T ...-.:: 5*.^
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES 

 
 JACK HARKAWAY 
 
 AND HIS SON'S 
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA 
 
 BY 
 
 BRACEBRIDGE HEMYNG 
 
 COMPLETE 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 M. A. DONOHUE & CO.
 
 M.A. DONOHUE&c COMPANY 
 
 PRINTERS AND BINDERS 
 
 4O7.429 DEARBORN STREET 
 
 CHICAGO
 
 H ?7 ; 
 
 JACK HARKAWAY AND HIS SON'S 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 WHEN all was landed, the sailors who had rowed Hun- 
 ston ashore got back into their boat. 
 
 "Good-bye, Hunston," said Sam Mason; "you're a 
 gallus black-hearted swab, but I hope you'll mend your 
 ways and do well. Remember your old friends on 
 board -" 
 
 Hunston turned sharply round at this. 
 
 "Yes," he said, in low, deliberate accents, "I shall not 
 forget. Tell Harkaway that from me. I hope that we 
 may meet again, and when we do, I shall be sure to re- 
 member all your kindness all." 
 
 "Do you hear that, men?" exclaimed Sam Mason, 
 " There's a brave chap for you. He waits till the gov- 
 ernor is a blessed long way out of hearing before he vent- 
 ures to threaten. He reminds me of the chap as went 
 on to Highgate Hill to tell the Lord Mayor that he'd pull 
 his nose." 
 
 Hunston stood upon the beach, watching the receding 
 boat, and when it was too far for them to be able to dis- 
 tinguish his movements, he sank upon the ground and 
 buried his face in his hands a prey to the bitterest 
 thoughts. 
 
 The shock of solitude was dreadful. 
 
 Before he met a human being again, he was destined to 
 go through many desperate adventures. 
 
 But now we have to follow the cruise of the "West- 
 ward Ho ! "
 
 6 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 Before there was a new moon, the "Westward Ho ! " 
 anchored in Sydney cove. 
 
 On the day that our hero and his friends took up their 
 quarters in the chief hotel of Sydney, there was consider- 
 able excitement afoot respecting a person who is destined 
 to figure in these pages. 
 
 This was a very extraordinary character a rover, a bush- 
 ranger and bandit, known as Captain Morgan. 
 
 Now the charges against this desperado were many and 
 of a serious description. 
 
 A price was set upon him, but he contrived to play at 
 hide-and-seek with justice. 
 
 Glaring placards were stuck about the hotel even in 
 the dining-hall and in the principal drawing-rooms ; in 
 fact everywhere that it was likely to attract the attention 
 of residents and travellers. 
 
 "ONE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD 
 
 Will be paid for the body alive or dead of the notorious 
 bushranger, bandit, and cattle-stealer, commonly known 
 as Captain Morgan. He stands five feet eight inches and 
 a half in his stockings ; is very broad-chested and thickly 
 set. He has light brown hair and beard, full blue eyes, 
 and his expression is usually one of fierce determination. 
 He is possessed of great physical strength, activity, and 
 daring. The chief scenes of his depredations, are the 
 small stations up country, in the neighbourhood of the 
 Macquarie. Morgan is a dead shot. The band he com> 
 mands is composed of escaped convicts, malefactors, and 
 many of the natives. The above reward of one hundred 
 pounds will be paid to anyone bringing or causing to be 
 brought the said Captain Morgan to Government House, 
 Paramatta. 
 
 "By ORDER." 
 
 "I hope we are not going to fall foul of this precious 
 robber here, " said Harkaway. 
 
 " Let us hope not," said Jefferson. " Although it would 
 not surprise me, for it seems to be about our luck." 
 
 "Well, what with Monastos and that other ruffian in the 
 mountains, we have had to tackle some desperate charac- 
 ters in the way."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TRA LI A. 7 
 
 " It has become a regular trade with you, Jack." laughed 
 Harvey. 
 
 " I wonder if this Captain Morgan is only half as great 
 a hero as they pretend? " said Harkaway. 
 
 "I'll wager that it is some muscular ruffian," said 
 Jefferson. 
 
 "And a low, wicked, ugly vagabond," added Harvey. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " But why ugly ? " exclaimed Harkaway. " Morgan, I 
 have heard, is a very handsome fellow." 
 
 "Well," said Jefferson, thoughtfully, " without know- 
 ing any thing of Captain Morgan I should say that there 
 is a dash about him, and that he is not wanting in cour- 
 age." 
 
 "You're right there, sir," said a strange voice, close 
 behind him. 
 
 They all turned round. 
 
 The speaker was a thick-set, well-proportioned man of 
 a little over the middle-height and dressed in a fashion 
 which set off his muscular proportions to great advan- 
 tage. 
 
 He had on high Jack-boots which came partly up the 
 thigh, blue serge breeches which fitted him tightly and 
 showed the muscles of his thighs above the boots and 
 below the tunic, standing out in big bosses that told their 
 own tale. 
 
 He wore a loose sack of red flannel formed into a tunic 
 by a thick, rough hide belt round his waist, from which 
 dangled a long cavalry sword. 
 
 His hair was auburn and his beard sandy, with rather 
 a reddish dash in it, while his face, which had once been 
 fair, was deeply bronzed now with exposure to the burn- 
 ing Australian sun. 
 
 He had a full blue eye, and seemed born, like Mars, to 
 threaten and command. 
 
 "You're right there, sir," repeated the stranger, "Cap- 
 tain Morgan is not wanting in courage. " 
 
 They turned to survey the speaker, and he bore their 
 scrutiny with the greatest possible coolness. 
 
 "You know Captain Morgan, then? " said Jefferson. 
 
 "Yes," answered the stranger, smacking his boots care- 
 lessly with the handle of his whip. " I have often been 
 close to him. "
 
 8 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "Well," said Dick Harvey, pointing to the placard, "I 
 shouldn't care to boas tmyself of that man's acquaint- 
 ance. " 
 
 "I don't boast of it," returned the stranger. ' Boast- 
 ing upon any subject is not a weakness of mine. I have 
 been at very close quarters with Captain Morgan, and ! 
 didn't like it, not at all. I can take my own part pretty 
 well as a rule." 
 
 "Sol should say," answered old Jack, surveying him 
 from top to toe with a critical eye. 
 
 "Yes, and yet I did not get any thing more satisfactory 
 from the meeting than this. " 
 
 He pointed to the mark of a freshly-healed sword-cut 
 upon his right cheek. 
 
 "I begin to see," said Dick Harvey. "You must be a 
 member of the mounted police ? " 
 
 The stranger nodded. 
 
 "One of the Sydney Mounted Police stationed up the 
 river. Far ? " 
 
 "The last station." 
 
 " You would know Captain Morgan if you met him ? * 
 
 "Amongst a million," answered the stranger. 
 
 "I suppose he never ventures near to Sydney? " said 
 Jack. 
 
 "Indeed he does. That's the reason I am here now.** 
 
 "Here?" 
 
 " Yes ; I had to assure myself that it was neither of you 
 gentlemen. " 
 
 "Neither of us ! " 
 
 "Yes ; Captain Morgan is reported to have said that he 
 meant to have a look at the celebrated Jack Harkaway, 
 and as that celebrity is here somewhere Captain Morgan 
 is like enough to be here. He disguises himself with very 
 remarkable dexterity and his audacity helps him through 
 every thing he tries. Here he is or will be. " 
 
 "What, here in Sydney ! " ejaculated Jefferson, in sur- 
 prise. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Impossible !" 
 
 "You don't know this Captain Morgan. He rather 
 likes thrusting himself in the lion's den. He has said 
 that he would look up, and see Mr. Harkaway, and he'll 
 do it. as sure as I am here. "
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. g 
 
 " I shall believe it," said Harvey, " when we see him 
 here ; not before. " 
 
 The police officer turned, and gave Dick an odd look. 
 
 " You are a sceptical man, and I don't think that you 
 would believe it even then." 
 
 " Even when ? " 
 
 "Not even if you saw Captain Morgan himself before 
 you. Excuse me contradicting you," retorted the officer, 
 "but remember my words." 
 
 So saying, he turned to Jack Harkaway. 
 
 "You are Mr. Harkaway, I presume? " he said. 
 
 Jack bowed. 
 
 "That is my name." 
 
 The officer gave old Jack a sharp glance, taking in his 
 appearance from top to toe, and reading his expression 
 with the look of a man who was a keen judge of men. 
 
 "I suppose there has been a deal of exaggeration in 
 what I have heard of you," said the police officer; "I 
 looked upon it all as a Baron Munchausen tale. It is 
 some gratification to find that there really is such a man 
 as Jack Harkaway. If I can be of any service to you 
 while you are in Sydney, I shall be very glad." 
 
 " You are very kind." 
 
 A confused murmur of voices was heard at this junct- 
 ure, which apparently caught the officer's ear. 
 
 He bowed to the company generally, and moved to 
 the door. 
 
 " If you come across Captain Morgan to-day " said 
 
 Dick. 
 
 The officer turned, holding the door-handle. 
 
 " Yes, what then?" 
 
 "Tell him that we have a renowned old bird-catcher 
 here, who will certainly put salt on his tail when the 
 Sydney police have failed." 
 
 " Indeed," said the officer, smiling, "and what is the 
 name of your renowned old bird-catcher, sir? " 
 
 " The grand old fellow's name is Mole." 
 
 " Mole," said the officer ; " I shall remember Mole." 
 
 " He is not a person anyone would forget who has 
 once seen him," said Harvey; "he is a regular man- 
 killer." 
 
 The officer bowed, and passed out. 
 
 Now the commotion below had grown still greater,
 
 10 JACK HARK A WAY AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 barely had the door closed upon the stranger, when an- 
 other door at the farther end of the room opened, and 
 three men burst in. 
 
 " Hullo ! " ejaculated Jefferson, " this is rather uncere- 
 monious." 
 
 "Excuse me. gentlemen," said the foremost of the 
 three; "there is no time for ceremony. Have you seen 
 him ? " 
 
 " Who? " asked Harkaway, in wonder. 
 
 " Captain Morgan ? " 
 
 "The devil take Captain Morgan, and fly away with 
 him," returned Harvey, petulantly. 
 
 " We haven't seen him nor do we want to." 
 
 " But he was here." 
 
 Who Morgan ?" 
 
 ' ' Yes, Morgan the bushranger and murderer. " 
 
 "You are mistaken," replied Jack Harkaway. "The 
 only person that has been in this room besides ourselves 
 for the last hour, was one of the mounted police." 
 
 "A broad-shouldered fellow, with a sandy beard?" 
 exclaimed the new-comer. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Which way did he go?" demanded the former, ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 " Out at that door." 
 
 "Quick," ejaculated the other, fiercely turning to his 
 companions. "Sharp's the word, men, or he'll escape 
 us yet." 
 
 The Harkaway party looked at each other half stupe- 
 fied. 
 
 "Is it possible that that was Captain Morgan?" de- 
 manded Jefferson. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Then we have been sold, with a vengeance." 
 
 " Sold ! " quoth the officer, with some thing like con- 
 tempt in his tone, " of course you have. Sold ! " 
 
 He turned to his companions, and exclaimed 
 
 " Off with you fly ! cut off his retreat. Don't fire upon 
 him, unless you find it impossible to stop him otherwise. 
 It will be a feather in our caps to take him alive. " 
 
 The two men flew back by the door through which they 
 came, and the head or leader rushed to the window. 
 
 He dashed it open and leant out eagerly.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TRA LI A . 1 1 
 
 "Ha! there he is! We shall be in time. Morgan, 
 yield yourself a prisoner ! " he shouted ; " yield, or I fire ! " 
 
 " Take that ! " returned a clear, ringing voice. 
 
 " Bang !" 
 
 "That" was a bullet from a long horse-pistol. 
 
 The man at the window ducked just in time, and the 
 bullet smashed a big looking-glass in the room. 
 
 ' ' Curse your impudence ! " cried the man at the window, 
 furiously. " Here's at you ! " 
 
 He drew a pistol and fired. 
 
 There was heard the clatter of a horse's hoofs below 
 and the sound of a horse at full gallop. 
 
 Then a loud, ringing laugh. 
 
 " He's off ! " cried the man, in bitter vexation. ' ' They'll 
 never get near him. They might as well try to hunt down 
 a flash of lightning as Captain Morgan." 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE HULKS TRAVELLERS MEET WITH VERY STRANGE BED- 
 FELLOWS HOWTORO AND BIGAMINI MEET AT THE ANTIPODES 
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE ENCOUNTER SCENES OF CONVICT 
 
 LIFE AT BOTANY BAY. 
 
 UPON a certain day, in the fall of the year , H. M. S. 
 
 " Thunderbolt" arrived at one of our chief ports in New 
 South Wales. 
 
 The cargo of the ' ' Thunderbolt " was an ugly one 
 convicts. 
 
 Amongst the batch of convicts in question were two 
 men, who, although known by unrecognisable aliases 
 now, had at one time been known by names which are 
 familiar to all who have followed the varied fortunes of 
 Jack Harkaway. 
 
 One of these was an Italian, of gigantic form, who had 
 been captured by Nabley, the English detective. 
 
 The Italian convict was Toro, the giant brigand. 
 
 The other convict was an Englishman. 
 
 He was a Cockney, who had shown great cunning at 
 his trial, and cross-examined the witnesses for the prose- 
 cution with the skill of an Old Bailey barrister.
 
 12 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 But do what he could, he failed to get off ; and there 
 was Mr. Samuel Perks, alias Bigamini, for a matter of 
 seven years. 
 
 Now, strange to relate, the other convict, to whom 
 allusion has been made, and Toro, never once met, for 
 the convicts were divided off into gangs, and seldom or 
 never came into contact. 
 
 The difference between the two villains was very re- 
 markable. 
 
 Toro was bold and defiant throughout. 
 
 Bigamini, on the contrary, did all his best to propitiate 
 the chaplain. 
 
 " Safe card that," he would say to himself. " Get the 
 right side of the old smiter, and you're safe for a ticket ; 
 that's my game, and it's worth a good deal of soft sawder 
 to land it." 
 
 He was right in his tactics, as the result showed, for 
 before the voyage was completed, the reverend gentleman 
 whose mission it was to endeavour to bring back those 
 erring men into the right path was quite taken by his 
 show of contrition. 
 
 " As you are so truly repentant, " he would say, con- 
 tinually, " it will be an easy matter for you to obtain a 
 mitigation of your harsh sentence, and I will exert myself 
 to that end. " 
 
 " How very good of you, sir," the artful Bigamini 
 would say, in his own peculiarly slimy manner; " too 
 good, too good, sir, for such a wicked sinner as I 
 am." 
 
 "Nothing can be too good for a sinner who truly re- 
 pents," the chaplain would reply at this. 
 
 And so, as the time went on, Bigamini had an excellent 
 chance of getting off, as many a scoundrel has got off 
 before, by means of a sneaking, hypocritical air, and pro- 
 fessions of good conduct 
 
 Matters, however, were very different with Toro. 
 
 The doctor had discovered that the Italian's robust 
 health was giving way under such close confinement, 
 and ordered him to take exercise. 
 
 The first day, in spite of all his experience, his temper 
 gave way under the infliction of having a man fixed to 
 him by the arm, and he turned with savage brutality 
 upon the keeper.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. i$ 
 
 "I should like to have your blood !" he said, with a 
 suddenness and vehemence that quite startled the man. 
 
 The keeper looked round at his companion, and saw 
 by the vicious expression of his countenance how sincere 
 he was. 
 
 "What have I done now? "he said, in a half joking 
 yet earnest manner. 
 
 "You are hateful to me," retorted the convict fiercely, 
 "and I should like to have my arms free to show you 
 how I hate you." 
 
 "Thank you," returned the keeper coolly ; "I suppose 
 you would like your arms free, providing mine were 
 fastened." 
 
 Toro's right wrist was fastened by the handcuff to the 
 gaoler's left, and he turned upon him, giving it such a 
 fierce wrench, that it hurt them both. 
 
 "Drop that," exclaimed the gaoler, nettled at having 
 his wrist hurt, "or I'll put you on your back." 
 
 This brought matters to a crisis at once. 
 
 With a fierce imprecation, the Italian now grabbed at 
 the keeper, but the latter caught him by the hand and 
 held him powerless. 
 
 "You're an impetuous, imprudent fool," he said, star- 
 ing the convict in the eyes. 
 
 Toro struggled and wrestled to get free, but the keeper 
 was used to rough work of this kind, and he was too 
 much for the Italian giant. 
 
 " If you don't keep quiet, you'll get put into irons." 
 
 Toro tore franctically at the keeper, and finally mad- 
 dened with rage and humiliation, struck him. 
 
