AN ADVENTURE
SUNDAY 3.--A fine morning. After our usual service Frank, my brother,
and myself, determined on an exploring expedition, and off we went,
leaving the dinner in the charge of the others. We left the busy throng
of the diggers far behind us, and wandered into spots where the sound
of the pick and shovel, or the noise of human traffic, had never
penetrated. The scene and the day were in unison; all was harmonious,
majestic, and serene. Those mighty forests, hushed in a sombre and
awful silence; those ranges of undulating hill and dale never yet
trodden by the foot of man; the soft still air, so still that
it left every leaf unruffled, flung an intensity of awe over our
feelings, and led us from the contemplation of nature to worship
nature's God.
We sat in silence for some while deeply impressed by all around us,
and, whilst still sitting and gazing there, a change almost
imperceptibly came over the face of both earth and sky. The forest
swayed to and fro, a sighing moaning sound was borne upon the wind, and
a noise as of the rush of waters, dark massive clouds rolled over the
sky till the bright blue heavens were completely hidden, and then, ere
we had recovered from our first alarm and bewilderment, the storm in
its unmitigated fury burst upon us. The rain fell in torrents, and we
knew not where to turn.
Taking me between them, they succeeded in reaching an immense shea-oak,
under which we hoped to find some shelter till the violence of the rain
had diminished; nor where we disappointed, though it was long before we
could venture to leave our place of refuge. At length however, we did
so, and endeavoured to find our way back to Eagle Hawk Gully. Hopeless
task! The ground was so slippery, it was as much as we could do
to walk without falling; the mud and dirt clung to our boots, and a
heavy rain beat against our faces and nearly blinded us.
"It is clearing up to windward," observed Frank; "another half-hour and
the rain will be all but over; let us return to our tree again."
We did so. Frank was correct; in less than the time he had specified a
slight drizzling rain was all of the storm that remained.
With much less difficulty we again attempted to return home, but before
very long we made the startling discovery that we had completely lost
our way, and to add to our misfortune the small pocket-compass, which
Frank had brought with him, and which would have now so greatly
assisted us, was missing, most probably dropped from his pocket during
the skirmish to get under shelter. We still wandered along till stopped
by the shades of evening, which came upon us--there is little or no
twilight in Australia.
We seated ourselves upon the trunk of a fallen tree, wet, hungry, and,
worst of all, ignorant of where we were. Shivering with cold,
and our wet garments hanging most uncomfortably around us, we
endeavoured to console one another by reflecting that the next morning
we could not fail to reach our tents. The rain had entirely ceased, and
providentially for us the night was pitch dark--I say providentially,
because after having remained for two hours in this wretched plight a
small light in the distance became suddenly visible to us all, so
distant, that but for the intensity of the darkness it might have
passed unnoticed. "Thank God!" simultaneously burst from our lips.
"Let us hasten there," cried Frank, "a whole night like this may be
your sister's death and would ruin the constitution of a giant."
To this we gladly acceded, and were greatly encouraged by perceiving
that the light remained stationary. But it was a perilous undertaking.
Luckily my brother had managed to get hold of a long stick with which
he sounded the way, for either large stones or water-holes would have
been awkward customers in the dark; wonderful to relate we escaped
both, and when within hailing distance of the light, which we perceived
came from a torch hold by some one, we shouted with all our
remaining strength, but without diminishing our exertions to reach it.
Soon--with feelings that only those who have encountered similar dangers
can understand--answering voices fell upon our ears. Eagerly we pressed
forward, and in the excitement of the moment we relinquished all hold
of one another, and attempted to wade through the mud singly.
"Stop! halt!" shouted more than one stentorian voice; but the warning
came too late. My feet slipped--a sharp pain succeeded by a sudden
chill--a feeling of suffocation--of my head being ready to burst--and I
remembered no more.
When I recovered consciousness it was late in the morning, for the
bright sun shone upon the ground through the crevices of a sail cloth
tent, and so different was all that met my eyes to the dismal scene
through which I had so lately passed, and which yet haunted my memory,
that I felt that sweet feeling of relief which we experience when,
waking from some horrid vision, we become convinced how unsubstantial
are its terrors, and are ready to smile at the pain they excited.
That I was in a strange place became quickly evident, and among the
distant hum of voices which ever and anon broke the silence not one
familiar tone could I recognize. I endeavoured to raise myself so as to
hear more distinctly, and then it was that an acute pain in the ankle
of the right foot, gave me pretty strong evidence as to the reality of
the last night's adventures. I was forced to lie down again, but not
before I had espied a hand-bell which lay within reach on a small
barrel near my bed. Determined as far as possible to fathom the
mystery, I rang a loud peal with it, not doubting but what it would
bring my brother to me. My surprise and delight may be easier imagined
than described, when, as though in obedience to my summons, I saw a
small white hand push aside the canvas at one corner of the tent, and
one of my own sex entered.
She was young and fair; her step was soft and her voice most musically
gentle. Her eyes were a deep blue, and a rich brown was the colour of
her hair, which she wore in very short curls all round her head and
parted on one side, which almost gave her the appearance of a pretty
boy.
These little particulars I noticed afterwards; at that time I only felt
that her gentle voice and kind friendliness of manner inexpressibly
soothed me.
After having bathed my ankle, which I found to be badly sprained and
cut, she related, as far as she was acquainted with them, the events
the previous evening. I learnt that these tents belonged to a party
from England, of one of whom she was the wife, and the tent in which I
lay was her apartment. They had not been long at the diggings, and
preferred the spot where they were to the more frequented parts.
The storm of yesterday had passed over them without doing much damage,
and as their tents were well painted over the tops, they managed to
keep themselves tolerably dry; but later in the evening, owing to the
softness of the ground, one of the side-posts partly gave way, which
aroused them all, and torches were lit, and every one busied in trying
to prop it up till morning. Whilst thus engaged they heard our voices
calling for help. They answered, at the same time getting ready some
more torches before, advancing to meet us, as there were
several pit-holes between us and them. Their call for us to remain
stationary came too late to save me from slipping into one of their
pits, thereby spraining my ankle and otherwise hurting myself, besides
being buried to my forehead in mud and water. The pit was not quite
five feet deep, but, unfortunately for myself in this instance, I
belong to the pocket edition of the feminine sex. They soon extricated
me from this perilous situation, and carried me to their tents, where,
by the assistance of my new friend, I was divested of the mud that
still clung to me, and placed into bed.
Before morning the storm, which we all thought had passed over, burst
forth with redoubled fury; the flashes of lightning were succeeded by
loud peals of thunder, and the rain came splashing down. Their tents
were situated on a slight rise, or they would have run great risk of
being washed away; every hole was filled with water, and the shea-oak,
of whose friendly shelter we had availed ourselves the evening before,
was struck by lightning, shivered into a thousand pieces. After a while
the storm abated, and the warm sun and a drying wind were quickly
removing all traces of it.
Frank and my brother, after an early breakfast, had set out for Eagle
Hawk Gully under the guidance of my fair friend's husband, who knew the
road thither very well; it was only three miles distant. He was to
bring back with him a change of clothing for me, as his wife had
persuaded my brother to leave me in her charge until I had quite
recovered from the effects of the accident, "which he more readily
promised," she observed, "as we are not quite strangers, having met
once before."
This awakened my curiosity, and I would not rest satisfied till fully
acquainted with the how, when, and where. Subsequently she related to
me some portion of the history of her life, which it will be no breach
of confidence to repeat here.
Short as it is, however, it is deserving of another chapter.