Sydney
July 28 1893
Dear Clancy,
Since
you have not seen fit to acknowledge mine of the 3rd inst.,
I will renew this correspondence, trusting in Her Majesty's
most excellent postal service to deliver it, as before, to
The Overflow. I hope that when you learn what I have to tell
you it will strengthen your resolve to stay away.
A
clever ruse that — the crude handwriting of a shearer; but I
was not deceived. Oh no. I know you for the blackguard you
are and, should the need arise, I will not hesitate to see
you are brought to justice, or what passes for it in these
colonies. But I digress. Let me draw you to the purpose of
my first letter requesting you to contact me.
Recall,
if you will, the events of the evening of March 10th 1890,
in the bar of the public house in Omeo, wherein we partook
of sustenance and conviviality with the local folk,
culminating in a hand or two of cards. I am sure it will not
have slipped your mind — inebriated though you were — that
you enjoyed considerable good fortune that night and
succeeded in winning from a wretched miner the title to his
claim at Benambra. You will, of course, also recall our
agreement, by which you were enabled to play that night with
my money on the understanding that your winnings
would be shared with me. To that effect I took charge of the
title deeds to the poor, miserable fellow's barren diggings
and, indeed, I have them before me as I write.
Also
before me is a report from The Office of the Government
Assayer in Melbourne informing me that the latest samples
taken from our mine show evidence of an extremely rich vein
of gold-bearing quartz. I am certain that you will be
delighted with these tidings; but before you begin
celebrating, let me assure you that if you so much as show
your face in Sydney I will tender to the police an affidavit
which I have prepared, the salient details of which are as
follows:
Firstly,
that your name is not Clancy , but Brannigan. Secondly, that
you arrived in Australia as first mate aboard the Yankee man
o' war, Shenandoah , and that on anchoring off Williamstown,
in the colony of Victoria, on December 16th, 1887 you did
desert ship by swimming ashore under cover of darkness and
took refuge in the home of an associate of mine, Mr. James
Carrington QC, whose kindness to strangers and hospitality
you rewarded by molesting his fifteen year old daughter.
Further, that after you were ejected from his home, Mr
Carrington discovered the absence of several pieces of fine
silverware (which you doubtless sold to finance your
expedition to the goldfields).
Thereafter
you were next sighted in Ballarat, where you were imprisoned
on a charge of murdering a man with a belaying pin.
Following your escape from the lock-up you disappeared for a
time; but news soon reached me of a man of your description
duffing cattle in Western Queensland. My informants also
report that you were run off several sheep stations in the
Riverina after disputes over the number of sheep you claimed
to have shorn. There is also an allegation of theft of a
very valuable colt from a property in the Mansfield
district, a charge you attempted to slip by bringing the
beast back after a wild ride. The colt was lame and had to
be destroyed. There is more; but I think you will follow my
drift.
Therefore,
sir, I bid you good day and good riddance and leave you to
enjoy in solitude your sunlit plains extended and at night
the wondrous glory of the everlasting bloody stars.
I
am yours sincerely,
A.B. Paterson, LLB
