Part 10 (1/2)
”Whereabouts are they?” exclaieant ”Reserve your fire, until you see them,” he added--a caution I should not have considered necessary ”Did any of you gentleh told hiuard?” he enquired
”I was,” answered one, who had been a the loudest of the snorers, and we found that the speaker had in reality thedropped off, had not called his relief
We thought it best to say as little as possible about theto strict uard in the face of an eneeant also, as a good-natured felloas evidently anxious not to take too ot the firebreakfasted, we mounted and rode in the direction we supposed that the blacks had taken, but except the dead bodies of the men we had shot, no trace of them could we discover They probably could not tell whether or not we had any natives with us, and therefore took care to leave no trail by which they could be followed up They hbourhood, orthe night
After looking for an hour or reed that it would be useless to search further and pursued our course towards Mr Strong's The sergeant's way for some distance lay in the same direction, and he and his ot about half e sahitetowards us He appeared to be in a desperate hurry, and as he approachedus 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 had driventowards me but old Bill the hut-keeper who had a spear in his side and another in his back He had just tione, a whole mob of blacks surrounded the hut, and to the best of his belief were still either in or about it, when, though I didout the spear, he sank back and died On this I was afraid to stay where I was lest the blacks should find '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 ot in on the sly soht have found; and that if so, should we advance cautiously, we ht very likely catch them Not athe shepherd up behind hiuide, we set off in the direction of the hut It was so situated at the bottom of a hill, with a belt of trees on one side, that led by the shepherd ere able to get close up to it without being discovered
We there dise of the dominie who volunteered for the service
We crept cautiously doards the hut, the sounds proceeding froreat satisfaction, that it was still in possession of the blacks We now advanced with greater caution, Bracewell and Hector, ere the , until we could look right down upon the hut A few blacks were squatting on the ground outside, and the hut itself appeared to be full of theht soht capture These they for over the heads of the blacks As atched the hut, the people collected round it had, as far as we could judge, no intention ofthat they were safe, for the present, fron to us to rise to our feet, so that we ht rush down on the hut and capture all the blacks in it if not those outside At the signal ere in motion, the troopers with their draords in one hand and their pistols in the other, and ith our rifles We had got half way down the slope before the blacks discovered us Most of those outside scampered off, but , by the crowd at the door, that the hut was full, and before et out of theon one side of the hut, but Guy, Hector, and I shot the a stop to any others escaping in that direction; while the sergeant and his troopers, bursting into the hut, soon had several of the rest secured by their necks Others were knocked down The greater nuround or stared stupidly at their assailants Had our object been slaughter we eant had received orders to capture as many as possible alive, and ere thankful not to have to destroy any ether, thirty were made prisoners, but we could not calculate how reater number, however, had left their spears and waddies behind them, so that they were not likely for the present to atteht down the horses and assisted hi them in the order in which they were to march It took some time to bind the unfortunate wretches, e secured with their ar ropes six in a line
Our next care was to collect all the arms, which, with the exception of a fee desired to possess, were broken and thrown on the fire
There was very little chance of rescue; indeed, had the blacks still at liberty made the attempt, they would to a certainty have hastened the death of their friends The shepherd entreated us to assist hi in the body of the hut-keeper--a task, from a sense of humanity, we undertook, while he reht the body in on the dominie's horse and placed it in the bunk in which the unfortunateof the fate awaiting him The dominie, Guy, and I remained at the hut, while Bracewell and Hector rode off to the head station to give information of what had occurred and to obtain a co a couple of spades in the hut, Guy and I e the blacks who had been shot on the first onslaught It was a far froround before they were discovered by the dingoes or vultures, which would before long find the and as our coan to fear that we should have to spend the night in the hut I was glad at length when I saw the shepherd returning with the flock He thanked us heartily for e had done
When he entered the hut he seeht of his dead entle speared or clubbed by the blackfellows, or stuck up by a bushranger, while one has to spend day after day without a hu to speak to, from sunrise to sunset--and then to have one's only chuh ht before Bracewell and Hector came back, accompanied by Mr Piatt, the overseer from the head station, and another man to take the place of the murdered hut-keeper As it was now too late to think of proceeding on our journey that night, we turned our horses into a spare paddock, where they could find grass enough to satisfy their hunger until the e inside the hut, after supper we lay dohere we could find roo watch in case the blacks should return, though it was not at all likely they would do that
Before sunrise the shepherd and his new rave for the murdered man, in whichhi breakfasted, continued our route, Mr Piatt acco us, as, for a couple of miles or so, our roads lay in the same direction He had come aithout his rifle, or ar-whip, and he declared that they were unnecessary; for the blacks, he said, would never venture to attack a well-ers, when there was no booty to be obtained they were not likely to interfere with him He had ridden about the country in all directions, and except when hunting a kangaroo or emu, he had never had to fire a shot
”But with a hbourhood, it would be more prudent to be armed,” I observed
”My horse-ill soon send thehtabout, should any of the ”However we have got half a dozen rifles at the head station, and as soon as I get back I'll arm each man and we'll quickly drive the rehbourhood Depend upon it if any are reh when they find we are after theot over the twous for the service we had rendered his people, turned off to the right He was still in sight, e heard hi with uplifted whip as if to strike so that he had called us, we rode towards hi up from behind a bush and, with axe in hand, attack the overseer, who, it appeared to e was about to strike, the lash 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 anear to Piatt o round, the one a youth badly wounded, the other a _gin_, old and wrinkled, apparently the mother of the lad