CHAPTER NINE.
Darkness was coming on, but we had still light sufficient to see ourway, and should we not come up with the bushrangers at once, they mightbe off, and we should find it a hard matter to overtake them. We hadgone on for some minutes, expecting every instant to discover them, whenToby stopped.
"Dey dare," he said, pointing to a rocky knoll which rose just above thewood through which we were making our way. The reason they had notmounted their horses was now apparent, for we caught sight of theanimals scampering away in the distance. The outlaws had probably takenup this position under the idea that they could effectually defendthemselves against us, evidently not knowing the numbers composing ourparty. The instant we emerged from among the trees, several bulletscame flying past our heads. By a simultaneous impulse we fired inreturn.
"On, on! before they have time to reload," cried Bracewell.
We dashed forward with our pistols in our hands. When we reached theknoll, not a man was to be seen on his feet, but three lay dead or dyingamong the rocks. At that instant a fourth sprang up with a rifle in hishand with which he was taking aim at Bracewell, when, before he had timeto pull the trigger, the overseer fired and he fell. I had recognisedVinson, and as I rode up, I observed the look of agony and despair whichoverspread the countenance of my former school-fellow. I think he musthave known me, but he was unable to speak, and before I could dismounthe had ceased to breathe.
It was a sad end of a mis-spent life, and yet at one time Cyril Vinsonwas one of the most admired and sought after in a fashionable circle.Among the bodies we discovered that of the big bushranger, while wefound that of the man who first fired a short distance from the knoll,where he had fallen and died before he had been able to reach hiscompanions.
One of the gang only escaped, but Toby declined to go in search of himuntil the following morning, as he could not, he said, traverse theforest at night.
At daylight we followed him up, but found that he had managed to catchone of the horses, and for the time had made good his escape.
We got back to the station the next day. The information we brought ofthe destruction of the long dreaded gang, caused no small satisfactionto our neighbours. Some weeks afterwards the body of the bushranger whohad escaped was discovered in a state of emaciation, showing that hemust have been starved to death.
Although there is generally work enough on an Australian station tooccupy everybody, we made frequent excursions to hunt kangaroo, dingoes,and emus. Mr Strong, however, objected to the younger members of hisfamily expending the large amount of powder and shot they were apt tofire away. He would allow them, he said, only the use of bows andarrows, promising, however, to give each a rifle when they could bring aparrot down on the wing, an emu running, or a kangaroo bounding over theground. We therefore employed ourselves during the longer evenings ofwinter in manufacturing bows and feathering a large supply of arrows,for both of which objects we found suitable material.
We were in the meantime daily gaining experience in all farmingoperations which would prove of the greatest value when we should havecharge of a station on our own account.
I had long promised to make a hunting trip with Hector and his two youngbrothers, Oliver and Ralph. As soon as our weapons were finished we setoff, accompanied by Toby, who, since the courage he had displayed incapturing the bushrangers, had become a person of no small importance.I took the liberty, however, of carrying my rifle, as Hector also didhis. We agreed to camp out for one or two nights, or as long as theflour and biscuits in our wallets would last.
It is usual to hunt the emu on horseback with dogs, when the bird ispursued until the dogs can get up to it, and seizing it by the throatdrag it down. We, however, hoped with Toby's assistance to stalk it asthe natives are in the habit of doing, and for this purpose our bows andarrows were likely to prove as efficient weapons as rifles, the reportof which would be certain to drive the birds away from the spot wherethey were feeding; whereas the silent arrow might bring down one withoutfrightening the others.
We tramped over many weary miles till we reached the edge of a largeplain known to be frequented by emus, far beyond any of the sheep-runs.On one side it was bounded by an extensive scrub, which beingfortunately to leeward, we hoped by creeping along under its cover toget within reach of the birds. We had proceeded some way when we caughtsight of several, but they were all feeding too far off to give us anyhope of shooting them without showing ourselves. Had we been mounted wemight have been able to run down two or three, but being on foot, ourbest chance was to wait in ambush until some unwary bird got withinrange of our arrows. My idea was that, if we could shoot one, theothers, from curiosity, would come to see what was the matter.
We accordingly agreed to wait patiently until we were certain of hittingour "quarry." Toby set us a good example by taking post behind a bush,where he stood looking like a bronze statue well blackened by Londonsmoke.
