institutions on the French
Party System 43

vii
viii CONTENTS

Theoretical Approaches to Party System Realignments 48

The Decline in Allegiance to Traditional Ideologies 51
Conclusion 56
References 58

4 Divisions Within the Centre Right over Identity:

2012–2017 63
Introduction 63
Cultural Insecurity: A Key Divide in French Politics 64
Cultural Insecurity and Sarkozy’s 2012 Presidential Election
Campaign 68
Cultural Insecurity and the Centre Right Under
the Hollande Presidency 69
I. The Debate over Assimilation Vs Integration 70
II. The Question of Responses to Terrorism 75
III. Divisions Caused by Social Liberalism 76
IV. Anti-elitism and the Primary of the Right and Centre 78
V. The Importance of Personality in the Debate Over
Identity 80
Cultural Insecurity and the 2017 Presidential Elections 82
Conclusion 84
References 87

5 The Centre Right and the Challenges of Economic

Reform 91
Introduction 91
Long-Standing French Concerns About Liberalism Under
the Fifth Republic 92
The Evolution of Attitudes Towards the French Economy:
A Rise in Demand for Liberalism 96
The Decline of Traditional Ideological Conflicts,
and the ‘Consensus of Government’ Over Economic Policy 100
The Weakening of Traditional Ideological Attachments
and the Growing Move Towards Reform 104
The General Consensus Within Les Républicains
over Economic Policy 106
I. Reducing the Size of the State 107
II. Improving Competitiveness 108
 CONTENTS ix

Les Républicains and the Realignment of the French Party

System 110
François Fillon as Anti-French 117
Conclusion 119
References 123

6 Europe and the Realignment of the French Party System 131

Introduction 131
Europe: A Key Divide in the New Party System 133
Nuancing the ‘Winners Vs Losers of Globalisation’ Analysis:
The Importance of the Questions of Sovereignty and Identity
in Relation to Europe 134
The New Divide Over Europe 137
Europe and the Right 138
I. A Right-Wing Vision of Europe 139
II. Two Approaches to Europe: Federalism vs Nation States 143
Europe: A Key Factor That Divided Members of Les
Républicains 149
I. Disagreement Within Les Républicains Concerning
Europe as a Way of Maximising French Influence 150
II. Conflicting Ideals on the Right: Europe vs The Nation
State 152
III. Europe as a Cultural Area 153
Beyond Left and Right: Emmanuel Macron and Europe 155
Conclusion 158
References 162

7 In Search of a Leader: The Centre Right and Its

Leadership Crisis, 2012–2017 167
Introduction 167
Leadership: A Crucial Factor During the Hollande
Presidency 168
I. The Institutions of the Fifth Republic 169
II. The Decline in Allegiance to Political Parties 169
The Changing Dynamics of Competition Within Parties 173
Defining Leadership 174
I. The Personality of the Leader in the Modern French
Political System 175
x CONTENTS

II. Representation: The Other Side of Political Leadership 181

The Importance of Leadership for the Centre Right 183
The Centre Right and the Decline of Political Parties 186
The Importance of Personality in Explaining the Fortunes
of Les Républicains 189
Emmanuel Macron and the Leadership Criteria 194
The Right Under the Macron Presidency, and the Eclipse
of Les Républicains 196
Emmanuel Macron and the Transformation of the French
Party System 198
Conclusion 200
References 203

8 Conclusion 209
What Future for Les Républicains? 222
References 227

Appendix: The Results of the 2012 and 2017 Presidential

and Legislative Elections 231

Index 239
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 Abbreviations

EELV Europe Ecologie—Les Verts

FN Front National
LR Les Républicains
LREM La République En Marche
MoDem Mouvement Démocrate
OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
OFCE Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques
PCF Parti Communiste Français
PS Parti Socialiste
RN Rassemblement National
RPR Rassemblement pour la République
UDF Union pour la Démocratie Française
UDI Union des Démocrates et Indépendents
UMP Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (except during 2002 elections
when this acronym stood for Union pour la Majorité Présidentielle)

xi
 List of Tables

Table A.1 2012 presidential elections: First round 231

Table A.2 2012 presidential elections: Second round 232
Table A.3 2012 legislative elections (results at the national level):
First round 233
Table A.4 2012 legislative elections (results at the national level):
Second round 234
Table A.5 2017 presidential elections: First round 235
Table A.6 2017 presidential elections: Second round 235
Table A.7 2017 legislative elections (results at national level): First
round 236
Table A.8 2017 legislative elections (results at national level):
Second round 237

xiii
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction

The French presidential elections of April and May 2017 seemed to mark
a moment of rupture in the history of the Fifth Republic. The repre-
sentatives of Les Républicains and the Parti Socialiste, the two parties
representing the political currents of Centre Right and Centre Left that
have formed a majority of the governments since 1958, were both elim-
inated in the first round. The candidate who received the most votes on
23 April 2017, and who would go on to be elected president, Emmanuel
Macron, had only been made a minister in the Hollande government in
2014, and had created his own movement in April 2016. He claimed to
be neither of the Right nor of the Left, and promised a new approach
to politics, that would look to move beyond the historical dividing lines
within the traditional party system. As the outgoing Socialist government
had been deeply unpopular, the PS candidate had long been expected
to be eliminated in the first round, but it had been widely assumed that
this would be to the benefit of the Centre Right, and so the failure of
Les Républicains to be represented in the second round was even more
surprising.
The defeat of Les Républicains has largely been attributed to the
Penelopegate scandal. On 27 January 2017, the Canard enchaîné news-
paper published allegations that Fillon had used public funds to employ
his wife as his parliamentary assistant, for which she had received 680
380 euros according to the Nouvel Obs, when there was little evidence

© The Author(s) 2021 1

W. Rispin, The French Centre Right and the Challenges of a Party
System in Transition, French Politics, Society and Culture,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60894-1_1
2 W. RISPIN

of her having carried out much, if any, work in this role. Fillon’s defence
was undermined by the fact that his wife had given an interview to the
British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, in 2007, in which she had explic-
itly stated that she had never been his assistant. Le Canard enchaîné also
claimed that she had been paid to produce articles for the journal La
Revue des Deux Mondes, again with scant proof that she had done so.
Further allegations followed, regarding Fillon’s employment of his chil-
dren using public funds when he had been a senator between 2007 and
2012, when they were only students, and his acceptance of designer suits
from businessman, Robert Bourgi.
The scandal was certainly a major factor in alienating potential voters.
Throughout his political career, Fillon had developed a reputation for
integrity, which had been crucial to his success in being chosen as the
candidate of Les Républicains in the Primary of the Right and Centre
of 2016. Furthermore, as Piar (2017) has demonstrated, coverage of the
revelations, with new allegations emerging on a regular basis, dominated
news coverage and distracted attention from Fillon’s political message.
Figures within Les Républicains emphasised the importance of
‘Penelopegate’ in explaining Fillon’s defeat. In the aftermath of Macron’s
victory, and before the legislative elections of June 2017, it suited politi-
cians on the Centre Right to blame their presidential candidate for the
party’s predicament. Laurent Wauquiez, who would be elected party
leader in December 2017, claimed that the defeat of the party in the
presidential elections was due to a rejection of Fillon, rather than a lack
of support for the Centre Right and its ideas.
However, the ongoing decline in the party’s fortunes following the
May 2017 presidential elections challenges this analysis. Immediately
upon taking office, Macron named Edouard Philippe, and Bruno Le
Maire, both members of Les Républicains, as Prime Minister and Minister
of the Economy, respectively. In the June legislative elections of that
year, Les Républicains gained 112 seats, 73 fewer than it had won in
2012 under its previous incarnation, the UMP. Following the election,
more figures from the Centre Right were named in the Macron govern-
ment, while a number of Les Républicains députés, calling themselves
Les Constructifs, chose to sit separately from their colleagues in the
National Assembly and pledged to support the new administration from
the outside. This group would later transform itself into a new party, Agir.
In addition to losing members to Macron and En Marche, Les Répub-
licains was further undermined by internal disagreements. A significant
 1 INTRODUCTION 3

