by Robert Reed
without hurt within a few miles of the wire .
Wilbraham . Well, not much as it has happened, but he was very
near smashing us to pieces, and the spilling of the food was a clever
extra touch . He had got to do something, and he had about a minute
to do it in, and he did his best, or his worst: and as for sailing away,
I take it he was beaten away .
Easterley . I hope you may he right . We must never say die, any-
way . But you don’t look well, Jack, though you speak so cheerfully .
Wilbraham . I am a bit seedy, I am sure I don’t know why, but I
dare say it will pass off soon .
Easterley . I suppose we had better push on, we have most of the
day before us yet, and we had better take some of the food that is
left . But look! what’s that?
Wilbraham . A horse, by George! didn’t I tell you? And a horse
it was, but its presence proved after all not to be such a very good
sign as we supposed. We thought at first that it must belong to some
of the telegraph people, but as we drew nearer we saw that it was
Jack’s own horse which had been abandoned in the bush on account
of lameness . Still it was a good sign . Its presence made it much more
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 566
likely that we were still west of the wire, and we might possibly
make use of it for travelling, but above all it seemed as if there must
be water near, and that if we stuck to the horse we should find it.
It was quite an easy matter to catch the horse; he had been well
broken in, and his ten or twelve days in the bush had not made him
at all forget his training . He seemed to recognise us, and we thought
at first that his lameness was quite gone.
Then we reckoned up our store of food . We had saved just nine
of the lozenges . We resolved now to take three each, reserving three
for the evening .
If Jack was right we should hardly have need of them . And yet we
might, for the telegraph stations were far apart, and it might be quite
beyond our power to walk to the nearest, and we would not know in
which direction to travel in order to reach the nearest . But then, as
Jack said, if all came to all we should cut the wire, and that would
soon bring us help .
The food quite restored me, but I did not think that it had the
same good effect on Jack . He was quite cheerful, brave, and hope-
ful, but still there was undoubtedly something amiss . So I proposed
that Jack should have the horse and that I should walk beside him .
“I don’t mind,” he said, “if I have the first ride.” And so it was ar-
ranged .
But riding even a very tame horse without either saddle or bridle
is neither a pleasant nor a quick way of travelling, and besides the
horse’s lameness came on again as soon as he had weight to carry,
and it became clear before long that we could get no good of him
that way . I had improvised a sort of halter out of slips cut from our
coats, and so when Jack dismounted, we tried to lead the horse; he
showed a decided tendency, both when ridden and led, to go north .
“Let him have his way,” Jack said, “provided he doesn’t make any
westing . I will not go away from the wire .” The end of it was that we
led the horse, or let him lead us, for several hours . We travelled very
slowly, indeed, but still we must have got over twelve or thirteen
miles, going mainly northward, and making perhaps a mile of east-
ing all the time .
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 567
The country that we travelled over consisted of a series of plains
which were separated by thin belts of timber . There was little or
no scrub . At last we came, as it seemed, to a small dried-up water-
course; but it proved to be not quite dried up, for the horse trotted
over to one of the sand-beds where the ponds had been, and found
a little hole of water which he drank very greedily . The hole was so
small that we did not care to drink after him if it could be helped;
but by digging with our hands in the sand a little higher up we got a
sufficient supply of water that was fairly good.
We had now got all out of the horse that we were likely to get .
This water meant life for a day or two longer . It seemed now to be
the best course for us to start from this point due east . If the wire
were even within twenty miles of us we might escape . If not, our
death seemed certain .
But Jack’s increasing debility, which was beginning to make me
very anxious, made it out of the question to go farther to-night . In-
deed, it was already getting on for sundown . So we took each, one of
our three remaining lozenges, and made our camp as best we could .
The trees near the watercourse were shadier than elsewhere, and the
weather was mild . We had no tobacco . By some mischance we had
left it behind us in our escape from the valley . Indeed, such was our
excitement and anxiety that we had never smoked once all the time
we were there . But now we missed our pipes very much .
Before going to sleep, however, I made a discovery that cheered
us up a little . I found two more lozenges in the corner of my pocket .
These would give us a shadow of breakfast .
I slept rather well, but Jack was troubled with restlessness and
with dreams . And in the morning he was no better .
