Open Writing

Tom Langley didn’t like the look of the group of men hanging around outside Jimmy Needle’s hotel. There were about ten of them. Some were obviously armed and all had had too much to drink. However, he and his two young friends, Arthur and George, had been in the saddle since first light and it was time for them and their horses to have a rest. As they hitched their horses one of the men called, “Will you join us in a drink?”

Not wanting to cause offence, Tom answered, “That’s very hospitable of you. Turning to Jimmy, who was chatting with the men, he said, “I think some food would also be in order. My friends and I haven’t eaten for hours and we are mighty hungry.” Jimmy took their order and soon returned with a glass of ale and a plate of stew each for Tom and his friends as well a large platter of bread and cheese, which Tom shared around the group of men.

The men chatted amiably about the weather, the cost of horses and the money to be made at the gold diggings in Central Otago. A further round of drinks was bought at each pause in the conversation. Tom paced himself carefully, but Arthur and George downed glass after glass of ale. One of the men, a seedy looking type with long greasy black hair and a droopy moustache manoeuvred the conversation to find out more about Tom and his friends. “So where are you all bound for?” he asked.

“We’re on our way to Dunedin; my friends are leaving for Australia in a couple of days,” answered
Tom.

Arthur and George, their tongue loosened by drink, explained an uncle of Arthur’s had died and left him a small farm and they were going to work it together. Foolishly, Arthur added, “We’ve been working on a sheep station in South Canterbury, where Tom here is our boss, for the last two years. We haven’t touched a penny of our wages in all that time, so we are going to have a night on the town once we hit Dunedin, that’s for sure.”

Tom noticed the shifty looking man pass a knowing look to another of the men. This man, who looked equally untrustworthy as his friend, wore a long trench coat under which the bulge of a firearm could be seen. He had sat silently observing Tom and his mates, while the others had been chatting. Tom noticed both these men had not been joining in the round after round of drinking. Obviously they were keeping themselves sober for a reason. Time to leave, thought Tom. Intuitively he felt if they stayed any longer there would be trouble. “Come on boys,” he called, “time to hit the road.”

“No,” said the man who had not spoken until now, “you’re not going anywhere until I’ve shouted a round of drinks.''

Thinking it safer not to upset him, Tom reluctantly said, "Oh, well then one for the road, aye chaps?”

The man in the long trench coat took their orders and went inside to get the drinks while the rest of them talked and smoked. The length of time it took him to come back with the drinks seemed unnecessarily long to Tom. When he finally returned with the glasses on a tray, there were three standing by themselves. He came to Tom first and pointing to one of these, said, “That’s yours.” This aroused Tom’s suspicions, so watching his chance he surreptitiously emptied his toddy out on to the ground, and then pretended to be drinking. In a very short time, Arthur and George became uncharacteristically argumentative. Tom was quite sure they had been drugged.

“Come on boys,” he called, “time to go.” However, it was no use. George and Arthur insisted they wanted to fight him. “You’re not our boss now. You can’t tell us what to do,” slurred Arthur, as he stumbled around the hotel yard trying to take his jacket off. Once he had dispensed with it he came back over to Tom and began jabbing at him with his fists. “Go on put 'em up,” he said, “show us what kind of man you are.”

“Yeah,” said George, making a big show of shadow boxing around Tom, “show us what you are made of.”

“Get a grip, boys,” said Tom, “we’re mates, aren’t we? Mates don’t fight.” As this calmed George and Arthur down a little, Tom tried to take advantage of the moment by suggesting it was time for them all to be on their way, but it was useless, they were now quite helpless. “Come on boys, let’s sleep it off in the shade,” he said shepherding them towards a clump of trees. Instinct told him to be prepared for trouble so after he had managed to get them to lie down, he went into a nearby shed and charged his revolver. When he came back he settled down with his back to the wall of a shed to watch over his friends. After a while, two of the men they had been drinking with came over. They stood looking at him as though they couldn’t make him out. One of them came closer and said, “I say mate, are you asleep?”

Tom looked up and replied, “No, not quite, mate.”

“Why don’t you go into the house and have some lunch?” asked the man.

“I’ve a better idea,” said Tom, “you go and get your lunch, and then you can come back and watch over George and Arthur while I have mine.”

They looked at one another, and then one of them said, “Okay, we’ll not say anything to the other chaps and we’ll slip out as soon as we’ve eaten.”

Tom waited for a short time, before checking if all was clear, then he slipped over to George and Arthur and quickly took their pocket books and nearly all the money they had. He put the books and the money carefully away inside his shirt. Then he went into the bar and told Jimmy’s wife to let him have some sandwiches and a bottle of stout. He went out and sat down by the shed and ate his meal while he waited for the two men to come back. He didn’t have to wait long. As they walked towards him, he stood up and said, “Now then, boys, you sit here and don’t move unless someone interferes with my mates.”

He walked a few steps away, then turned and looked at the men. He saw they were watching him, so he said slowly, “Mind, you are now left in charge, if those men lose anything, I shall hold you responsible.''

As he walked away Tom tried to think what he should do with his friends’ money. He toyed with several different plans before it came to him. Of course, the best thing to do would be to leave George and Arthur where they were, they had very little in their pockets left to lose, and take the ferry to the other side of the river and stash it there!

