"I scarcely like to make the proposal I am about to do, and yet perhaps
you will not object. If you will consent to remain in camp here and
allow me to take one of your horses, I will ride forward and bring a
couple of fresh ones from my station. Should you not do this I must
insist on walking, though I shall of necessity delay you. I confess
also, that I am anxious to give notice that the bushrangers are abroad,
or they may be visiting my hut or some of my neighbours, and carry off
arms and ammunition, which is chiefly what they come after, for they
don't find much else than food in the shepherds' huts."
"Pray do as you think best," said Guy, "I am sure Maurice will agree
with me that we should not at all mind remaining stationary for a few
hours, nor will our other horses, which require rest."
I thought the plan a good one, and before the day had actually broken,
Bracewell mounted my horse and away he rode at a rate which assured us
that we should not be long alone. As Toby had plenty of food, he did
not grumble at the delay, but sat himself down contentedly at the fire
which he promised to keep alight, while we took our guns and went to
shoot some birds or a kangaroo if we could see one.
The great drawback to a traveller in a hot country is the impossibility
of preserving fresh meat, which exposed to the sun quickly becomes
uneatable. What we killed one day was therefore unfit for food the
next, and we had each morning to shoot some more game, or content
ourselves with damper and tea.
We had already become pretty skilful in baking damper, which consists
simply of flour and water, kneaded on a board, and baked in the form of
a large biscuit under the ashes.
We saw several kangaroos, but they bounded away before we could get near
enough to shoot them, and had to content ourselves as before with a
couple of parrots and as many pigeons, which was an ample supply, for
although the over-high kangaroo meat did not suit our palates, Toby had
no objection to it.
We had been shooting for some time, and were making our way back to
camp, when we caught sight in the distance of three horsemen, their
heads and those of their steeds, occasionally appearing above the
brushwood. They appeared to be coming towards us.
At first we thought that they must be Bracewell and two companions; but
as we could make out no led horses, and they were not approaching from
the direction he would appear, we concluded that they must be strangers.
"What if they should be bushrangers?" said Guy. "If they catch Toby
alone they are certain to carry off our baggage and horses, and will
probably shoot him to prevent him giving information."
"The sooner we get back to camp the better," I answered.
We hurried on, keeping ourselves concealed as much as possible. "It
would be prudent to load our guns with ball," said Guy; "the fellows
won't know that we suspect them, and may think that they can stick us up
with perfect ease."
Fortunately our horses were close to the camp, and as soon as we reached
it we sent Toby to bring them in, not telling him that we suspected the
character of the strangers. As they approached we anxiously examined
their appearance, which was certainly not in their favour. They were
savage-looking fellows with long beards, their unkempt hair hanging over
their shoulders. They pulled up suddenly when they saw us standing with
our backs to a couple of large trees, our baggage and saddles piled on
the ground, and Toby holding our horses.
"What is your pleasure, friends?" asked Guy. The fellows examined us
without answering.
"You look as if you'd know us again should we come across you," said
Guy. "Just take my advice. Ride on and leave us to cook our dinner."
"Who are you, young chaps, and where are you going?" inquired one of the
horsemen, who from his appearance we concluded was the leader of the
party.
"We are going our own way and are not inclined to give that information
to those who have no authority to ask it," replied Guy in a firm voice.
"Did you fall in with a young fellow who had been stuck up by
bushrangers?" inquired the man.
The question convinced us that we were not mistaken as to the character
of our visitors.
"I have just told you that we are not going to answer any questions from
those who have no right to put them," said Guy.
"Oh, oh, oh!" cried the man, making a movement as if he was about to
unsling his gun.
"If you do that, I'll fire," shouted Guy. "Our rifles are loaded with
ball; now ride on, we do not wish to take your lives, but we have no
intention of being stuck up."
During this conversation I was looking at the other two fellows, who had
not spoken but seemed to be waiting until their chief gave a sign to
them to act. As my eye ranged over the countenance of one of them, it
struck me forcibly that I had seen the man before, but when or where, I
could not recollect. He was evidently very young, for while the faces
of the others were covered with hair, he had but a small moustache on
his lips, but exposure to the hot sun had so tanned his complexion, that
had he been an intimate friend I might have failed to recognise him. He
looked at me and then at my brother, whose attention was occupied by the
older bushranger and did not notice him as I was doing.
"Oh, oh, oh!" exclaimed the man, after the warning Guy had given him;
and, without saying another word, he and his companions turned their
horses' heads and rode away in the direction from whence they had come.
Probably they had been attracted by the smoke of our fire, and expected
to find some travellers unprepared for them; so we should have been had
we not fallen in with Bracewell, and should certainly have lost our
baggage and horses, and perhaps our lives.
"We have had a narrow escape, for there is no doubt about those fellows
being bushrangers," I observed to Guy.
"Not the slightest," replied my brother. "I felt that there was only
one way to deal with them. Had we shown the slightest hesitation or
nervousness, they would have attempted to frighten us into submission."
"Did you notice the countenance of one of the others?" I asked. "I
could not help fancying that I knew it well. If it were not so very
improbable, I should say that it was that of a fellow I remember at
school when I first went there. I wish that you had observed him, for
as you must have known him better than I did, you would have been more
sure about the matter."
"What, do you mean the youngest of the three?" asked Guy. "The fact is
I did note him. It struck me that he was wonderfully like a fellow I
always stood clear of, though he especially tried to make friends with
me. If you remember the name of the person you think he was, tell me,
and I shall better be able to judge whether I am right."