number of the party’s supporters were alienated by the election of Laurent

Wauquiez, known for favouring a tough approach to immigration, and for
being something of a Eurosceptic, as party leader in December 2017. It
therefore seems clear that the problems of the PS government had masked
the Centre Right’s own inability to respond to the political realignment
that was occurring in France.
This book seeks to understand the divisions that emerged within
Les Républicains during the Hollande presidency, which were crucial
to its defeat in the presidential and legislative elections of 2017, and
its subsequent disintegration into several separate entities. It examines
the evolution of voters’ attitudes towards political parties, leaders and
institutions, how this undermined the long-standing party system, and
continued and reinforced a political realignment. It examines how such
change provoked quarrels within the Centre Right, which would fatally
weaken its political power.
The difficulties faced by the Centre Right in France during the
Hollande presidency are of particular interest, as they reflect a wider devel-
opment in the Western world, where voters would appear to have become
disillusioned with traditional politics and representative institutions. In
Britain in 2016, the Leave campaign won the referendum on membership
of the European Union, despite the leaders of all major political parties
supporting a Remain vote—marking an abandonment of traditional party
loyalties that the 2019 General Election would show even more clearly.
Populist movements were gaining strength in Italy, Germany, Spain and
elsewhere in Europe. Party systems that had been based on the alterna-
tion in power of the Centre Left and Centre Right were coming under
strain.
Not only are voters more distrustful of traditional parties than in the
past, but they also adopt a more personalised approach to political activity.
As Perrineau (2012) has argued, whereas previously many voters had
strongly identified with a particular class, a factor which influenced their
voting habits, this is less likely to be the case nowadays. As a result, the
Left/Right divide that had been underpinned by class differences has
been undermined, and it could be claimed that traditional ideologies that
are related to this split have a weaker appeal for much of the electorate.
As some such as Brochet (2017) have noted, voters no longer adopt a
single coherent worldview, but rather pick and choose (often contradic-
tory) policies from across the political spectrum, which makes them less
likely to support the parties of government with which they previously
4 W. RISPIN

identified, and more likely to be open to new, and often more radical,
movements.
While much attention has been paid to the problems of the Centre Left
in this context, there has been less focus on the issues facing the Centre
Right. Parties of the mainstream Right in many Western countries faced
significant problems during the period between 2012 and 2017, including
the Conservative Party, which saw splits emerge following the Brexit
referendum, the German Christian Democrats who were challenged by
Alternative für Deutschland, and the mainstream of the Republican Party,
who were not able to prevent the maverick Donald Trump from securing
the party’s nomination as its candidate for the 2016 presidential elec-
tions. In France, the Centre Right was not only split internally, but was
challenged by ‘unconventional’ parties from the outside, first by the FN,
and then by En Marche. The French experience can therefore be seen to
reflect a much wider phenomenon.
This book will focus on the difficulties encountered by the Centre
Right within the French political system during the Hollande presi-
dency. Under the Fifth Republic, Centre Right movements had produced
a majority of the presidents and of the governments in the National
Assembly, but by 2017, the party had fallen into disarray, and it was
difficult to see how its various currents could come together and win elec-
tions. The downfall of Les Républicains was not simply a political accident
but was part of a more general trend in the evolution of the French party
system.
During the Fifth Republic the Right had often been split between
various parties but by the early 2000s many believed that it was neces-
sary to bring together its disparate elements into a single movement—the
UMP—in order to win elections. Unity would be maintained through
allegiance to a single leader, the then president, Jacques Chirac, and by the
common aim of obtaining and retaining power, rather than by agreement
over a particular programme. The UMP strategy was initially successful,
and, in 2007, survived the transition from Chirac to Sarkozy, but the
latter’s defeat in 2012 heralded a new stage in the party’s history, for two
reasons.
Firstly, the years 2012–2017 were the first during which the UMP held
neither the presidency nor a majority in the National Assembly, and as
a result the party was now faced with a period of at least five years in
opposition. Some députés had been uneasy with Sarkozy’s campaign in
the 2012 presidential elections, and in particular his hard-line stance on
 1 INTRODUCTION 5

immigration and identity. Without the necessity to present a united front,

as when in government, debates over strategy would become a source of
contention, as the party tried to define a programme for the 2017 elec-
tions, and would reveal the significantly different positions of its members
that would threaten the very existence of the movement.
Secondly, following Sarkozy’s resignation, the UMP found itself
without a leader, and with no obvious candidate to replace him. The
question of who should succeed the former president would remain unre-
solved throughout the Hollande presidency. Centre Right parties had
often united around a leader capable of gaining power, as was seen under
de Gaulle, Chirac and Sarkozy. Without a single, accepted figure at its
head, one of the key features that had ensured the cohesion and stability
of the Centre Right, and had preserved unity and harmony, was no longer
present.
It was often thought that the problem of unifying the Centre Right
could be solved if the appropriate leadership candidate could be identi-
fied, but finding a solution to this issue was made more complicated by
the realignment of the party system that had been underway for some
time. Since the decision of François Mitterrand, the first Socialist presi-
dent of the Fifth Republic, to move away from the dramatic expansion
of the public sector that had been promised in his manifesto, towards
a programme that gave a greater role to private enterprise, many voters
have believed the Left/Right bipolar divide has been losing its relevance
(Hayward 1994; Perrineau 2012; Sainte-Marie 2015; Behrent 2017). The
similar policies enacted by governments of the Centre Left and Centre
Right caused an increasing number of voters to feel disenfranchised, and
to either transfer their support to the Far Left or Far Right, or to abstain.
This trend accelerated during the Hollande presidency. The need to react
to the growth of more extreme movements provoked debates and splits
within both the Centre Left and Centre Right. Whoever replaced Sarkozy
would need to have not only a programme acceptable to their party,
but also one that would be capable of winning support from outside
the movement. Les Républicains looked to resolve debate over leader-
ship by holding a primary to choose their representative for the 2017
presidential elections. Both Les Républicains and the PS felt that they
had to organise primaries in an attempt to broaden their support beyond
their party membership. Previously, the candidates of the two established
parties of government had been almost certain to be present in the second
round. However, the decline in faith in traditional political movements,
6 W. RISPIN

and the rise of alternatives on the political extremes and in the Centre
meant that this was no longer the case during the Hollande presidency.
The decision to designate a leader in this way was also influenced by the
success of the primary held by the Parti Socialiste in 2011, which had
dominated media coverage, and which had enabled party members to
rally behind the winner, François Hollande.
The aftermath of Fillon’s victory in the primary of November 2016
revealed how the link between voters and parties had evolved. Although
it had been expected that all party members and supporters would rally
behind him, many of the supporters of his defeated opponents, both
within the party and among the general public, seemed to feel a greater
loyalty to the candidate for whom they had voted in the primary than to
the party itself. Some defected to En Marche before the elections, while
others did so following Macron’s victory. The travails of Fillon therefore
provide further evidence of the decline in the electorate’s ties to tradi-
tional movements and ideologies, and its adoption of a more individualist
and volatile attitude to voting.
In order to understand the divisions within Les Républicains, it is
important to consider the long-term political realignments, which inten-
sified during the Hollande presidency. Several different models have been
proposed to explain this (Fourquet 2017; Bherer 2017; Gougou and
Persico 2017; Martin 2017), but none provide a comprehensive analysis
of the situation.
Some argue that society is now divided between the winners and
losers of globalisation—a view supported by both Macron (2016) and
Marine Le Pen (Barbarit 2017)—largely ignore the fact that globalisation
is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, involving several different
economic, cultural and political elements. Amalgamating the different
reasons for opposition to globalisation obscures the fact that it is possible
for voters to support certain elements, while being wary of others.
Those models that consider several elements separately, rather than
grouping them together as part of globalisation, have often overlooked
the role of division over Europe, despite Macron making his positive
vision of the EU a key aspect of his campaign, and one which would
enable him to reach out to voters across the Left/Right divide.
Others fail to recognise the complexity of the problems facing the
Centre Right. Martin (2017) argues that there are two major axes
of conflict. One concerns socially liberal opinions vs socially conserva-
tive views, while the other opposes liberal economic policies to a more
 1 INTRODUCTION 7

protectionist stance. His argument that this has created three blocs: ‘pro-
tectionist environmentalist’, ‘liberal pro-globalisation’ and ‘conservative-
identarian’ does not represent the position of Les Républicains, many of
whose representatives and supporters favoured liberal economic policies
alongside a more traditionalist approach to national identity.
The issues raised by the divisions within Les Républicains are worthy of
study not only because the Centre Right has been (along with the Centre
Left) one of the two currents that have dominated politics under the Fifth
Republic, but also because they can help us to identify broader political
trends that occurred between 2012 and 2017. In terms of the study of the
evolution of the Right in France, it is crucial to understand the problems
faced by the UMP (and later Les Républicains) and why the union formed
in 2002 fell apart in 2017. To achieve this, a new model is required to
explain the evolution of the French party system—one that takes into
account the key areas of identity and economic liberalism considered by
others, but which also gives the issue of Europe its proper place. Such an
analysis must also recognise the multifaceted nature of globalisation, and
how different policy areas affected the Centre Right in different ways.

