Chapter XXXI.

Otago Witness, Issue 2200, 30 April 1896, Page 41

Chapter XXXI.

On the Track. "lathis the place?" "Yes." They stood again on the edge of Oanyon Gully, and looked down into its sombre depths. Far below them the oreek, reduced to narrow limits, but not quite dry, crept along, sometimes gliding over and between the stones, at others entirely hidden by them, so that on a cursory glance it appeared to be lost altogether. It was well-nigh impossible to believe that that slender stream, now scarcely strong enough to turjn a child's windmill, should ever have had sufficient power to perform the great engineering work which they saw before them.

Again the miner pointed to the water-hole into whioh he and his mate had fallen, and where their lives had been so mysteriously preserved.

"Perhaps to bring this sooandrel to justice," he observed. " Oh, I hope we shall soon come upon his track."

"8a do I," said Grimshaw. "And I feel as if we were getting near to it at last} surely he cannot escape us much longer." "He mast be Somewhere oat there," said the digger, pointing toward* the bills. "It will be a big job to hunt them through, butt we'll do it somehow. I think we shouldl have had some more of the boys to htlpu«." "We are enough," said Robert " A largs party would excite suspicion." "You're right there. Come on." They turned their horses' heads ajad rode slowly along the edge of the gully. They reached tha landslip. To descend ife on horseback seemed to the Englishman a mad freak, so be dismounted and led hJ« beast carefully down. The colonial was lees particular; he rode jauntily and met with no accident, for colonial horses can generally scramble like cats.

They crossed the tiny thread. of water, and Robert did not fail to notice the fb ,'nnrks uuder the overhangicg cliff?, aad tried to picture to himself the ruahicg mighty torrent whioh at times swept' drwn tbe narrow gorge with resistless might, destroying everything that stood in its way and cntting ever deeper and deeper Into the bowels of tbe earth.

They scrambled up the farther side, where the great plain stretched before them for mile*, bounded on the north and west by long, low purple hills, while on the south it extended far as the eye oould reaoh until It melted in sky and cloud in the distant horizon. They were in th« focus of a hugs oirole, unmarked by any track ox special land-mark. Which way should they got There was absolutely nothing to guide them ; bat the ey« again caught the glint of distant water, and Robert, pointing towards* it, said, ■ " Let us go there." . They rode slowly out of consideration for the horses, which did not care to face the arid plain; and for the most part silently,. for .they had few subjects in common, and neither was good at the art of making conversation. At noonday they halted near a great rook which had for some time nerved as a landmark, and which now afforded them a span of grateful shelter from the intense htat and blinding glare of the open plain. There was no water, bat that was of less importance, as they had taken care to fill their billy in Oanyon Gully. Yost, the miner, prepared the inevitable tea, though Grimshaw would have preferred cold water, but when ha tasted the liquid, whioh had been jolted »p and down in tbe sun, he spat it our hurriedly and declared it was not fit to drink, much an ! Hall had done on a previous occasion. I " Wftit till you are lost in the eoxub," said his oompanicm, "and then even that atuSt would go high. But don't throw it away ; give it here. It will be all right when it ii boiled."

Towards evening they reached the banks of a stream and camped for the night. They were far to the north of Crow Gully, but not far from the spot where Hall had sferaok the stream on the night of the etorm, when he lost his way in the darkness.

The sun set and the stars owno out In myriads ; so also did the mosquitoes. It was; vain to think of turning in; no one could sleep with those little wretohes bnziing around and settling by dozens on every inch of bare flesh. The men lit their pipes and yarned. Darkness proved conducive to eon' veraatioD, and they spoke of things which they would have scarcely touched upon in the daytime. They found that th«y had many points of mutual interest and sympathy, and were even acquainted with the fame villages and district* in the old country, thus proving what has so often been remarked, how small the world is.

They kept up the camp fire, not fox warmth, which was certainly not require^ bat because the pungent smoke from the burning gum leaves Berv«d in some measure to keep their insect tormentors at bay.

Suddenly* a loud whoop and yell sounded in their ears, and half a dozen black fellows rushed upon tb«m. For the first ttW moments Grimshaw naturally thought this was an attack, and springing to his feet prepared to defend himself as well ac he oould. He had brought a pair of pistols, bat they were sot the best of weapons at any time, and were still in the holster of his saddle. "Not having recently heard anything of, ; blacks, he was completely unprepared for | their appearance, and connecting it with the many strange stories which he had heard of their cruelty and ferocity, he believed that his. last hour was come, for what were two men against so many, and the black figures now began to swarm in all directions. However, he did not waste time in thinking, bul prepared to defend himself with his fists, and had already knocked over a couple of fche black boys, when Yost, who knew tha natives well, having lived among them f of years, caught bis arm, exclaiming :■

"For goodness* sake keep quiet. Thesfi fellows will do us no harm."

And turning towards the blaoks hfl addressed them in that peculiar jargon wbioh, like the pigeon English of the East, consists of a medley of broken English and native gutturals, which the settlers in Australia fondly imagine to be better suit., a to the limited comprehension of the na.i»«3

than any grammatical English. It 1b like the baby talk of fond mothers and nurses, or the broken English In which some people babitually address foreigners.

