In them every rank in bush life was represented, from cattle-drovers and
stockmen to the owners of stations, from swag-men and men "down in their
luck" to telegraph operators and heads of government departments, men of
various nationalities with, foremost among them, the Scots, sons of that
fighting race that has everywhere fought with and conquered the
Australian bush. Yet, whatever their rank or race, our travellers were
men, not riff-raff, the long, formidable stages that wall in the
Never-Never have seen to that, turning back the weaklings and worthless
to the flesh-pots of Egypt, and proving the worth and mettle of the
brave-hearted: all men, every one of them, and all in need of a little
hospitality, whether of the prosperous and well-doing or "down in their
luck," and each was welcomed according to that need; for out-bush rank
counts for little: we are only men and women there. And all who came in,
and went on, or remained, gave us of their best while with us; for there
was that in the Maluka that drew the best out of all men. In life we
generally find in our fellow-men just what we seek, and the Maluka,
seeking only the good, found only the good and drew much of it into his
own sympathetic, sunny nature.
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