Defining the ‘Centre Right’

The focus of this book is on the party, which from 2002 was called
the UMP, before being renamed Les Républicains by Sarkozy in 2015,
following his re-election as party leader. In order to make observations
about the evolution of this movement both throughout the course of the
Hollande presidency, and also during the wider period from 2002, the
term ‘Centre Right’ will be used to refer to both parties.1
MoDem and the UDI, which some might class as being part of the
Centre Right, will be referred to as the Independent Centre parties. This
highlights their desire to have greater freedom of action, as could be seen
when both parties chose to form a separate list from Les Républicains for
the European elections, and by their decision not to present candidates in
the Primary of the Right and Centre of 2016. MoDem, in particular, was
more a party of the Centre than one of the Centre Right. In the 2012
presidential elections, Bayrou supported Hollande rather than Sarkozy,
and in 2017, he rallied behind Macron rather than Fillon. Surveys showed
that MoDem voters often found themselves politically caught between
the PS and the Centre Right. In the 2015 Ipsos/Sopra Steria Fractures
françaises survey, 51% of MoDem supporters agreed with the statement
8 W. RISPIN

‘To establish social justice, it would be necessary to take from the rich in
order to give to the poor’, compared with 72% of those close to the PS,
and 30% of those close to the UMP (Teinturier and Zumsteeg 2015;
32). On social issues that were less related to the economy, MoDem
supporters were close to the Centre Left in some cases, but had more
in common with supporters of the Centre Right in others. For example,
53% of MoDem supporters felt that anti-white racism was a relatively
rare phenomenon in France, compared with 70% of those of the PS, and
47% of those from the UMP (Teinturier and Zumsteeg 2015; 69). The
situation was reversed on some questions concerning the integration of
immigrant communities. While 60% of MoDem supporters felt that immi-
grants made an effort to integrate, and 63% of those from the PS shared
this view, 29% of UMP supporters agreed with this statement (Teinturier
and Zumsteeg 2015; 67). For this reason, MoDem is better classified as
an Independent Centre party.
The term ‘Centre Right’ will also exclude Macron and his party, En
Marche. During the presidential elections, Macron stressed that he was
‘neither of the Right, nor of the Left’, situating himself above the bipolar
divide. Commentators have offered slightly different interpretations of his
position within the political landscape. Jaffré (2017) has argued that the
leader of En Marche was a ‘Centre Left candidate and is now a Centre
Right president’ while for Elgie (2017; 25):

LREM can be interpreted as a combination of moderate right and

moderate left députés that has won some support from moderate right
and moderate left députés in the Assemblée and that has been systematically
opposed there by both the extreme right and what we can interpret as the
extreme left in the context of the contemporary French party system.

That Macron had been a minister in the Hollande government (without

being a member of the PS) and that, once elected president, he appointed
a former member of Les Républicains as his prime minister reinforces the
view that he is best characterised as being both of the Right and of the
Left, and so will not be considered as part of the Centre Right.
Visit https://ebookmass.com today to explore
a vast collection of ebooks across various
genres, available in popular formats like
PDF, EPUB, and MOBI, fully compatible with
all devices. Enjoy a seamless reading
experience and effortlessly download high-
quality materials in just a few simple steps.
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Beatrice lost sight of her personal feelings in bethinking herself how
she could aid the strong man, whose features bore evidence of the
agony which racked every nerve and fibre.
‘I feel deeply grateful for your sympathy. I knew you would bestow
it. No living man needs it more. This morning I rode out fuller of
pleasant anticipation than I can recall, prepared to take a step which
I hoped would result in my life’s happiness. I had arranged for an
extension of leave, after which I intended to sell out and live in this
neighbourhood, which for many reasons—for every reason—I have
found so delightful.’
‘And your plans are altered?’
This query was made in tones studiously free from all trace of
interest or disapproval, although the beating heart and throbbing
brain of the girl almost prevented utterance.
‘I have this day—this day only—you will do me the justice hereafter
to believe—heard a statement, unhappily too true, which clears up
the mystery which has rested upon me from my birth. That cloud
has been removed. But behind it lies a foul blot, a dark shadow of
dishonour, which I deemed could never have rested on the name of
Walter Glendinning.’
‘Dishonour!’ echoed Beatrice. ‘Impossible! How can that be?’
‘It is as I say—deep and ineradicable,’ groaned out the unhappy
man. ‘You will hear more from your brother. All is known to him and
your friends of Benmohr. Enough that I have no personal
responsibility. But it is a burden that I must carry till the day of a
soldier’s death. You will believe me when I say that my honour
demands that I quit Australia—to me so dear, yet so fatal. The years
that may remain to me belong to my country.’
‘I feel,’ said the girl, with kindling eye and a pride of bearing which
equalled his own, ‘that you are doing what your high sense of
honour, of duty, demands. I can but counsel you to take them, for
guide and inspiration. I know not the doom which has fallen on you,
but I can bid you God-speed, and pray for you evermore.’
‘You have spoken my inmost thoughts. God help us that it should be
so. But I were disloyal to every thought and aspiration of my nature
if I stooped to link the life of another, as God is my witness and
judge, to my tarnished name. We must part—never, perhaps, to
meet on earth—but, Beatrice, dearest and only loved—may I not call
you so?—I who now look upon your face, and hear your voice for
the last time—you will think in your happy home of one who tore the
heart from his bosom, which a dark fate forbade him to offer you.
When you hear that Walter Glendinning died a soldier’s death, give a
tear to his memory—to his fate who scorned death, but could not
endure dishonour.’
Neither spoke for some moments. The girl’s tears flowed fast as she
gazed before her, while both rode steadily onward. The man’s form
was bowed, and his set features wore the livid aspect of him who
has received a death-wound but strives to hide the inward agony.
Slowly, mechanically, they rode side by side along the homeward
track, in the rear of the others until the entrance gate was reached.
Then, as if by mutual impulse, they turned towards each other, and
their eyes met in one long sorrowful glance. Such light has shone in
the eyes of those who parted ere now, sanctified by a martyr’s hope
—a martyr’s death.
‘We shall meet,’ she said, ‘no more on earth; but oh, if you value my
love, cherish the thought of a higher life—of a better world, where
no false human pride, no barrier of man’s cruelty or injustice may
sever us. I hold the trust which my heart, if not my lips, confessed.
Till then, farewell, and may a merciful God keep our lives unstained
until the day of His coming.’
She drew the glove from her hand hurriedly. It fell at his horse’s
feet. He dismounted hastily, and placed it in his bosom, and raising
her ice-cold hand to his lips, pressed it with fervour. Then
accompanying her to the hall door, he committed her to the charge
of Wilfred, who, with his mother and sister, stood on the verandah,
took a hurried leave of the family, regretting that he was compelled,
by sudden summons, to rejoin his regiment, and with his friends,
who with ready tact made excuse for returning, took the familiar
track to Benmohr.
Few words were spoken on the homeward road, which was
traversed at a pace that tried the mettle of the descendants of
Camerton. That night the friends sat late, talking earnestly. It was
long after midnight before they separated. On the following day
Major Glendinning and his father met at a spot half-way between
The Chase and Benmohr, the interview being arranged by Hamilton,
who rode over and persuaded the old man to accompany him. What
passed between them was never known, but ere that night was
ended the Major was far on his way to Sydney, which he reached in
time to secure a passage in the good ship Governor Bourke, outward
bound for China. In the course of the week Mr. Effingham received a
letter in explanation of the circumstances, signed Owen Walter
Glendinning, declaring his unworthiness to aspire to his daughter’s
hand, as well as his inability to remain in the country after the
mystery of his birth had been so unexpectedly revealed to him. He
held himself pledged to act in the matter after the expiration of a
year in accordance with what Mr. Effingham, acting as the guardian
of his daughter’s happiness, might consider in the light of an
honourable obligation. A bank draft drawn in favour of Thomas
Stewart Glendinning was enclosed, with an intimation that an annual
payment would be forwarded for his use henceforth during the
writer’s life.