 The keeper then lost his temper, and dashed his fist 
 into the convict's face, with a force that made him see 
 sparks. 
 
 At this point, there was a general rush to them. 
 
 Keepers and convicts (the latter anxious to curry 
 favour with the folks in authority) fell upon the rebellious 
 prisoner, and bore him down. 
 
 "Unlock the handcuff first," said the big keeper. 
 
 This done, one of the convicts dropped on the still 
 struggling rebel with his knee upon his chest, and so 
 pinioned him down. 
 
 "Keep quiet, will you?" said this zealous convict 
 holding the Italian : "remember," he added, sinking his
 
 I 4 JACK HA RKA WAY AND HIS SON '5 
 
 voice to a whisper, "remember how Barboni came to 
 grief through temper. " 
 
 Toro ceased struggling immediately. 
 
 -Who?" he faltered. 
 
 "Barboni." 
 
 " How do you know Barboni? " demanded Toro. 
 
 " The same way that I know you, Toro. I kept my 
 eyes open, and I never forget a face when once my 
 blessed peepers have lighted upon it. Oh, dear, no." 
 
 "Who are you what is your name?" demanded the 
 mystified Italian. 
 
 "Hush, we are observed. Here, you fellows!" he 
 added aloud, seeing that their hurried conversation was 
 attracting attention ; "keep quiet." 
 
 The men were coming from the guard-room with a 
 stretcher for Toro's special service. 
 
 And now they were close upon them. 
 
 "One word more," exclaimed Toro; "tell me your 
 name." 
 
 "When you were known as Toro," answered the art- 
 ful convict, "I was Bigamini. Here I am Mr. Samuel 
 Perks, Esquire, alias Smiffins, alias Number 4,093, a re- 
 pentant lag awaiting his ticket." 
 
 " What ! " cried Toro, " Bigamini ? " 
 
 "Yes, hush!" 
 
 "Is it possible? " 
 
 " Of course, and what's more, when you've got over 
 this job though it'll take you weeks and lots of good 
 behaviour then I'll show you a thing or two, and in- 
 struct you how to make life happy even at stone-breaking 
 on a skilley diet. Not a word more now, but keep your 
 eyes and ears wide open." 
 
 The stretcher came up, borne by four stout men. 
 
 "Now, you wicked, bad feller," said Number 4,093, 
 with a snuffle; "mend your ways, and be advised by 
 one who has seen his sin. Oh, yea ! " 
 
 Toro was not to be converted so easily. 
 
 A bitter imprecation escaped him as they bore him 
 away strapped to the stretcher, powerless to help himself, 
 hand or foot
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTKALIA . 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE STORY OF TWO CONVICTS THE ARTFUL DODGE EPISODES 
 IN THE CARE OF TWO VERY BAD LOTS HOW THEY WORKED 
 THE ORACLE. 
 
 THE words of the convict No. 4,093 sank deeply in 
 Toro's mind. 
 
 Those words, coupled with the rough discipline which 
 his outbreak had brought down upon him, had a most 
 salutary effect. 
 
 So, bending his head before the exigencies of his posi- 
 tion, the Italian convict became a hypocrite, and uncon- 
 genial though the part was, he soon became an adept 
 
 The consequence was that at the expiration of a few 
 weeks he was, by the doctor's request, permitted once 
 more to take open-air exercise. 
 
 He longed to see his fellow-convict, No. 4,093. 
 
 He longed to make inquiries, but dare not for fear of 
 exciting suspicions, and when night came, back he went 
 to his cell, lowered in spirit, and heartsick with hope 
 deferred. 
 
 He passed a feverish night, and when the morning 
 came, he was resolved to question some of the people 
 about Bigamini, but he labored under a certain drawback, 
 and this was that he was ignorant of the name under 
 which Bigamini was convicted. 
 
 But to his intense joy, his eye lighted on a figure which 
 recalled Bigamini, and on his back was the number 4,093. 
 
 He watched and chose an opportune moment to speak 
 to him when no one was by. 
 
 "Bigamini, caro" he said, earnestly, "you haven't 
 forgotten me ? Toro ! " he added, as the other passed 
 on without heeding him. 
 
 Toro saw him go by in despair, and then he ran after 
 him in desperation. 
 
 " Hush ! " said Bigamini, looking in another direction 
 as he spoke ; " we are watched." 
 
 This answer shot a gleam of hope into Toro's breast
 
 16 JA CK HARK A WAY AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 Bigamini was not cutting him either through forget- 
 fulness or for other reasons. 
 
 He was only waiting for a favourable moment. 
 
 Toro followed him up, keeping at a little distance until 
 they had got beyond a small clump of trees. 
 
 "Now, tell me, Bigamini," he said, in imploring tones, 
 "when shall I see you? when shall I know if there is to 
 be an end to this life, worse, far worse than a living 
 death ? " 
 
 " Keep behind me still," said Bigamini, in a subdued 
 voice; "and I will try and answer you." 
 
 "I will, I will !" exclaimed the Italian eagerly. 
 
 " You must keep down your temper ; play hypocrite 
 night and day, and then I will show you how we can 
 work it." 
 
 ' ' Tell me what I have to do say what I can do ; any- 
 thing you say I will gladly do.'* 
 
 "Show patience, bow your head meekly. 
 
 "What for?" 
 
 ' ' Because it has already got me better grub than you 
 get. The chaplain (good man !), he likes to think that 
 his pious counsels have been successful, and he recom- 
 mends me to the notice of the governor, who is always 
 much influenced by the words of the clergyman, and 
 that gets me off stone-breaking and oakum-picking, and 
 other hard jobs, and presently " 
 
 "Yes," said Toro, eagerly, " and presently ?" 
 
 "It may get me a little liberty." 
 
 "Hah!" 
 
 "And then, if an opportunity offered, who can say 
 what might happen ! " 
 
 "Who indeed?" exclaimed Toro, chuckling in a sub- 
 dued manner, lest he should be overheard. 
 
 " I might glide if I saw the way clear and you might 
 glide too ; we should be company. J long to do those 
 little matters in company. It has been my ruin to 
 be too fond of company," added No. 4,093, woefully, 
 "for I took a wife or two too many because of this 
 weakness. " 
 
 "You got transported for bigamy ? " said Toro. 
 
 The other groaned. 
 
 Alas, alas ! 
 
 " A dreadful wicked thing, Mr. Toro, "said he, with a
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. i j 
 
 sigh and a hypocritical smirk which he had contracted 
 since he had been as he expressed it "dodging the 
 parson ; " "the voyage in their transports is by no means 
 transports of delight." 
 
 ****** 
 
 The good chaplain consulted with Bigamini about the 
 repentant sinner in whom he, Bigamini, appeared to take 
 such interest. 
 
 " Does he seem to be penetrated with the gravity of his 
 position ? " the reverend gentleman would constantly in- 
 quire of Bigamini. 
 
 To this the latter was careful to reply, for he knew that 
 the least extravagance on his part would do more harm 
 than good to the cause in view. 
 
 "He is becoming gradually more and more open to 
 reason, sir," Bigamini would reply, hanging his head, 
 "But I can't say in fairness that he is a convert." 
 
 "Patience, patience," the worthy gentleman would 
 reply ; 4< we must not hope to do it all at once. A good 
 work is not to be accomplished without trouble, patience, 
 and perseverance, my good man." 
 
 "No, sir, no," quoth No. 4,093, meekly; "I wish I 
 could follow the good example which you set me." 
 
 "Ah, my friend," said the clergyman ; "I am only an 
 erring man like yourself a weak worm. I sin hourly. 
 I strive to keep in the right but narrow path, and fre- 
 quently I strive in vain." 
 
 In the end, the convict No. 4,093 gave it as his opinion 
 to the chaplain that the Italian was growing convinced 
 of the error of his ways, and would be reasonable if he 
 were but permitted to take exercise with the rest of the 
 convicts. 
 
 "I am afraid that the governor will rather oppose that," 
 said the chaplain, "after his violent conduct with the 
 warder that day." 
 
 ' No wonder, sir," returned Bigamini. 
 
 ' He is a very dangerous character, I fear " 
 
 ' He was. " 
 
 ' Do you think that there is no longer any danger? " 
 'None, sir." 
 
 'Well, well," said the reverend gentleman, "I will 
 see what can be done." 
 
 " My only desire, sir," said Bigamini, " is to impart t9 
 2
 
 1 8 JACK HA RKA WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 him some of those words of hope, those crumbs of com* 
 fort which I have gleaned from you to save an erring 
 
 soul, if I can." 
 
 ****** 
 
 " I have obtained permission of the governor," said the 
 chaplain, a day. or two after the foregoing conversation ; 
 "but it is accompanied by certain irksome conditions." 
 
 Bigamini smiled in what he deemed a sweet and saintly 
 manner. 
 
 "Oh, sir, we must be thankful for small mercies," he 
 said, with a snuffle. 
 
 "You must go out in twos," said the chaplain, 
 "coupled." 
 
 "Like dogs " 
 
 "Hush." 
 
 "Oh, sir, I don't complain. I am only too glad to be 
 humbled as low as they will. I have sinned, and as you 
 truly say, I must expiate my fault." 
 
 The chaplain bowed his head in humility. 
 
 Bigamini clenched his hand tightly and muttered to 
 himself 
 
 " If I had you alone, I should feel joy in strangling 
 you with these hands." 
 
 The chaplain sighed. But he had not overheard the 
 muttered remark of the convict. 
 
 " How are we to go ? " asked Bigamini, with some thing 
 like impatience in his tone, in spite of his eagerness to 
 suppress it. 
 
 The chaplain took a written order from his pocket and 
 read it aloud 
 
 "Number 4,093 is to accompany Number 4,112, hand- 
 cuffed together, the right wrist of Number 4,112 to the 
 left of Number 4,093." 
 
 Bigamini quickened his hearing. 
 
 "Are we to be marched along by a driver, like the un- 
 happy negroes ? " 
 
 " No, no ; that humiliation is spared you." 
 
 " I do not ask it, sir. It is meet that I should suffer all 
 the degradation of my sentence." 
 
 "Hush!" said the chaplain, pressing the convict's 
 hand with emotion. 
 
 ****** 
 
 "Well," muttered Number 4,093, to himself, as the
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 1 9 
 
 good chaplain disappeared, "as an 'umbug, I feel that 
 I'm a gem of the first water. They're few and far be- 
 tween as can 'old a candle to me. I do it so regular, 
 right-down real, too, and the water comes to my blessed 
 peepers in the affectin' parts. I don't wonder as I takes 
 in the old devil-dodger. Why, I reg'lar deceives myself 
 
 at times, s'elp me Robert ! " 
 
 * * * * * # 
 
 The roll was called over, and the convicts were paraded 
 for exercise. 
 
 In twos or threes, handcuffed or chained together, they 
 came along the parade-ground, passed in revision by 
 several of the officers of the settlement. 
 
 And foremost amongst them was the big burly warder to 
 whom the rebellious Toro had been chained upon the last 
 occasion of his appearance in public. 
 
 He looked hard at Toro and strode up to him. 
 
 " So you're tamed down a bit, are you ? " he said. 
 
 Toro was silent. 
 
 " I thought you would alter your tune, you mad fool. 
 Those capers aren't to be tried on here. You have learnt 
 that at last." 
 
 The Italian quivered from head to foot with rage sup- 
 pressed. 
 
 A warning jerk from Number 4,093 upon his wrist kept 
 one great fact before him. 
 
 Only an affectation of humility could help him now. 
 
 The law was too strong for him here. 
 
 He was in the toils and he must submit. 
 
 "It was lucky for you that they came and dragged 
 you away," pursued the big warder, tauntingly; "for 
 bad as what you got was, it is nothing to what I should 
 have given you myself." 
 
 "Hah! " 
 
 "Quiet ! " growled Number, 4,093, in an undertone. 
 
 "I had to chastise a rough like you once," said thfr 
 gaoler, noting the torture he was inflicting upon the con- 
 vict with considerable satisfaction. 
 
 " I wish I had you alone somewhere, with these cursed 
 things off my wrists," muttered Toro to himself. 
 
 "Quiet," hissed Bigamini. " Don't you see his game? " 
 
 " Curse him ! " muttered the Italian. 
 
 " Only once," continued the big warder. " He did not
 
 20 JACK HA RKA WAY AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 want talking to again. He's in the hospital now, and 
 has been ever since ; and as for you, if they had but left 
 you alone in my care, I would have whipped you until 
 you would have crawled and fawned at my feet like a 
 well-licked hound." 
 
 The word was given to march. 
 
 Number 4,093 glanced up at his companion. 
 
 Number 4,112 was bleeding profusely at the mouth. 
 
 He had bitten his lip through. 
 
 All his sufferings were as nothing compared to what he 
 had to go through, in listening to the taunts of the tan- 
 talising gaoler. 
 
 "Curse you ! curse you ! " he kept muttering ; "if ever 
 I get you alone, I'll strangle you. " 
 
 " Swaller it, swaller it, Toro," whispered his comrade in 
 the gang ; " swaller it, and you'll laugh last." 
 
 Toro grunted. 
 
 "Perhaps." 
 
 "Very much so ; look at them green fields over there 
 look at that 'ere river, and the 'ills, and the walleys." 
 
 " Yes," said Toro, bitterly ; "and look at these." 
 
 He lifted his right wrist, and his companion's left, 
 pointing in bitterness to the iron gyves. 
 
 "Well," said Bigamini ; "what of that ? " 
 
 "What's the use of green fields with these on ?" 
 
 " I can slip 'em." 
 
 " How ? They never leave you the least thing to make 
 use of ; why, the very spoon we eat their accursed poison 
 out of, is chained down to the table." 
 
 "Shall I tell you a secret?" said Bigamini, looking 
 about him nervously. 
 
 Toro's curiosity was excited by the other's manner. 
 
 " Yes ; what is it?" 
 
 " I've found a old rusty nail in my caboose, and I've 
 hid it away." 
 
 "What rubbish is this you are talking?" said Toro, 
 angrily ; " what is the use of that ? " 
 
 Number 4,093 smiled with a pitying expression. 
 
 " Hinnercent ! " he said; "teething lambkin. Why, 
 there ain't a blessed lock in all London, from a Bramah 
 to a Chubb, but I can pick with a nail ; and do you think 
 as I'm to be beat by a pair of regglelation darbies at the 
 antypoads ? Get on with you."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA^ 2 1 
 
 Toro brightened up at this. 
 
 " Bravo ! " 
 
 " Wery much bravo." 
 
 " You are a genius, Bigamini, in your way." 
 
 " It all comes of being used to the artful line," said 
 4,093, modestly. " Why, when first I used to do the de- 
 cayed mechanic outside the pubs on Saturday nights, I 
 felt quite nervis, and the first fit I had in the street, I did 
 it so bad, that the crusher who was only a green hand 
 hisself browned at once to my game. 
 
 " ' Come now,' says he ; ' keep moving.' 
 
 " Then he gives me a clump with his mutton fist. 
 
 " ' Spit out yer mottle,' says he, and gives me another 
 clump ; whereupon I glode." 
 
 Toro smiled. 
 
 " 1 suppose it has its advantages," he said, endeavour- 
 ing to appear gracious to his companion, to whom he 
 looked now for liberty ; " but for my part, I think, I 
 would sooner jump into the sea than live like that." 
 
 Number 4,093 smiled. 
 
 " You always was give so to the dangerous line," he 
 said; "my notion is safety. I earnt a honest living for 
 years, with the broken-crock fake." 
 
 Toro stared. 
 
 " The what?" 
 
 "The broken-crock fake; you don't know that? 
 Thought not. Don't want much capital neither to work 
 it ; only a sickly mug, you see." 
 
 " You did well then?" 
 
 "Yes, I did so. I found a basket in Covent Garden 
 Market, when the salesman wasn't looking, and I filled 
 it with broken crocks." 
 
 " Crocks?" 
 
 " Earthenware, chaney, and glass, old broken things I 
 took off dust-'eaps. This load you carries on your 'ead, 
 until you come to a quiet spot in a nice retired street, 
 when you pretend to slip ; down you goes, crocks and 
 all ; out comes the ladies, sympathising dears, and sees 
 you weeping copious over your basket, and, as a rule, they 
 ask the value of your basket of earthenware. You says 
 that it's a choice lot of goods you had just bought for trad- 
 ing honest, and in eight cases out of ten, they subscribes.
 
 22 JA CK HARK A IV A Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 Well, the worst I ever did, was half a wheel, and that in 
 a comparative poor neighbourhood." 
 
 " Half a wheel?" 
 
 " Two-an'-six." 
 
