[
 {
  "chunk": 293,
  "story": 49,
  "summary": "Drinkers in a shanty run down Macquarie, an absent shearer, as a loafer and a liar; an old ruined drunk called Awful Example rises to say Macquarie was his mate.",
  "predicament": "When a crowd runs down an absent man, a broken old drunk who was once his mate stands up to defend him."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 294,
  "story": 49,
  "summary": "The old man denies each charge and says Macquarie never talked about any man behind his back, and the room falls into an uneasy silence.",
  "predicament": "An old man shames a crowd of gossips by saying that the absent man never spoke ill of anyone behind his back."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 295,
  "story": 49,
  "summary": "Barcoo says Macquarie was a bully who smashed smaller men; the old man says Macquarie is dead, and the drinkers shuffle and find reasons to go outside; a gaunt stranger rides up to the back.",
  "predicament": "Told that the man they slandered is dead, a crowd of gossips shift uncomfortably and find excuses to be somewhere else."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 296,
  "story": 49,
  "summary": "Sally Thompson argues there is too much sentiment about the dead and justice is owed to the living; Barcoo calls Macquarie a spieler, and the old man says he has one more point.",
  "predicament": "The gossips rally round a reason for speaking ill of the dead, and the old man stubbornly insists on having his say."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 297,
  "story": 49,
  "summary": "The old man shouts that Macquarie's mate is alive and squares up to fight Barcoo; the stranger pins him from behind and says 'It's Macquarie, old mate', and Barcoo rides off.",
  "predicament": "A broken old man squares up to fight for an absent mate's name, and the mate himself walks in to stand beside him."
 }
]