The first cloud which the Effinghams had descried since their arrival
in Australia had appeared in the undimmed horizon. The breath of
evil, which knows no bound nor space beneath the sun, had rested
on them. Habitually taking deeper interest in the subjective issues of
life than in its material transaction, they were proportionately
depressed. All that maternal love and the most tender sisterly
affection could give was lavished upon the sufferer. Her well-
disciplined mind, strengthened by culture and purified by religion,
gradually acquired equilibrium. But it was long ere the tranquil
features of Beatrice Effingham recovered their wonted expression;
and a close observer could have detected the trace of an inward woe
in the depths of her erstwhile clear, untroubled eyes.
In his answer to the letter which he had received, Mr. Effingham
‘fully agreed with the course which his friend had taken, and the
determination which he had expressed. Looking at the situation,
which he deplored with his whole heart, he was unable to see any
other mode of action open to him as a man of honour. Deeply
prejudicial as had been the issue to the happiness of his beloved
daughter, he could not ask him (Major Glendinning) to swerve by
one hair’s-breadth from the path which he had laid down for himself.
His wishes would be attended to with respect to the bank draft
forwarded for the use of the person named, but he would suggest
that Mr. Sternworth should be chosen as the recipient of future
remittances. He would, in conclusion, wish him the fullest measure
of success and distinction which his profession offered, with, if not
happiness, the inward satisfaction known to those who marched
ever in the vanguard of honourable duty. In this wish he was warmly
seconded by every member of the family.’
Old Tom, after notice of his intention to leave the employment,
presented himself before his master, dressed and accoutred as for a
journey, leading Boney and followed by the uncompromising Crab.
His effects were fastened in a roll in front of his saddle, his coiled
stockwhip was pendent from the side-buckle. All things, even to the
fixed look upon the weather-beaten features, betokened a settled
resolution.
‘I’m going to lave the ould place, Captain,’ he said; ‘and it’s sorry I
am this day to quit the family and the lake and the hounds, where I
laid it out to lave the ould bones of me. I’m wishin’ the divil betther
divarshion than to bother with the family saycrets of the likes o’ me.
Sure he has lashins of work in this counthry, without disturbin’ the
last days of poor ould Tom Glendinning—and he sure of me, anyhow.
My heart’s bruk, so it is.’
‘Hush, Tom,’ said his employer. ‘We can understand Major
Glendinning’s feelings. But, after all, it is his duty to acknowledge the
ties of nature. I have no doubt that after a time he will become—er
—used to the relationship.’
‘D——n the relationship!’ burst out the old man menacingly. ‘Ah, an’
sure I ax yer pardon, yer honour, for the word; but ’tis wild I am that
the Major, a soldier and a rale gintleman every inch of him, that’s
fought for the Queen and skivered them infernal blackamoors in the
Injies, should be given out as the son of a blasted ould rapparee like
me. It was asy knowing when I seen that look on him when he
heard the name, but how could I drame that my son could have
turned into a king’s officer—all as one as the best of the land? If I
had known it for sartain, before he axed me, I’d have lived beside
him as a common stock-rider for years, if he’d come here, and he’s
niver have known no more than the dead. It’s a burning shame and
a sin, that’s what it is!’
‘It may have been unfortunate,’ said Mr. Effingham; ‘but I can never
regard it as wrong that a father and a son should come to know of
the tie which binds them to each other.’
‘And why not, I ask ye?’ demanded the old man savagely. ‘What
good has it done aither of us? It’s sent him back, with a sore heart,
to live among them black divils and snakes and tigers, a murdtherin’
hot counthry it is by all accounts, when he might have bought a
place handy here and bred horses and cattle—sure he’s an iligant
rider and shoots beautiful, don’t he now? I wonder did he take them
gifts after me?’ said the old man, with the first softened expression
and a half sigh. ‘Sure, if I could have plazed myself with lookin’ at
him and he not to know, I wouldn’t say but that I might have
listened to Parson Sternworth and—and—repinted,—yes, repinted,—
after all that’s come and gone! And now I’m on the ould thrack agin,
with tin divils tearin’ at me, and who knows what will happen.’
‘There’s no need for you to lead a wandering life, or indeed, to work
at all, even if you leave the district,’ said Mr. Effingham. ‘I have a
sum in my hands, forwarded by the Major, sufficient for all your
wants.’
‘I’ll not touch a pinny of it!’ cried out the old man; ‘sure it’s blood
money, no less, his life, anyway, that will pay for this! Didn’t I see his
eye, when he shook hands with me, and begged my pardon for his
pride, and asked me to bless him—me!’—and here the old man
laughed derisively, a sound not pleasant to hear. ‘If there’s fighting
where he’s going, and he lives out the year, it will be because lead
and cowld steel has no power to harm a man that wants to die. Mr.
Effingham, I’ll never touch it; and why would I? Sure the drink’ll kill
me, fast enough, without help.’
‘But why go away? I am so grieved that, after your faithful service,
you should leave in such a state of mind.’
‘Maybe I’ll do ye more sarvice before I die, but I must get into the
far-out runs, or I’ll go mad thinking of him. It was my hellish timper
that let the words out so quick, or he’d never have known till his
dying day. Maybe the rheumatiz was to blame, that keeps burning in
the bones of me like red-hot iron, till I couldn’t spake a civil word to
the blessed Saviour Himself. Anyhow, it’s done now; but of all I ever
did—and there’s what would hang me on the list—I repint over that,
the worst, and will till I die. Good-bye, sir. God bless the house, and
thim that’s in it.’
The old man remounted his wayworn steed with more agility than
his appearance promised, and taking the track which led southward,
went slowly along the road without turning his head or making
further speech. The dog rose to his feet and trotted after him. In a
few moments the characteristic trio passed from sight.
‘Mysterious indeed are the ways of Providence!’ thought Effingham,
as he turned towards the house. ‘Who would ever have thought that
the fortunes of this strange old man would ever have been
associated with me or mine. I feel an unaccountable presentiment,
as if this incident, inexplicable as it is, were but the forerunner of
evil!’
 CHAPTER XIX
BLACK THURSDAY

Autumn and winter passed in the ordinary succession of regular

duties and peaceful employments, now become easy and habitual.
These the expatriated family had learned to love. The departure of
the old stock-rider was felt as a temporary inconvenience, but the
brothers with Dick Evans’s aid and counsel felt themselves qualified
to supply his place, and decided not to employ a successor.
Guy, indeed, had grown into a stalwart youngster, taller and broader
than his elder brother; so much had the pure air, the healthful bush
life, the regular exercise and occasional labour demanded by the
station exigencies done for his development. He was apt at all the
minor rural accomplishments—could ride the unbroken colts, which
their own stud now produced, and was well acquainted with the
ways and wanderings of outlying cattle. The lore of the Waste, in
which old Dick was so able an instructor, was now his. He could plait
a hide-rope, make bullock-yokes, noose and throw the unbranded
cattle, drive a team, split and put up ‘fencing stuff’; in many ways do
a man’s work, when needed, as efficiently as his preceptor. Dick
prophesied that he would become ‘a great bushman’ in years to
come. Indeed, by tales of ‘taking up new country’ and of the
adventurous branches of station life, he had fostered a thirst for
more extended and responsible action which gave his parents some
uneasiness.
He had begun to acquire the Australian boy’s contempt for the
narrow bounds involved by a residence on ‘purchased land.’ He
impatiently awaited the day when he should be able to sally forth,
with a herd of his own and the necessary equipment, to seek his
fortune amid romantic, unexplored wilds. He began to lose interest
in the daily round of home duties; and though from long habit and
an affectionate nature, as yet dutifully obedient to his parents’
bidding, he more than once confessed that he longed for
independent action.

