CHAPTER EIGHT.
The sergeant in command of the troopers told us that they had been sentforward in search of some bushrangers who with unaccountable hardihood,notwithstanding the capture of two of their companions, were stillcommitting their depredations in that part of the country; and thathaving accompanied Hector, who had discovered our note, they had come onto assist us in case we should be attacked by the blacks.
We all rode on together in the direction we supposed the savages to havetaken. But darkness was coming on: the sergeant soon pulled updeclaring that we might as well look for a needle in a bundle of hay, asexpect to catch one of them.
Had we had any natives with us we might have tracked them during thenight. We should now however only run the risk of losing our waywithout the slightest chance of capturing a black man.
This was very evident, and we accordingly settled to return to the campand wait until the following morning.
Hector and the dominie had brought a good supply of provisions in theirsaddle-bags, and our supper being cooked, we sat round the fire sippingour mugs of scalding tea, and fighting our battle over again.
The sergeant told us that the mob which had attacked us was said to bethe most daring in that part of the country. They had already, it wassupposed, murdered two hut-keepers and a shepherd, and had carried offlarge numbers of sheep. Without natives to track them it would beimpossible to come upon their camp so as to capture their leaders. Thepunishment they had received from us might perhaps, we thought, preventthem from committing further depredations in the neighbourhood; and thesergeant's business for the present was to hunt down the bushrangers,which was more in his way. He, as soon as he had seen us safely on ourroad, must continue his course in the direction he had been informedthey had taken.
At length we began to get drowsy, and one after the other we lay downwith our horse-cloths for bedding and our saddles for pillows.
The sergeant undertook that one of his men should keep watch, though itwas very improbable that the blacks would venture to attack us duringthe night.
I was awakened just before dawn by the "settler's clock," as thelaughing-jackass is frequently called; and lifting my head, by the lightof the still burning embers of our fire saw the dominie rubbing hiseyes, but no one else was moving. I suspected from this that the lastman on guard had gone to sleep. No sticks had been thrown on for aconsiderable time, and on counting heads I discovered that the sergeantand his troopers were all snoring loudly, and sound asleep. I bethoughtme that we would play them a trick; so quickly arousing Guy andBracewell, I proposed that we should unite our voices and give aterrific shriek as if a whole mob of black fellows were about to breakinto the camp. They agreed.
We did shriek with a vengeance, the echo resounding through the forest.The effect was electrical. Up jumped the sergeant and his men andseizing their arms prepared to receive their expected foes.
"Whereabouts are they?" exclaimed the sergeant. "Reserve your fire,until you see them," he added--a caution I should not have considerednecessary. "Did any of you gentlemen catch sight of them?" he asked.Our loud laugh told him the trick we had played. "Which of you lads waskeeping guard?" he enquired.
"I was," answered one, who had been among the loudest of the snorers,and we found that the speaker had in reality the middle watch, buthaving dropped off, had not called his relief.
We thought it best to say as little as possible about the matter, foraccording to strict military discipline, the man who goes to sleep onguard in the face of an enemy, becomes liable to the punishment ofdeath. The sergeant also, who was a good-natured fellow, was evidentlyanxious not to take too much notice of the matter.
We soon got the fire made up, and having breakfasted, we mounted androde in the direction we supposed that the blacks had taken, but exceptthe dead bodies of the men we had shot, no trace of them could wediscover. They probably could not tell whether or not we had anynatives with us, and therefore took care to leave no trail by which theycould be followed up. They might possibly have been hiding all the timein the neighbourhood, or might--contrary to their usual custom--havetravelled during the night.
After looking for an hour or more we agreed that it would be useless tosearch further and pursued our course towards Mr Strong's. Thesergeant's way for some distance lay in the same direction, and he andhis men therefore accompanied us. We had got about half way, when wesaw a white man running towards us. He appeared to be in a desperatehurry, and as he approached made signs entreating us to stop.
"What's the matter, my man?" inquired Bracewell as he came up.
"I am a shepherd on Mr Robinson's out-station," he answered. "I haddriven my flock to the run this morning, when who should I see comingtowards me but old Bill the hut-keeper who had a spear in his side andanother in his back. He had just time to tell me that, soon after I hadgone, a whole mob of blacks surrounded the hut, and to the best of hisbelief were still either in or about it, when, though I did my best tohelp him by cutting out the spear, he sank back and died. On this I wasafraid to stay where I was lest the blacks should find me out, and wastrying to reach Mr Strong's or some other station, when I saw you."
