Part 35 (1/2)

All night long she struggled on, until at last she could go no further, and, falling from sheer exhaustion, she was soon in a deep sleep.

CHAPTER XXII

DETERMINED MEN

As Willie Dennis and his friends drew nearer to the house they saw their first conjecture was wrong and that something serious had taken place during their absence.

As they reined in their horses Constable Doonan said,--

'Let me go in first,' and, drawing his revolver, he walked cautiously into the house.

There he saw the black gin huddled up in the corner, a pool of blood round her and a bullet wound in her head.

'Sal!' he shouted. 'Sal, where are you?'

There was no answer, everything was ominously quiet.

Willie Dennis and Silas Dixon followed the constable, and were horrified at what they saw.

'There has been a desperate scene here,' said Doonan, 'and Sal is gone.

They may have taken her away. We must send a messenger at once for your father, my lad.'

'I'll go,' said Willie. 'I am a light weight and can ride fast. You and Silas must search for Sal.'

'That will be the best plan,' said Doonan.

'I'll start now,' said Willie. 'We can clear up here when we return.'

'We must leave everything as it is until I have made my report to Sergeant Machinson,' said the constable. 'He will have to make a move against Dalton's gang this time.'

Willie was soon on his way to Barragong, his blood boiling with rage at the outrage that had been committed at Wanabeen, and he wondered what had become of Sal.

In the meantime, Constable Doonan and Silas Dixon were scouring the country in search of the missing woman.

At the hut where Dalton and his men had been in hiding Doonan examined the place and found the members of the gang had been concealed there.

'They must have seen you and Willie ride away,' he said; 'and in that case they would have a long start of us.'

They camped out that night near a creek, and ate the food they had brought away with them from Wanabeen. They were used to roughing it and to lie on the bare ground with the saddle for a pillow.

They were astir early in the morning, and rode round in a wide circle, looking for tracks or any signs of Sal. At last Constable Doonan thought he saw an object lying on the ground which resembled a human being. It was too far distant for him to discover clearly, but he knew it was not an animal. He rode towards it, and, with a shout of joy, roused Sal, who was still asleep where she had fallen, and at the same time it recalled Silas Dixon.

When Sal saw who it was she could hardly believe in her good fortune. At first she thought it was Rodney Shaw who had overtaken her.

Doonan was off his horse and at her side very quickly, and knelt down to support her, for she was still very weak. He moistened her lips from his flask, and, when she had recovered somewhat, questioned her.

Sal gave him a brief account of all that had taken place, and when Doonan heard who was the instigator of the outrage he could hardly credit it.

'Rodney Shaw!' he exclaimed. 'A man in his position! He must be mad.