 " I see ; and why did you quit such an admirable call- 
 ing ? " demanded Toro. 
 
 " I'll tell you," answered Bigamini, looking very 
 straight. " I forgot one day, and worked in the same 
 street twice in the same week. A young woman pops 
 out of the corner house, which I thought it was a chance, 
 for I goes down ter with the sex as a rule. I was on my 
 blessed mettle then, and meant landing a thick un at 
 least, an' so as I laid down on my back in the middle of 
 the broken crocks, I thought I'd throw in a fit as well, just 
 to work the extra sympathies. 
 
 " The young gal, with theyaller 'air and the blue eyes, 
 looked on curious-like, but never offers so much as a 
 tanner. A gent comes up, and says he ' Poor fellar, 
 here's half a crown for you.' I 'eld up my 'and for it^ 
 when the gal drags his hand back. ' Don't give nothing, ' 
 says she, ' it's all a trick ; I've seen him do it several times. 
 The crockeryware is already broken.' ' The wagabone,' 
 says the toff, ' we'll run 'im in,' and they did it, too ; and 
 the worst was that while I was up before the beak, I was 
 recognised by a peeler' as a party that was wanted for 
 another job, and, the beasts, that's why you see me here 
 now. " 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE LONE WANDERER IN THE DESERT HOPES, FEARS, AND 
 PERILS THE SAVAGES' CAMP. 
 
 WE shift the scene once more. 
 
 In a lone and desolate tract of the country, a solitary 
 wanderer was slowly dragging his weary course along. 
 
 A miserable man, with pale, careworn cheeks and 
 deeply-sunken eyes, who laboured painfully at every step. 
 
 His garments hung in rags about his shrunken form, 
 and the wretched remnants of what were once upon a 
 time jack-boots, were now kept upon his feet by means 
 of strings or thongs cut out of thick hide.
 
 4D VENTURES IN A US TR ALIA. 2 3 
 
 Many and many a weary mile had he wandered on 
 without seeing the face or form of a human being. 
 
 And when the sense of his desolation and loneliness fell 
 upon him he passed through a series of sensations which 
 pen cannot even faintly describe. 
 
 He crawled along as far as he was able, until one day 
 he sank exhausted by the wayside, and he hoped that he 
 was going to die. 
 
 " Most men are afraid to die," he thought to himself, 
 " and here am I ready to rejoice could I know that this 
 hour was to be my last on earth. Will it never end ? " 
 
 Ah, yes ! 
 
 Perhaps when he least expected it. 
 
 Perhaps the awful moment would come when he would 
 have changed his frame of mind. 
 
 He had but one subject constantly on his mind. 
 
 Death ! 
 
 Now his thoughts flew upward, and he asked himself if 
 he had sinned so deeply as to beyond all hope of re- 
 demption. 
 
 "Is it possible that there is no hope whatever for 
 such a wretch as me? Have I offended so deeply," he 
 asked, with upturned eyes, " that I am lost for ever and 
 ever? No, no, no; a hundred times no! I will not 
 believe it ; it would be a culumny upon Heaven to say it ! " 
 
 Strange words these for such a man as Hunston. 
 
 He ventured to breathe a prayer. 
 
 As the old familiar words, that in his childhood he had 
 first learnt to utter, kneeling in his mother's lap, passed his 
 lips, he sank upon his knees, and cried aloud for mercy. 
 
 Scenes of his innocent boyhood flashed in rapid succes- 
 sion through his mind, and the feelings evoked sent the 
 tears to his eyes, and in piteous accents he prayed to be 
 allowed to die. 
 
 And praying thus, he sank gradually down and dropped, 
 without intending it, into a profound sleep. 
 
 He must have slept for several hours, for when he 
 opened his eyes, the sun was sinking rapidly below the 
 horizon. 
 
 Considerably refreshed by the rest, he arose and stretched 
 himself out. 
 
 " The best sleep I have had for many a day," he ex-
 
 24 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 claimed " many a day aye, for many a week, many a 
 month, I might " 
 
 He paused. Hark ! 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 A distant echo of a blast upon a horn. 
 
 He looked anxiously about him, and presently dis- 
 cerned, far away, a black mass of moving objects, the first 
 glimpse of which set his heart throbbing. 
 
 Instinctively, he guessed that it was a mob of human 
 beings. 
 
 He watched the black, waving mass intently for a con- 
 siderable time. 
 
 Presently, having assured himself that they were coming 
 in that direction, he began to look about him fora hiding- 
 place. 
 
 " That clump of trees will do for me," he said. 
 
 So off he ran as fast as his legs would carry him, and 
 having picked out a roosting-place, up he clambered, and 
 perched so as to be able to take observations while re- 
 maining unseen himself. 
 
 ' ' They're blacks ! " 
 
 They were indeed. 
 
 A whole clan of the aborigines, men, women and chil- 
 dren. 
 
 The appearance of these people was a surprise to Hun- 
 ston, for he had seen several of the natives of New Zea- 
 land, the Maories, and they were as fine specimens of 
 manhood as the earth can show. 
 
 These Australians were the very reverse. 
 
 Ugly, ungainly figures hideous flat faces, smeared 
 with horrible pigments, which made them look like 
 Chinese idols more than human beings. 
 
 Hunston had heard of these people, as far as character 
 went. 
 
 He knew that their chief characteristics were cruelty 
 and vindictiveness. 
 
 Their enmity to the whites was fierce and undying. 
 
 "If I show myself, I am lost here," thought Hunston. 
 
 He was right. His life would not be worth five min- 
 utes' purchase. 
 
 "They're coming here." 
 
 Right once more. 
 
 Straight to that clump of trees they marched, yelling
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 2 5 
 
 discordantly as they came, throwing up their arms, and 
 capering about in the most alarming fashion. 
 
 Under the shade of the leafy boughs they pitched their 
 camp. 
 
 " I am lost ! " murmured Hunston. 
 
 His heart sank, and he was rilled with fears of death ! 
 
 He, who for weeks past, had been longing for it as the 
 end to all his woes. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WHEREIN TWO OLD FOES MEET FACE TO FACE "THE DOGS 
 
 THAT THEY HUNT THE NIGGERS WITH." 
 
 THE HARKAWAYS made up their minds to travel up the 
 country, beyond the last station upon the big river. 
 
 " We have exhausted every possible style of locomo- 
 tion, " said old Jack, when they were discussing the par- 
 ticulars of the project, "rail, boat, and horseback, but it 
 will be a new sensation to voyage by caravan." 
 
 "So it will." 
 
 "We can have a saddle-horse or two for those who 
 wish to Distinguish themselves before the ladies." 
 
 " Mr. Mole, for instance," suggested Dick. 
 
 The old gentleman turned sharply round. 
 
 "Not so much of your chaff, Mr. Harvey, if you 
 please," said he; "I have shown to as good advantage 
 in the saddle as most people here present." 
 
 Old Jack stared again. 
 
 Lying old rascal as he knew Mole was, he did not 
 think that he would venture such a cram as this in their 
 presence ; but young Jack was present, and he liked old 
 Mole's romancing too well to have his reminiscences 
 nipped in the bud. 
 
 " You had a good seat, Mr. Mole ? " he said, innocently. 
 
 Mr. Mole smiled in a pitying manner. 
 
 "You haven't heard much about horses at your early 
 period of life, my dear Jack," he said, "or the name of 
 Mole would have sounded ' familiar in your ears as 
 household words,' as the poet says, in connection with 
 the equine race"
 
 26 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "You surprise me," said Harvey, pretending to take n 
 all in. 
 
 "I had a pony once that would take a five-barred 
 gate " 
 
 " For supper? " suggested Dick. 
 
 "No, sir, at a leap." 
 
 "And where would it take the five-barred gate to?" 
 demanded Harvey. 
 
 " I mean clear it." 
 
 " Clear it ! ' repeated Dick. "Why, you talk of a pony 
 as if it were a cask of wine ; and what is the object of 
 Clearing a pony ?" 
 
 " Rubbish ! " cried Mr. Mole, furiously. 
 
 "What a singular object," said the imperturbable Dick. 
 'And do you employ white of eggs or steel filings ? " 
 
 "Bah ! " yelled Mole, savagely, while the rest of the 
 company were trying vainly to suppress their mirth ; 
 "you pretend not to believe it, but you know well how 
 true it is, for you remember the pony well." 
 
 "Of course I do," exclaimed Dick, "well, indeed; it 
 was a native of Jerusalem." 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha ! " laughed the listeners. 
 
 And this put an end to Mr. Mole's anecdote. 
 
 The preparations made for the new journey were 
 necessarily long and costly. 
 
 They had eight large waggons horsed with stout teams 
 and well provisioned. 
 
 They had to hire several servants, and for these, accord- 
 ing to custom, they went to the prison, where there are 
 always a number of men on hire amongst the discharged 
 convicts or men who by good conduct have earned their 
 tickets of leave, and amongst the number were two in 
 whom we take a certain interest. 
 
 "No. 4,093 !" was called out by one of the warders 
 attending upon the chaplain. 
 
 " Here, sir." 
 
 And No. 4,093 marched meekly out, looking the very pic- 
 ture of innocence according to a Botany Bay point of view. 
 
 "4,112." 
 
 "Here." 
 
 "That's a big, fine fellow," said' Harka way, as the last 
 called stepped forth.
 
 A D VENTURES IN A US TRA LI A. 27 
 
 " What offence was he sent here for ? " asked Harvey. 
 
 The registers were searched, and the answer brought. 
 
 "Robbery from the person with great violence." 
 
 "Humph!" said Jefferson, "it's rather a dangerous 
 fellow to have about one. 1 think that we could dispense 
 with him." 
 
 No. 4,112 heard it, and he scowled at the speaker. 
 'Did you notice that? " said Jefferson, eagerly. 
 What ? " 
 His look." 
 
 'Not particularly," replied Harkaway. 
 It was a familiar look, I thought," said Jefferson, 
 reflectively. 
 
 " How so ? " 
 
 Jefferson made no reply for awhile, but walked thought- 
 fully away. 
 
 "I know that I have seen that face somewhere," he 
 kept muttering to himself; "but where where?" 
 
 It was, however, small wonder that he could not recall 
 the face. 
 
 Those men were disguised so effectually by the prison 
 barbers, and by the convict's flannel garb, that few per- 
 sons could have traced any resemblance to those men as 
 they appeared before their trials. 
 
 4,112 had worn his hair long and bushy, and beard of 
 raven blackness. 
 
 Now, when this man was closely cropped and had his 
 beard and moustache shaved off, it will be readily under- 
 stood why he was effectually disguised. 
 
 The other convict, No. 4,093, walked after him. 
 
 "That big fellow doesn't appear to be altogether re- 
 formed," said Jefferson, to the chaplain. 
 
 "There is a hidden devil in his eye," added Dick. 
 
 " I hope not," said the worthy chaplain. 
 
 " I am pretty sure of it," said Jefferson. 
 
 "I will go after him to see what it means, " said the 
 chaplain. 
 
 The two convicts walked away, No. 4,112 looking as 
 black as thunder. 
 
 His expression now would have condemned him any 
 where.
 
 2 g JACK HARKA WAY AND HIS SON >S 
 
 No. 4,093 was more careful more guarded in his 
 manner. 
 
 His experience in playing the "artful dodge,' as he_so 
 significantly termed it, had led him to train his expression 
 so as to be all things to all men. 
 
 Coming up with his fellow-prisoner, he gave a sharp 
 glance about him to ascertain that they were out of ear- 
 shot, and then he said 
 
 "Toro, my pippin, you've made a nice mess of it." 
 
 "Bah!" 
 
 "What do you mean by showing your temper to the 
 strangers ? " 
 
 Toro stared. 
 
 ' Strangers ? " 
 
 ' Yes, those people. " 
 
 ' Is it possible you don't remember ? " 
 
 ' What ? " 
 'Those faces." 
 
 ' I don't see how I can remember people that I never 
 saw before in all my life." 
 
 The Italian convict burst out laughing. 
 
 "Well, well, Bigamini," he cried, laughing still, "I 
 gave you credit for a better memory." 
 
 " Who the deuce are they ? Why don't you tell me at 
 once ? " 
 
 "Don't you know the name of Jack Harkaway ?" 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 Had a thunderbolt fallen at his feet, he could not have 
 looked more startled. 
 
 Yet, no sooner was the name pronounced, than he re- 
 membered all the faces well. 
 
 He had not expected to see any of that party there 
 indeed, his thoughts had been anywhere but upon the 
 Harkaways else he might have recognised them. 
 
 You will bear in mind, too, that he had not seen the 
 Harkaways so lately as Toro had. 
 
 " It gives me quite a turn," said Bigamini. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Why! why, couldn't they make it precious hot for 
 us both ? " 
 
 "Of course they could," returned Toro; "but I think 
 they will never know us. The only course is to avoid 
 them, for did they but say half a word to the governor
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 39 
 
 about all we have done in various parts of the world, we 
 should never have half a chance at a ticket." 
 
 Number 4,093 pulled the wryest possible face. 
 
 "Dear, dear Toro," he exclaimed, ready to weep. 
 "After all my trouble too." 
 
 Toro grinned. 
 
 But his grin was savage, and it made his companion 
 jump back. 
 
 " No snivelling here, you watering-pot," he said, "or 
 
 I'll give you something " 
 
 ' Hush ! " 
 ' What is it ? " 
 ' The chaplain. " 
 ' Where ? " 
 'Behind us." 
 
 Immediately the two convicts fell into their old parts of 
 the reformed convicts. 
 
 The chaplain approached them slowly. 
 
 "My friends," he said, gently, "I fear you have not 
 the strength to wrestle with evil inclinings. Why did you 
 leave so abruptly ? " 
 
 " He is very sorry now, sir," said Number 4,093. 
 
 "Why did you leave?" 
 
 "To follow him," said Bigamini ; "to help him if I 
 could with a word of hope and comfort. That, sir, was 
 my only desire." 
 
 The meekness with which this was uttered, produced 
 the desired effect upon the good man. 
 
 He patted Number 4,093 encouragingly upon the 
 shoulder. 
 
 " You are a good fellow," he said. "I hope that your 
 reward may come soon." 
 
 And Number 4,093 shook his head meekly as if depre- 
 cating the compliment. 
 
 "My brother in sin and misfortune," he said, indicating 
 Toro by a gesture, "knew those people." 
 
 Toro gave a start. 
 
 "Basta, basta ! " he exclaimed, in alarm. 
 
 But Bigamini never heeded his warning. 
 
 "Knew the visitors? " said the chaplain. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "No, no," ejaculated Number 4, 112 ; "he is mistaken, 
 sir. I do not say that '*
 
 30 JA CK HA RKA IV A Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 The chaplain looked from one to the other inquiringly. 
 
 " He does not care to own it, sir," said Number 4,093, 
 "but it's the truth. That man was his worst enemy. He 
 has pursued him remorselessly through life. His great 
 riches have enabled him to dispose pretty much as he liked 
 of his enemies, my unhappy brother amongst the rest" 
 
 "Never!" 
 
 "It is true, sir." 
 
 The clergyman looked greatly shocked. 
 
 " It is very sad, but I will seek them, and reason with 
 them, and perhaps when they know your name, my good 
 friend " 
 
 Toro gave a savage side glance at Bigamini. 
 
 Yet Bigamini did not appear to be much alarmed. 
 
 "You must not, sir," said he to the chaplain ; "they 
 are cruel, and although they would speak fairly to your 
 face, they would be sure to work against him in secret. " 
 
 "But " 
 
 " Oh, sir, pray do not risk it as an experiment, for you 
 would be sure to ruin him. Promise him, sir, pray." 
 
 "Well, well, as that is the case," responded the reverend 
 gentleman, "I will promise." 
 
 "Thanks, oh, thanks, sir. Heaven bless you." 
 
 The clergyman turned away considerably affected, and 
 strolled thoughtfully out of hearing. 
 
 " What an impatient fellow you are," said Bigamini. 
 
 "You alarmed me." 
 
 "But there was no other explanation for it, don't you 
 see ? He's soft on certain questions, but the parson isn't 
 altogether a fool." 
 
 " Do you think you may rely upon his silence? " 
 
 "Certain." 
 
 Now they came to the boundary of the exercise ground, 
 which adjoined the road, and just as they arrived here, 
 they were greeted by the deep baying of dogs. 
 
 A moment more and two men of colour came past, each 
 holding a pair of strong and fierce-looking blood-hounds. 
 
 " Fine dogs, mister," said Bigamini. 
 
 "Very fine," responded one of the darkeys. 
 
 "They hunt the niggers with them across the Atlantic," 
 said Toro, brutally. 
 