This account made us resolve at once to try and surprise the blacks.The shepherd acknowledged that he and his mate had just before got in onthe sly some bottles of rum, which it was possible the blacks might havefound; and that if so, should we advance cautiously, we might verylikely catch them. Not a moment however was to be lost, and one of thetroopers taking the shepherd up behind him on his horse to act as ourguide, we set off in the direction of the hut. It was so situated atthe bottom of a hill, with a belt of trees on one side, that led by theshepherd we were able to get close up to it without being discovered.
We there dismounted, leaving our horses under the charge of the dominiewho volunteered for the service.
We crept cautiously down towards the hut, the sounds proceeding fromwhich showed us to our great satisfaction, that it was still inpossession of the blacks. We now advanced with greater caution,Bracewell and Hector, who were the most experienced in bush life,leading, I following, until we could look right down upon the hut. Afew blacks were squatting on the ground outside, and the hut itselfappeared to be full of them. The sergeant and his men, I should havesaid, had brought some coils of rope with which to bind any prisonersthey might capture. These they formed into lassoes for the purpose ofthrowing over the heads of the blacks. As we watched the hut, thepeople collected round it had, as far as we could judge, no intention ofmoving, probably fancying that they were safe, for the present, frompursuit.
Bracewell now made a sign to us to rise to our feet, so that we mightrush down on the hut and capture all the blacks in it if not thoseoutside. At the signal we were in motion, the troopers with their drawnswords in one hand and their pistols in the other, and we with ourrifles. We had got half way down the slope before the blacks discoveredus. Most of those outside scampered off, but we saw, by the crowd atthe door, that the hut was full, and before many could escape, we wereat the entrance. Some tried to get out of the window on one side of thehut, but Guy, Hector, and I shot them down as they reached the ground,thus putting a stop to any others escaping in that direction; while thesergeant and his troopers, bursting into the hut, soon had several ofthe rest secured by their necks. Others were knocked down. The greaternumber either lay helpless on the ground or stared stupidly at theirassailants. Had our object been slaughter we might have killed thewhole mob, but the sergeant had received orders to capture as many aspossible alive, and we were thankful not to have to destroy any more ofthe poor wretches.
Altogether, thirty were made prisoners, but we could not calculate howmany had made their escape. The greater number, however, had left theirspears and waddies behind them, so that they were not likely for thepresent to attempt further mischief. At the request of the sergeant webrought down the horses and assisted him in securing the prisoners andarranging them in the order in which they were to
march. It took sometime to bind the unfortunate wretches, whom we secured with their armsbehind them, and then fastened together by strong ropes six in a line.Our next care was to collect all the arms, which, with the exception ofa few we desired to possess, were broken and thrown on the fire.
There was very little chance of rescue; indeed, had the blacks still atliberty made the attempt, they would to a certainty have hastened thedeath of their friends. The shepherd entreated us to assist him inbringing in the body of the hut-keeper--a task, from a sense ofhumanity, we undertook, while he remained to look after his sheep.
We accordingly brought the body in on the dominie's horse and placed itin the bunk in which the unfortunate man, a few hours before, had beensleeping, little dreaming of the fate awaiting him. The dominie, Guy,and I remained at the hut, while Bracewell and Hector rode off to thehead station to give information of what had occurred and to obtain acompanion for the poor man.
Finding a couple of spades in the hut, Guy and I employed our time inburying the blacks who had been shot on the first onslaught. It was afar from pleasant undertaking, but it was better to put them undergroundbefore they were discovered by the dingoes or vultures, which wouldbefore long find them out.
The day was waning and as our companions had not returned we began tofear that we should have to spend the night in the hut. I was glad atlength when I saw the shepherd returning with the flock. He thanked usheartily for what we had done.
When he entered the hut he seemed dreadfully upset at the sight of hisdead mate. "It is a trying life, this shepherding, gentlemen," heobserved; "with the chance of being speared or clubbed by theblackfellows, or stuck up by a bushranger, while one has to spend dayafter day without a human being to speak to, from sunrise to sunset--andthen to have one's only chum killed so suddenly! It is well-nigh morethan I can bear."
