At long last, the Melbourne show came to an end. We packed everything into a large truck. Our next stop was to be Davenport in Tasmania. My ride across on the ferry was included in the price of the trucks' ticket, otherwise I might not have been able to go. Money was tight now 'cause I was only making eight bucks a week, which was less than I'd made at old Burts' place.
I had only been in Australia for 14 months now. I'd travelled over so much country that it felt more like a lifetime. By this time, I was really sick of the Showground but I couldn't get off yet because Lake Cargelligo was hundreds of miles away in West New South Wales. I only had five dollars to mi name and even if I could have hitched a ride, five dollars would not have gone very far before it ran out. I planned to leave the grounds one we headed back up North, whenever that might have been.
The tent was set up on the Davenport Showground the day before the show was about to start. I'd bought miself a cheap stock whip and Kid had taught me how to crack it. He also showed me how to make a cotton cracker which got tied on the end of the long leather thong.
That afternoon, I was stood outside the tent with another showie bloke. The showie had very kindly consented to hold a roll of paper for me so I didn't have to jam it into a crack in one of the outside tent poles. I was pretty good with the stock whip by now and the showie was quite impressed as the stock whip cracked with a loud band and a piece of the paper would be taken off the roll he was holding.
Just then, a Tazzie cop came walking by. He stood for a few minutes watching while I cracked the paper smaller and smaller.
"That's pretty clever mate.", he said to me.
"Not really.", I said. "It's just a matter of practice. Ya wanna' have a go?"
"Not me mate. How long ya been practicing with it"
"Only a week or so.", I said as I lit up a fag.
"Ya think ya could knock a fag out of ya mates' mouth with that stock whip?"
"I've never tried?"
"No, and ya ain't gonna' try it on me either.", the showie said.
"Come on. Be a good sport and stick a fag in ya mouth and hold it for him.", the cop said. "I tell ya what I'll do with ya. I'll give ya a couple of bucks if ya hold it out and ya mate can crack it out. How's that sound?"
"Two bucks each and you're on!", I said.
"Now just a bloody minute!", said the showie.
"Come on mate.", I said. "You're just as fuckin' broke as I am. We can make two bucks each out of this."
"What about if ya miss and ya cut the end of mi nose off?"
"Don't worry mate. I won't miss, I promise ya. I can't afford to miss anyway 'cause I'm almost flat broke don't forget."
"Have we got a deal or not?", said the cop.
"If I miss do we have to pay you four bucks?"
"No, I guess not. Now hurry up before I change mi mind."
"Alright.", said the Showie as he lit up a Lucky Strike fag.
As I paced out the right distance I said to the showie, "Now, you hold still mate and don't puff on the fag 'cause it will get too small."
"I'm gonna take three practice shots just to get the distance right. Then on the fourth shot, I'll crack it clean out of his gob!", I said to the cop.
This made the cop laugh. Then I said to him, "Better git ya money out mate. It'll help me concentrate."
"Alright mate.", he said with a grin as he produced 2 two dollar bills from his pocket.
"Here we go!", I said. "Hold that fag still mate, it's shaking all over the place. Lean forwards a bit so I can get a real good crack at it!"
"If you fucking miss Yorky, I'll..........."
CRACK!
The sound of the stock whip cut him off before he could finish his sentence.
"Keep still!", I said.
CRACK! The stock whip echoed through the afternoon air.
CRACK! The cop was really enjoying himself now, as the stock whip flashed and snapped with a large crack in front of the showies face.
"Yowww! A fuckin' spark burnt mi lip!"
He spat the small piece of the cigarette out onto the grass as the big cop doubled over in two, laughing. When he straightened himself up, he said,
"What a fuckin' beauty mate. That's the best bit of fun I've had for years. You're pretty good with that stock whip, Cobber, I got to hand it to ya. Here's ya four dollars. It was worth every cent of it.", he said as he walked away, still laughing.
"You alright mate?", I said to the showie.
"Yeah Yorky, it was only a small spark that hit mi lip when ya cracked the fag in half."
"Is it sore?"
"Just a bit."
"Here, rub this two buck note on it, That'll make it feel better mate."
"Well, fuck me dead Yorky. That was the easiest two bucks I've ever made."
"Me too.", I said.
