too hard in the face. On such
occasions their views were simple as A B C. "Well, if yer lost a
chance, somebody else collared it, an' w'ere were yer?"

The police, variously named "Johns", "cops" and "traps", were their
natural enemies. If one of the Push got into trouble, the others
clubbed together and paid his fine; and if that failed, they made it
hot for the prosecutors. Generally their offences were disorderly
conduct, bashing their enemies, and resisting the police.

Both Jonah and Chook worked for a living--Chook by crying fish and
vegetables in the streets, Jonah by making and mending for Hans Paasch,
the German shoemaker on Botany Road. But Chook often lacked the few
shillings to buy his stock-in-trade, and Jonah never felt inclined for
work till Wednesday. Then he would stroll languidly down to the shop.
The old German would thrust out his chin, and blink at him over his
glasses. And he always greeted Jonah with one of two set phrases:

"Ah, you haf come, haf you? I vas choost going to advertise for a
man." This meant that work was plentiful. When trade was slack, he
would shake his head sadly as if he were standing over the grave of his
last sixpence, and say:

"Ah, it vas no use; dere is not enough work to fill one mouth."

Jonah always listened to either speech with utter indifference, took
off his coat, put on his leather apron, and set to work silently and
swiftly like a man in anger.

Although he always grumbled, Paasch was quite satisfied. He had too
much work for one, and not enough for two. So Jonah, who was a good
workman, and content to make three or four days in a week, suited him
exactly. Besides, Jonah had started with him as an errand-boy at five
shillings a week, years ago, and was used to his odd ways.

Hans Paasch was born in Bavaria, in the town of Hassloch. His father
was a shoemaker, and destined Hans for the same trade. The boy
preferred to be a fiddler but his father taught him his trade
thoroughly with the end of a strap.

In his eighteenth year Hans suddenly ended the dispute by running away
from home with his beloved fiddle. He made his way to the coast, and
got passage on a cargo tramp to England. There he heard of the
wonderful land called Australia, where gold was to be had for the
picking up. The fever took him, and he worked his passage out to
Melbourne on a sailing ship. He reached the goldfields, dug without
success, and would have starved but for his