Things were looking very black indeed . After making our shadow
of breakfast we had but one lozenge left, and then nothing but a little
water to live upon . Jack was beginning to show signs of collapse . “I
know, old fellow,” he said, “that I could not persuade you to aban-
don me, but I’ll die very soon, and after I am dead you will still have
time to look for the wire .”
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 568
“Jack,” said I, “look here, shall I go and look for the wire now?
I’ll come back in two hours whether I find it or not, and then we
shall stay together while we live . I dare say we have both of us pretty
well done with this world, but while there’s life there’s hope . What
do you say?”
“Well,” he said, “I think I can live for more than two hours with
the help of this water; yes, old fellow, go and look for it; that’s the
best chance .”
I made him as comfortable as I could near the water under the
shade, and then I started with but little hope . I was already getting
weak with hunger, although otherwise I was well enough . I crossed
the plain eastward to one of the belts of timber I told you of . The
distance was about a quarter or a third of a mile . Then I marked a
tree, and on passing through the belt of timber, which was only a few
yards across, I marked another . I was now in a second plain just like
the first. I crossed it slowly to the eastward, came to another belt of
timber, and marked another tree .
Then I began lo think it was of no use to make any further exer-
tion . Half an hour was already gone; I must in any case turn back in
half an hour more . “Oh Leäfar, Leäfar,” I said, and I wrung my hand,
<
br /> “how could you leave us in such misery?” And then I remembered
how little Leäfar seemed to think of death in comparison with the
doom I had escaped, and I was ashamed of myself, and I said—
“The will of God be done .”
I had crossed the second belt of timber, and I was marking an-
other tree on the east side of it . I was acting quite mechanically and
without conscious purpose, for I had made up my mind to return at
once, and so I should not need another marked tree . All in a moment
I became conscious of this, and I thought that perhaps my mind
was going . Then I turned round to look at the plain which I had just
entered, and was just about to leave, and, good heavens! there was
the wire! This plain was of about the same dimensions as the other
two, and right across it ran the telegraph poles .
I just said, “Thank God,” and I ran back as fast as my legs could
carry me .
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 569
Jack was taking a drink of water, and I thought looking a little
brighter . I was quite out of breath, and before I could speak he had
time to say—
“Why, Bob, you’ve hardly been away an hour .”
“I have found it!” I cried, “I have found it!”
“Take it easy, man,” he said; “take a drink of water . Didn’t I tell
you we were near it?”
We took near two hours to reach it, for we were both weak for
want of food, and Jack was ill . Then we sat down under one of the
posts and consulted .
“Jack,” said I, “we may die of starvation yet, unless you can cut
that wire . I couldn’t climb the pole, poor devil that I am, not to save
your life and my own .”
(You will remember, no doubt, that I have already told you that
Jack was a very clever athlete .)
He replied after a silence of a minute or so, letting his words drop
slowly: “I should have thought but little of it yesterday morning . I
am sure I don’t know if I can do it now . I’ll try .”
“I have one lozenge left,” I said; “take it before you try;” and I
handed him the lozenge .
“I’ll take my share of it,” he answered, “but not yours too .”
“Now be reasonable, Jack,” said I; “my life as well as yours de-
pends on your cutting that wire . If the lozenge helps yo, to cut it,
don’t you see that it is best for us both that you should have it .”
“Very well,” he replied; “I believe you are right; give it me,” and
he ate it without more ado . And then after feeling for his knife he
began to climb .
Presently it became clear that he could not get up the pole with-
out some protection to his knees . I cut off the sleeves of my coat and
we slipped them up over his legs; they fitted him so tightly that no
fastening was needed .
Then he began to climb again with more success, but such was
his weakness that it seemed several times as if he would have to give
over the attempt . At last he reached the top, and after hanging for a
while to rest he began to cut at the wire .
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 570
I watched the process with great anxiety . He gave over several
times, and once I thought he was going to faint, and I ran up to the
post to try and break his fall . But he began hacking at the wire again,
and in a few seconds more it fell apart, and one end of it lay on the
ground .
Then he began to slide down the post, and before he was down
his arms relaxed their hold, and he almost fell into my arms as I
stood underneath .
We both fell to the ground, but without any severe shock, and
we were quite unhurt . I staggered to my fee and dragged him to
some thick shrubs near at hand, where I propped him up as well as
I could manage . He did not quite lose his senses, and I whispered,
“We are all right now, Jack; we shall have help soon .” Then I lay
down beside him .