When he returned a short time later, the money safely stashed near his friend Henry Wilson’s hotel, he was surprised to see George and Arthur on their feet, each accusing the other of taking the money. They had their shirts off ready to fight it out. Tom walked up to George, caught hold of him by the shoulders and pushed him into the middle of the road away from Arthur. He managed to keep him there for a while, but Arthur came over and tried to get at him again. Nevertheless, Tom was determined to not allow his two friends to get at one another.

While he was scuffling with them some of the drunken men started urging Arthur on. “Hit him,” they yelled. “Give him all you’ve’ got. “The sod took your money, you can’t trust him, he’s no friend of yours,” they yelled.

To gain some time Tom said, “All right boys, if that’s what you want, but before you fight let’s all have another drink. Come on mates, put your shirts on while we sup.”

“Tom Langley, what are you doing this side of the river?” a voice called. Tom looked where it had come from to see his friend Henry Wilson, approaching on his horse.

“Why, Henry Wilson, I might ask the same of you!” called Tom approaching him to shake hands.

“I’m on my way back from Oamaru. I had some business to attend to there,” he answered, as he got down off his horse to shake hands with Tom.

“Who are those two men you were fighting with?” asked Henry.

“Their names are Arthur Dunn and George Jackson. I met them in Dunedin, a couple of years back, shortly after they arrived from Sydney. We were staying at the same hotel. We hit it off straight away and had some great yarns together. Until a month ago I thought they were brothers. A short while after I met them, I got a letter from my boss up on the station saying he would be like me to return as soon as possible and if I could find a couple of good men to bring back it would save him a lot of trouble. I immediately thought of Arthur and George and when I asked them they were only too willing. Actually, I asked them just in time because they were making enquiries about prospecting in the gold diggings.”

Before he could continue George and Arthur started shouting at each other again.

Tom looked across to where they were, then excusing himself he went back to talk to them. He realized both George and Arthur were still too drunk to ride, so he decided leave their horses stabled at Jimmy’s and get them down to the ferry and then to the safety of Henry’s place.

The ferry was just about to cast off when Henry came riding down to the river. “Don’t go without me,” he called.

“Right, you are,” called back the boatman, “but be quick about it. I think it’s best if we get away before the others find out we have these two with us,” he said, nodding towards George and Arthur.

Henry quickly readied his horse and climbed aboard.

The boat had scarcely left the shore when Tom exclaimed, “Here’s trouble, we’ve been found out.”
Henry looked back towards the hotel to see the drunken men running towards the river shouting and swearing. By the time they reached the river the boat was out in deep water. “Those men are our mates,” the man with the droopy moustache shouted, "you bring them back here!”

Tom stood up in the boat. “These two are my mates, not yours,” he yelled. “They’re not well at the moment and I’m going to look after them till morning. If they wished they can come back then, but not now.”

The crowd on the bank continued yelling and shouting. Although the boat was out in the main stream by this time and well out of range, some of them threw stones. The situation then took a more ominous turn as one of the men took out a revolver and started waving it about. “Bring those chaps back or I’ll let you have it,” he yelled.

Tom whipped out his revolver, pointed it at the man and called, “Put that thing away or I’ll send you a message you won’t like.”

Sober enough to believe discretion was the better part of valour, the man put the revolver into his pocket, turned and walked away back to the Jimmy’s.

As Tom sat down and returned his revolver to its holster, he remarked, “I’ll have to watch out for that blighter in future. He’ll not like me getting the better of him.”

By the time they’d reached the shore and made their way to Henry’s hotel, George and Arthur had sobered up a little. When Tom reacquainted them with their money, they wanted to thank him for taking care of it by buying him a drink. Realizing it was not a good idea for them to consume more alcohol, Henry said, “Not at the moment lads. It’s time for tea so sit up to the table and I’ll shout you a meal and after that a nice soft bed."

“That’s mighty kind of you,” said George, “I’m sure we’ll both feel a lot better in the morning.” After they had all eaten, George and Arthur thanked Henry’s wife for the meal and headed to bed. Tom and Henry went outside for a quiet smoke. “I was very glad you came along earlier,” said Tom. “You might not realize it but you were a great help to me.”

“I can’t see that I did anything, but I am always glad to help a friend.”

“You were a distraction that allowed me to get George and Arthur down to the ferry.”

Taking a draw on his pipe, Henry said, “You never did get around to telling me what all the fuss was about back there.”

Tom turned to Henry and said, “It was something of nothing really. The fact both George and Arthur had a good deal of money on them leaked out and there were several men ready to relieve them of it, so I took it while they were sleeping off the drink. When they woke, each thought the other had taken it, which is why they were fighting. I should never have let them drink as much as they did. But I suppose it all turned out well in the end.”

A look of sadness came over his face, and then he said, “I’m going to miss those two chaps. Over the past two years I’ve come to look on them as my brothers.”

The next morning before continuing their journey, George and Arthur thanked Henry and his wife for their hospitality. “And you, Tom,” said George, “we are in your debt. If you hadn’t have taken care of our money we would have been fleeced.”

“We have learned a valuable lesson from yesterday,” added Arthur, “and we have vowed never to touch another drop of liquor.”

“Good on you,” said Tom. “You are not on your own there, as neither shall I.”