 One of the darkeys, who was once known as Julius 
 Caesar Augustus Hannibal Jex, and who curiously enough
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 3 1 
 
 was introduced to these pages on a rumpus with the con- 
 vict Number 4,112, turned sharply upon the speaker. 
 
 " Mind they ain't put on your trail, mister gaol-bird," 
 he said, viciously ; "they mightn't find a convict's flesh 
 as dainty as a nigger's, but I'se blessed if dey wouldn't 
 gnaw proper." 
 
 Toro made a savage retort, and would have committed 
 himself imprudently had not Bigamini taken him by the 
 arm, and dragged him away. 
 
 " Don't be quite so familiar, Bigamini," growled Toro. 
 
 "Hush, don't you see? " 
 
 Toro looked anxiously about him at this. 
 
 " What, the guard coming ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 "What then?" 
 
 " Don't you recognise those two niggers ? " 
 
 "No yes, of course, they must be Harkaway's black 
 devils ; I shouldn't have remembered them, Niggers and 
 babies always appear exactly alike to me." 
 
 He turned round to look at the black men Sunday and 
 Monday, for of course it was our faithful old friends whom 
 the convicts had recognised, and he saw that Sunday was 
 pointing him out to his companion. 
 
 "Come away, Bigamini," exclaimed Toro, anxiously. 
 " We are recognised by those devils. Come along." 
 
 "I don't think so." 
 
 "Don't you ? Look back ; see, they are pointing to us 
 still." 
 
 They were too. 
 
 The pair of darkeys had not been able to fathom the 
 mysteriously familiar appearance of the convicts, but they 
 were getting upon the scent. 
 
 " Confound them," ejaculated Toro, impetuously. " I 
 should like to see them " 
 
 "I know," interrupted Bigamini, impatiently. "But 
 don't waste time in curses. This is the moment for action 
 not words." 
 
 It was in truth a serious job for the convicts, for reasons 
 that the reader can not fail to appreciate. 
 
 " Something must be done, and that promptly too." 
 
 "True, for if they have not recognised us to-day, they 
 will, and once let all the truth be known, you may look 
 to the full term of your sentence as a certainty."
 
 32 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 " Yes, and fresh warrants to be handed to you the day 
 you step out of prison." 
 
 Harkaway, or any of his party, knew many unpleasant 
 little incidents connected with the careers of Number 
 4,093 and Number 4,112, which would show them up in 
 so much worse light than could have been supposed. 
 
 If they remained here, they risked discovery daily. 
 
 Harkaway would be certain to return to the place for 
 the domestics and labouring men that he was to take upon 
 the chaplain's recommendation to his new settlement up 
 the country. 
 
 "Bigamini," exclaimed Toro, stopping suddenly, "we 
 must bolt." 
 
 Number 4,093 grinned. 
 
 "When?" 
 
 "To-night. I don't say it will be easy; all I say is 
 that it will have to be done. If we are recognised, we 
 are lost. Better to risk all and bolt." 
 
 "Very good," answered Number 4,093. "I'm agreed." 
 
 "When you hear the bell toll two," said Toro, " glide 
 to the dormitory window ; you will find it open." 
 
 "Open?" 
 
 Toro nodded. 
 
 "It is always barred." 
 
 " It will not be to-night, for I have removed the screws 
 of the bar. It comes out bodily, you see," he added, 
 significantly, " and may be handy in case of anyone get- 
 ting in our way." 
 
 Bigamini grew slightly alarmed. 
 
 "No violence," he said. 
 
 " I shall be prudent ; only let 'em beware of stopping 
 us, that's all." 
 
 The look of fierce menace in his face made Bigamini 
 tremble, and for a moment he half regretted being con- 
 cerned in this job. 
 
 However, it is certain that he feared Toro more than 
 anything or anyone else. 
 
 He dared not retreat. 
 
 All was silent in the convict dormitory.
 
 ADVENTURES ttf AUSTRALIA. 
 
 33 
 
 At either end of the long chamber in which the convicts 
 slept were warders dozing in their chairs. 
 
 But it was cat-like sleep, and at their right hands, were 
 bell-pulls, the lightest touch of which would alarm the 
 whole settlement. 
 
 No easy matter therefore for a prisoner to escape. 
 
 The deep-toned bell of the prison tolled two sonorous 
 notes. 
 
 A faint rustling might be heard in the dormitory, and 
 two dark forms glided like phantoms to the window. 
 
 The shutter was barred heavily, and upon the right 
 the bar was fixed to the staples by a padlock, of which 
 each warder kept a key. 
 
 But the padlock and the staples were all alike useless. 
 
 The bar came away bodily. 
 
 The window was pushed gently open, and each of the 
 two men threw a leg over prior to dropping down. 
 
 Suddenly a sound was heard, which startled them not 
 a little. 
 
 The tramping of military men. 
 
 " Hush ! " 
 
 "What now?" 
 
 "They are going to relieve guard." 
 
 "Quiet." 
 
 The marching of the soldiers grew nearer and neaier, 
 until it ended beneath the window. 
 
 Immediately below them was a sentry-box, and the 
 sentinel there was to be removed. 
 
 The challenge of .the officer of the watch was heard 
 distinctly. 
 
 The guard was changed. 
 
 The soldiers marched off, and the regular tramping soon 
 died away in the distance. 
 
 " Now's our chance ; for life or death," cried Toro. 
 
 "Quickly," said the other, looking pale, and trembling 
 with fear.
 
 34 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE FLIGHT THE SENTRY BAGGED ALARMING SOUNDS HUNTED 
 
 BY BLOOD-HOUNDS. 
 
 Now the spot where the two convicts escaped from the 
 window was close over the sentry-box. 
 
 Toro being less agile than his companion, he dropped 
 fairly upon the top of the box, and the weight of his huge 
 body made it sway forward. 
 
 Judge then of the amazement of the sentry who had 
 only just been placed there. 
 
 The tramp of the patrol was just dying in the distance, 
 when down flopped a man like magic before his box, and 
 almost at the same instant the sentry received a shock, 
 and the box was toppled over. 
 
 Down it fell with a crash, trapping the sentry in a way 
 that was comical in the extreme, or it would have been 
 had it been a trifle less alarming. 
 
 Toro rolled upon the ground, and Bigamini looked half 
 dead with fright 
 
 "Oh, golly," he moaned ; "it's all up." 
 
 Toro scrambled up. 
 
 " Don't be a fool," he said, savagely. " He's safe. I'm 
 more damaged than anyone, and I can walk, you see." 
 
 " Look." 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 "His gun." 
 
 Bigamini pointed to the barrel of the sentry's musket, 
 which was projected beneath the edge of the sentry-box, 
 and as it was moving backwards and forwards, there wa 
 every reason to suppose that the sentinel, like themselves, 
 was a good deal more frightened than hurt 
 
 " Hush ! " exclaimed Toro, warningly, " we must Wve 
 that or his life. " 
 
 "The gun?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Gently does it," said Bigamini. 
 
 Toro stooped, and made a grab at the barrel of the gun. 
 
 But just as he got hold of it, it rattled in his grasp, and 
 a loud explosion followed.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 35 
 
 It had gone off ! 
 
 The fright of the two convicts at this was something 
 great. 
 
 During the momentary stillness that reigned immedi- 
 ately after the explosion, they looked about them eagerly, 
 expecting to be pounced upon at once. 
 
 But an alarm is not always so quickly taken. 
 
 It required some few minutes for the prison authorities 
 to realise the full significance of the noise. 
 
 But when they did get some insight into the events 
 which had occurred, there was a general alarm created. 
 
 Then the alarm-bell was rung. 
 
 There were guns firing, and a general excitement, while 
 an elaborate search was made, for they could not at once 
 discover whence the mischief came. 
 
 Thus it fell out that before they were upon the scent, 
 the fugitive convicts, Numbers, 4,093 and 4,112, were far 
 off. 
 
 "We must keep to the river," said Bigamini, " and we 
 are saved." 
 
 "Don't be too sanguine as yet," responded Toro. 
 
 "Do you think we shall be taken?" demanded Big- 
 amini, in trembling accents. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Oh ! " 
 
 "Silence, fool!" ejaculated the Italian, savagely. 
 " Don't worry me. If you do any thing that may endanger 
 us, I shall think nothing of putting you out of the way." 
 
 "Ugh!" 
 
 Bigamini knew his companion of old. 
 
 He knew too well that Toro was not the man to hesitate, 
 even at murder. 
 
 He would look upon "removing" him Bigamini 
 from his path with as much coolness as disposing of an 
 enemy. 
 
 This was not a pleasant companion, truly. 
 
 * * # * * * 
 
 "This way. Follow me closely," exclaimed Toro. 
 
 "Consider me there," responded Bigamini. 
 
 By this time the pursuit had grown unpleasantly hot, 
 and they speedily realised one important fact. 
 
 They must throw the pursuers off the track before day- 
 break, or they would be lost.
 
 36 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 Once let them get an idea of their route and good-bye 
 to their chance of safety. 
 
 The night was dark, and progress difficult. 
 
 But Toro consoled himself for this on reflecting that it 
 made the pursuit equally difficult. 
 
 Their only object was to gain the river. 
 
 Once there, they kept along as close to the bank as 
 they could. 
 
 Toro led, and he went the pace in his dashing, fearless 
 way, while Bigamini followed him as closely as his fears 
 would allow him, for the danger of falling into the river 
 was by no means inconsiderable. 
 
 Several miles of ground were covered in this way, until 
 Toro, who led some distance ahead of his squeamish 
 comrade, was suddenly brought to a standstill by a cry of 
 pain and terror proceeding from Bigamini. 
 
 "Hold your noise, you idiot ! " he exclaimed, savagely. 
 " Do you want to bring them down upon us ? " 
 'Oho!" 
 
 ' Where are you ? " 
 'Here." 
 How far ? " 
 
 'Come and lend us a hand, like a good pal. I've 
 stuck in an 'ole, and damaged one of my legs, I think." 
 
 A fresh cry of pain, louder even than the first, brought 
 the Italian up to him with a run. 
 
 He found that Bigamini had slipped upon the bank, 
 where there was a sudden and steep declivity, and that 
 although a good deal more frightened than hurt, yet he 
 had really sustained some damage. 
 
 "Do you think you have broken your leg?" demanded 
 Toro, stretching over to him. 
 
 " Yes," answered Bigamini, eagerly, for he thought to 
 elicit a word of sympathy from his boorish comrade, 
 [f that's the case, you are no good for this job." 
 
 " Wuss luck ! " groaned the convict, piteously. 
 
 '' Then I'll tell you what I had better do for you." 
 
 "Yes, yes," said Bigamini, eagerly, "what, old 
 pal ? " 
 
 " I had better drop you into the water. I don't want 
 you left there howling, for you'll put them upon the 
 scent ; and I don't want that. So here you go to the bot- 
 tom of the river."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A VSTRALIA. 3 7 
 
 ' ' Don't be a brute, " cried the convict, awfulljr 
 frightened at this ; " lend us a hand and pull me up." 
 
 Toro stretched out and succeeded in dragging his com- 
 panion up on to terra firma. 
 
 The march was resumed ; Bigamini being only a slight 
 limp the worse for his fall, until Toro decided to rest for 
 the night. 
 
 "We shall be fresher after a little sleep," said he, " and 
 
 they'll never get as far as here to-night." 
 
 ****** 
 
 Morning dawned and found the two escaped convicts 
 fast asleep upon their backs, with the early sun pouring 
 its fiery rays on to their faces. 
 
 But they were so thoroughly done up by their exertions 
 of the previous day, that they slept like tops notwith- 
 standing. 
 
 After a certain time Toro opened his eyes. 
 
 He stared about him, and then he started as a distant 
 sound struck on his ear. 
 
 Evidently the sounds alarmed him. 
 
 At first he sat upright and listened intently, and then 
 down he stretched upon the ground and listened with his 
 ear to the earth. 
 
 An expression of alarm flitted across his countenance. 
 
 Yet we must give him the credit to acknowledge that 
 it was only momentary, and was speedily replaced by a 
 look of settled resolution. 
 
 "Bigamini ! " he exclaimed, kicking his companion with 
 a very unpleasant vigour. 
 
 " Hullo ! " 
 
 "Get up." 
 
 "Eh ! any thing wrong? " 
 
 "Yes," answered Toro, sharply; "very wrong in- 
 deed." 
 
 His manner helped as much as the kick to arouse his 
 companion. 
 
 "What can it be, Toro?" he exclaimed, an uneasy 
 feeling stealing over him. 
 
 "Listen," was Toro's reply. 
 
 Bigamini obeyed, and when he caught the sound that 
 had aroused Toro so thoroughly, he turned pale. 
 
 " It's dogs 1 " 
 
 Toro nodded.
 
 3 8 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Hounds ! " 
 
 "That's it," answered Toro in the same manner. 
 "Bloodhounds, and on our track, too. What do you 
 think of that, Bigamini ? " 
 
 The convict's lips grew livid with fear. 
 
 "Oh, Toro, Toro," he faltered, "you are never going 
 to give in. You won't bottle up." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 ' ' Don't be violent. I say you will fight it out, won't 
 you ? You ain't a-going to cry peccavi yet awhile, are 
 you ? " 
 
 "I am going to kill you, perhaps," answered Toro, in 
 a voice of calm, which thrilled his companion most un- 
 pleasantly. 
 
 "Oho!" 
 
 "Get up." 
 
 "I will, I will," shrieked Bigamini, springing to his 
 feet as Toro helped him with a kick. 
 
 " Follow me." 
 
 "Yes, yes." 
 
 They made their way on as fast as they could, but at 
 every stride the deep baying of the hounds sounded 
 nearer and nearer. 
 
 They were gaining upon the fugitives rapidly. 
 
 It was serious now. 
 
 The two convicts struggled on at a desperate rate. 
 
 Yet what could they do in a race with those fierce, 
 four-footed beasts ? 
 
 "They will tear us piecemeal," exclaimed Bigamini, 
 "if once they come up with us." 
 
 "There's no fear of that," answered Toro; "they are 
 only put on the track to guide our pursuers by their keen 
 scent. On with you." 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 "Cur that you are ; the dogs are held in." 
 
 Bigamini looked round over his shoulder and gave a 
 cry, or rather a gasp, of fright. 
 
 "Look." 
 
 Toro turned sharply round, and there, a hundred yards 
 behind them, were four bloodhounds bounding along with 
 their heads to the ground. 
 
 They were alone.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 39 
 
 Not a human soul in sight. 
 
 ' ' They have followed the trail, " said Toro rather thickly, 
 "and the keepers have not been able to keep up." 
 
 " We are lost then," ejaculated Bigamini. 
 
 "No, no," exclaimed Toro, "not lost, though would 
 to goodness we had a weapon each." 
 
 ****** 
 
 They looked anxiously about them. 
 Nearer and nearer grew the baying of the dogs. 
 Nearer and nearer every minute they approached. 
 Minutes were precious now indeed. 
 Minutes aye, seconds. 
 
 "It's all over with this poor child," cried Bigamini, in 
 despair. 
 
 ' Not yet," exclaimed Toro ; " there's the river." 
 ' The river ? " 
 ' Aye ; can you swim ? " 
 ' Like a stone." 
 
 ' No matter. Jump in, I'll help you across." 
 'Ugh!" 
 
 It was a sad alternative, but Bigamini was a bit of 
 philosopher. 
 
 "Better be drowned than made into dogs' meat,'' he 
 groaned. 
 
 And in he plunged. 
 
 As they struck the water, the four bloodhounds ran 
 sniffing up to the bank of the river. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 OUT OF DANGER ON THE MARCH A TYRANT AND HIS VICTIM 
 
 THE BUSHRANGERS CONGENIAL SPIRITS CAPTAIN MORGAN. 
 
 TORO rose to the surface and looked about him. 
 
 Bigamini was splashing and floundering about, trying 
 to cry out in fright, but half choked with the water he 
 had swallowed. 
 
 "Strike out." 
 
 Bigamini heard it, and he obeyed. 
 
 Yes, he obeyed it too much ; for he struck out at such 
 a rate that down he went.
 
 40 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SOWS 
 
 "Fool ! " cried Toro. 
 
 The bloodhounds stood sniffing about the bank of the 
 river, looking wistfully at their destined prey, but they 
 did not like taking the water. 
 
 They wanted their masters there to encourage them. 
 
 The hounds had gained upon them, solely because they 
 had got free from the guidance of their masters ; yet now, 
 they were useless in the absence of their masters. 
 
 Toro, who was pretty well versed in the nature of thesj 
 fierce brutes, saw it all, and his courage arose. 
 
 With one hand upon Bigamini's head he held him by 
 the hair he managed to swim vigorously for the oppo- 
 site bank of the river. 
 