Had two or three emus come near enough, I do not think that Hector and Icould have resisted the temptation to use our rifles. Not a sound washeard, except when an emu uttered its hollow, booming note, as ifcarrying on a conversation with its mate. At length one of the noblebirds came stalking up directly towards where we lay hid. It was fullyseven feet in height, with powerful, stout legs, while its wings were sosmall that they could not be distinguished from its lightish brown andgrey plumage. It got up to within twenty yards, when Oliver and Ralph,unable longer to restrain their eagerness, leapt to their feet, and senta couple of shafts into its body. The emu, seeing them, turned tail,and off it went at a rapid rate. Influenced by a natural impulse, theystarted off in chase, instead of getting under cover and watching forthe chance of another bird coming up to it. Toby also sprang out frombehind a tree, and Hector and I followed, trusting that the arrows hadstruck deep enough, if not mortally to wound the emu, at all events, toprevent its keeping up the pace at which it was going. Our plucky youngcompanions were fixing fresh arrows to their strings as they ran on,while Toby, bounding over the ground, promised soon to come up with thewounded bird. What had become of the other emus, I could not see; and Ihad to look where I was stepping, for fear of toppling down on my nose.I do not think I ever ran faster in my life. The emu kept on, but stillit did not gain upon us sufficiently fast to make us abandon the hope ofcoming up with it. At length its pace became slower, and Oliver, whowas leading, sent another arrow into its body. It went off again onfeeling the pain, faster than ever; but before long, once more slackenedits speed, though it still managed to keep ahead. A pretty long chaseit led us altogether, still the excitement and prospect of catching itat last induced us to proceed, Oliver and Ralph shouting and hallooingin high glee, as they dashed over the ground, while Toby held his axeready to give it a finishing blow as soon as he could get up to it. Iwas but a short distance behind the others, and supposed that Hector wasfollowing me; but at last the hard-pressed emu showed evident signs ofgiving in, and Oliver was springing towards it, when Toby shouted--
"Take care, him give kick one side!"
Fortunately Oliver followed this advice, when, in spite of its hurts,the bird struck out so furiously behind and on one side, that it wouldhave broken his leg, or have inflicted a dangerous wound, had it struckhim.
The black now, getting in front of it, threw the axe with so sure anaim, that the bird, its head almost cleft in two, fell dead to theground.
The two boys uttered a shout of triumph, in which I joined. I expectedto hear Hector's voice, but on looking round he was nowhere to be seen.What had become of him, neither his brothers nor the black could say.We were afraid that he must have hurt his foot, or fallen and beenunable to follow. We could scarcely calculate how far we had come.Oliver declared that it must have been five miles at least; but I didnot think the distance was nearly so much. The question was now, whatto do with our emu while we went back in search of Hector, as we wereunwilling to abandon so valuable a prize to the dingoes, who were verylikely to find it
out. Fortunately there were some bushes near whichwould afford fuel for a fire, and Toby consented to camp on the spot,while we returned to look for our companion.
I should have said that Guy and Bracewell had promised to ride after usthe next morning with a spare horse or two, to carry back the spoils ofthe chase. I knew that they would come, although they had expressedgreat doubt whether we should have any game to carry home. They hadsettled to meet us at a spot with which Hector was acquainted; but if hewere lost we should be unable to find it.
After we had taken some rest and food we set off, leaving Toby to skinand cut up the emu.
We had spent so much time in the chase, that it began to grow darkbefore we had got a mile on our way; still, as we had a compass with us,we were able to keep in the right direction.
"As the moon is about to rise, we shall soon be able to see our way,"said Oliver; "but what can have happened to Hector?"
No one was able to answer that question. As we went on we shouted outhis name, but no reply came, and I began to feel very uneasy. I thoughtthat I had seen him certainly close to the point we had now reached.
I twice fired off my rifle, but listened in vain for the report of his.I now began to regret that we had not brought Toby with us, for he wouldhave been far more likely to find him than we were.
His brothers were almost in despair.
"We had better go back and get Toby," exclaimed Oliver.
"Something dreadful must have happened. Perhaps he has been bitten by apoisonous snake, or kicked by an emu," said Ralph.
"Unless a mob of blacks have been hiding in the scrub and tracked us," Iremarked.