"I am nearly certain then that it was Cyril Vinson."
"You are right," answered Guy. "He was a clever fellow without a
particle of principle; and I remember hearing it reported some time
after he left school, that he had committed forgery, and that, although
he was not convicted, his friends had sent him out of the country."
We talked over the matter, and agreed that it was very strange we should
so soon after our arrival in the country have fallen in, under such
extraordinary circumstances, with two old school-fellows.
The day passed by without another visit, either from the bushrangers or
the blacks. As may be supposed, we kept a remarkably bright look-out
during the night. Either Guy or I remained awake, walking up and down
in the neighbourhood of our camp-fire. Directly the bells on the necks
of our horses sounded faint, we sent out Toby to drive them in, that we
might run as little risk as possible of their being carried off.
Bracewell had told us that sometimes natives stole up and speared the
horses at night, or tried to drive them away from the camp, though they
might not venture to attack their owners. We had chiefly therefore to
fear a trick of this sort being played us, but it was almost impossible
to guard against the horses being surprised during the darkness, should
they be at any distance from the camp.
As those we had fallen in with appeared to be friendly, we hoped that we
should escape so unpleasant a loss.
As the next day passed on we looked at our watches, anxiously expecting
Bracewell. With the chance of another visit from the bushrangers, we
did not like to go far from the camp; but we shot as many birds as we
wanted, though Toby would have been happier had we brought him a
kangaroo, that he might gorge himself to his heart's content.
As I had been awake so much during the night, I felt very sleepy, and
had thrown myself on the ground to get some rest, when I heard Guy say--
"Here come a couple of horsemen, but whether they are Bracewell and a
companion, or the bushrangers returning, I cannot say. At all events we
must be prepared for them."
I sprang to my feet, and Toby was sent to bring in the horses. Our
apprehensions of another visit from the bushrangers were soon set at
rest when we recognised Bracewell, who was followed by another man
leading a spare horse.
"I am sorry to have kept you so long," he exclaimed, as he threw himself
from his steed. "Our horses had strayed, frightened by the blacks, who
have killed one of them. If we come across the fellows they must look
out for broken heads in consequence. However, Bob and I succeeded in
catching three, and then lost no time in coming to you."
When we told him of the visit we had received from the bushrangers, he
exclaimed:--
"We must run those fellows down. It is too bad that we should be unable
to ride in security through the country without the risk of being
robbed, perhaps murdered, by such villains."
We immediately saddled our horses, packed our traps on our baggage
animal, and prepared to go forward under Bracewell's guidance. Old Bob,
his hut-keeper and factotum, dropped behind to drive on the
baggage-horse at a greater speed than Toby was inclined to move. I
heard him talking to the black in a lingo which was utterly
incomprehensible to me.
Bracewell was much astonished when Guy told him that we had recognised
Cyril Vinson among the bushrangers. We were once more, on account of
the slow pace of our baggage-horse, compelled to camp, but as Bracewell
wished to get back to his hut that night, he rode forward, leaving old
Bob to guide us in the morning. Old Bob undertook to keep watch, and as
he did not look like a man who would go to sleep while so engaged, we
were able to rest securely.
It was nearly evening the next day when we caught sight of the huts
forming our friend's station. He came forward to meet us.
"I expected you somewhat sooner," he said. "As Bob was away, I was
engaged in performing one of his duties--feeding the inhabitants of my
farm-yard. I have a curious lot, which I have caught and tamed at
different times. Here they are, come and have a look at them."
And he led the way to an enclosure with a hut on one side of it. As he
stooped down, ducks and fowls rushed forward to obtain the food he held
in his hand, the pigs came grunting up, and several long-legged birds--
storks I believe they were--stood by waiting for their share, numerous
parrots and parroquets were perched on the railings, as tame as the
barn-door fowls, while a laughing-jackass looked on complacently from an
overhanging bough, every now and then uttering its strange notes.
Bracewell directed Bob to finish feeding the birds, and ushered us into
the hut. It was about thirty feet long and twelve wide, roughly built
with a verandah in front, and contained a centre room and one on either
side. The interior was far neater than I had expected from the
appearance of the outside, and was furnished with tables and chairs, and
several cupboards and some book-shelves; the walls were ornamented with
a few pictures and native weapons, while two spare guns and some pistols
were against them. A couple of large Scotch deer hounds of a
badger-like colour accompanied their master. They were intelligent,
powerful-looking animals, and were used, he told us, for hunting the
kangaroo. Before a fire in a smaller hut on one side of the main
building, two joints of mutton were roasting.
"I can give you but bush fare," said our host, "mutton, damper, and tea;
for of wine and spirits I have none, with the exception of a bottle of
brandy, which I keep safely locked up for reasons which I will explain
to you."
Besides the large hut I have described there were two smaller ones and a
shed, which served as a stable and cowhouse. Near them was an enclosed
field and small kitchen-garden, such as is not often seen at an
Australian cattle or sheep station. To the west was a thick wood, which
afforded shelter from the winds blowing at times hot and sand-laden from
the interior; while in front was a slight dip, at the bottom of which
was the bed of a river, but through it a trickling stream alone at
present found its way to the eastward. Here and there appeared groves
of acacias, while as far as the eye could reach in every other direction
were grassy downs, scattered over which we caught sight of a
considerable herd of sheep wending their way homewards. Altogether,
Bracewell's station presented a more civilised aspect than any we had
fallen in with on our journey.