 The wretched Bigamini was in an awful fright. 
 
 He struggled and sought to clutch at his compan- 
 ion, and finally securing a hold, he dragged him under, 
 too. 
 
 Toro was a veteran swimmer and he knew exactly the 
 danger he ran. 
 
 What was better, he knew how to avoid it. He fought 
 Bigamini off promptly, and once more secured a hold 
 upon his head. 
 
 Then off for shore. 
 
 A few more strokes and he scrambled up the bank, 
 dragging Bigamini after him. 
 
 Now Bigamini was rather more dead than alive, and it 
 wanted one or two gentle taps from his companion's 
 heavy hand to bring him to himself. 
 
 "You idiot ! " exclaimed Toro, "you nearly succeeded 
 in drowning me as well as yourself." 
 
 Smack ! 
 
 "Ohoo ! " yelled Bigamini, piteously. 
 
 "Take that." 
 
 "I've got it," roared Bigamini, rubbing the side of his 
 head. 
 
 'Take that too you imbecile and that ! " 
 
 "That'll do that'll do ! " cried Bigamini ! " give it to 
 somebody that wants it ; drop it ; I'm black and blue." 
 
 "You wanted to drown me," exclaimed his tyrant, 
 " after saving your life." 
 
 " No no ohoo ! " 
 
 ' ' That'll teach you to keep cool and keep your head 
 above water."
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 41 
 
 Bigamini did his best to dodge his tormentor ; but he 
 got a cuff between each word. 
 
 " You won't give much chance," he said weeping, " you 
 ill-use me so." 
 
 ' Quiet. " 
 
 'After all I've done for you." 
 
 ' You ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 'Why, you " 
 
 The rest of his remonstrances were drowned in a succes- 
 sion of blows, which Bigamini took without dodging, as he 
 gave up any opposition for a bad job, and when the Italian 
 was tired of smacking and cuffing, he rested, and so did 
 his wretched companion. 
 
 There is an end to every thing, however, and as Toro 
 grew fatigued, Bigamini lay back and groaned himself off 
 into a gentle doze. 
 
 "Get up." 
 
 " Don't ohoo ! " 
 
 "Get up, I say ! " thundered Toro, " if you go to sleep 
 in your wet clothes, you'll get ague and rheumatism, and 
 all sorts of complaints." 
 
 "I don't care," returned Bigamini. "I'd sooner go to 
 sleep ; I'm done brown." 
 
 Toro's only notice of this touching appeal was a kick 
 but oh ! such a kick ! It lifted Bigamini fairly off the 
 ground. 
 
 He gave a yell, and started off at a run. 
 
 The Italian strode after him, only onceturningroundto 
 shake his clenched fist at the four bloodhounds that stood 
 regarding their fleeting prey with wistful eyes. 
 
 "We've done you," he exclaimed, exultingly, "done 
 you, you beasts." 
 
 Bigamini limped along until Toro drew nearer and ad- 
 ministered another gentle reminder. 
 
 "Oho," yelled the escaped convict; "don't I wish I 
 was back again in quad neither, wuss luck, you brute." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "Oh, don't. Why, quad was a Paradise compared with 
 this ; they didn't knock your blessed chump up every 
 moment." 
 
 "I'm glad you enjoyed it," said Toro, with a grim 
 smile.
 
 42 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "So I did, so I did," persisted Bigamini ; "the prog 
 was good, though the parson did dose you with his ser- 
 mings." 
 
 "And the crank?" 
 
 Bigamini pulled rather a long face. 
 
 "Well, the crank did give you ' what for, Lady Jane? ' 
 pretty much, but I didn't have much of that." 
 
 "Hark you, Bigamini," said his companion, fiercely, 
 "sooner than be back there, I would lay my bones at the 
 bottom of that river." 
 
 " Would you ? Then all I can say is as I don't approve 
 of your taste." 
 
 "Perhaps not, but I'd sooner any thing yes, sooner be 
 worried by those fierce bloodhounds, sooner, far sooner, 
 be torn piecemeal than find myself put to the crank and 
 to their labour, that breaks the heart in a man." 
 
 "You needn't have done it unless you pleased." 
 
 "And what would have been the alternative? The 
 lash would have been the alternative. I know it to my 
 cost" 
 
 And as he spoke, the burly convict shuddered, showing 
 
 how heavily his punishment had sat upon him. 
 
 ***** * 
 
 At noon they rested. 
 
 Had they sat down to rest a mile before they did, they 
 would have been lost. 
 
 The soldiers in pursuit came up within that distance oj 
 the fugitives. 
 
 "Are you dry ? " 
 
 "Dry," echoed Bigamini ; "dry ain't the word, old 
 pal. I'm just dying of thirst." 
 
 " Bah ! I don't mean that." 
 
 "I do, though. I'd give all my fortune for one suck 
 at a pewter quart of humble, and I'd bet that there 
 wouldn't be much left in it when I took it away." 
 
 "I mean, are your clothes dry ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ; dry as I am, quite," said Bigamini. 
 
 '' Now then, say, do you believe I was right in forcing 
 you to keep up ? " 
 
 Bigamini pulled a woefully long face. 
 
 " Perhaps, but shall we give it up and rest here for a 
 bit ? " 
 
 "If you like."
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 43 
 
 He did like. 
 
 Down he dropped upon the ground, and before Toro 
 had settled himself comfortably upon the turf beside him, 
 Bigamini was snoring. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 "He's able to sleep anywhere," muttered the Italian to 
 himself, " and that ought, if all I have heard be true, show 
 a clear conscience. ' He who sleeps, dines,' the French 
 proverb says, but, maladetta 1 1 can't sleep on an empty 
 stomach, however hard I try. Ha ! what's that? " 
 
 His heart leaped to his mouth. 
 
 Suddenly, from behind a tree, appeared three armed 
 men. 
 
 Fierce, rough-looking fellows, dressed in red flannel 
 tunics, high jack-boots, and fur caps. 
 
 Each carried a rifle, and as they came up, they pre- 
 sented their weapons at the two escaped convicts. 
 
 "Lost!" 
 
 Such was Toro's involuntary cry. 
 
 But he rather overrated the danger for once. 
 
 "Who are you? " 
 
 Toro was too amazed to reply for a moment. 
 
 The speaker repeated his question sharply. 
 
 "Answer ; do you hear? Answer, or I'll blow you to 
 smithereens." 
 
 ' ' Travellers who have lost their way. " 
 
 " Humph ! Lost your way by a hundred miles or so, 1 
 suppose. " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 The three men burst out laughing simultaneously at this. 
 
 " We know the sort of travellers that you are," remarked 
 one of them, significantly. 
 
 "You've got on the uniform of the regiment." 
 
 "Yes," added another with a laugh; "honest, be- 
 nighted travellers. " 
 
 Toro gave himself up for lost at the word. 
 
 The convict garb put aside all chance of throwing dust 
 in their eyes. 
 
 "You can shoot us down if you like," said he, dog- 
 gedly, " for we don't mean to yield." 
 
 "Oh, you don't?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Call the captain, "said one of the new-comers.
 
 44 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 Another of them blew a shrill blast upon a small horn 
 which he carried at his belt, and almost before the echoes 
 had died away, it was answered from the depths of the 
 adjacent forest 
 "Blow again." 
 
 The answering call was sent, and in almost less time 
 than it takes to chronicle the fact, two men came running 
 up, closely followed by a black boy. 
 
 One of the men was habited the same as the first three 
 in every particular. 
 
 The other's dress was almost identical with the rest, 
 only he wore a hat instead of the fur cap, and by his side 
 he carried a long sword in a metal sheath. 
 
 The black boy's dress calls for little description, there 
 was so little of it. 
 
 You have all heard of the savage king whose toilet for 
 state ceremonials consisted of a cocked hat and a pair of 
 spurs. 
 
 Well, this young savage's dress consisted of rather 
 less. 
 
 His whole wardrobe consisted of a cotten pocket-hand- 
 kerchief tied round his loins. 
 
 He was a bright-looking, intelligent young fellow for 
 his race, of a light and lissom build that seemed to indi- 
 cate he could run like a greyhound and never tire. 
 
 "What larkth," cried the boy, grinning from ear to ear 
 and showing a set of ivories that would have excited the 
 envy of a London dentist. "Yah, yah f " 
 
 "What have you got here, Marchant ? " demanded the 
 man in the hat, sharply, his manner indicating a superior- 
 ity to his companions. 
 
 " A couple of innocent, benighted travellers," answered 
 the man addressed as Marchant, with a gruff laugh. 
 "Escaped convicts ! " 
 "Yes." 
 "Humph!" 
 
 Toro was on his feet by now, and a sidelong kick 
 brought Bigamini up beside him, blinking and winking 
 like an owl in daylight 
 
 " Get up and lend a hand," he said quickly. " They're 
 down upon us, and we are lost, but we will fight for it." 
 Bigamini said nothing. 
 " Fight for what ? " demanded the man in the hat
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 45 
 
 "Before you shall take us back to prison," retorted 
 Toro, fiercely. 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha, ha!" laughed the stranger, mockingly. 
 " Catch any of us going near to prison. No, no ; we are 
 too wide awake for that. " 
 
 Bigamini rubbed his eyes like one of those fishermen 
 in the ' ' Arabian Nights. " 
 
 ' ' Why, don't you see who they are ? " he exclaimed. 
 
 "No, not I." 
 
 " It is plain as a pikestaff, " answered Bigamini ; "they 
 are Australian bushrangers." 
 
 Toro stared again. 
 
 "Yes, bushrangers. Look you, friends, we are starv- 
 ing. Give us a bit of food, bread, no matter what, and a 
 drink, and you may claim of us what you will." 
 
 "Give them food, captain !" demanded one of the 
 party. 
 
 The chief nodded. 
 
 "You shall tell me in return what you were condemned 
 for to transportation." 
 
 "Willingly," replied Toro : "I was innocent." 
 
 "So was I," added Bigamini, quickly; "innocent as a 
 sucking lamb. " 
 
 The chief of the bushrangers turned to his men, and 
 quickly said 
 
 " If I catch them lying to me, I will nod my head as a 
 signal for you to shoot them both through the heart. " 
 
 " Now," continued the chief of the bushrangers, " let me 
 know why you are here and for what crime committed." 
 
 " I am not guilty of the crime I was punished for ; I 
 am innocent of that" 
 
 " So I thought," said the chief; "I never met a guilty 
 man yet." 
 
 " Dat's right," said the black boy, with a guffaw, 
 " dese am lily-white angels, yah 1 yah 1 " 
 
 "Hold your croakings, you black devil," thundered 
 Toro, fiercely, " or I'll cut you in two." 
 
 The young darkey put his hands to his nose, and took a 
 deliberate sight, while he wagged his woolly head back- 
 wards and forwards in the most aggravating way im- 
 aginable. 
 
 " Oh, you big baby. Catch Tinker first" 
 
 "What?"
 
 46 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 " No catchee, no habee. Yah, yah ! " 
 
 "Keep quiet, Tinker, "exclaimed the bushranger chief; 
 " and you are wrong to heed him although, I must say, 
 your confession of innocence is more than an excuse for 
 a nigger why, it's enough to make a cat laugh." 
 
 "Your doubts are natural, perhaps, " said the Italian 
 convict, "but although I have a pretty long string of sins 
 to answer for, lying was never one of them." 
 
 The chief laughed. 
 
 "Well answered," he said; "but not to waste time, 
 what were you convicted for ? " 
 
 "Robbery. But I was innocent." 
 
 "Of course." 
 
 ' ' I was, I swear it. But my whole life was raked up. 
 Those police of yours are prying wretches they turn 
 a man inside out. They learned things of my past life 
 which I had actually forgotten myself in the lapse of 
 years, and when it was discovered that I had been leader 
 of a notorious band of Italian brigands, I was condemned 
 almost unheard upon the charge of highway robbery. I 
 acknowledge to you that I have committed acts a hun- 
 dred times worse than that for which I was accused, 
 tried, and convicted, so I have no reason to protest in 
 my innocence to you if it were not true." 
 
 "Very strange luck," said the bushranger, meditat- 
 ingly ; "you carry on for years with impunity, and 
 finally get nobbled for a job you have never done." 
 
 " Had I got into that tittle trouble in my own country," 
 said Toro, bitterly, "I should have got off easily." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "By what you call ' squaring ' the police," was the 
 reply. 
 
 "Oh!" said the bushranger, "the police in England 
 are a brutal, hard-fisted set of men. " 
 
 " Hard indeed ! " growled Toro ; " the two that took 
 me nearly strangled me with their brutal knuckles that 
 dug into my throat I had to march or choke." 
 
 The bystanders laughed heartily at this. 
 
 "Yes,'' said Bigamini, "they can run 'em in. Oh, 
 my ! " 
 
 " And what did you do ? " 
 
 "Oh, I married a little too much," returned Bigamini, 
 making a very long face.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TRALIA. 47 
 
 "Bigamy?" 
 
 "That's what they called it." 
 
 " How many wives did you have? " 
 
 "Only four." 
 
 "And you got punished for that!" exclaimed the 
 bushranger chief ; " why, you should have been rewarded 
 by a gold medal. There's not a second man in Great 
 Britain and Ireland that would dare tackle four wives 
 why, you are a hero. " 
 
 " Let's give a cheer, captain," said one of the men, 
 " for the man with four wives." 
 
 "Hip, hip, hip, hurrah ! " 
 
 Bigamini stood before them bowing modestly, while 
 they were yelling with laughter. 
 
 "We met here by accident," said Toro, "but we had 
 been old comrades in Italy. " 
 
 "Indeed ! Was he a brigand too there ? " 
 
 Bigamini looked anxiously about him. 
 
 " No no no ! " 
 
 "Yes, he was. He was attached to our band as a spy, 
 but at last he was suspected of playing fast and loose." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "Of being in the pay of Jack Harkaway." 
 
 The chief of the bushrangers gave a start. 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 " Harkaway." 
 
 " Do you know him ? " 
 
 Toro laughed bitterly. 
 
 "To my cost. He destroyed our band in Italy, rooted 
 us out in Greece. Ah, it was an unlucky' day that we fell 
 foul of the Englishman, Jack Harkaway." 
 
 "I know all that story," said the chief; "so you are 
 one of those men. What is your name ? " 
 
 "It was Toro, then." 
 
 "Toro!" ejaculated the other; "you are Toro, the 
 giant brigand?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And he?" 
 
 "Bigamini, the spy." 
 
 "Of course of course. I should have guessed as 
 much. Now, I'll tell you what, Toro, and you too, 
 Bigamini, ours is a free and easy life we are, as you 
 guessed, bushrangers, and my band has a name which
 
 48 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 has inspired fear, if not respect, in all the country round. 
 Will you join us ? " 
 
 ' Gladly ! " ejaculated Toro, promptly. 
 
 ' And you ? " 
 
 ' Rayther, my pippin," cheerfully responded Bigamini. 
 
 'You know our names, now tell us your name," said 
 the Italian convict. 
 
 'Morgan." 
 
 'What," cried Toro and Bigamini, in surprise, 
 "Morgan !" 
 
 "Yes, Captain Morgan, the bushranger." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HORSE TAMING A LA RAREY YOUNG JACK TO THE RESCUE 
 WHAT A BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE DID FOR IT. 
 
 THE bloodhounds were got back by Monday and his 
 sable companion from the fruitless chase after the escaped 
 convicts. 
 
 Indeed, it was quite by accident that they had joined in 
 the hunt. 
 
 When the alarm was given, Sunday happened to be 
 exercising the dogs, for it was a very hot night, and he 
 could not sleep, when one of the men from the gaol came 
 running up, and pressed him into the service. 
 
 Next morning there was a great stir in the Harkaway 
 household. 
 
 It was the day appointed for starting on their journey, 
 providing all the preparations were complete. 
 
 The horses were especially troublesome, for several of 
 them were not broken in. 
 
 Amongst the latter category was a colt that had mas- 
 tered most of their men, and thrown both Sunday and 
 Monday, who were good horsemen. 
 
 Accordingly Harkaway was consulted, and the colt was 
 brought round to him to receive his opinion upon it. 
 
 "A beautiful little thing," he said. "How smart 1 
 What action ! Yet I can see that he is a little spitfire." 
 
 And they all stood around looking on, when Mr. Mole 
 came up.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 4 g 
 
 'I must say I think that young men have degenerated 
 since I was a lad," he said. 
 
 "Indeed, Mr. Mole,'' said Dick Harvey, with -a sly 
 wink at young Jack. 
 
 "Why, sir? " said young Jack. 
 
