FRIDAY 23/6/22

Lawrence has to get his political plot back on track after the diversions of "Volcanic Evidence" and "Harriett and Somers at Sea in Marriage". Nevertheless, he begins chapter x, "Diggers", with a reference to the domestic conflict that no doubt sparked the previous "At Sea in Marriage" chapter. […They had another ferocious battle, Somers and Harriet; they stood opposite to one another in such fury one against the other that they nearly annihilated one another. He couldn't stay near her, so started walking off into the country…] He goes on to describe a walk up Bulli Pass to Sublime Point lookout, where he looks down on the coast below (he will make two uses of this excursion - here in chapter x, and again in chapter xvii - see below). He then proceeds to reprise Scott's visit on the King's Birthday holiday weekend, almost three weeks earlier (including a description of the football game on the oval across from the station). He tries to dredge up from his memory what Scott told him about the Diggers and the Maggies. […After breakfast Somers got Jack to talk about Kangaroo and his plans. He heard again all about the Diggers' Clubs: nearly all soldiers and sailors who had been in the war, but not restricted to these…] The extra detail he adds here to the secret-army plot is substantial. He divulges significant "new" information about, for example, the military head of the Maggie Squads, whom he calls Colonel Ennis (actually Brigadier-General George Macarthur-Onslow) […Colonel Ennis used to wear white riding-breeches and black gaiters, and a black jacket and a white stock, with his white hat--were the core and heart of the Digger Movement…] (a reflection of the uniform of the Australia Light Horse, in which Macarthur-Onslow was a senior officer during WW1). Lawrence, if the text is to be believed, had sworn to Scott an oath of strict confidentially about ultra-secret information like this […"I shan't be making a mistake if I tell you a few things in confidence, shall I?"…"Give me your hand then," said Jack….], therefore revealing it now, in the text of a novel that he had every reason to believe would be published, indicates either betrayal, or, more probably, shows - that he would break his word, pledged to Scott under the (to an Australian) sacred, almost mystical, male bond of mateship - how desperate he is for new plot material. What, however, he fails to appreciate is that Scott - "the indiscreet Callcott" - has unwittingly, or naively, revealed to him what is probably, at the time, Australia's greatest political secret (and no doubt divulged by a boastful Scott in order to impress Lawrence that he, too, is a person of some consequence) […"my job is Australia"…he said….]. Nevertheless, as tomorrow will show, Lawrence still has little or no comprehension of what he has stumbled on, or rather into. His appreciation of the reality of "the garage" is, at this point, best summed up in the words of Harriett, describing what she thought her husband was getting mixed up in [… "Pah!" she said. "A bit of little boys' silly showing off."…]. The "Diggers" chapter ends with more domestic information (ie, a cow getting a tea-towel tangled in its horns) and a colourful description - put in the words of a local - of the plane that offered joy-rides from Thirroul Beach. Lawrence, however, knows that he will soon need to find something more substantial, and substantive, to write about…starting, if possible, tomorrow morning.

SATURDAY 24/6/22

(Not a writing day.) Lawrence, crippled by the lack of substantive plot ingredients, decides to travel up to Sydney today to get [...a leg up into affairs...]. He contacts Rosenthal, probably by telegram, seeking a meeting, and Rosenthal probably replies also via telegram saying he can spare some time late on Saturday. (It was probably Rosenthal's reply telegram that was delivered by the boy who overhead L&F arguing). Given the lateness of the meeting, Lawrence arranges (possibly by telephone) to stay the night with Jack Scott in Neutral Bay. Lawrence, however, is now determined not to return to Thirroul empty-handed. So he decides - quixotically - to also go and see "Jock" Garden at his office in the Sydney Trades Hall (to whom he probably has a letter of introduction from William Siebenhaar - see above). So it is likely he also makes some contact with the Trades Hall to find out if Garden will be in this morning. This is to prove one of the most dramatic days in Lawrence's entire life, and will certainly give him ample material to move his stalled narrative forward. Fortunately we have an excellent record of what happened, from the several versions of events in Kangaroo, and from various other sources. So comprehensive is this record that we can use it to retrace Lawrence's movements that [..."memorable day"...] (Lawrence's own description of it) - hour-by-hour, viz:

6am - Lawrence rises about 5am and catches the early-morning train up to Sydney […Richard got up in the dark, to catch the six o'clock train...] arriving at Central Station about 8.30am. There is some early morning rain, but it clears before midday. He leaves Central Station via Eddy Avenue, on his way to the Trades Hall