The season was ‘setting in dry.’ There had been no rain for months.
Around Lake William and near that wide expanse of water an
appearance of verdure was preserved by the more marshy portion of
the great flats. Amid these the cattle daily revelled and fed. They
might have been seen grouped in large droves far out on the
promontories, or wading amid the shallowing reed-beds which
fringed the shore, long after the sun had set, and the breathless
night, boding of storms which came not, had closed in.
Among the neighbours this state of matters by no means passed
without observation and remark. Nought save desultory discussion
ensued. Except O’Desmond, no one had been long enough in the
colony to have had experience of abnormal seasons. Curiously, he
was the one who took the more despondent view of matters, from
which men augured ill.
‘I hope to heaven that we are not going to have a repetition of
1827,’ he said; ‘one experience of that sort is enough to last a man
for his lifetime.’
‘Was it so very awful?’ said Hamilton, the conversation taking place
at Benmohr, at which convenient rendezvous Wilfred and Churbett
had encountered that gentleman. ‘One fancies that the ancient
colonists were not fertile in expedients.’
‘No doubt we have much to learn from the accomplished gentlemen
who have done us the honour to invest in our colony of late years,’
said O’Desmond grandly, with a bow of the regency; ‘but if you had
seen what I have, you would not undervalue the danger. I don’t care
to talk about it. Only if this year ends badly, I shall leave Badajos to
my old couple and the overseer, muster my stock, and start into the
wilderness without waiting for another.’
‘What direction shall you take?’ said Hamilton.
‘Due south, until I strike the head waters of the Sturt and the
Warburton. These I shall follow down, and make my depôt wherever
I discover a sufficiently tempting base.’
‘It has quite the heroic ring about it,’ said Wilfred. ‘But for certain
reasons, I would like to follow you. How about provisions?’
‘I take a year’s supply of rations and clothing. We drive our meat
before us.’
‘And the blacks?’
‘I know all that can be known about them,’ said O’Desmond. ‘They
recognise chiefs among the white men. If one does not fear them,
they are to be dealt with like children.’
‘You will find it hard to quit your pleasant life at Badajos for the
desert,’ said Wilfred.
‘Not at all; the sharper the contrast, the more easily is the change
made. Besides, on such occasions mine is a well-organised
expedition. I take my cook, my groom, my four-in-hand. What do
you say? Come with me for the first week or two. I can promise you
a chop broiled to perfection. I must show you my “reversible griller,”
of which I am the proud inventor.’
Here the door was loudly knocked at, and being opened without
further ceremony, disclosed the serious countenance of Wullie
Teviot, apparently out of breath.
‘Maister Hamilton and gentlemen a’,’ he said, ‘I’m no in a poseetion
to do my errand respectfully the noo, but hae just breath to warn ye
that there’s a muckle bush-fire comin’ fast frae the direction o’
Maister Effingham’s. I trust we’ll no be the waur o’t.’
This ended migratory speculations abruptly. Each man started to his
feet. Hamilton left the room to secure a horse and order out his
retainers, Wilfred to try and make out whether the heavy spreading
cloud on the horizon was across his boundary.
‘I and my man will go with Hamilton,’ quoth O’Desmond. ‘Effingham
had better make for home, and see how it is likely to affect him.’
Hamilton was dashing down the paddock on a bare-backed horse by
this time, to run up the hacks, and also one for the spring-cart, to be
loaded with spare hands for the scene of action, besides that
invaluable adjunct in a bush fire, a cask of water.
‘I hardly like leaving,’ said Wilfred; ‘it looks selfish.’
‘Don’t mind about the sentiment,’ said O’Desmond. ‘If your run is
afire you will need to help Dick Evans and his party. I’ll be bound the
old fellow is half-way there already. He is not often caught napping.’
Then Wilfred mounted too, and sped away, galloping madly towards
the great masses of ever-increasing smoke-cloud. It proved to be
farther off than he expected. He had ridden far and fast, when he
reached the border where he could hear the crackling of the tender
leaflets, and watched the red line which licked up so cleanly all dry
sticks and bush, with every stalk and plant and modest tuft of grass.
He then found that the chief duty, not so much of meeting the
enemy, as of guiding and persuading him to turn his fiery footsteps
in a different direction, was being satisfactorily performed by Richard
Evans and his assistants. Guy, in wild delight at being made
lieutenant of the party, was dashing ever and anon into the centre of
the smoke and flame, and dealing blows with his bough like a
Berserker.
‘Head it off, lads,’ Dick was saying when Wilfred rode up. ‘It’s no use
trying to stop it in the long grass; edge it off towards the ranges.
There it may burn till all’s blue.’
‘Why, Dick,’ said he to his trustworthy veteran, ‘how did you manage
to get here so quickly? They’ve only just seen it at Benmohr.’
‘They’ll find it out pretty quick, sir, if there’s a shift of wind to-night.
It don’t need much coaxing our way, but it means Benmohr, with a
southerly puff or two. If it gets into that grassy bit by the old stock-
yard, it will burn at the rate of fifty mile an hour.’
Hour after hour did they work by the line of fire, ere Dick’s vigilance
could permit any kind of halt or relaxation. It was exciting, not
unpleasant work, Wilfred thought, walking up and down the red-
gleaming line of tongues of fire which licked up so remorselessly the
tangled herbage, the lower shrubs, the dead flower-stalks, and all
scattered branches of the fallen trees.
The night was dark, sultry, and still. As ever and anon the fire
caught some tall, dead tree, and running up it, seized the hollow
trunk, holding out red signals from each limb and cavity, high up
among the branches, the effect against the sombre sky, the dull,
massed gloom of the mountain, was grandly effective. In the lurid
scene the moving figures upon whose faces the fierce light
occasionally beat, seemed weird and phantasmal. Patiently did the
wary leader watch the line of fire, which had been extinguished on
the side next to the lower lands, now casting back a half-burned log
far within the blackened area, and anon beating out insidious
tussocks of dried grass, ignited by a smouldering ember.
When once the defensive line had been subdued, it was easily kept
under by sweeping the half-burned grass and sticks back from the
still inflammable herbage into the bared space now devoid of fuel.
But care was still needed, as ever and again a half-burned tree
would crash down across the line, throwing forth sparks and embers,
or perhaps lighting up a temporary conflagration.
All the night through, the men kept watch and ward beside the
boundary. The strangeness of the scene compensated Wilfred and
Guy for the loss of their natural rest as well as for the severity of the
exertion. As they watched the flame-path hewing its way unchecked
up the rugged mountain-side, lighting up from time to time with
wondrous clearness every crag, bush, and tree, to the smallest twig
—a nature picture, clear, brilliant, unearthly, framed in the
unutterable blackness of the night, it seemed as if they were
assisting at some Walpurgis revel; as if in the lone woods, at that
mystic hour, the forms of the dead, the spectres of the past, might
at any moment arise and mingle with them.
As they lay stretched on the dry sward, in the intervals of rest, they
watched the gradual progress of the flame through the rugged,
chasm-rifted, forest-clothed mountain. With every ascent gained, the
flame appeared to hoist a signal of triumph over the dumb, dark,
illimitable forest which surrounded them. Finally, when like a crafty
foe it had climbed to the highest peak, the fire, there discovering
upon a plateau a mass of brushwood and dry herbage, burst out in
one far-seen, wide-flaming beacon, at once a Pharos and a Wonder-
sign to the dwellers at a lower elevation.
The bush fire had been fought and conquered. It only remained for
Dick and a few to go back on the following day and make sure that
the frontier was safe; that no smouldering logs were ready to light
up the land again as soon as the breeze should have fanned them
sufficiently. The main body of the fire had gone up the mountain
range, where no harm could be done; where, as Dick said, as soon
as the first rain came, the grass would be all up again, and make
nice, sweet picking for the stock in winter.
The Benmohr people had not been quite so lucky; the wind setting
in that direction, the flames had come roaring up to the very
homestead, burning valuable pasture and nearly consuming the
establishment. As it was, the garden gate caught fire. The farm and
station buildings were only preserved by the desperate efforts of the
whole force of the place, led on by Argyll and Hamilton, who worked
