new chum

‘New chum?’ queried the barman, after serving him.

‘I suppose I am,’ replied Jim. ‘Look here, would you mind telling me what in the devil′s name a new chum is?'

‘A new chum is a man fresh from home.’

‘From England?'

‘Scotland, Ireland, anywhere else, if he′s green and inexperienced. Miners from the Californian fields don′t rank as new chums.’

'And how am I known as a new chum?’

The barman grinned. ‘That′ll tell on you all over the place,’ he said, indicating the bag. ‘That′s a true new chum′s bundle. No Australian would expatriate himself by carrying his goods in that fashion. He makes them up in a roll, straps them, and carries them in a sling on his back. His bundle is then a swag. The swag is the Australian′s national badge.’