Taking His Chance

They stood by the door of the Inn on the Rise;

May Carney looked up in the bushranger's eyes:

‘ Oh! why did you come? — it was mad of you, Jack;

You know that the troopers are out on your track.’

A laugh and a shake of his obstinate head —

‘ I wanted a dance, and I'll chance it,’ he said.

Some twenty-odd bushmen had come to the‘ ball’,

But Jack from his youth had been known to them all,

And bushmen are soft where a woman is fair,

So the love of May Carney protected him there;

And all the short evening — it seems like romance —

She danced with a bushranger taking his chance.

‘ Twas midnight — the dancers stood suddenly still,

For hoofs had been heard on the side of the hill!

Ben Duggan, the drover, along the hillside

Came riding as only a bushman can ride.

He sprang from his horse, to the shanty he sped —

‘ The troopers are down in the gully!’ he said.

Quite close to the homestead the troopers were seen.

‘ Clear out and ride hard for the ranges, Jack Dean!

Be quick!’ said May Carney — her hand on her heart —

‘ We'll bluff them awhile, and‘ twill give you a start.’

He lingered a moment — to kiss her, of course —

Then ran to the trees where he'd hobbled his horse.

She ran to the gate, and the troopers were there —

The jingle of hobbles came faint on the air —

Then loudly she screamed: it was only to drown

The treacherous clatter of slip-rails let down.

But troopers are sharp, and she saw at a glance

That someone was taking a desperate chance.

They chased, and they shouted,‘ Surrender, Jack Dean!’

They called him three times in the name of the Queen.

Then came from the darkness the clicking of locks;

The crack of the rifles was heard in the rocks!

A shriek and a shout, and a rush of pale men —

And there lay the bushranger, chancing it then.

The sergeant dismounted and knelt on the sod —

‘ Your bushranging's over — make peace, Jack, with God!’

The bushranger laughed — not a word he replied,

But turned to the girl who knelt down by his side.

He gazed in her eyes as she lifted his head:

‘ Just kiss me — my girl — and — I'll — chance it,’ he said.