The Swaggy

Prosper Kabell stood packing his knapsack. He was almost ready to leave. A few day's trek through the Australian bush then a new job! A brand new life!

Eliza, his mother stood beside him as he carefully packed his last items.

"Is that all you're taking?" she asked.

"Yes Mum, I don't want to take too much. A few clothes, a billy to make some tea and boil something for my dinner. Can I take a few vegetables? I might want to cook up some soup."

"Yes Son," Prosper's mother replied with a concerned expression on her face. "What about some eggs?"

"Thanks Mum," he replied." That will be good. I won't need anything else. I've got to be in Rylstone in five days. My new job starts on Friday."

"It's a long walk, Prosper. You know I'll worry about you hiking out there alone."

"Oh Mum, you know you have nothing to worry about. I'm perfectly at home in the bush."

"Yes, I admit you are, but please take care. Have you any money?" his mother inquired.

"I have one pound, the money I earned sheep shearing. That should be a good start for me, Mum."

"Good, but you need to be careful. You'll be hiking into bushranger country and I don't want you to be robbed. What time will you be leaving Pros?"

"At daybreak." He smiled as he answered his mother. "I'm looking forward to it."

Eliza smiled back at him, saying, "I want you to have a good breakfast before you go. I'll get up and.make some scrambled eggs before you go."

"Thanks Mum, that'll be real good. I've got to have an early night. See you at breakfast."

"Goodnight Pros."

Mother and son parted for the night, Prosper to his room and Eliza to the living room where she picked up her fancywork and began embroidering.

Prosper checked his list. Everything had to be ready for tomorrow. It would be foolish to forget anything.

If his mother knew about his friendship with Ben Hall, the bushranger she really would be worried. He met Ben last year, when Ben and Frank Gardiner came into the pub together. Prosper was sitting at the bar when Ben sat down on the stool next to him and somehow before long a friendship began.

Ben liked the young fellow and it hadn't taken him long to realize that Prosper, the youngest of thirteen children came from poor circumstances. At eighteen years of age, Prosper Kabell was yet to make his way in the world. There was more to him than one first saw when they looked at the tall thin, bearded man. Ben asked him once if he would like to join his gang but Prosper declined.

Ben appreciated Prosper's thorough knowledge of the bush. His father had taught him well. It seemed like there wasn't an Australian native plant around these parts that Pros could not identify and his extraordinary knowledge of the countryside was second to none. In a way, he reminded Ben of himself. Ben possessed exceptional horse skills and knew the land like the back of his hand.

Even though Prosper did not join Ben in his adventures as a bushranger, he knew that in times of trouble he could count on Ben for help. Ben was like that. There was more good in Ben Hall than most people realized. A deep bond of mate-ship developed between the two men, a mutual understanding and respect for each other.

Prosper knew that he needed to be careful when it came to carrying money. He placed his one pound note, into one of his shoes. No one would think to look for money there.

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The first section of Prosper's journey was easy-going. Keeping to the gravel-surfaced road made for a good start. His knapsack was not too heavy and sat well on his back. Cleverly rolled and fitted on top of his haversack, strapped into place by too strong belts.was the sleeping bag his mother had stitched for him. A billy hung on one side of his load and rattled occasionally as he trudged along the road. To the other side of his bag was a canvas water-bottle. An Akubra hat shaded his face from the increasing warmth of the sun with a row of small corks hung from the brim to keep the flies out of his face.

As promised last night, his mother rose early to cook him breakfast. Eliza felt sorry her youngest child was leaving home but knew he had to make a life for himself. She made him two sandwiches filling them with cold lamb and tomato sauce, giving them to him as he departed.

After three hours he reached Manildra and shortly afterwards branched off into the bush to hike along the creek, He was doing well, making good progress, walking steadily at a comfortable pace.

Around midday he stopped on an outcrop of rock, under a glorious shady gumtree to eat one of his sandwiches. Taking a couple of swigs of water from his water-bag, he sat back to soak in the beauty of his surroundings. He would rest a while in the shade before going any further.

He had a deep love of the bush, delighting in the variety of shrubs he could see.growing. He knew to be alert for snakes. Earlier today when hiking off the beaten track he surprised a couple of kangaroos who bounded off into the bush. He smiled now at hearing a bird's loud screech. Looking up he saw a black cockatoo fly into the tree above him.

Soon Prosper was eager to be on his way again. Filling his water-bag with fresh trickling water from the creek he tramped along happily towards his destination. At this rate he would be in Molong at about 3PM

As he approached the township and the buildings became visible he heard the mail-coach coming. The canter of the horses made quite a racket on the smooth surface of the road.