like the leaders of a forlorn hope. After the fight was over and the
place saved, Charlie Hamilton, utterly exhausted with the heat and
exertion, dropped down in a faint, and had to be carried in and laid
on a bed, to the consternation of Mrs. Teviot, who thought he was
dead.
It was now the last week of March, and all things looked as bad as
they could be. Not a drop of rain worth mentioning had fallen since
the spring. The small rivers which ran into Lake William had ceased
to flow, and were reduced each to its own chain of ponds. That
great sheet of water was daily receding from its shores, shallowing
visibly, and leaving islands of mud in different parts of its surface,
unpleasantly suggestive of total evaporation. Strange wild-fowl,
hitherto unknown in the locality—notably the ibis, the pelican, and
the spoonbill—had appeared in great flocks, disputing possession
with the former inhabitants. The flats bordering upon the lake, once
so luxuriantly covered with herbage, were bare and dusty as a
highroad. The constant marching in and out of the cattle to water
had caused them to be fed down to the last stalk. Apparently there
was no chance of their renewal. The herd, though still healthy and
vigorous, was beginning to lose condition; if this were the case now,
what tale would the winter have to tell? The yield of milk had so
fallen off that merely sufficient was taken for the use of the house.
The ground was so hard that it was impossible to plough for the
wheat crop, even if there had been likelihood of the plant growing
after the seed was sown.
Andrew was clearly of the opinion that Australia much resembled
Judea, and that for some good reason the Lord had seen fit to pour
down His wrath upon the land, which was now stricken with various
plagues and grievous trials.
‘I’m no sayin’,’ he said, ‘that the sin o’ the people has been
a’thegither unpardonable and forbye ordinair’. There’s nae doot a
wheen swearin’ and drinkin’ amang thae puir ignorant stock-riders
and splitter bodies. Still, they’re for the maist pairt a hard delvin’,
ceevil people, that canna be said to eat the bread o’ idleness, and
that’s no wilfu’ in disobeyin’ the Word, siccan sma’ hearin’ as they
hae o’t. I’m lyin’ in deep thocht on my bed nicht after nicht, wearyin’
to find ae comfortin’ gleam o’ licht in this darkness o’ Egypt.’
‘It’s a bad look-out, Andrew,’ said Guy, to whom Andrew was
confiding his feelings, as he often did to the lad when he was
troubled about the well-doing of the community. ‘And it will be worse
if the cattle die after next winter. Whatever shall we do? We shall
never get such a lot of nice, well-bred ones together again. What
used the Jews to do in a season like this, I wonder, for they got it
pretty bad sometimes, you know, when Jacob sent all his sons into
Egypt?’
‘I mind weel, Maister Guy,’ said the old man solemnly. ‘And ye see he
had faith that the Lord would provide for him and his sons and
dochters. And though they were sair afflicted before the time of
deliverance came, they were a’ helped and saved in the end. He that
brocht ye a’ here nae doot will provide. Pray and trust in Him,
Maister Guy, and dinna forget what ye learned at your mither’s knee,
hinny, the God-fearin’ lady that she ever was. We must suffer
tribulation, doubtless; but dinna fear—oh, dinna lose faith, my bairn,
and we shall sing joyful songs i’ the ootcome!’
As the season wore on, and the rainless winter was succeeded by
the hopeless spring, with drying winds and cloudless days, it seemed
as if the tribulation spoken of by Andrew was indeed to be sharp, to
the verge of extermination.
Not only were great losses threatened by the destruction of the
stock, but the money question was commencing to become urgent.
For the past year no sales of stock had been possible. Few had the
means of keeping the stock they were possessed of. They were not
likely to add to their responsibility by buying others, at however
tempting a price. As there was no milk, there was naturally no
butter, cheese, or the wherewithal to fatten the hogs for bacon.
These sources of income were obliterated. Having no produce to
sell, it became apparent that the articles necessary to be bought
were suddenly enhanced in value. Flour rose from twelve and fifteen
to fifty, seventy, finally, one hundred pounds per ton. Not foreseeing
this abnormal rise, Wilfred had sold their preceding year’s crop, as
usual, as soon as it reached a better price than ordinary, merely
retaining a year’s supply of flour. That being exhausted, he was
compelled, sorely against the grain, to purchase at these famine
rates. Rice, which could be imported cheaply, was largely mingled
with the flour, as a matter of economy. The bread was scarcely so
palatable, but by the help of Jeanie’s admirable baking, little
difference was felt.
Mr. Rockley confided that he felt deeply reluctant to charge him and
other friends such high prices for the necessaries of life. The
difficulties of carriage, however, were now amazing. Numbers of the
draught cattle had perished, and fodder was obliged to be carried by
the teams on their journeys, enhancing the cost indefinitely.
‘The fact is,’ said that unreserved merchant, ‘I am losing on all sides.
The smaller farmers in my debt have no more chance of paying me,
before the rain comes, than if they were in gaol. Everybody
purchases the smallest quantity of goods that they can do with, and
I have great difficulty in buying in Sydney at prices which will leave
any margin of profit. But you come in and dine with us this evening.
I’ve got a bottle of claret left, in spite of the hard times. And keep up
your spirits, my boy! We shall come out of this trouble as we’ve done
through others. This country wasn’t meant for faint-hearted people,
was it? If all comes right, we shall be proud of having stuck to the
ship manfully, eh? If not, it’s better to give three cheers when she
goes down, than to whine and snivel. Come along in. I’ve done with
business for the day.’
And so Wilfred, who had ridden to Yass in a state of despondency,
went in and was comforted, as happened to him many a time and
often, under that hospitable roof. The dinner was good though the
times were bad, while Rockley’s claret was unimpeachable, as of old.
Mrs. Rockley and Christabel were more than usually warm and
sympathetic of manner. As he sat in the moonlight with Rockley and
the ladies (who had joined them), and heard from his host tales of
previous hard seasons and how they had been surmounted, he felt
his heart stir with unwonted hope and a resolve to fight this fight to
the end.
‘I’ve seen these seasons before,’ said the energetic optimist, ‘and
I’ve always remarked that they were followed by a period of
prosperity. Think of the last drought we had, and what splendid
seasons followed it! This looks as bad as anything can look, but if I
could get long odds, I wouldn’t mind betting that before 1840 we’re
crowded with buyers, and that stock, land, and city property touch
prices never reached before. Look forward, Wilfred, my boy, look
forward! There’s nothing to be done without it, in a new country,
take my word.’
‘You must admit that it’s hard to see anything cheering just at
present.’
‘Not at all, not at all,’ said his host, lighting another cigar. ‘Christabel,
go in and sing something. It’s all a matter of calculation. Say that
half your cattle die—mind you, you’ve no business to let ’em die, if
you can help it—hang on by your eyelids, that’s the idea—but say
half of ’em do die, why, the moment the rain comes the remainder
are twice as valuable as they were before, perhaps more than that,
if a new district is discovered. By the way, there is a report of a new
settlement down south; if it comes to anything, see what a rush
there’ll be for stock, to take over on speculation. That’s the great
advantage of a new country; if one venture goes wrong, there are a
dozen spring up for you to choose from.’
‘Do you think it would be a good idea to take away part of the stock,
and try and find a new station?’
‘I really believe it would; and if I were a young man to-morrow it’s
the very thing that I would go in for. We have not explored a tenth
part of the boundless—I say boundless—pasture lands of this
continent. No doubt there are millions of acres untouched, as good
as we have ever occupied.’
‘But are they not so far off as to be valueless?’
‘No land that will carry sheep or cattle, or grow grain, can be
valueless in Australia for the next century to come. And with the
increase of population, all outer territories will assume a positive
value as soon as the present depression is over.’
While in Yass, Wilfred consulted their good friend and adviser, Mr.
Sternworth, who had indeed, by letter, when not able to visit them
personally, not ceased to cheer and console during the disheartening
season.
‘This is a time of trial, my dear Wilfred,’ he said, ‘that calls out the
best qualities of a man, in the shape of courage, faith, and self-
denial. It is the day of adversity, when we are warned not to faint. I
can fully enter into your distress and anxiety, while seeing the daily