 "Why ? " ejaculated Mole. " Do you ask why ? " 
 
 "Well, I certainly did, sir," answered young Jack, 
 quietly. "At least, so I thought." 
 
 "Then I may tell you it is because when I was a 
 young man, I should have thought no more of jumping 
 on that colt's back than of whistling Jack Robinson." 
 
 " About the same, I suppose, sir," said Dick Harvey. 
 
 "What do you mean ? " 
 
 " I mean that you never think of whistling Jack Robin- 
 son, and I suppose you would just about as much have 
 thought of mounting that colt." 
 
 "Well, I don't suppose that you are going to try, 
 Harvey," said old Mole, with the most aggravating air in 
 the world. ' ' You have your points, Harvey, but you were 
 never distinguished you'll excuse my saying so by 
 any great degree of daring intrepidity." 
 
 " Perhaps not," said Harvey, slightly nettled. " Have 
 you forgotten the Greek brigands ? " 
 
 "Stop a bit," said young Jack ; "let's all have a turn at 
 him, and try if we can't get his mettle under a bit." 
 
 " De horse is a 'farnal tarter, Massa Jack," said Monday. 
 
 "Frightened you, Monday!" exclaimed young Jack 
 grinning. 
 
 "No, no," returned Monday, quickly; "de horse as 
 could do dat don't exist on dis here side ob Jordan." 
 
 Mole chuckled audibly. 
 
 ' ' Brag's a good dog, " said Jack, ' ' but Holdfiast's a 
 better." 
 
 "I'llhab another turn at de animal, if I die," said 
 Monday. 
 
 "Bravo, Monday !" exclaimed Harkaway, heartily. 
 
 "Bravo !" 
 
 Monday caught the colt by the bridle, and held him in 
 a grip of iron, while he edged up to his side. 
 
 " Woa, woa ! " cried Monday, 
 
 The colt remained perfectly still for a time ; but no 
 sooner did he feel the Prince of Limbi's knees near his 
 side than up went his heels. 
 4
 
 50 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 For this he was rewarded with a good smart punch in 
 the ribs by Monday, which served to steady him for 
 awhile. 
 
 Profiting by a moment or so of calm Monday leaped 
 into the saddle. 
 
 "Now, no sooner did the restive colt feel the weight of 
 his rider, than up went his heels again. 
 
 Then he reared up in front 
 
 "Keep quiet!" cried Monday, giving him a spank 
 across the haunches. 
 
 The colt sprang forward. 
 
 " Oh, oh ! " cried Monday ; " somebody hold him, or 
 he kill me." 
 
 The colt then jumped up all fours in the air, and career- 
 ing sideways as he touched the ground, over went the 
 darkey, flat on his back. 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha ! " laughed Sunday, " lubly hoss riding : 
 old Monday bery clever." 
 
 "Went down all of a lump, eh, Monday? " said Dick. 
 
 " Monday, my boy, you ought to limit your daring to 
 riding our goat," said Mr. Mole. 
 
 "Now, then, Sunday," cried Harkaway, " you have 
 your chance." 
 
 Sunday perceived them grinning all round, and he 
 would fain have been excused. 
 
 But there was no getting out of it. 
 
 "Up with you," said Harkaway laughing. 
 
 " I'se gwine, sir ; dis child not afraid," returned Sunday 
 who was especially anxious that his shrinking should not 
 be observed. 
 
 "The beast is not vicious," said Harvey. " I'm sure of 
 that." 
 
 'Try him, Dick," said Mole. 
 
 'If Sunday is dropped, I will," answered Harvey. 
 'Hab my turn ; I don't want it, Massa Harvey," said 
 Sunday, jumping back with alacrity. 
 'No, thanks ; up you go, Sunday." 
 'My opinion," Mr. Mole observed, with some dignity, 
 "is that the girth is much too tight ; you're cutting the 
 horse in two, and yet you are surprised to find him res- 
 tive. " 
 
 Sunday glanced at it, and nodded at Mole. 
 
 "Tank'ee, budder-in-la', " he said, with that peculiar
 
 A D VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 5 1 
 
 grin which made the old gentleman writhe ; "I'se almost 
 sartain you've got it right for once, old boy." 
 
 He loosened the girth, and then he caught at the horse's 
 mane. 
 
 Round and round went the vicious beast, and do all he 
 would, he could not get his foot in the stirrup. 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha," laughed Mr. Mole. "Very good, a very 
 good horseman quite aDucrow. " 
 
 "Quite a Jim Crow," said Jefferson, grinning. 
 
 "That's nearer the mark." 
 
 This excited such a grin, that Sunday lost his temper. 
 
 " Look hyar, budder-in-la'," said he, " don't you go to 
 be so 'farnal dam imperent. " 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha ! " laughed the whole of the bystanders. 
 
 Goaded to deeds of daring by this, Sunday, who was 
 remarkably active, rushed at the colt, and catching wildly 
 at the mane, he made a prodigious leap. 
 
 Hey, presto ! 
 
 He was in the saddle. 
 
 But alas ! for the poor darkey, the colt had been too 
 quick for him, and pirouetted just at the self-same mo- 
 ment that Sunday had made his leap, and the con- 
 sequence was, although he was up, he found himself the 
 wrong side of London. 
 
 In other words, he was facing the tail, which he 
 grabbed at, on the first impulsive instinct, and now held 
 as a bridle. 
 
 It was a sight to remember then. 
 
 The darkey's look of amazement as he held the tail was 
 comical in the extreme. 
 
 " What's dat; not him head?" he ejaculated, staring 
 about stupidly. 
 
 He looked at Mole, and at Harvey, and then at young 
 Jack, as if suspecting that they were responsible for this 
 mishap. 
 
 "Bravo, Sunday ! " cried Mr. Mole, vociferously. 
 
 "Bravo!" 
 
 "That's the best way to get up." 
 
 "You'll stay on quite as long that way," said Mr. Mole ; 
 "but mind you don't swallow his tail." 
 
 " Go an' swally yar wooden props, brudder-in-la', " said 
 Sunday, with ineffable contempt. 
 
 "Insolent nigger ! " retorted Mr. Mole.
 
 5 2 JACK HARK A WAY AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "Yah!" 
 
 The wild yell of the infuriated nigger set the colt on 
 the pirouette again. 
 
 Round and round. 
 
 Still Sunday clutched the colt's tail like grim death. 
 
 Up and down. 
 
 Then that ugly side-jump, like a frisky kitten when it 
 pretends to be startled. 
 
 Sunday wrenched again at the tail as though it was a 
 stout rein with a powerful bit at the end of it, when the 
 colt, not approving of this kind of treatment, kicked out. 
 
 Up went his heels. 
 
 "Bravo, Sunday!" cried the boys, excitedly, "keep 
 it up." 
 
 But just as they had uttered these words of encourage- 
 ment, the colt sprang up suddenly sideways, and Sunday 
 was jolted from his hold upon the tail. 
 
 He turned and clutched at the saddle. 
 
 It shifted. 
 
 "Golly ! " cried Sunday, in alarm, " de blessed saddle 
 is gwine to v'yage. " 
 
 "The belly-band's loose," said Jefferson. 
 
 But no one could get near enough to the animal to 
 tighten it, and slowly but surely down went the saddle, 
 with Sunday clinging frantically to it, until he slid fairly 
 under the horse's belly. 
 
 They did not laugh now. 
 
 This situation was even more perilous than droll. 
 
 However, the colt rested for a moment, and then 
 Jefferson clutched him by the head and held him in a 
 grasp which master colt took as a wholesome warning to 
 remain still. 
 
 As soon as Sunday was rescued from his dangerous 
 position, he began to abuse his brother-in-law Isaac Mole. 
 ' Dat's your fault, brudder-in-la, ' " he said, indignantly. 
 ' Mine ! " quoth the old gentleman, in amazement. 
 'Yes, yourn." 
 ' How so ? " 
 
 ' Didn't you tell me to loosen the girths ? " 
 : Bah!" yelled Mr. Mole, contemptuously; "you 
 must have a rocking-horse to tame, my good Sunday ; 
 that is more in your line." 
 
 A general laugh greeted Mr. Mole's taunt
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 53 
 
 " I should like to see Mr. Mole have a try, " laughed Dick. 
 
 "Oh!" cried the worthy Isaac, "that's the way you 
 want to shirk out of your job, after making such a parade 
 of volunteering to mount it." 
 
 They grinned at this, but Dick tightened the colt's 
 girth, and vaulted into the saddle with the ease of an 
 experienced riding-master. 
 
 Dick held the colt tight in hand, but the vicious animal 
 made a sudden rush off, and then suddenly pulling up 
 short, sent the rider flying over -his head. 
 
 Dick was much shaken, but got up and joined good- 
 humouredly in the grin at his own expense. 
 
 Jefferson now had a turn, and by sheer strength he 
 created a sort of respect for himself in the colt's mind, 
 but in a moment, he caught his rider unawares, and laid 
 Jefferson as neatly as possible upon the flat of his back. 
 
 "Now then, Harkaway," he cried, jumping up. 
 
 "My turn," said old Jack, nothing loth, and coming 
 forward with a laugh ; " make way there. Let me get a 
 fair hold of the wild creature." 
 
 At this juncture young Jack came forward, and begged 
 his father to allow him to take his place. 
 
 " You'll get hurt, perhaps killed, Jack." 
 
 " I don't mind that, dad," returned the boy, promptly. 
 
 "I know that, sir," answered his father, "but I do." 
 
 " I don't fear danger, dad." 
 
 And as if to put an end to the disscussion, impudent 
 young Jack caught hold of the colt, and jumped into the 
 saddle. 
 
 The frisky animal had not had such a light weight out- 
 side before, so he played some pranks of quite a novel 
 and unexpected character. 
 
 He bounded forward and stopped short. 
 
 Then danced aside. 
 
 Then took a run, and jumped an imaginary brook, but 
 young Jack held on. 
 
 He was more difficult to dislodge than any of his pre- 
 decessors. 
 
 The colt grew frantic. 
 
 Up it went on its hind legs, until young Jack was in a 
 perfectly perpendicular attitude. 
 
 "So, sir," said the young rider, "you won't give over ; 
 you'll not keep still-"
 
 54 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SOJV S 
 
 The colt's reply was to bound in the air all four legs 
 together. 
 
 Then off he tore. 
 
 A mad, wild gallop, just as Mazeppa was borne through 
 the desert. 
 
 ' ' Jack, Jack ! " cried his father, ' ' for Heaven's sake, 
 take care." 
 
 Young Jack stuck well to the wild colt. 
 
 After careering round and round for awhile like this 
 for he was forced to obey the rein a little he came to a 
 sudden stoppage and stood for a moment, prior to spring- 
 ing off again, but young Jack did not leave him time 
 to get off again. 
 
 He had a bottle of champagne in his pocket which he 
 had put there for the colt as an experiment. 
 
 And waiting his chance, then seizing the bottle by the 
 neck, he gave the colt a sharp and heavy blow with the 
 body of the bottle across the forehead. 
 
 Bang went the bottle, between his ears, and the wine 
 streamed down his face, and running into his eyes, the 
 colt stood still upon the instant, trembling from head to 
 foot with fear but tamed as if by magic. 
 
 "Now," said his rider, and his master, young Jack, 
 "just go round to please me." 
 
 He touched the colt lightly with the spur, and he 
 started off at an easy canter. 
 
 Back he came, and stood stock-still in the exact spot 
 where young Jack wished him to. 
 
 " He won't try those larks on again," said the boy. 
 
 " Bravo, Jack ! " shouted Jefferson. 
 
 They all caught up the cry, Mole included, shouting 
 
 "Bravo, Champagne Jack ! " 
 
 And young Jack was decidedly the colt-tamer and hero 
 of the hour.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TRALIA. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ROOK THE CONVICT THE HARKAWAY PARTY ON THE MARCH 
 
 AN INCIDENT OF TRAVEL THE ALARM AT THE CAMP MIKE'S 
 
 WARNING. 
 
 THE expedition started for their new settlement. 
 
 " It looks like a grand caravan," said young Jack. 
 
 And in point of fact, it was rather an important pro- 
 cession altogether. 
 
 Leading them were the two darkeys, who formed a 
 sort of advanced guard. 
 
 Sunday and Monday were mounted upon a pair of 
 stout mules. 
 
 Behind them were two mounted servants, who had 
 been engaged whilst in Sydney. 
 
 Then followed a large waggon-load of necessaries of 
 every description. 
 
 Next came two more servants from the colony, and 
 following upon the tamed horse was young Jack, with 
 his friend Harry Girdwood beside him, well mounted 
 upon a coal-black horse. 
 
 Following these were two tumbrils of goods and 
 chattels. 
 
 Then there were three horsemen riding abreast 
 
 Jack Harkaway the elder, between Jefferson and Dick 
 Harvey. 
 
 Next to young Jack's, this was the part of the pro- 
 cession which commanded the greatest attention. 
 
 After this came an open carriage or drag, in which 
 were seated Mrs. Harkaway, Mrs. Harvey, little Emily, 
 Ada, Paquita, Mr. Mole, and his dark spouse. 
 
 Following them were three waggon-loads of goods, 
 then a cargo of female domestics, and a guard of male 
 servants, mounted and armed, brought up the rear. 
 
 They followed the course of the river, and having by 
 twelve o'clock come to a leafy glade by the riverside, 
 they decided upon stopping to lunch and rest during the 
 fiercer heat of the day. 
 
 "Get out the fishing-rods, and tackle, boys," cried old 
 Jack, ' ' and let us have some fresh fish to offer the ladies."
 
 56 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 The boys went to work immediately. 
 
 "There's trout here, Jack," Harry Gird wood said. 
 
 "We'll precious soon have some then," answered 
 young Jack. 
 
 A little patience, helped out by some skill in angling, 
 enabled them to a land few fine fish, but no trout, in 
 the course of a few minutes. 
 
 "They're not shy here, ma," said young Jack, to his 
 mother. 
 
 "They're like my boy in that respect," said Mrs. 
 Harkaway. 
 
 "Very good, very good," exclaimed Mr. Mole, "he's 
 not at all shy, my dear." 
 
 Next day, about sundown, the party had made a con- 
 siderable advance, and they were just thinking of camp- 
 ing for the night, when an incident occurred which it is 
 as well to notice. 
 
 "This looks a favourable place for the ladies' tent," said 
 Jefferson, surveying an open spot closely surrounded by 
 trees. 
 
 Harkaway rode up with the two coloured gentlemen. 
 
 "Yes, this will do. Up with the tent. Rook, Rook! 
 Why, where the deuce is Rook ? " 
 
 The word went forward. 
 
 " Rook ! " cried several of the party, in a chorus. 
 
 "Where is he?" 
 
 There was a general hunt at this, for Rook was quite an 
 expert at tent-pitching and as their present tent was of 
 considerable dimensions, it wanted someone who under- 
 stood his work to take the management of it. 
 
 Rook was one of the helps or men-servants who had 
 been engaged by Harkaway from the convict settle- 
 ment. 
 
 He had been strongly recommended by the chaplain 
 and by the governor, who both attested to Rook's good 
 behaviour. 
 
 ***** * 
 
 " Where is Rook ? Why, there he is," cried Harry Gird' 
 wood, standing up in his stirrups. 
 "Where?" 
 "In the water."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TK A LI A. 5 7 
 
 They turned round at this, and then they perceived 
 Rook a long way down the stream swimming round a 
 white object which was bobbing about in the water. 
 
 What could it be ? 
 
 "He is imprudent to go bathing while he is so hot," 
 said Jefferson. ' ' I heard him complaining of the heat not 
 an hour ago. " 
 
 "So did I." 
 
 . A shout was raised for him, but the distance being too 
 great for the voice to reach, a call was blown by young 
 Jack upon his bugle a signal understood to recall strag- 
 glers from the party, which was a very useful thing in 
 such a party as this was and its shrill echo soon caught 
 his attention. 
 
 The swimmer threw up one arm and waved it in ac- 
 knowledgment of the signal, then he struck out for shore. 
 
 To throw on his guernsey, flannel garibaldi, and get into 
 his boots was the work but of a few moments. 
 
 Then off he ran and came up at a quick double. 
 
 Rook was a smartly-built fellow, with a keen, cunning 
 face. 
 
 He had an eye which took in every thing at a single 
 glance. 
 
 He went straight up to old Jack, and gave him a semi- 
 military salute. 
 
 " I hope I am not offending, Mr. Harkaway ? " he said. 
 
 "No, no, Rook." 
 
 "Quite innocently if I did offend, sir," returned Rook; 
 "the day has been very hot, and as you were nearly halt- 
 ing for the night, I thought I would take a dip before it 
 got too dark ; the sun goes down so suddenly here." 
 