Without warning, a gang of horsemen rode menacingly up to the coach. Brandishing their guns high, firing into the air they yelled at the driver to pull up. The bandits demanded that the driver hand over any money he was carrying. The frightened man stopped and handed them calico bags. When the robbery was over they rode off, up the road towards where Prosper was walking. The leader gestured to the others to keep riding, yelling out that he would meet them soon at their secret spot.

The horseman rode right up to Prosper and said, "Don't you recognize me Pros? It's me, Ben"

"I did wonder if it was you, when I heard all that commotion," replied Prosper.

"Where are you going Pros?"

Prosper grinned. He like it when Ben called him Pros. It reminded him that they were good mates.

"I'm heading towards Rylstone, Ben. I start a new job on Friday, I've been hired as a roustabout."

"Good on you, mate. That sounds like the right work for you. You are good with animals. Are you walking all the way?" asked Ben in a surprised tone.

"Yeah, I am but I'm enjoying it," answered Prosper.

"You know you're welcome to join my gang, Pros."

"Thanks Ben, but I'm looking forward to my new position. It's been quite a while since I've been on the road, not since Dad died."

"I bet you haven't got any money. Have you?" Ben inquired.

"Not much but I'll manage,' was Prosper's sheepish reply while thinking about the one pound note inside his shoe.

Ben took out a five pound note and handed it to him, saying, "Take this mate. I might not be seeing you for a while once you move to Rylstone. Then seeing Prosper shake his head continued, "No, don't knock me back. I want you to have it."

"It is too much Ben, I'll pay you back next time I see you."

"Yeah, well you don't have to. I've got to be off Pros.Need to catch up with the boys. Bye."

"Bye mate," said Prosper raising his hand to wave as Ben galloped off.

Prosper put the five pound note into his hat, tucking it carefully under the lining and continued his walk through Molong.

It wasn't long before he branched off again into the bush. He was hiking towards Hill End and hoping to make it to Rylstone in four more days.

Prosper managed to make it to Rylstone as planned spending three nights in the bush. Alone with his own thoughts was how he liked it. For sleeping he had found small caves or gaps under large rocks. In his warm sleeping bag he sheltered from the cool night air.  How he loved looking a that huge expanse of sky filled with stars.

For his dinner he cooked on a small camp fire built by scooping out some dirt, creating a hole in the ground, After filling it with small dry twigs he lit it with a match. When he threw a potato into the fire he knew that it would cook in it's jacket in the hot embers even after the fire died down. One night he managed to catch a couple of yabbies from the creek. He' boiled them in his billy. The other nights he ate stew or hard boiled eggs. For him the best part of the day was sitting after his meal, waiting for his billy to boil so he could make his cup of tea.There was nothing like a cup of billy tea. When the fire became just ashes he would smother it with the dirt he had scooped out to dig the hole.

Pleased to be in Rylstone on Thursday Prosper walked up to the homestead and knocked on the door.

A tall, well-built man answered the door greeting him warmly saying, "Hello, you must be Prosper Kabell." Acknowledging Pros's nod in the affirmative he continued. I'm Sam McDougall. They call me 'Mac'.

Hello Mac, I'm pleased to meet you,

Mac walked out onto the porch where Prosper was standing and said, "Come on, I'll show you to your premises."

"Thanks Mac. I'm glad to be here."

Pros was thrilled when shown where he would be staying. It was a bedroom, lounge room and kitchen all in one, more space than Prosper had  to himself in his whole life.

"When you've had a chance to settle in, come up to the house for dinner. My wife is looking forward to meeting you." said Mac as he turned to go back to the homestead.

"Thank you, Mac. I appreciate your hospitality.I'll see you soon"

When Mac departed, Prosper smiled as he looked around the place. He knew he was going to be happy here. He sat down removing his shoes. He put his hand into one to remove the one pound note. To his dismay he found the money had disintegrated into a few miserable pieces of torn paper. Grinning ruefully he felt inside of his hat and extracted his five pound note. Well! that will teach me he thought.


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The above story was influenced by three different Australian folklores.

The first is Ben Hall, A well renowned bushranger who was known for his Robin Hood qualities. He robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. It is written that he didn't kill anyone. The main reason for him becoming an outlaw was to get back at the police,because his wife left him for a policeman.

The second is the swaggy or swagman who is deeply embedded into Australian folklore, even depicted in the song, "Waltzing Matilda.".

The third is from my own family folklore in regard to my great grandfather who repeatedly told his family about the time he walked from Parkes to Rylstone through the bush with  a pound note in his shoe. Sadly by the time he arrived he found only scraps of paper in his shoe. The money had worn away. .

2000 words