Polly, the venerable landlady, took offence at such conduct, and was
daily on the watch for him. When she saw him passing, which he
always did at a rapid pace, she hobbled to the door, and called after
him, "Hey, hey!" Then the gentleman twirled his cane, whistled a
lively tune, looked up, first to the sky, and then to the right and
left, but never stopped, or looked back to Polly behind him. At last
his creditors became so troublesome, and his accounts so
inexplicable, that he deserted the public service, and took refuge
across the Murray.
Mr. H. fell into the habit of borrowing his collections to pay his
gambling debts. He was allowed a certain number of days at the
beginning of each month to complete his returns, and send in his
cash. So he made use of the money collected during the days of grace
to repay any sums he had borrowed from the public cash during the
preceding month. But the cards were against him. One morning an
Inspector of Accounts from Melbourne appeared unexpectedly in his
office.
In those days there were no railways and no telegraphs. Their
introduction was an offensive nuisance to us. The good old times
will never come again, when we could regulate our own hours of
attendance, take unlimited leave of absence, and relieve distress by
having recourse to the Government cash. When Grimes was
Auditor-General every officer was a gentleman and a man of honour.
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