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C J Dennis - Old Town Types No.2 – Red Matt
Work rating: Low

He gleaned all the gossip and he gathered all the news,
   Mad Matt, the carrier, delivering the grub;
He knew the trooper`s tattle and he knew the parson`s views,
   The gossip at the station-yard, the gossip at the pub.
That high-pitched voice of his, the loudest voice in town,
   That shrewd blue eye of his, with humor all a-gleam -
Old Red Matt, with his cabbage-tree hat,
   His trolley, and his two-horse team.

Driving down the main street a-clatter with his load,
   The great red beard of him blowing out behind:
"Hear about that accident`s mornin` up the road?
   Hear about the gold rush at Joe Scott`s find?
Warmish sort o` day we got; thirsty weather this.
   Got a bag o` spuds for you - Dang!  Fergot the cream!"
Says old Red Matt with his cabbage-tree hat,
   And his trolley, and his two-horse team.

Mad Matt, the carrier, standing at the bar:
   "Well here`s a go, boys.  Got to get along
Seven pints I`ve had today and still to travel far.
   Drink fast and drive fast, yeh can`t go wrong.
Fill `em up again, boss, ans hove it on the slate.
   Half-a-ton aboard today - just tipped the beam,"
Says old red Matt with the cabbage-tree hat,
   And his trolley, and his two-horse team.

Sudden were his wild ways, sudden, too, his end.
   Jumped to grab a bolting team with kiddie sin the trap;
And they picked up Mad Matt, everybody`s friend,
  Silent now and broken; and they said, "Brave chap.
Wild an` all," they said of him, "always was a white man."
   And they laid him, with a blessing, where his old mates dream,
Saying, "So long, Matt, with your cabbage-tree hat,
   And your trolley, and your two-horse team."
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