"But then I don't see how they could have overtaken him without ourseeing them," said Oliver.
At last it became so dark that we found it impossible to proceed, and itwas proposed to halt until the moon should rise, when we should betterbe able to find our way.
We accordingly sat down on the ground to wait until the pale luminary ofnight could give us her light.
She rose even sooner than we had expected.
"Hurrah!" cried Oliver, "it will soon be almost as light as day, andunless Hector has fallen asleep, we shall find him."
We accordingly went on, shouting out as before. Presently my footslipped into a hole, and I very nearly dislocated my ankle.
"What could have made that hole?" I exclaimed.
"Wombats, I've a notion," answered Oliver. "Look, there's one of thecreatures!" As he spoke we saw an animal like a small bear waddlingalong over the ground. Presently we caught sight of another andanother. We had evidently got into a colony of the creatures.
"I wonder we did not come across these when we were running after theemu," I observed. "I am afraid that we have got out of our way."
"We must have been close on one side or the other, for I'm certain thatwe were at no great distance from this," answered Oliver.
"Hector, Hector!" he shouted.
"Listen!" cried Ralph: "I heard a voice. It came from the right--it'snot far off there!"
Again we shouted, when listening attentively we all three heard a replyand felt sure that we were not mistaken as to the direction from whichit came.
On making our way towards the spot we caught sight of a dozen or morewombats, and presently of the head and arms of a person rising above theground.
"That must be Hector! Hector, Hector, is it you?" shouted Oliver.
"Yes, yes! make haste or I shall tumble back again," was the answer.
We sprang forward and caught him by the arms; when, all three haulingaway, we quickly dragged him out of a large hole into which he hadfallen.
"Take care," he said. "I cannot stand--I sprained my ankle when fallinginto the hole, and the pain was so great that I believe I must havefainted. When I came to myself, I found that it was perfectly dark, andno sooner had I managed to reach the top of the hole than a whole herdof those wombats came sniffing round me, wondering what strange creaturehad got among them. I shouldn't have minded them, had they not tried tobite my hands and compelled me to let go again."
The wombats, on our appearance, had waddled off, so that they did notinterfere with us while we were attending to Hector.
On his trying to use his foot he found that his ankle was not so muchinjured as he had supposed, and that by supporting himself on ourshoulders he could manage to hobble along. He therefore very willinglyagreed to try and get back to the camp.
"But what has become of your gun?" I asked; "can you remember where youleft it?"
"I'm sure I don't know," answered Hector; "I had it in my hand when Ifell, but when I felt about for it I could nowhere find it."
We searched for the rifle round the hole and at last came to theconclusion that it must have fallen in.
Ralph offered to descend.
He got down without difficulty and soon cried out that he had found therifle at the bottom. "Stay, I have found something else," he added ashe handed up the rifle. "While I was groping about, my hand came incontact with two hairy creatures. Here they are!" and stooping downagain he hauled out two young wombats. We speedily knocked them on thehead, agreeing that they would make a very good roast for supper.
We should have been puzzled to know how the big wombat got out of thehole, had not Ralph told us that he had found a passage sloping upwardsto a smaller entrance some distance off.
As the two small wombats might not prove sufficient for all hands I shota big fellow which measured nearly three feet in length, and was coveredwith a thick hairy coat.
Ralph undertook to carry it on his shoulders, while Oliver and Isupported Hector.
We now lost no time in making our way back to the camp. Our progresswas of necessity slow, but we reached it at last, having been guidedduring the latter part of the distance by the bright flames of Toby'sfire.
We immediately set to work to cook the wombat. Toby however hadsatisfied his hunger on the flesh of the emu, though he managed after alittle rest to devour no small portion of the meat we had brought.
We then lay down to sleep, pretty well tired by the fatigue we had gonethrough. To our dismay Hector was utterly unable to walk the nextmorning, but fortunately our friends discovered us on their way to therendezvous, and he mounting one of the horses we set off for home. Wecarried with us the emu, which it was calculated would yield between sixand seven quarts of fine oil. It is for the sake of this valuableproduct that the bird is generally hunted.
Hector very good-naturedly bore the bantering of the rest of the partyon the subject of his adventure among the wombats.
We had ridden some distance across the open country, when we observedahead what looked like a dense black mist in the far distance above thescrub.
