Blows hot one
day and cold the next, for all the world like the wind in spring. And
without caring twopence whose corns 'e treads on."--Which, thought
Polly, was but a sorry return on Tilly's part for Richard's hospitality.
After all, it was his house she had been a guest in.
Such were the wheels within wheels. And thus it came about that, when
the question rose of paving the way for John Turnham's candidature,
Mahony drew the line at approaching Henry Ocock.
Chapter X
John drove from Melbourne in a drag and four, accompanied by numerous
friends and well-wishers. A mile or so out of Ballarat, he was met by a
body of supporters headed by a brass band, and escorted in triumph to
the George Hotel. Here, the horses having been led away, John at once
took the field by mounting the box-seat of the coach and addressing the
crowd of idlers that had gathered round to watch the arrival. He got an
excellent hearing--so Jerry reported, who was an eye and ear-witness of
the scene--and was afterwards borne shoulder-high into the hotel.
With Jerry at his heels, Mahony called at the hotel that evening. He
found John entertaining a large impromptu party. The table of the public
dining-room was disorderly with the remains of a liberal meal; napkins
lay crushed and flung down among plates piled high with empty nutshells;
the cloth was wine-stained, and bestrewn with ashes and breadcrumbs, the
air heady with the fumes of tobacco.
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