It was as good as a play.I got up as near as I dared once or twice, and I couldn't hardly keep from bursting out laughing when I saw how grave he talked and drawled and put up his eyeglass, and every now and then made 'em all laugh, or said something reminded him of India, where he'd last come from.
Well, that was a regular fizzer of a spree, if we never had another.
The racing was very fair, and, as luck would have it, the Dawson horses won all the big money, and, as they started at longish odds, they must have made a pot of money, and Starlight too, as he'd gone in a docker for their stable.This made them better friends than ever, and it was Dawson here and Lascelles there all over the course.
Well, the day went over at last, and all of them that liked a little fun and dancing better than heavy drinking made it up to go to the race ball.It was a subscription affair -- guinea tickets, just to keep out the regular roughs, and the proceeds to go to the Turon Jockey Club Fund.All the swells had to go, of course, and, though they knew it would be a crush and pretty mixed, as I heard Starlight say, the room was large, the band was good, and they expected to get a fair share of dancing after an hour or so.
Starlight and the Dawsons dined at the camp, and were made a good deal of -- their health drunk and what not -- and Starlight told us afterwards he returned thanks for the strangers and visitors; said he'd been told Australia was a rough place, but he never expected to find so much genuine kindness and hospitality and, he might add, so much refinement and gentlemanly feeling.Speaking for himself, he had never expected, considering his being a total stranger, to be welcomed so cordially and entertained so handsomely, more particularly at the mess of her Majesty's goldfields officials, whose attention on this occasion they might be assured he would never forget.
He would repeat, the events of this particular day would never be effaced from his memory.(Tremendous cheering.)After dinner, and when the champagne had gone round pretty reasonable, the Commissioner proposed they should all adjourn to the ball, when, if Mr.Lascelles cared about dancing, he ventured to think a partner or two could be found for him.So they all got up and went away down to the hall of the Mechanics' Institute -- a tremendous big room that had been built to use as a theatre, and to give lectures and concerts in.
These sort of things are very popular at diggings.Miners like to be amused, and have plenty of money to spend when times are good.
There was hardly a week passed without some kind of show being on when we went there.
I walked down quietly an hour or so before most of the people, so as to be in the way to see if Aileen came.We'd asked her to come on the chance of meeting us there, but we hadn't got any word, and didn't know whether she could manage it nor whether George would bring her.I had a sort of half-and-half notion that perhaps Gracey might come, but I didn't like to think of it for fear of being disappointed, and tried to make believe I didn't expect her.
I gave in my ticket and walked in about eight o'clock, and sat down pretty close to the door so that I could see the people as they came in.
I didn't feel much up to dancing myself, but I'd have ridden a thousand miles to have had the chance of seeing those two girls that night.