I do not think that I was more than half an hour lying there when
I heard the noise of horses, and in about fifteen minutes more a party
of horsemen rode up .
We might have lain there for several hours, however, if it had
not been for a combination of favourable circumstances . We were
only three miles from a telegraph station to the north, and a sharp
look-out had been kept for us . It had been kept indeed since the
third or fourth day after our departure, and it had been quickened a
few days ago by a lying rumour which proved to be unintentionally
true . Some blacks had come into the camp who Knew both Gioro
and Bomero, and they told Mr . Fetherston that Gioro had been killed
some days before . Now, as far as I could make out, Gioro had been
killed a day or two after they told the story . So they were certainly
lying . But it seemed as if every one who knew anything about the
matter expected that Gioro would be killed if Bomero’s protection
were withdrawn . And so it happened as you have heard, and thus
their lie came true .
So there was a bright look-out kept for about fifty miles on each
side of the Daly Waters, and a party had gone westward into the
bush in search of us a few days before, and the moment the com-
munication by wire was broken a party of horsemen started for the
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 571
point where the break was made . We were now nearly thirty miles
north of the Daly Waters .
We were speedily taken to the nearest station and treated with
all the attention that we needed . I needed only food and clothes, but
Jack proved to be sickening for colonial fever, and was in rather a
critical state for some time . He did not seem to me to be dangerously
ill . Much languor and a little wandering and extreme prostration
were his principal symptoms . I was not very anxious about him, but
Mr . Fetherston thought more of the illness than he chose to say . I did
not know the nature of the complaint; I have learnt better since then .
Mr . Fetherston asked me several questions, and I told him all
about the blacks, dwelling especially on Bomero’s panic and Gioro’s
death . Then I said that after that we had got among some people that
had given us food and clothes . He looked very carefully at the coats
and hats, and he said, “Why, these must have come from Java, or
perhaps from the Philippines . I had no idea that there was any com-
munication .”
I said that I was inclined to believe that the people I had met were
not of the same race as the blacks, their colour was much lighter, I
said, and they had some curious knowledge .
Mr . Fetherstone looked at me with some anxiety and suspicion,
and the same evening I heard him say to Tim . Blundell that people
who wandered among the blacks often got off their heads for a while .
After that I held my peace .
In about six weeks Jack was able to travel, and Mr . Fetherston
gave us an escort to Port Darwin .
After about ten days there, we were so fortunate as to get a pas-
sage to King George’s Sound in a Governmen
t steamer . We reached
Adelaide about the first week in September.
CONCLUSION.
My story is told now, and there is no occasion to detain you much
longer . Our life ever since we came back to Adelaide, until the visit
to Gippsland which led to the writing of this book, was all of a piece .
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 572
It was all spent in Australia and Tasmania . We did some squatting,
and we just glanced at agricultural and mining life . In every year
we spent some weeks in town, and we made some acquaintance
everywhere . But we settled down to nothing . We became very little
richer, but no poorer . We seldom talked about our adventures to each
other, and never to anyone else . But I think they were always more
or less in our minds and kept us unsettled .
Sometimes when we seemed to be forgetting them, or when their
effect upon us appeared to be passing away, something or other
would happen to revive their memory and unsettle us again .
Once, for instance, I was in Sydney with Jack making arrange-
ments for the purchase of a share in a small station . I was dining out
one evening on the North Shore and as it chanced Jack was not with
me . There was a physician of the company who was a clever talker,
and after the ladies had gone away we got him to tell us some of his
Australian experiences, which were curious and varied . He told us
among other things that he was employed by Government to make a
report on some cases in Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum . After he had
examined these eases the superintendent of the asylum said,
“By the bye, doctor, I have a queer fellow here that I sometimes
think ought not to be here at all . He is an interesting fellow, too, and
I should be much obliged if you would have a look at him .”
“I did have a look at him,” said the physician, “and I found him
just a steady old bush hand, with an uncommon degree of intel-
ligence and good sense, and a lot of information about the country
and the aborigines . I was just wondering what on earth they could
have sent him here for when he told me with the gravest face the
following story:—He had been more than a year among the blacks
and he did no know how he was to get back to his own people . It was
away in the north-west somewhere, the far north-west . Well, one
day, he said, there was a sort of panic among the blacks, he didn’t