Landtakers: The Story of an Epoch

Soon there was always a crowd of blacks at the gate of the homestead waiting for Cabell to distribute sparing handfuls of tobacco and flour. Meanwhile they followed Cranky Tom about. Sometimes he scared them out of their wits by putting in his false teeth.

But as the moon waned they withdrew to a new camp near the Three Mile, whence only a faint echo of their night-time concerts reached the homestead. They were hunting kangaroo and feasting on the fish trapped in the shrunken pools.