It was late at night before Bracewell and Hector came back, accompaniedby Mr Piatt, the overseer from the head station, and another man totake the place of the murdered hut-keeper. As it was now too late tothink of proceeding on our journey that night, we turned our horses intoa spare paddock, where they could find grass enough to satisfy theirhunger until the morning.
Having stowed our baggage inside the hut, after supper we lay down,where we could find room on the ground; one of the party, however,keeping watch in case the blacks should return, though it was not at alllikely they would do that.
Before sunrise the shepherd and his new mate got up to dig a grave forthe murdered man, in which we saw him placed before we started. Wethen, having breakfasted, continued our route, Mr Piatt accompanyingus, as, for a couple of miles or so, our roads lay in the samedirection. He had come away without his rifle, or arms of anydescription, excepting his heavy riding-whip, and he declared that theywere unnecessary; for the blacks, he said, would never venture to attacka well-mounted man, and as for bushrangers, when there was no booty tobe obtained they were not likely to interfere with him. He had riddenabout the country in all directions, and except when hunting a kangarooor emu, he had never had to fire a shot.
"But with a mob of savage blacks in the neighbourhood, it would be moreprudent to be armed," I observed.
"My horse-whip will soon send them to the rightabout, should any of themventure to come near me," he answered laughing. "However we have gothalf a dozen rifles at the head station, and as soon as I get back I'llarm each man and we'll quickly drive the remainder of the mob from theneighbourhood. Depend upon it if any are remaining they'll clear outfast enough when they find we are after them."
We soon got over the two miles the overseer was to accompany us. Hethen, thanking us for the service we had rendered his people, turned offto the right. He was still in sight, when we heard him shout, and I sawthat he was galloping along with uplifted whip as if to strike someobject on the ground. Supposing that he had called us, we rode towardshim. Just then I saw a tall black man spring up from behind a bush and,with axe in hand, attack the overseer, who, it appeared to me, was ingreat danger of being killed; but as the savage was about to strike, thelash of the whip caught his arm and wrenched the weapon out of his hand.
The black, uttering a cry of disappointed rage, bounded away and amoment after was lost to sight among the scrub. On getting near toPiatt we saw two more natives on the ground, the one a youth badlywounded, the other a _gin_, old and wrinkled, apparently the mother ofthe lad.
"I would not have attempted to strike them, had I seen that one was awoman and that the lad was wounded," said the overseer, as he pointed tothe wretched beings; "but I fancied they were black fellows hiding away,and trying to escape my notice. The man who attacked me is probably theboy's father, and they have shown more than usual affection for theirson."
"Don't you think that we could do something for the poor lad?" observedBracewell. "Mr Kimber will see what chance there is of his recovery."
"With all the pleasure in the world," said the dominie, dismounting, andhe and Bracewell examined the lad's hurt.
The _gin_ sat watching their proceedings.
"He is shot through the body. It is a wonder that he has lived so long,for I make no doubt he is one of the blacks who attacked the hut,"observed the dominie. "I don't believe that the best surgeon in theland could do him any good. If we were to attempt to move him, he woulddie before we had carried him a hundred yards."
Bracewell expressed the same opinion.
We tried to make the old _gin_ understand that there was no hope of herson's recovery; indeed, the next instant, while lifting him up, andafter he had given a few gasps, his arms fell helplessly by his side,and we saw that he was dead.
"We had better leave him to his mother, and probably his father willreturn as soon as we have gone," observed Bracewell. "He has broughthis fate upon himself, and we can do no more."
This was very evident, and the overseer, who was in a hurry to get back,galloped on, while we once more rode forward, leaving the poor womanwith her dead son.
We had had enough of fighting, and were truly glad to reach Mr Strong'sstation without any other accident. Bracewell was warmly welcomed.
Although he had not before been a visitor at the house, his highcharacter, his perseverance and industry were all known to Mr Strong,who might possibly have had no objection to bestow upon him one of hisblooming daughters.
We spent our time in the usual way, working on the station, varied withan occasional hunt after kangaroos, for as they eat up the grassrequired for the sheep, it is considered necessary to destroy them whenthey are numerous near a station. The blacks, after the severe lessonthey had received from us, and from other settlers in the neighbourhood,betook themselves to another part of the country, and we had no longerany fear of being troubled by them.