loss and failure of all upon which you depended for support. It is
doubly hard for you, after a term of success and progress. But we
must have faith—unwavering faith—in the Supreme Ruler of events,
and doubt not—doubt not for one moment, my boy—but that we
shall issue unharmed and rejoicing out of this tribulation.’
Among their neighbours, unusual preparations were made to lighten
the impending calamity. Unnecessary labourers were discharged.
The daily work of the stations was, in great measure, done by the
proprietors. The Teviots were the only domestic retainers at
Benmohr; they, of course, and Dick Evans were a part of the very
composition of the establishments, and not to be dispensed with.
The D’Oyleys discharged their cook and stock-rider, performing these
necessary duties by turns, week alternate.
Fred Churbett retained his married couple and stock-rider, declaring
that he would die like a gentleman; that he could pay his way for
two years more; after which, if times did not mend, he would burn
the place down, commit suicide decently, and leave the onus on
destiny. He could not cook, neither would he wash clothes. He would
be as obstinate as the weather.
O’Desmond made full preparations for a migration in spring, if the
weather continued dry and no rain fell in September. There would be
a slight spring of grass then, rain or no rain. He would take
advantage of it, to depart, like a patriarch of old, not exactly with his
camels and she-asses, but with his cattle and brood mares, his
sheep and his oxen, his men-servants and his maid-servants—well
perhaps not the latter, but everything necessary to give a flavour of
true colonisation to the movement. And he travelled in good style,
with such observances and ceremony as surrounded Harry
O’Desmond in all that he did, and made him the wonder and
admiration of less favoured individuals.
He had his waggonette and four-in-hand, the horses of which, corn-
fed at the commencement, would, after they got on to the grasses
of the great interior levels, fare well and indeed fatten on the
journey. A roomy tent, as also a smaller one for his body-servant,
cook, and kitchen utensils, shielded him and his necessaries from
the weather. Portable bath and dining-table, couch, and toilette
requisites were available at shortest notice; while a groom led his
favourite hackney, upon which he mounted whenever he desired to
explore a mountain peak or an unknown valley. The cottage was
handed over to the charge of the gardener and his wife, old servants
of the establishment. And finally, the long-expected rain not
appearing in September, he departed, like a Spanish conquistador of
old, to return with tales of wondrous regions, of dusky slaves, of
gold, of feather-crowned Caciques, and palm-fanned isles, or to
leave his whitening bones upon mountain summit or lonely beach.
It was believed among his old friends that Harry O’Desmond would
either return successful, with hardly-won territory attached to his
name, or that he would journey on over the great desert, which was
supposed then to form the interior of the continent, until return was
hopeless.
His servants would be faithful unto death. None would ever question
his order of march. And if he were not successful in founding a
kingdom, to be worked as a relief province for Badajos, he would
never come back at all. Some day there would be found the traces
of a white man’s encampment, amid tribes of natives as yet
unknown—the shreds of tents, the waggonette wheels, the scattered
articles of plate, and the more ordinary utensils of the white man.
From beneath a spreading tree would be exhumed the bones of the
leader of the party. Such would be the memorials of a pioneer and
explorer, who was never known to turn back or confess himself
unsuccessful.
As to the labour question, Dick Evans and his wife were
indispensable now, more than ever, as the brothers had resolved not
to remain in statu quo. Wilfred had determined to organise an
expedition, and to take the greater part of the herd with him. In
such a case it would have been suicidal to deprive themselves of
Dick’s services, as, of course, he would be only too eager to make
one of the party. He cheerfully submitted to a diminution of wages,
stating that as long as he and the old woman had a crust of bread
and a rag to their backs they would stand by the captain and the
family.
‘If we could only get through the winter,’ he said, ‘I shouldn’t have
no fear but we’d box about down south with the cattle till we
dropped on a run for them. There’s a lot of fine country beyond the
Snowy, if we’d only got a road over the mountains to it. But it’s
awful rough, and the blacks would eat up a small party like ours. I
don’t hardly like the thoughts of tacklin’ it. But what I’m afraid on is,
that if the winter comes on dry we’ll have no cattle to take. They’re
a-gettin’ desprit low now, and the lake’s as good as dried up.’
The outlook was gloomy indeed when even the sanguine Dick Evans
could make no better forecast. But Wilfred was the sailing-master,
and it did not become him to show hesitation.
‘We must do our best, and trust in God, Dick,’ he said. ‘This is a
wonderful country for changes; one may come in the right direction
yet.’
As for Andrew and Jeanie, they would not hear of taking any wages
until times improved. They had cast in their lot with the family, and
Jeanie would stay with her mistress and the girls, who were dear to
her as her own children, as long as there was a roof to shelter them.
Andrew fully recognised it as a ‘season of rebuke and blasphemy.’ He
who ordered the round world had, for inscrutable reasons, brought
this famine upon them. Like the children of Israel, he doubted but
they would have to follow the advice given in 1 Kings xviii. 5: ‘And
Ahab said to Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water,
and unto all brooks; peradventure we may find grass to save the
horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.’
‘And did they?’ asked Guy.
‘Nae doot; as maist like we shall do gin we use the same means as
gracious Elijah. No that I’m free to testify that I conseeder the slayin’
o’ the prophets o’ Baal a’thegither a needcessity. It wad have been
mair wiselike on the pairt o’ Elijah to have disestablished their kirk
and garred them lippen a’ their days to the voluntary principle. But
let that flee stick to the wa’; dinna doot, laddie, that ae day the
heavens will be black wi’ clouds, and there will be a great rain.’
Perhaps the one of the whole party most to be pitied was Howard
Effingham. With the eagerness of a sanguine nature, he had become
fixed in the idea that the prosperity with which they had commenced
was to be continuous. Inspired with that belief he had, as we have
seen, commenced to indulge himself with the reproduction, on a
small scale, of the pleasant surroundings of the old country. He had
fancied that the production of cattle, cheese, butter, bacon, and
cereals would go on almost automatically henceforth, with a
moderate amount of exertion on Wilfred’s part and of supervision on
his own. It was not in his nature to be absorbed in the money-
making part of their life; but in the acclimatisation of birds, beasts,
and fishes, in the organisation of the Hunt Club, in the greyhound
kennel, and in the stable his interest was unfailing, and his energy
wonderful.
Now, unfortunately, to his deep regret and mortification, he saw his
beloved projects rendered nugatory, worthless, and in a manner
contemptible, owing to this woeful season.
What was likely to become of the fish if the lake dried up, as it
showed every disposition to do? How was one to go forth fowling
and coursing when every spare moment was utilised for some
purpose of necessity?
As for the hounds, some arrangement would have to be made about
feeding and exercising these valuable animals. The horseflesh was
wanting, the time was not to be spared, the meat and meal were
not always forthcoming. Terrible to imagine, the kennel was
commencing to be an incubus and an oppression!
In the midst of this doubt and uncertainty a letter came from a well-
known sportsman, Mr. Robert Malahyde, keenest of the keen,
offering to take charge of the hounds until the season became more
tolerable. His district was not so unfavourably situated as the
neighbourhood of Yass, and from his larger herds and pastures he
would be able to arrange the ‘boiler’ part of the management more
easily than Mr. Effingham.
A meeting of the subscribers was quickly called, when it was agreed
that the hounds be sent to Mummumberil till the seasons changed.
As for the pheasants and partridges, which had flourished so
encouragingly during the first season, the curse of the time had
fallen even on them. The native cat (dasyurus) had increased
wonderfully of late. Berries and grass seeds were scanty in this time
of famine. In consequence, the survival of the fittest, coupled with
acts of highly natural selection, ensued. The native cats selected the
young of the exotic birds, but few of the adult game seemed likely to
survive this drought.
 CHAPTER XX
AN UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENT

An expedition was to be organised in spring, and the stock removed,

no matter where. It would be the only chance for their lives. As it
was, the winter was fast coming upon them. Every blade of the
ordinary herbage had disappeared. The nights commenced to
lengthen. Frosts of unusual severity had set in. Even now it seemed
as if their last hope might be destroyed and their raft dashed on the
rocks ere it was floated.
But one morning Dick Evans came up to Wilfred, sadly
contemplating the attenuated cows which now represented the once
crowded milking-yard. He was riding his old mare, barebacked, with
his folded coat for a saddle, and spoke with unusual animation.
‘I believe we’re right for the winter after all, sir. I never thought to
see this, though old Tom told me he’d know’d it happen once afore.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, I took a big walk this morning to see if I could find tracks of
this old varmint. I thought she might be dead, but I warn’t satisfied,
so I took a regular good cruise. I found some tracks by the lake,
where I hadn’t been for some time, and there sure enough I finds
my lady, as snug as a wallaby in a wheat patch. Look how she’s filled
herself, sir.’
Wilfred replied that the old mare appeared to have found good
quarters.
‘When I got to the lake, sir, I was reg’lar stunned. It was as dry as a
bone, but through the mud there was a crop of “fat hen” comin’ up
all over, miles and miles of it, as thick as a lucerne field on the
Hunter. The old mare was planted in a patch where it was pretty
forrard. But it’s growin’ so’s you can see it, and there’ll be feed
enough in a week or two for all our cattle and every hoof within
twenty miles of the lake.’
‘Wonderful news, Dick; and this “fat hen,” as you call it, is good and
wholesome food for stock?’
‘Can’t beat it, sir; first-chop fattening stuff; besides, there’s rushes
and weeds growin’ among it. You may pound it, we’ll have no more
trouble with the cattle for the winter, and they’ll be in good fettle to
start south in the spring.’
This was glorious news. It was duly related at the breakfast-table,
and after that meal Wilfred and Guy betook themselves to the lake.
There they beheld one of Nature’s wondrous transformations.
The great lake lay before them, dry to its farthermost shore. The
headlands stood out, frowning in gloomy protest against the
conversion of their shining sea into a tame green meadow. Such, in
good sooth, had it actually become. Through the moist but rapidly
hardening mud of the lake-surface millions of plants were pushing
themselves with vigour and luxuriance, caused by the richness of the
ooze from which they sprang. Far as the eye could see, a green
carpet was spread over the lately sombre-coloured expanse. The
leaves of the most forward plants were rounded and succulent, while
nothing could be more grateful to the long-famished cattle than the
full and satisfying mouthfuls which were in parts of the little bays
already procurable.
Even now, guided by the mysterious instinct which sways the hosts
of the brute creation so unerringly, small lots had established
themselves in secluded spots, showing by their improved
appearance how unusual had been the supply of provender.
‘What a wonderful thing,’ said Guy; ‘who would ever have thought of
the old lake turning into a cabbage-garden like this? Dick says this
stuff makes very good greens if you boil it. Why, we can let Churbett
and the Benmohr people send their cattle over if it keeps growing—
as Dick says—till it’s as high as your head. But how in the world did
this seed get here? That’s what I want to know. The lake hasn’t
been dry for ten years, that’s certain, I believe. Well, now, did this
seed—tons of it—lie in the mud all that time; and if not, how was it
to be sowed, broadcast, after the water dried up?’
‘Who can tell?’ said Wilfred. ‘Nature holds her secrets close. I am
inclined to think this seed must have been in the earth, and is now
vivified by the half-dry mud. However it may be, it is a crop we shall
have good cause to remember.’
‘I hope it will pull us through the winter and that’s all,’ said Guy. ‘I
mustn’t be done out of my trip down south. I want to find a new
country, and make all our fortunes in a large gentlemanlike way, like
Mr. St. Maur told us of. You don’t suppose he goes milking cows and
selling cheese and bacon.’
‘You mustn’t despise homely profits, Guy,’ said the elder. ‘Some of
the largest proprietors began that way, and you know that “Laborare
est orare,” as the old monks said.’
‘Oh yes, I know that,’ said the boy; ‘but there’s all the difference
between Columbus discovering America, or Cortez when he climbed
the tree in Panama and saw two oceans, and being the mate of a
collier. I must have a try at this exploring before I’m much older.
There’s such a lot of country no one knows about yet.’
‘You will have your chance, old fellow, and your triumph, like others,
I hope. But remember that obedience goes before command, and
that Captain Cook was a boy in a collier before he became a finder
of continents.’
Wilfred found it necessary to ride over to Benmohr to arrange
definitely about the time of departure. He had nearly reached the
well-known gate when a horseman rode forward from the opposite
direction. He was well mounted, and led a second horse, upon which
was a pack-saddle. Both animals were in better condition than was
usual in this time of tribulation.
Effingham was about to pass the stranger, whose bronzed features,
half concealed by a black beard, he did not recall, when he reined
his horses suddenly.
‘You don’t remember me, Mr. Effingham. I am on my way to the old
place. I’ve got something to tell you.’
It took more than another glance to enable him to recognise the
speaker, and then it was a half-instinctive guess that prompted him
to connect the bold black eyes and swarthy countenance with
Hubert Warleigh.
‘The same,’ said the horseman. ‘I saw you did not know me; most
likely took me for a station overseer or a gentleman. I was a
swagman when you saw me last, so I’m getting on, you see.’
‘I beg you a thousand pardons,’ said Wilfred, shaking his hand
cordially. ‘I did not know you at first sight; the beard alters your
appearance, you must admit. I hope you are coming to stay with us.
My father will be delighted to see you. He often speaks of you.’
‘I thank him, and you too. If my father had been like him, I should
have been a different man. But I had better tell you my business
before we go farther. They say you are going to shift the cattle; is
that true?’
‘We start almost at once. But we haven’t settled the route.’
‘That’s just as well. I’ve found a grand country-side away to the
south, and came to show you the way—that is, if you believe my
story.’
‘Look here,’ cried Wilfred excitedly, ‘come with me to Benmohr to-
night, and we’ll talk it over with Argyll and Hamilton. We must hold a
council over it. It’s near sundown, and I intended to stay there.’
Hubert Warleigh drew back. ‘I don’t know either of them to speak to.
The fact is, I have lived so much more in the men’s huts than the
masters’ until the last few months, that I don’t fancy going
anywhere unless I’m asked.’
‘Come as my friend,’ said Wilfred impetuously. ‘It is time you took
your proper position. Besides, you are the bearer of good tidings—of
news which may be the saving of us all.’
He allowed himself to be persuaded. So the two young men rode up
to the garden gate, at which portal they were met by Argyll.
Ardmillan and Neil Barrington were playing quoits on the brown
lawn. Fred Churbett (of course) was reading in the verandah.
‘Let me introduce my friend, Mr. Hubert Warleigh,’ said Wilfred. ‘He
has just come in from a journey, and I have prevailed on him to
accompany me.’
‘Most happy to see you, Mr. Warleigh,’ said Argyll, with cordial
gravity. (He knew all about ‘Gyp’ Warleigh, and had probably said
contemptuous things, but accepted Wilfred’s lead, and followed suit.)
‘The man will take your horses. Effingham, you know your way to
the barracks.’
Hubert Warleigh followed his newly-acquired comrade into the
building, where the appearance of matters indicated that some of
the other habitués had been recently adorning themselves. Mrs.
Teviot, however, promptly appeared on the scene with half-a-dozen
towels, and supplies of warm water.
‘Weel, Maister Effingham, this is a sair time and a sorrowfu’. To think
o’ a’ the gentlemen gangin’ clean awa’, and a’ the milch kye, puir
things, into thae waste places o’ the yearth, and maybe deein’ o’
drouth or hunger, and naebody to hae a crack wi’ but thae fearsome
saavages ‘It’s very hard upon all of us, Mrs. Teviot, but if it won’t
rain, what are we to do? We can’t stay at home and let the cattle
die. You know the Israelites used to take away their beasts in time
of famine, and they seem to have had them pretty often.’
‘How do you do, Mrs. Teviot?’ said Warleigh. ‘How’s Wullie this dry
weather? I suppose you forget me staying a night in the hut with old
Tom Glendinning, three or four years ago.’
‘Gude sake, laddie!’ said the old woman in a tone of deep surprise,
‘and is that you, clothed and in your right mind, like the puir body in
the Book? And has some one casten oot your deevil? Oh, hinnie! but
I’m a prood woman the day to see your father’s son tak’ his place
amang gentlefolk ance mair. The Lord guide ye and strengthen ye in
the richt path! Man, ye lookit sae douce and wiselike, hoo was I to
ken ye, the rantin’ dare-deevil that ye were syne?’
‘I have been living among the blacks, Mrs. Teviot,’ said the prodigal,
with a transient glance of humour in his deep eye; ‘perhaps that may
have improved me. But I am going to try to be a gentleman again, if
I don’t find it too dull.’
‘Aweel! The denner is dishen’ up the noo; dinna wait to preen
yersels ower muckle,’ added the good old dame as she vanished.
In despite of her warning, her old acquaintance produced several
articles of raiment from the large valise, which had been unstrapped
from his led horse, and proceeded to change his dress. When they
walked into the house Wilfred thought he had rarely seen a
handsomer man.
His clear, bronzed complexion, his classically cut features, his large
dark eyes, with, what was then more uncommon than is the case
now, a bushy, coal-black beard, made the effect of his countenance
picturesque and striking in no ordinary degree.
His tall and powerful frame, developed by toil and exercise into the
highest degree of muscular strength, was perfect in its symmetry as
that of a gladiator. His very walk showed the effect of years of
woodcraft, with the hunter’s lightness of footstep, and firm, elastic
tread. As he entered the dining-room there was a look of surprise,
even admiration, visible on every face.
‘Mr. Warleigh,’ said Argyll, ‘allow me to make my friends known to
you. Hamilton, my partner—Ardmillan—Forbes—Neil Barrington—
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