 "There's no harm done, Rook," returned old Jack smil- 
 ing ; " we were concerned for you." 
 
 " You are very good to me, sir," said the man, hanging 
 his head. 
 
 Harkaway looked rather anxiously round. 
 
 "Keep your own counsel, Rook, about the past." 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Let us keep it to ourselves," said old Jack, earnestly, 
 "and who knows but that a new and happy future lies 
 before us, with forgetfulness, utter oblivion of all that is 
 bad in our past ? " 
 
 Rook stood abashed and silent before his patron.
 
 58 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SOWS 
 
 Why had he nothing to say for himself now ? We shall 
 see. 
 
 "Come, Rook," said Jefferson, stepping forward, "up 
 with the tent. " 
 
 " We are going to pitch here, sir? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 ' ' Very good. " 
 
 Rook, aroused from a momentary reverie which the 
 incident with Harkaway had occasioned, set to work in a 
 regular business-like way to raise the ladies' pavilion. 
 
 "The centre-pole here, Mr. Monday, please; now, 
 Burgess, and you too, Watts, pull altogether with me, and 
 it is up in three movements." 
 
 Then the edges of the canvas were pegged down 
 securely, and after this there remained nothing to do but 
 to bring in the furniture. 
 
 Rook, the ticket-of-leave man, stood by the riverside, 
 looking moodily into the water. 
 
 He was in trouble. 
 
 Sore trouble. 
 
 He was quarrelling with himself, and it's an old and 
 true saying that that is the worst person in the world to 
 be at loggerheads with. 
 
 "There can be no mistake about me. I am bad, 
 thoroughly bad at heart," he mused, "or I should never 
 have listened to Morgan's man and his temptations. I 
 must be mad, too, for all questions of gratitude apart, 
 my interest is here. This Harkaway is rich and powerful 
 and generous. He is the first man who ever held out 
 the hand of friendship to me, and he does it too when the 
 world discards me for ever. Why did I listen to that spy 
 that serpent's tongue in Sydney ? " 
 
 That question was very easily answered. 
 
 Contact with good and innocent people had gradually 
 worked a change in his nature, which was perhaps not 
 altogether bad. 
 
 But temptations had been thrown in his way. 
 
 Glittering promises, rich rewards, and a life of freedom 
 had all dazzled a man who was barely free from the prison- 
 cell. 
 
 And next moment his patron and would-be benefactor
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 59 
 
 had given him words of comfort *nd of sympathy, which 
 wrung his heart. 
 
 " Fool, fool, and villain that I hrve been," he murmured 
 wringing his hands in anguish. " What punishment do 
 I not deserve ? " 
 
 "Rook." 
 
 A light hand was placed upon his shoulder. 
 
 He turned shortly round and gave a guilty start 
 
 Harkaway stood at Rook's elbow, looking at him with 
 considerable earnestness. 
 
 ' ' What was that white thing floating in the water ? " asked 
 Harkaway. 
 
 The convict's glance fell. 
 
 "Where, sir?' ? 
 
 "Where you were bathing." 
 
 "Only a piece of paper which had blown there ; I saw 
 it and thought it was some water-lily or other plant. And 
 as I heard the young lady Miss Emily, say she should 
 like one, I swam out to get it, but I was disappointed, that 
 is why I did not speak of it." 
 
 "What kind of paper was it?" said Harkaway. 
 
 "A paper bag, or some thing of that kind. It had been 
 thrown away probably by someone of our party, s ""> arj d 
 blown there." 
 
 At this moment young Jack's voice was heard calling 
 his father. 
 
 Harkaway ran off, followed by Rook. 
 
 He reached the Harkaways just in time to hear them 
 talking of something which made him turn hot and cold 
 all in a second. 
 
 "Mike was so restless and uneasy," said young Jack, 
 "that Harry and I took him to find out what it could 
 mean. We made our way towards that clump of trees 
 yonder." 
 
 " What did you discover ? " asked Harkaway. 
 
 " Nothing. We have returned for the hounds, and some 
 more assistance." 
 
 " Very prudent, Jack." 
 
 "Why, you see, dad, if it is only some large game, we 
 should get Mike into trouble, perhaps, and if any thing 
 worse, it is as well for us to be prepared." 
 
 " Very good indeed, Jack. Jefferson 1 " 
 
 "What now?"
 
 60 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND ASS SO A' 'S 
 
 "Get two of the hounds, and come with us to the wood 
 yonder. Bring your gun." 
 
 Jefferson perceived by Harkaway's manner that it was 
 urgent, and so he was soon ready with his gun and the 
 bloodhounds. 
 
 "Stay by the ladies' tent, Rook,'' said Harkaway. "It 
 is a post of honour, my good fellow." 
 
 ' ' Yes, sir. " 
 
 Harkaway and the party, comprising Jefferson and the 
 two boys, hurried off, leaving Rook on guard at the tent. 
 
 "I'll keep my post," said the convict, looking after 
 them; "but if any harm should come of this, to th^t 
 noble-hearted fellow, Harkaway, I'll put a pistol in my 
 mouth, and blow my worthless brains out." 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE FIRST PERILS OF THE NEW EXPEDITIONS A TRAITOR I*) 
 
 CAMP THE WATCH A BLACK BOBBY UNKNOWN IN SCOTLAND 
 
 YARD THE SPY'S MISSIVE A WARNING TORO IN TROUBLE 
 
 FORDING A RIVER WHERE*S BOBBY ? 
 
 WITHIN a hundred yards of the spot where Rook had 
 jumped into the water to bathe was a clump of trees, 
 where there were three men lying concealed. 
 
 Three men? 
 
 Well, two were certainly men, and big, sturdy fellows 
 too ; but the third would be more properly described as 
 a boy. 
 
 The two men had the dress and general bearing of 
 bushrangers, and were armed with hatchets and with 
 rifles. 
 
 The boy was a bright-eyed lad, black as a sloe and 
 glossy as though his skin had been polished up with oil 
 and bees'-wax, such as we use to renovate our mahogany 
 sideboards. 
 
 Around his loins he wore a coloured handkerchief, 
 which was his entire wardrobe. 
 
 He was armed too. 
 
 But his only weapon was a short axe or tomahawk,
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 6 1 
 
 which was stuck into the coloured handkerchief-garment 
 in position. 
 
 Now one of these men carried a fieldglass in a sling by 
 his side, and with it he was busied the whole time in 
 taking observations of the movements of the carivanseri. 
 
 " Can you see him ? " demanded one of the men, a huge 
 fellow, whose foreign accent should reveal his identity to 
 the reader at once. 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 " Harkaway. Is he alone?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Wait till he is, then, and " 
 
 "And what ?" 
 
 "Pop him off." 
 
 "What do you mean ? " demanded his companion, in 
 some astonishment. " Shoot him ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Why, what on earth for? I'm not given to shooting 
 men for mischiefs sake." 
 
 " But I hate this Harkaway like poison." 
 
 "Well, I know precious little of him," said the other, 
 coolly ; ' ' but that little has rather impressed me in his 
 favour. " 
 
 The other stared. 
 
 "You mean that you like him?" 
 
 "Yes, for his courage." 
 
 The other's black eyes flashed fiercely. 
 
 "You like this man, do you? Well, then, all I have 
 to say is, that any man who likes Harkaway can't like 
 me." 
 
 The bushranger listened quietly. 
 
 "I don't know that I ever professed to have any affec- 
 tion for you, Mr. T.," he said, with a mocking laugh. " I 
 deceived you if I did, that's all." 
 
 His burly companion swelled out and swore again. 
 
 " Morgan, beware of me ; if you offend me, I have 
 your " 
 
 What more he was about to say must be left to the im- 
 agination, for ere he could complete his boastful menace, 
 his companion clapped the muzzle of his gun to his chest, 
 while his finger trembled upon the trigger. 
 
 "Silence, you bragging, bullying beast!" he said, in 
 low, earnest tones between his set teeth, "and learn, my
 
 02 JA CK HARKA WAY AND HIS SOWS 
 
 maccaroni, that men who threaten John Morgan are as * 
 rule short-lived." 
 
 A pause. 
 
 It was a precious awkward situation. 
 
 The bully's colour came and went. 
 
 He quailed. 
 
 Had he dared to utter another word of menace, his life 
 would have paid forfeit for his temerity. 
 
 This he knew. 
 
 "You haven't anything to say for yourself, Toro," said 
 his companion, lowering his gun, " I thought you would 
 come to your senses. It is no fault of mine if you haven't 
 come to them before. But I object to scenes of this kind , 
 let it serve you once for all as a lesson that our positions 
 are not alike. I command you obey." 
 
 Toro was cowed. 
 
 The black boy stared at the two in silent curiosity. 
 
 But by degrees it dawned upon him that they were 
 quarrelling, and then he drew his tomahawk, and gave i\ 
 a flourish. 
 
 "Um fellar am bery much considerable dam beast, 
 sar," said he to Morgan. "Bobby slice um liver, sar ? " 
 
 And he made a movement towards Toro, only waiting 
 for his master's word to set to work in real, right-down 
 earnest. 
 
 "No, no, Bobby; not now " 
 
 "Do it quick, sar, tremenjously bery much, sar." 
 
 And he flourished his axe with great eagerness. 
 
 " No, no, Bobby ; be quiet." 
 
 His queer English, with the extravagant adjectives, 
 puzzled Toro, but he dimly guessed that the boy meant 
 mischief to him, and so thought it a safe opportunity of 
 venting some of the rage and spite which were boiling 
 over within him. 
 
 " Saucy imp ! " he said. 
 
 And he dealt Master Tinker Bobby one back-hander 
 which sent him rolling over and over upon the ground. 
 
 The black boy scrambled up, looking quite dazed. 
 
 " Hullo ! " exclaimed Captain Morgan, " that is what I 
 can't allow. Quiet, Tinker ; put by your axe, do you 
 hear ? If we see any thing more of that sort, Mr. Toro, 
 we shall have to be unpleasant generally." 
 
 Toro scowled.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRAUA. 63 
 
 "You needn't fear for the boy, captain," he said, with 
 a sneer. 
 
 "I don't fear for him," returned Morgan; "but for 
 you. " 
 
 "Me!" 
 
 "Yes ; and I can't afford to have a good man like you 
 maimed through any silly broil that may arise." 
 
 A sullen silence ensued. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " Look out ! " 
 
 "Where? " 
 
 "There ! See, there's one of their men who is going 
 to bathe. Look, he throws his jacket off." 
 
 Morgan clapped his glass up to his eye. 
 
 "Why, it is our man, Rook." 
 
 He followed the ex-convict's movements with his glass 
 until the bugle from the Harkaway camp sounded his 
 recall. 
 
 Then he struck in for shore, and left some thing white 
 floating about. 
 
 " That's what he has been there for," said Morgan, in 
 a tone indicative of subdued excitement. "We must 
 have that." 
 
 "Tinker Bobby go fetch it, sar ?" said the black boy ; 
 ' ' bring it tremenjous exceedin' bery quick, sar. " 
 
 "Not yet. Wait." 
 
 They waited until the momentary excitement in the 
 Harkaway camp was stilled, and then upon the word of 
 command from Captain Morgan, the black boy dived into 
 the water. 
 
 He was under for an amazing time, and when he shot 
 up to the surface, it was close to the floating white object 
 which had excited so much attention upon all sides. 
 
 ' ' I'se got it awful bery tight, sar," cried Bobby, splutter- 
 ing. 
 
 " Come back, then." 
 
 "Yes, ar." 
 
 He gave one vigorous stroke, and shot towards th< 
 shore. 
 
 The paper was written on and folded triple, so as to pre 
 serve the writing from the action of the water. 
 
 "Here's glorious news!" Morgan exclaimed, ii 
 subdued excitement
 
 64 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 11 Let us share it," saidToro. 
 
 "Read." 
 
 He handed the paper to Toro, who hastily scanned it 
 through. 
 
 "This is good, indeed, Captain Morgan," he exclaimed. 
 
 What was this ? 
 
 Simply the following words, written upon what Rook, 
 the ex-convict, had professed to be a piece of waste 
 paper 
 
 " The bulk of the valuables maybe found in the van 
 of the procession. They are contained in the last tumbril 
 but one. Be wary, for they are all fully armed, and 
 every man here is a formidable enemy to cope with." 
 
 "None can speak better on that point than you, Toro, 
 I believe," said Captain Morgan. 
 
 "To my cost I know it." 
 
 'Forward, then ! " said Morgan. 
 
 They hurried along, skirting the wood lining their bank 
 of the river until they got about a hundred yards or so 
 ahead of the encampment. 
 
 'Now," said Captain Morgan, "we shall have to 
 ford it." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Bobby ! " 
 
 "Sar?" 
 
 "Try the river." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 The black boy dropped down into the river in the 
 twinkling of an eye, and instead of being able to ford it, 
 he discovered himself in a hole a good twelve feet deep. 
 
 But he was so thoroughly used to the water that he 
 shot up to the surface again in a crack. 
 
 "Bery considerable dam deep here, sar," he said splut- 
 tering and spitting the water out of his mouth. 
 
 " Hush ! " 
 
 "Right, sar." 
 
 "Now drop again." 
 
 Down went Bobby, and this time he found that he 
 could walk. 
 
 "Hyar we is, in full marching order, Cap'en Morgan," 
 said Bobby, marching along with extravagant military 
 strides. 
 
 "Quiet, Bobby," whispered Morgan, in a voice of
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TX ALIA . 65 
 
 alarm ; " you'll put them on to us with their dogs, and 
 if you do, you'll have all your work to do to get safe off. " 
 
 "Tinker Bobby eat the dogs widout no salt," said the 
 black boy. 
 
 "Don't you learn to brag, Bobby, "said Captain Mor- 
 gan ; "leave that to your civilized Italian friends ; they 
 can brag enough for all of us. Let us be quick. " 
 
 Now the prudence of this prompt movement was soon 
 shown, for barely had they got thirty yards along the 
 opposite bank, when they perceived a number of horse- 
 men advancing cautiously in single file, with one of their 
 number as outrider far in advance of the rest. 
 
 A blackbird's call was heard and the party halted. 
 
 "Tooey whoo ! " 
 
 "Halt!" 
 
 "Morgan !" 
 
 "So stand and give the countersign," called a deep 
 bass voice. 
 
 "Morgan it is," returned the chief of the bushrangers. 
 "Advance, Forster." 
 
 "Here, sir." 
 
 "Any news ?" 
 
 ' ' None, captain. " 
 
 " The party is here close by, "said Morgan. "I hur- 
 ried on to put you up to their movements. Be careful, 
 Forster, for they keep the most lively watch, and hark ! " 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 The alarm was heard in the camp of the Harkaways. 
 
 A shrill note, blown upon a whistle, followed by the 
 deep baying of dogs, and a general bustle. 
 
 Morgan began to look concerned at this. 
 
 "Quick!" he exclaimed; "into your saddles every 
 man Jack of you. I would not risk an encounter for 
 worlds. Not only are they stronger than we are, but it 
 would assuredly risk our chance of a much bigger prize 
 than any we now hold." 
 
 " I vote that we turn and fight them ! " exclaimed Toro. 
 
 The bushranger veered round, and faced the speaker. 
 
 "Who gave you permission to vote? "he demanded 
 fiercely. "Into your saddle, man, or I'll blow your 
 brains out. 
 
 That handy rifle of the bushranger chief covered the 
 Italian once more.
 
 66 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 Toro had found more than his match on this occasion. 
 
 Morgan was equally fierce, and a clever tactician to 
 boot. 
 
 Toro rode quietly off. 
 
 "Where is Tinker Bobby ?" suddenly whispered Mor- 
 gan. 
 
 Where, indeed ? No one knew. 
 
 Bobby was nowhere visible. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A DROLL HUNT FROM GAY TO GRAVE THE ALLIGATOR AND 
 
 THE BLACK BOY SAVED BY A HAIR. 
 
 THE alarm in the Harkaway camp grew general. 
 "I think there is really something up yonder," said 
 Jefferson, coming up to the spot where Harvey and old 
 Jack stood conversing in whispers. 
 
 ' What makes you suppose so, Jefferson ? " 
 ' The animals are so precious uneasy. " 
 'The dogs?" 
 
 ' Yes," said Jefferson ; " and Nero too." 
 'Nero?" 
 'Yes." 
 
 ' Does Nero know when there is danger near? " 
 'You seem to laugh, Harkaway, "said Jefferson, "but 
 the fact is, I have frequently observed that Nero was an 
 uncommon good danger barometer." 
 Jack laughed. 
 
