“Come on, Jasper! Your shout!” roared Silas, now with his back to the counter. “Come on, Jasper, ole cock. Never let theBreens down. Gonna shout?”

Jasper Breen was sitting with his head tilted slightly forward. The head nodded in uniformity with the action of Silas Breen’s right leg.

“Good ole Jasper,” shouted Silas.“Jasper’s call, gents.”

“Good ole Jasper,” echoed the crowd.

Twice more Jasper Breen ‘shouted’ at the instigation of his brother, and then Silas was saying they were going home and roaring for passage way. Picking up the chair with his brother still in it, he strode to the door, crashing down men unable to flatten themselves against the rear wall or the bar counter. Bony, who was pressed against the wall, saw Jasper’s face and saw also the end of the green cord tied to Jasper’s beard and which disappeared into the neck of the man’s shirt.

Jasper Breen’s head lolled. He was decidedly out to it.

Silas, carrying his brother outside, followed by the company, put down the chair beside the truck, then lifted Jasper into the driving cabin and arranged him to lean back in the far corner. He turned the truck on the narrow track, shouting to the uproarious crowd, and with thehooter blaring drove out of town.

Chapter Two

The Road Block

SAMLAIDLAWhad been driving transports over the Kimberley tracks for five years, and what he could do with fencing wire to effect running repairs to the huge vehicles he commanded would sound unbelievably fantastic to modern garage mechanics. Sam’s job was a fantastic one: the tracks were fantastically tortuous, the ranges were fantastic in shape and colouring, and throughout the night the sky was fantastically streaked with shooting stars.

Sam left the seaport of Wyndham on August 16th, his six-wheeler loaded with ten tons of stores for stations south of Agar’s Lagoon.