The Plague, Pestilence & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™

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

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  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 .

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  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 .”

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  “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 .

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  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 .

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  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

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  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 .

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  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