We had been some days at Mr Strong's, and Bracewell was talking ofreturning home, when a hut-keeper from the most distant station arrivedin great alarm, stating that he had been beset the previous evening by aparty of white men on horseback, who, taking his gun and ammunition, hisweek's supply of provisions and everything else, they could lay hands onin the hut, had lashed him hand and foot, threatening that if he gaveinformation of their visit, they would return and kill him.Fortunately, soon after they had gone a shepherd arrived, but he hadbeen afraid at first to leave the hut lest they should put their threatinto execution. Waiting till daylight, he had followed their tracks forsome distance, when he had hurried back to bring us information of therobbery. His idea was, that having supplied themselves with arms, theyintended to pillage some of the larger stations, but how he arrived atthis conclusion he did not say. His account was sufficiently clear tomake us resolve to follow them up, and to try and put a stop to theircareer. Whether or not they were led by our former acquaintance, thebig bushranger, and that unhappy fellow Vinson, we could not tell; butfrom the description the hut-keeper gave of two of the men who hadattacked him, we strongly suspected that such was the case.
As there was no time to be lost, we at once organised
a party to set outin search of the fellows. The only black on whom we could rely to actas a scout was our own attendant Toby, who volunteered, withouthesitation, to accompany us. The party consisted of the three elderStrongs, Bracewell, Guy, and I, and two men from the station, with Toby.All of us were mounted, and we agreed to call on our way at CaptainMason's to get further reinforcements, thinking it not unlikely that thebushrangers had already paid him a visit, or if not that they werelurking in the neighbourhood.
As we rode fast we arrived at the captain's before the evening. He hadseen nothing of the bushrangers; but we found the family somewhat in astate of alarm, as a shepherd had come in with the information that akeeper on one of the captain's stations had been killed in his hut theprevious night, and that he himself had narrowly escaped with his life.
Captain Mason, therefore, gladly reinforced us with a couple of men; he,however, thinking it prudent to remain to defend his house, lest, duringour absence, the daring ruffians might venture to attack it.
Riding towards the hut, we hoped that we might come upon the track ofthe outlaws. In this we were not mistaken; and Toby assured us that weshould be able to follow them up, as they had taken no pains to concealtheir movements. As it grew dark he dismounted, and led the way in amanner which showed that he was well accustomed to the work.
After going some distance, he begged us to halt, saying that we were notfar off from the camp of the bushrangers.
Having pulled up under the shelter of some tall bushes, we waited tohear the report Toby might bring us. He again crept forward. We hadnot remained long, when the crack of a rifle was heard. As Toby hadgone unarmed, with the exception of a long knife which he usuallycarried in his belt, we feared that coming suddenly on the bushrangershe had been shot. At all events, as concealment was no longernecessary, we dashed forward, Bracewell and I, with Mr Strong'soverseer leading. We had not gone far, when we caught sight of Tobystanding with his knife in his hand, and, some twenty paces from him, ofa man in the act of levelling his musket to fire.
That the latter was one of the bushrangers, there could be no doubt, andthe overseer, without waiting to inquire, raising his rifle, dischargedit. The bullet took effect, but not until the man had fired; Toby atthe same moment fell to the ground, and I thought was killed; but thebushranger, before the smoke had cleared away, had darted behind a tree.
I had not fired, and my attention was attracted for an instant by Toby,who, to my great satisfaction, I saw spring to his feet and make chaseafter the fugitive. We called him back, thinking, probably, that theman was not alone, and that our black follower would fall a victim tohis intrepidity; but, without heeding us, he dashed forward, and as soonas Bracewell had reloaded, we followed him. It was no easy matter,however, to make our way between the trees, which here grew unusuallythick, while the ground was encumbered by fallen trunks and boughs. Thespot had evidently been chosen by the bushrangers as a place likely toafford concealment, and, at the same time, enable them to defendthemselves.
"That fellow was placed here on watch, to warn his comrades of theapproach of an enemy, and, depend upon it, they are not far off," saidBracewell. "We shall come upon them presently, and it will be our ownfault if we allow any of the gang to escape."
We now heard the sound of fire-arms, and as the bushrangers were warnedof our approach, we knew that their first impulse would be to mounttheir horses and gallop off.
Our great object, therefore, was to prevent them from doing this, andunless they had kept their animals saddled and bridled, we had still aprospect of succeeding.
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