Part 11 (2/2)

Paul consented, though he felt it would be more prudent to return to the camp and warn their friends of the neighbourhood of the natives.

Concealed by some low bushes they remained where they were, and could see all that was going forward. Suddenly all was dark, but the sound of the natives' voices showed that they were still near where they had first been seen. Presently bright flames burst up from the ground--a fire had been lighted, but no one could be seen.

”They are between us and the fire,” whispered Paul.

”I hope they are not coming this way,” said Hector.

”No fear of that,” answered Harry.

A minute elapsed, when Hector uttered an exclamation in a voice so loud that it was a wonder it did not betray them.

”Oh, look there! look there! what can those horrid things be?”

As he spoke, at the opposite side of the fire there appeared what looked exactly like a band of dancing skeletons leaping and twisting in the most grotesque fas.h.i.+on. At the same time wild shrieks, cries, and shouts rose from a hundred voices, intended to represent singing, accompanied by the rattling of musical instruments, and the slapping of their parchment-like skins by the older natives rose in the night air.

Now all the legs on one side would go up, now those on the other, now the arms would be thrown above the grinning skulls, now they would be placed akimbo, now they would sink close to the ground with bended knees, now spring up into the air. Indeed, they a.s.sumed in succession every possible att.i.tude, all moving together as if pulled by one string.

Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, they vanished from sight.

Reggy was on the point of crying out when Paul put his hand on his mouth.

”Can those be real skeletons?” inquired Hector.

”Oh, dear, no!” whispered Paul; ”they are merely blacks who have painted their bodies in that curious fas.h.i.+on. They are holding one of their corrobberees. They will keep it up all night, and little rest we shall get while they are howling and shrieking in this fas.h.i.+on.”

The boys, however, remained some time watching the strange, weird scene.

It would be difficult to describe the various antics performed by the savages. So amused were the lads that they forgot how time pa.s.sed; but Paul at length suggested that they should find their way back. It was no easy matter to do so through the thick wood, although they were a.s.sisted in steering their course by the noise behind them. At last they reached the bank of the river, when they were able to make better progress. They found the captain and the rest of the party very anxious about them. The noise of the natives had reached the camp, and it was feared that they might have fallen into their hands. Bendigo advised that they should start before daybreak.

”Black fellow sleep then; no come after us,” he said.

The captain resolved to follow Bendigo's advice, but not to separate until they had proceeded some little way farther westward; so that the blacks, when they should discover their trail, would be influenced by the number of persons forming the party, and not venture to follow them.

A strict watch was, of course, kept during the night. Paul, his brother, and cousins, notwithstanding the noise, slept like tops. At the hour proposed the horses were caught and the party mounted.

The explorers crossed the bed of the river some way to the north, at a distance from the blacks' camp, and, as the ground was level, were able to make good progress. At noon they stopped at a water-hole, which, though very muddy, enabled them to give a draught to their horses; but, unless it could be filtered, they felt no inclination to drink it themselves, their water-bottles being full. A fire was lighted, and some pigeons and other birds shot and cooked.

The two parties now separated, the captain pointing out the course Mr Hayward was to take, while he struck more to the northward. What adventures might they not encounter before they again met!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

STOP AT A SHEPHERD'S HUT--SUFFERINGS FROM WANT OF WATER--MR HAYWARD TAKEN ILL--RETURN TO THE HUT--THE YOUNG EXPLORERS PROCEED ALONE.

The captain's party was soon lost sight of. The boys rode on in high spirits. In spite of the heat the air felt pure and bracing. The scenery for miles, however, was unvarying--everywhere the same gigantic gum-trees were to be seen; but vast as were their limbs, they afforded but little shade. Some were scathed and leafless, from others hung in tatters long strips of bark, giving them a peculiar, ragged appearance.

In the evening they reached the hut of a shepherd. On account of the blacks there were two hut-keepers, st.u.r.dy fellows, well-armed. They said that further west there were no other white men, and as they themselves had never been more than a few miles from their hut in that direction they knew nothing of the country, but that there was a water-hole at the extreme limit of the station in the direction the explorers were proceeding. It was full, the shepherd said, when he was last there, but he could give them no other information. He and his mate would be very happy to accommodate them for the night; but Mr Hayward, after surveying the interior of the hut, replied that he and his party would not incommode them, but would be content to sleep round their own camp fire, under a neighbouring tree. Tea, damper, and mutton were, however, plentifully supplied by their hosts.

Roused next morning by a laughing jacka.s.s, who had conveniently perched himself on a bough overhead, they took breakfast in the hut with the shepherd, and set off at the time he drove out his flock to pasture.

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