australia Archives

australia

The Union Buries Its Dead

February 7, 2019 By Henry Lawson in Old Stories Tags: australia, Henry Lawson, union, drown

While out boating one Sunday afternoon on a billabong across the river, we saw a young man on horseback driving some horses along the bank. He said it was a fine day, and asked if the Water was deep there. The joker of our party said it was deep enough to drown him, and he laughed and rode farther up. We didn’t take much notice of him. A billabong is a seasonal lake or pond near a river, a publican is a pub owner, and Henry Lawson is (or was) a prolific and influential Australian writer and poet. In this [Read More]

A Piece of Steak

December 28, 2018 By Jack London in Old Stories Tags: experience, public domain stories, Jack London, boxing, australia, sydney, youth

With the last morsel of bread Tom King wiped his plate clean of the last particle of flour gravy and chewed the resulting mouthful in a slow and meditative way. When he arose from the table, he was oppressed by the feeling that he was distinctly hungry. Yet he alone had eaten. The two children in the other room had been sent early to bed in order that in sleep they might forget they had gone supperless. His wife had touched nothing, and had sat silently and watched him with solicitous eyes. She was a thin, worn woman of the [Read More]