"You are well fixed up here," said Seagrave, "nice and comfortable I call it. Rum old place this, I often wonder what sort of a time those old dandies had in the Pavilion a century or more ago." "Judging from what I have read, they must have been gay and festive," replied Jack. "They drank hard, and made love desperately then; we go about such things in a more decorous manner now." "That's true, but is it a change for the better? Is secret debauchery an improvement on open profligacy?" He was rather surprised to hear his companion talk in this strain, and said-- "You do not think the morals of the present generation are any better than they were in those days?" "Not a bit, you've only to look at the papers to find that out. There is some fairly sultry reading in the Divorce Court cases." "Granted," replied Jack, "but still I think on the whole we have become better mannered, and more circumspect, since the time of the Georges." "Maybe, but with all the learning to be had at other people's expense, I don't think we have much to boast about. In my young days we had to learn to work almost before we learned to spell." "It does not seem to have done you much harm." "None at all, but I'd have been a tarnation sight more presentable if somebody had taken me in hand and licked me into shape." "What sort of a place is Fremantle?" asked Jack, changing the subject. "It's not much like Brighton," replied Captain Seagrave, laughing. "You'll find a vast difference, but there's worse places than Fremantle on the face of the globe. It's an old convict settlement, at the mouth of the Swan river, about a dozen miles from Perth. It's not one of the best of harbours, but I have never met with any mishap there. It has been improved a lot of late years. It will seem a very dull place to you, I am afraid. May I ask what you are going to do when you arrive there. It's not a good place to be stranded in." "My friend, Harry Marton, is going out at the request of Barry Tuxford----" commenced Jack. "Barry! well, I'm blest. Barry Tuxford, you'll be all right with him. There's no cleverer man than Barry in Western Australia, he can make money out of anything he touches. What do you think his latest move is?" "Something out of the common," ventured Jack. "Rather! He's revived the pearl fishing again, and what's more, he's had his usual luck. "That is what he wants us for; I say us because he told Harry to take a friend out with him. We are going pearl fishing." Captain Seagrave laughed. "Barry will get the pearls and you will do the hard graft, but he will treat you fairly, he's a square man is Barry Tuxford. I reckon you'll go up to Shark's Bay and round that quarter, it is an outlandish place. I fancy life on a station would suit you best; anyway, I'd give it a chance if the pearling does not agree with you. They'll be glad to have a 'jackaroo' like you, who can ride, on any sheep station." "What is a jackaroo?" said Jack.