Remailed explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Mateship and Loyalty

  The entire chapter centers on the custom of sending newspapers between old mates, symbolizing enduring bonds and shared memories despite physical separation.

• Humor and Irony

  The chapter includes humorous details like marking articles with crosses to win old arguments, and the playful sending of tracts or War Crys as jokes.

• Identity and Memory

  The act of addressing a mate by his formal name feels strange, and the newspaper clippings evoke deep memories of past loves and shared experiences.

Characters to notice

• Mitchell

  Referred to as 'Jack' who asks for the paper after Bill.

• Mr. James Mitchell

  The recipient of Bill's newspaper, addressed formally as 'Mr. James Mitchell'.

• Jim Smith

  The man Lily King married, mentioned in a birth notice sent between mates.

Key passages

• “Bill gets his paper and reads it through conscientiously from beginning to end by candle or slush-lamp as he lies on his back in the hut or tent with his pipe in his mouth; or, better still, on a Sunday afternoon as he reclines on the grass in the shade, in all the glory and comfort of a clean pair of moleskins and socks and a clean shirt.”

  Bill reads his newspaper thoroughly, either by candlelight in his hut or more comfortably on a Sunday afternoon outdoors, wearing clean clothes.

  Illustrates the simple pleasures and careful reading habits of bushmen.

• “And when he has finished reading the paper—if it is not immediately bespoke—he turns it right side out, folds it, and puts it away where he’ll know where to find it.”

  After reading, if no one has asked for it, Bill refolds the paper and stores it safely.

  Highlights the value placed on newspapers and the communal sharing practice.

• “They seldom write to each other, these old mates. There were points, of course, upon which Bill and Jim couldn’t agree—subjects upon which they argued long and loud and often in the old days; and it sometimes happens that Bill across an article or a paragraph which agrees with and, so to speak, barracks for a pet theory of his as against one held by Jim; and Bill marks it with a chuckle and four crosses at the corners—and an extra one at each side perhaps—and sends it on to Jim; he reckons it’ll rather corner old Jim.”

  Bill and Jim rarely write letters, but Bill marks articles that support his old arguments with crosses and sends them to Jim, hoping to win their long-standing debates.

  Demonstrates how the newspaper exchange sustains their intellectual rivalry and friendship.

• “Long years ago—long years ago Bill and Jim were sweet on a rose of the bush—or a lily of the goldfields—call her Lily King. Both courted her at the same time, and quarrelled over her—fought over her, perhaps—and were parted by her for years. But that’s all bygones.”

  Years earlier, both Bill and Jim courted a woman named Lily King, which caused conflict between them, but that is now in the past.

  Reveals a shared romantic history that still resonates through their correspondence.

• “And away down on Auckland gum-fields, perhaps, Jim reads the par with a grin; then grows serious, and sits and scrapes his gum by the flickering firelight in a mechanical manner, and—thinks. His thoughts are far away in the back years—faint and far, far and faint.”

  Jim reads the birth notice with a smile, then becomes thoughtful, mechanically working while lost in distant memories.

  Shows the emotional impact of shared pasts triggered by simple newspaper clippings.