"What can that be?" I asked of Bracewell.
"I don't like its appearance," he answered. "I fear that the bush is onfire, and if so it is impossible to say where it will stop. It appearsto be at no great distance from the station. What do you think,Hector?"
"I'm sure it's very near," he answered hurriedly; "and during this dryweather the rapidity with which it spreads is extraordinary. Push on,all of you; don't mind me, I can be of no use with this lame foot, butyou may still be in time to assist in saving our dear ones at homeshould the fire reach the house. Here, Maurice, do you mount my horse,and I'll get on the animal carrying the emu; there's not a moment tolose."
I willingly acted according to his suggestion; and, leaving him with histwo younger brothers and Toby, Bracewell, Guy, and I galloped forward.
Bracewell appeared more agitated than I had ever seen him before. Hehad been paying great attention to Mary Strong, and the thought nowoccurred to him that she was in danger. While we were dashing on ashard as we could go, it appeared to us that the conflagration wasrapidly extending. Already dense wreaths of smoke, rising towards thesky, formed a thick canopy overhead; while we could see every now andthen the bright flames darting upwards above the intervening bush assome tall tree was wrapped in thei
r embrace.
It was very evident that the homestead was in the greatest danger, evenif it was not already encircled in flames; and although the inmatesmight have made their escape, we could not tell in what direction theyhad fled. They would have endeavoured to save as much of their propertyas possible from destruction, and Bracewell's fears conjured up thedreadful idea that they might have been caught by the rapidly advancingfoe before they could reach a place of safety.
With whip and spur we urged on our animals. We had as yet seen no oneto tell us in what direction our friends had gone. There was a streamto the left, used in the shearing season for washing the sheep, andBracewell hoped that they might have made their way to it.
The intervening ground was free of trees, and the grass had been croppedso low that the fire was not likely to make much progress over it. Theymight, however, still be at the house, and towards it we directed ourcourse.
As we galloped up what was our dismay to find it on fire, while theoutbuildings were nearly burnt to the ground! We dashed up shouting toour friends, but no one replied.
"They must have gone across the stream," cried Bracewell; and turningour horses' heads we rode furiously on through the flames which hadalready caught the bushes on either side of us. After shouting againand again it was with unspeakable thankfulness that we heard our shoutsanswered, and dashing across the stream, we found the family assembledon a spot where the fire was not likely to reach.
Mary was on her palfrey, her father standing by her side endeavouring toquiet her alarm, while Mrs Strong with the children and young peoplewere seated on the ground among such articles as they had been able tosave.
Our arrival greatly relieved their anxiety, for they had fancied that weand the boys might have been passing through a part of the wood in whichthe fire had been raging.
The flames spread to the east and the west, but having nothing to feedon near the stream they fortunately did not cross to the side on whichwe had taken refuge.
The fire continued to rage long after darkness had come on, and grandand terrible was the spectacle it exhibited. We watched it anxiouslynot knowing how far it might extend. I was much struck with the calmway in which Mr Strong endured his hard fortune. Not a murmur escapedhis lips, but over and over again he expressed his gratitude to Heavenfor having preserved all those dear to him from injury.
Under his directions we all turned to and put up some huts for theladies, in which they passed the night. Mercifully towards morning aheavy fall of rain came on and extinguished the fire almost as suddenlyas it had begun.
Next morning Mr Strong set about ascertaining his losses and withwonderful energy took steps to repair them.
Bracewell invited the family to take up their abode at his hut untiltheir new house was ready to receive them, and they immediately set offin one of the waggons which had escaped.
Guy and I, with the young Strongs, worked with the farm hands frommorning till night, in putting up fences and rebuilding the house; andin a wonderfully short time the station, which had become little morethan a mass of ruins, began to assume a habitable aspect.
Though we worked without wages the knowledge we gained was of thegreatest value to us in our subsequent career. In a year or two ourworthy cousin had completely recovered from the heavy losses he hadsustained.
Bracewell before long became the husband of Mary Strong.
The proprietor of the next station to his wishing to sell out, we,assisted by him, were able to purchase it; and as soon as we had got upa tolerable residence, we sent to the old country for our mother andsisters; and I may honestly say we have had no cause to regret havingfixed our home in Australia.
THE END.
Adventures in Australia Page 9