296 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



display and free bestowal of Nelly's choicest finery, and 

 had, as a matter of course, been compelled to fight for her. 

 He had been beaten, terribly beaten. One ear had been 

 viciously "marked," a triangular slice being missing (a 

 subsequent combat removed all trace of this mark), and he 

 showed the meritorious scar of a spear-wound on the 

 arm. 



Having failed in the stand-up fight, he had resorted to 

 stratagem, had been foiled, and forced to flee, abandoning 

 everything, even to that last vestige of independence — his 

 pipe. 



We knew that he had been hard pressed, for on going 

 gaily away he had volunteered to bring a fat young pig 

 from one of the wild herds of Hinchinbrook, and he came 

 back empty-handed. He talks of the pig — how fat and 

 very young it was — even to this day. He came with his 

 life — that was all, and a threadbare sort of life it was at 

 that. 



Several months went by — a black boy recovers con- 

 dition in a day or two as does a starved dog — and Tom 

 had saved money. He never forgets, never swerves from 

 a purpose. He is as determined as a dung-beetle. 



Another leave of absence was granted. A second raid 

 was made upon Nelly's wardrobe — two big bailer shells. 

 Elated, freshly shaved and smiling, he was a different sort 

 from the individual who had shamefacedly slipped over the 

 side of the steamer, bereft of everything but life. 



He said he would be back in two weeks, and to the 

 day he appeared. His youthful third wife he handed down 

 into the boat, and the boat was full of their luggage. Ah, 

 that desolated camp at Lucinda ! The young lady's 

 trousseau was complete even to lingerie. He had won the 

 fight, and the bride and the spoils were his. 



Poor Nelly ! She welcomed " Little Jinny " effusively, 

 and " Little Jinny " gave her a dress and a second-best hat. 

 Life for a couple of days at the camp was idyllic. Then 

 they took back the gifts of clothing, and turned Nelly out of 

 the hut. She built a separate establishment — a dome of dried 



