Edward Murray knew well enough the truth of the old clergyman's remarks
as he slowly followed Wahika back to the ruined farm, where the savage
filled his pouch with such necessaries as he had collected together,
intimating his wish that Murray should do the same; and then, once more,
they started.
Wahika led, always smoothing the way for his companion; and he pounced
from time to time, with every demonstration of satisfaction, upon some
object of utility or provision that had been cast aside by the convicts
on their march. Such as he could, he carried; the unnecessary things he
concealed by the side of the track, taking every step forward with
caution, lest too great a display of precipitancy should bring them
suddenly upon the halting-place of their enemy.
At last Murray stumbled, and then fell heavily, for exhausted nature
could do no more.
Wahika assisted him to a place that he had selected as secure; and then,
in spite of Katie's peril, Nature would have her way, and for some
hours, Edward Murray slept, to wake stiff and sore, but refreshed. The
wound on his head, too, was not so painful; and he lay for a while in
the darkness wondering how he should proceed. The only thing he could
decide upon was that they should endeavour to find out the convicts'
plan, and then try, by stratagem, to deliver their prisoners.
He touched the savage upon the shoulder, and he was upon his feet in a
moment, bringing food from his pouch, and milk from a bottle; and then,
feeling stronger and more fit to encounter the dangers before him, the
young man examined, and, for the first time, loaded his gun, the savage
nodding approval.
He would then have proceeded, but for the more wary guide, who lifted
his finger towards the dark tops of the mountains, above which the stars
still glistened, and in his broken English pointed out the advisability
of waiting for day.
And it was well that they waited; for within a mile of them, high up in
an almost inaccessible rift in the mountain side, the convicts had made
their camp, two of their number being left below to act as sentinels;
and had Murray proceeded, the chances were that he must have fallen in
with them, and perhaps have been taken by surprise.
But as day broke, the native led the way cautiously, till from certain
signs he felt convinced that the enemy was near; and motioning Murray to
wait, he glided on silently, returning in a short time to conduct the
young man with the utmost caution to the side of a rift, when he
started, for within fifty yards of him, coolly smoking and talking, sat
a couple of the convicts.
His start did not pass unheard, and the men glanced in their direction;
but Wahika had chosen a well-sheltered spot, and after a few minutes'
anxious peering about, they were apparently satisfied, and resumed their
seats upon a block of stone.
A motion of the savage's hand made Murray draw back behind a dense mass
of foliage; and then, from his knowledge of the country, intuitively
guessing where the party would be, he led his companion for some
distance back, and began climbing slowly up and up a way that seemed
almost impracticable; the savage uttering more than one half-suppressed
exclamation of surprise on finding that the vines and rope-like creepers
were, in more than one place, broken away, as though some one had lately
passed in that direction; for he did not recall that, a few hours
before, he had given an invaluable lesson to another in the art of
scaling these natural fortresses. The marks though were unnoticed by
Murray, who climbed on and on, till compelled to rest; and then once
more on till they reached a point where they could creep to the edge of
a precipice; and peering between the fern-leaves, gazed down into a
cuplike chasm, where, to the number of twenty or so, the convicts were
gathered, some eating, some smoking and drinking, and so near that their
voices could be plainly heard.
The savage laughed his satisfaction at the success of his quest; and
then, clutching his companion by the shoulder, drew him back behind a
screen of foliage; for his quick ear had caught the sound of rustling
branches, then a slip as of some one descending from above; a stone fell
too, struck the shelf where they had stood but a moment before,
rebounded, and plunged down into the leafy sea far beneath.
The savage grasped his club, and his eyes glistened, while the
click-click of Murray's gunlock told that he too was prepared; but club
and gun were lowered when, the next moment, the pale and scared face of
Anthony Bray cautiously appeared from amidst the leaves, which he parted
with the barrel of the gun he carried; and then, apparently knowing of
the proximity of the convicts, he crawled to the edge of the precipice,
and lay there watching them, till he uttered a cry of terror as Wahika
glided to his side, and laid his hand upon his arm.
The next instant he had caught sight of Murray, and as the young men's
eyes met, Bray read in the stern glance that his treachery was known.
Their greeting was sullen. There was no brotherly grasp of the hand, as
between two men meeting after being engaged in the same cause, and
escaping from a fearful death. But they knew that this was no time for
personal enmity, and Murray was the first to speak.
"We are bound on the same mission, Mr Bray, and cannot afford to slight
each other's aid; but, by heaven, if I see the slightest offer of
treachery again, I will shoot you as I would a dog. Your purpose here
makes me forget the past; but look well to the future."
Bray muttered a few words, and then Murray crept once more to the edge
of the precipice, and looked down. He was so near that he could have
thrown a stone amongst the party; and his heart beat tumultuously as he
saw Katie sitting, clinging tightly to a woman by her side, and
apparently weeping bitterly. He was so near that it seemed quite
possible, as a last resource, that they might lie there in concealment,
and with careful aim shoot down the wretches one by one; but his better
feelings revolted against such a plan. No, they must use stratagem, and
that too as soon as the night fell; for it seemed that it would be
practicable to elude the convicts' vigilance, and to take the prisoners
from amongst them.
He crept back to Bray and Wahika, and told them his conclusions; when
the former seemed almost to resent the proposal, as if it would afford
him no pleasure should success attend their efforts; but Wahika muttered
"Good," and beckoning to them to follow, led them by a steep and rugged
path amongst the ferns, over the next shoulder of the hill, and round to
where they could look down into the chasm from the other side.
So dense was the undergrowth, and so precipitous were the rocks, that
the convicts appeared to consider themselves in complete safety; for
save at the foot of the ravine, no watch was kept, and the young men
followed the savage carefully from crag to crag, until they lay in a
chasm where they could even overhear the conversation of the ruffians;
while more than once a stifled sob from the women made Murray's heart to
burn within him.
They were now so close that it seemed almost impossible for them not to
be discovered; but hour after hour wore on, during which long
consultations were held amongst the more earnest of the men, though the
greater part seemed to give themselves wholly up to the riot and
drunkenness they considered themselves to have earned. But it seemed
that they were of divided counsels; some being for making the present
their stronghold, and setting pursuit at defiance, while they made raids
in different directions; others being for proceeding along the coast
until they could seize another vessel, and cruise from place to place.
At this juncture, Bray saw Murray's hands playing with the lock of his
gun, with whose barrel he covered one of the men whom he saw go up to
Katie where she sat; but his aspect of rage gave place to one of
surprise as he recognised the face of the convict, and saw that his
object was only to press food upon her, which, however, she waved away.
Had they, then, one friend in the camp? It seemed so; for upon a couple
of others approaching the poor girl, the first man sturdily bade them go
back, and on their refusal, placed himself before them, laughing at
their threats, whereupon they drew back; but a cold shudder ran through
Murray's frame as one of the ruffians coarsely told the poor girl's
defender to wait until night.
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