The aborigines crowded round Yost and began to talk and gesticulate at a great rate.

Robert, feeling himself deoidedly "out of. it," picked up bis pipe, which be had thrown down, relighted it, and calmly proceeded to enjoy his interrupted smoke.

The two men whom he had knocked down Borambled to their feet, and apparently bore him no ill-will, as they made signs to him to give them some of his tobacco.

" Poor beggars," he said, outtiog a generous piece of his plug 1 for each, " and so you liko Smoke too." '

They grinned from ear to ear, and staffed the tobacco In their mouths, whero they rolled it about in the keenest enjoyment, turning up the whites of their eyes at the fame time in such a truly oomical way that jbe ceuld not resist a hearty laugh at their unties. This pleased them so much that they Showed their white teetb from ear to ear and talked rapidly In-perfectly unintelligible jargon. While this pantomime was going 00, the Other natives still surrounded Yost, to whom' they were talking earnestly with expressive notion. .

' " What* s it all about 7 " said Bobert, drawing nearer to them.

Yost turned towards him. His eyes shone ytith excitement.

vThls is a wonderful story," he said, *»but I can't understand it properly yet ; you pee*, their lingo is so conf using. Keep quiet a /bit, will' you, and let me talk to them «gata."

Bobert subsided, watching with interest jjbne animated looks and gestures of the group us the fire-light gashed here and there upon their dark skins and bright eyes. Meanwhile the two men whom he had knocked down constituted themselves a special body guard, nod squatted upon their haunches, watching lor. another gift of tobacco as dogs watoh for » bone.

After a short time Yost came towards fcim.

" This Is a most extraordinary thing," he laid.

"No doubt it is, if you say so, but the most extraordinary thing I can tee is the unceremonious manner of the introduction of Your friends into our camp. Do they always pay visits in that enthusiastic fashion 1 "

" Not always ; tmt it seems they were lookIng out for some white mac, and they recognised me, and they were so pleased at the jmeeting that they forgot their manners. Ihej are like children," he added apologetically.

"So 1 heard, and it seems . pretty true. Row tell me. what all the row is about."

. "-Well, so far as I can make out, Stubbs is ]n their camp." , « Stubbs f" ' the Tanked digger that I told you " Hardcaatle'a partner ? ° «• The same."

*' Good gracious, that is indeed a strange thing 1 How did he get there, and where is Bardcastle ? "

- According to their story there's a wonderful cave in the bills up yonder ; plenty told in it they say, and perhaps that may Be the place where Stubbs and his party meta prospecting. Any way, they found fiiriun in the cave." "Found him ? I don't understand. How could they find him I " Well, it seems that they were in the neighbourhood of this cave and heard Strange noises. A-. flrst they were frightened, thinking that it was devils shut up in the mountain; for you must know that the Jblacke believe in evil spirits, though not in jgfood ones. ,At first they were inclined to can away, bub after a time braver counsels prevailed; they ventured to approach the jepot more nearly. They heard mow knockIng, and a voice which they recognised as •the voloe of a white mm. Tiwy hunted tfbomt and managed to knock a way in, and Rbey found Stubbs shut up la the oave, which was nearly full of water. This la the only part jgbat I don't understand, and which they could not explain. How did he happen to be shat up in the cave, and where did the water come from 1 Of course, these fellows don't know, or if they do I can't make head i>r tali of their statement. To oat a long itory snort, they found Stubbs and took him to their ©amp, B* wae, and is, very ill. I think lie roust have broken aa arm or a leg, X can't make out which, and some old g'm basset it for Mm. Anyhow he is .boner, but not well enough to be moved, and this party were on their way to look for some of bis friends aad take them to him when they paw bur camp fire, and burst upon us in that Very startling manner." "You may well call It a strange story," laid Robert thoughtfully. " I suppose it is true. It isn't a plan to get as to their camp, and rob and murdtr us at their leisure 7 " v Vost laughed heartily. ."Oh, no fear of that. The story is true enough as far as it goes." 1 " But it leaves much to be desired. What's become of Hardcaetle and the other man Wlio was with him ?— what was hie name 1 " "Jakes." M Just so. Did the natives see nothing of Jhem?"

Vost put the qaeation, bat received no jeatisfftctory answer. The blacfes had only found one man alive in the mountain. They knew nothing of any others. Would the white men go with them to their camp and question Stnbhs for themselves. I " Certainly, let's go at once. It is as well to be moving as to sit here and be devoured by mosquitoes," said Grimebaw, "By the way, your friends should afford them a pretty good mark."

" I don't think mosquitoes bite the blaobe," »aid Voafc. "I suppose the taste, )dke the smell, is a little too strong evsn for ib«n."

The natives had crossed tbe river at a lord a little farther north, and oar two adpsntnrers bad no difficulty in riding through jit the same place. Grimshaw'a horee, howBverJ was a little restive when he first entered the water, and Bniffad suspiciously at, the black boy who tried to take, hie rein, but Yost went first and gave him a lead and be followed like a la*ab,

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