 "A capital simile, Jefferson," he said, "but we must 
 get on after my rash boy, or he'll be getting into some 
 mischief. " 
 
 In Morgan and his bushrangers the Harkaways had a 
 far more dangerous enemy to cope with than any they 
 had known before, in Italy or elsewhere. 
 
 These were men of shrewdness of rare cunning and 
 daring to wit. 
 
 Young Jack brought along the two bloodhounds 
 coupled, and after sniffing about for nearly a quarter of a 
 mile, they suddenly bobbed down to the ground, and
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 67 
 
 with a grunt of satisfaction, trotted along at a sweeping 
 jog-trot pace. 
 
 " Look, Jack," ejaculated Harry Girdwood, " they have 
 struck the trail." 
 
 "Rather." 
 
 They followed the hounds at a trot for a considerable 
 distance. 
 
 Suddenly the bloodhounds drew up short upon the 
 river bank. 
 
 They sniffed about and ran backwards and forwards, 
 whining piteously. 
 
 "At fault?" 
 
 "Yes," said Harry Girdwood, "the trace is gone 
 here. " 
 
 The words were barely uttered when the speaker gave 
 his companion a sudden nudge with his elbow. 
 
 "Well, old boy, what is it?" 
 
 ' ' In the river. Look ! " 
 
 They saw a human being breasting the surface, and 
 striking out for the opposite bank. 
 
 Young Jack brought his rifle up to his shoulder, and 
 took a careful aim. 
 
 " Stop, Jack ; don't fire ; perhaps it is no enemy." 
 
 "What does he do here lurking about?" 
 
 "Stop." 
 
 "Send the dogs after him," suggested young Hark- 
 away. 
 
 This was done at once. 
 
 The hounds were uncoupled. 
 
 " See, boy ; there they go. Look, boy ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 He pointed out the swimmer, and the dogs, with a 
 snappy sort of bark, leapt into the water. 
 
 They made for him as fast as they were able. 
 
 But the swimmer shot through the water. 
 
 Then something appeared to alarm him, and he stopped 
 short suddenly. 
 
 He turned round, and swam a little way along the river. 
 
 " We shall lose him yet," said Harry Girdwood. 
 
 " Not if I know it," said young Jack. 
 
 He looked to the knife in his belt, and, heedless of all 
 consequences, leapt into the river. 
 
 "Jack, Jack, old boy," cried Harry, "come back 1" 
 
 " No no ! " shouted Jack, " I will see what this means. *
 
 68 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 "Then I will follow you, "cried Harry, and he dropped 
 his rifle, and took a long spring. 
 
 He dived rather deeper than he meant to. 
 
 When he reached the surface, he saw young Jack 
 striking out with long and vigorous strokes towards the 
 swimmer. 
 
 At every stroke they were overhauling him fast. 
 
 As young Jack neared the object of their pursuit, the 
 moon, temporarily obscured by a cloud, shone forth, and 
 then both he and Harry Girdwood saw that it was a black 
 boy. 
 
 It was Tinker Bobby. 
 
 Now poor Tinker was in a sore predicament 
 
 He was pursued by two enemies plus two fierce dogs, 
 who were more dangerous enemies than the boys who 
 led the chase. 
 
 Tinker looked around. 
 
 The magnitude of his danger lent him wings, and he 
 made a vigorous stroke for the shore. 
 
 But young Harkaway was already there. 
 
 Up Tinker scrambled. 
 
 But before he could fairly gain his feet, young Jack 
 pounced upon him, toppled him over, and knelt upon his 
 chest. 
 
 Tinker was so blown with fright, and by his exertions 
 to escape, that he could no longer struggle. 
 
 He panted and puffed. 
 
 And at length he managed to articulate with great diffi- 
 culty these characteristic words 
 
 "Tinker's considerable bery much dam tired." 
 
 Young Jack would have laughed under ordinary circum- 
 stances. 
 
 But he was too preoccupied now. 
 
 Where was Harry ? 
 
 Before he could look round, the black boy muttered a 
 word or two, which thrilled young Jack strongly. 
 
 ' ' Where's de shark ? " 
 
 Shark ! 
 
 " Whoever heard of a shark up a river like this ? " 
 
 Before he could make any further inquiry into the sub- 
 ject, a fearful yelp from one of the dogs caught his ear. 
 
 And then he saw, in a faint, confused manner, som 
 thing which he never forgot to his dying day.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TR ALIA. 69 
 
 The first of the dogs which had leapt into the water 
 was seized in the terrific jaws of a hideous-looking 
 monster. 
 
 This was Tinker's shark. 
 
 It was a kind of caiman, or alligator. 
 
 And this was what had so frightened the unfortunate 
 black boy. 
 
 But for the encounter with this ugly wretch, Tinker 
 would have got clean off beyond all manner of doubt. 
 
 Young Jack got an awful startler then. 
 
 He never thought of the prisoner, but with cold drops 
 of perspiration trickling down his back, he looked about 
 for his brave comrade, Harry Girdwood. 
 
 He was climbing up the river's bank. 
 
 The unfortunate hound quivered awhile in the monster's 
 jaws. 
 
 Then it was all over. 
 
 The alligator took him down as comfortably as though 
 he had been a pill. 
 
 The second dog scrambled up the bank, and shook the 
 water from his coat, blissfully ignorant of the fatal acci- 
 dent which had befallen his companion. 
 
 " Harry." 
 
 "Jack." 
 
 "All right, all right, old chum." . 
 
 They whistled to the hound which had luckily escaped, 
 and when it came up, they put it upon guard over Tinker, 
 while they looked about them. 
 
 "That's an awkward job, Jack," said Harry Girdwood. 
 
 ' ' What a narrow escape ! " 
 
 "Ugh!" 
 
 They now saw lights dancing about upon the opposite 
 bank of the river, and rightly judging that it was some of 
 the party signalling them, they gave a yell together across 
 the water. 
 
 It was too dark, and the distance was too great for 
 them to see distinctly. 
 
 But they recognised voices, and this was sufficient to 
 make them easy in their minds. 
 
 Just then came a well-known voice across the water. 
 
 " Jack, my boy ! " 
 
 "Dad." 
 
 " Are you safe?"
 
 7 o JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "Safe and sound, dad," replied young Harkaway to his 
 father. 
 
 "Where's Harry?" 
 
 "Here." 
 
 " Right?" 
 
 "Quite right, dad," shouted our young hero. "All 
 safe, and we've bagged some black game. " 
 
 " Hurrah ! " cried the boys. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " shouted several voices over the water. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 GAME A CRUEL JOKE TINKER AND MOLE A BAD OMEN 
 FOR POOR ISAAC. 
 
 MOLE was of the party. 
 
 "Game?" said the worthy old epicure, smacking his 
 lips ; " I hope it's a turtle." 
 
 "Why don't you come back?" shouted Jefferson, to 
 the boys. 
 
 "They're making the game safe and snug, perhaps," 
 said Harvey. 
 
 Mr. Mole took alarm. 
 
 "Don't frighten them. Let them take their time. 
 Don't bruise the turtle, Jack," he added, raising his voice, 
 " or you'll spoil the soup." 
 
 "Turtle be bio wed," said Harvey, contemptuously. 
 
 The boys were still lingering on the river's bank. 
 
 The alligator's maw did not appear altogether satisfied 
 with the morsel he had just swallowed. 
 
 There he was playing about in their quarter, looking 
 longingly up the bank at them like another Oliver Twist 
 mutely asking for more. 
 
 The second dog was apparently frightened out of its 
 wits by the presence of the hideous reptile, and it paddled 
 about, whining in distress, until Jefferson perceived it, 
 and whistled it up the river's bank. 
 
 The noise of the hound attracted the monster's atten- 
 tion, and he left the bank where the boys stood, and shot 
 through the water after it.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 7 1 
 
 ' Now's our time," cried Harry Girdwood ; ' over we 
 must get, so over we go." 
 
 But this was not only attended with difficulty to them- 
 selves, for the prisoner would not move in spite of all 
 their persuasions. 
 
 "Over with you," said young Jack, with an admoni- 
 tory kick. 
 
 "Not dis infant," responded Tinker. "No like de 
 shark 'nuff. " 
 
 " Get on." 
 
 "Choke you, if you don't," threatened Harry Girdwood. 
 
 "Bery good, sar," responded Tinker. " Choke away, 
 sar. Choking bery much gooder dan de offal, confounded, 
 immense, big shark." 
 
 "We are going too," said young Jack. "And we're 
 going to kill master alligator." 
 
 " Tinker's dere den, sar," ejaculated Tinker, springing 
 forward. "Like exceedingly bery much, sar, to have a 
 slice of the navigator." 
 
 " Navigator," quoth young Jack ; "alligator I said." 
 
 "I means nabigator," said the black boy, blissfully 
 ignorant of the reason of this. 
 
 In he plunged. 
 
 Harry Girdwood and young Jack dived after him. 
 
 They breasted the water simultaneously, and having, 
 with their dive, shot half-way over the river, they were 
 precious soon scrambling up the bank opposite. 
 
 The monster, whatever it might be, for it certainly was 
 not an alligator, turned from the dog which it had been 
 watching so earnestly, and darted through the water after 
 them. 
 
 Just too late. 
 
 The beast had been pretty sure of the bloodhound, and 
 a savoury morsel it would have made for him. 
 
 But he preferred the look of the boys, and so he lost all 
 at once. 
 
 But he scrambled up the slippery bank after them, lash- 
 ing the water with his tail as he quitted the stream. 
 
 "Dad, dad," cried young Jack. 
 
 The Harkaway party were all there. 
 
 They had their rifles ready, and fired. 
 
 But the bullets glanced over its horny hide without 
 doing any damage.
 
 J2 JACK HARK A WA Y AXD HIS SOWS 
 
 Jefferson's experience was useful now. 
 
 He had tackled this kind of game before, and he knew 
 well its only vulnerable spot. 
 
 A bullet in the eye decided the business. 
 
 The beast snorted and writhed a bit, while its huge tail 
 lashed the ground, and then it dropped aside, dead. 
 
 " A good-sized turtle, Mr. Mole," suggested Dick slily. 
 "Capital soup it will make." 
 
 " Why, what can it be ? " exclaimed the old gentleman, 
 returning. 
 
 " What do you think it looks like ? " asked Jefferson. 
 
 "I can't say," said Mr. Mole. 
 
 "Do you think it looks like an alligator? " 
 
 Mr. Mole rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 
 
 "Yes, but it can't be one. There are none in these 
 parts." 
 
 " How do you know ? " 
 
 " I never read of any animals of this breed or family 
 being seen in southern Australia." 
 
 "Which only proves, perhaps, that the country has not 
 yet been explored far enough. No doubt they would keep 
 far inland." 
 
 "Don't talk rubbish." 
 
 "Very good," returned Jefferson, gently. "I won't. 
 Since you don't believe, just come a little nearer and see 
 for yourself. " 
 
 Saying which, he slipped his arm through Mole's and 
 lifted him along for some distance towards the vanquished 
 reptile. Mr. Mole looked- alarmed. 
 
 There was never, perhaps, such a lad to enjoy fun as the 
 newly-made prisoner, the black boy, Tinker. 
 
 He quite forgot that he was in trouble when there was 
 a chance of fun. 
 
 He believed their prey was dead, so he bounded forward 
 and leapt suddenly upon its back with a wild cry. 
 
 "Wa-hoo ! " yelled Tinker, as he leaped on the beast. 
 
 Up went the dead reptile's tail with a jerk that almost 
 made it flick poor Mole's nose off. The valiant Isaac 
 jumped back as though he had been shot. 
 
 "Oh, mercy ! " he yelled, and off he flew. 
 
 "Wa-hoo, funny old man ! " cried Tinker, and the young 
 miscreant laughed until he rolled upon the ground, hold- 
 ing his sides.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 73 
 
 "Get up," said young Jack, who was enjoying it all 
 wonderfully. 
 
 " Yes, massa," said Tinker, bounding up like an India- 
 rubber ball. 
 
 "What are you laughing at that gentleman for ? " 
 
 " Yah, yah!" 
 
 " Do you hear me, sir?" exclaimed young Jack, with 
 assumed severity. 
 
 "Yes, sar," answered Tinker, vainly endeavouring to 
 suppress his mirth before his new master. "Oleman 
 jumping on two bits o' wood, am so exceedinest dam 
 ridickerous, yah, yah, yah ! " 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha! " 
 
 Tinker's laugh was infectious, and it went all round. 
 
 "Well," said Jefferson, " poor old Mole had enough to 
 do to hold his own up till the present, but he'll have all 
 his work cut out now, it strikes me." 
 
 "Rather." 
 
 " Why, this young sweep," said Harkaway, joining the 
 group, "appears rather worse than any one of you. It is 
 certainly a fresh torment for Mole." 
 
 "Poor Mole!" 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 STARTLING NEWS FOREWARNED, FOREARMED ON THE WATCH 
 
 SENTINELS QUADRUPED AND BIPED THE END OF THE TRAVEL 
 
 THE NEW SETTLEMENT ITS CHRISTENING. 
 
 "WHAT'S your name ?" 
 
 "Tinker." 
 
 " Who gave you that name ? " 
 
 " Captain Morgan." 
 
 "What!" cried young Jack and Harry. "Morgan 
 the bushranger ? " 
 
 "Yes, sar, captain bold man." 
 
 Young Jack and Harry Girdwood were the questioners. 
 
 " Morgan had to serve him for godfather and godmother, 
 as well," said the latter with a grin. 
 
 "Yes, but Tinker isn't a bad name," said young Jack. 
 
 "Tinker am a lubly name," said the owner of it, 
 modestly.
 
 74 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 "Quite so," said young Jack, "and how long have you 
 been with Captain Morgan, Tinker? " 
 
 The boy thought awhile. 
 
 "Eberso long, sar ; immense, bery long, sar. " 
 
 "A year two years ? " 
 
 "No, sar. One, four, five moons, sar. All dat time 
 wid Cap'en Morgan, sar, Captain Morgan and Massa 
 Forster, sar." 
 
 "Forster?" 
 
 "Yes, sar." 
 
 "Who's he?" 
 
 "Massa Forster am friend ob Cap'en Morgan, sar." 
 
 The boys began to open their eyes and ears both. 
 
 "Perhaps dad had better know about this, Harry, "said 
 young Jack ; "it is important." 
 
 " Keep him talking while I fetch them," said Harry. 
 
 " Do you like Forster, Tinker ? " demanded young Jack. 
 
 The boy shook his head. 
 
 " No, um kick Tinker. Massa Forster am a consider- 
 able beast, sar. " 
 
 Young Jack was on the grin at this, when Harkaway 
 and Harvey came up. 
 
 "What does this Mr. Forster do?" asked young Jack, 
 giving his father a side glance of significance. 
 
 "He tell de oders what to do when de Cap'en Morgan 
 am out ob de way." 
 
 "Oh, I see," said Harry Girdwood, "he's what they 
 call the lieutenant, I suppose ? " 
 
 "De what?" 
 
 " Lieutenant." 
 
 Tinker's eyes glistened intelligently. 
 
 "Yes, sar, dat 's it. How do you know dat? Tinker 
 neber tell yer." 
 
 " I know very well," said Harry. 
 
 "So Mr. Forster is the lieutenant ?" 
 
 "Yes, sar, left-tenant, dat's it, and Cap'en Morgan am 
 de right-tenant, yah, yah ! " 
 
 Tinker's very small joke caused a laugh all round. 
 
 "And what did you do while you were with them ? " 
 demanded Harkaway. 
 
 Tinker at once grew serious. 
 
 As he was silent, they pressed the question. 
 
 " Me no tell you."
 
 ADVENTURES W AUSTRALIA. 75 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " You get considerable dam mad wid this poor Tinker 
 You kill him." 
 
 "No, we shall not, Tinker," said Harkaway, kindly ; 
 "we shall not treat you a bit the worse." 
 
 Tinker looked at the speaker earnestly. 
 
 "Sartin?" 
 
 " Sartin," responded old Jack, grinning. 
 
 The black boy was apparently reassured by Harkaway 's 
 manner. 
 
 " Tinker had to look after you, all your carts and 'osses 
 an' sich." 
 
 The listeners exchanged sharp glances of intelligence 
 together. 
 
 This told a whole tale. 
 
 " Are they watching us, Tinker? Don't be afraid to 
 answer. We shall trust you all the better if you are 
 frank I mean if you tell us all the truth." 
 
 "You no tell Cap'en Morgan, den ? " he said, doubtfully. 
 
 "No, no." 
 
 " He kick and kill poor Tinker if you do, when I go 
 back to him." 
 
 " I bet you never go back," said young Jack ; "if you 
 are good and faithful to us, you shall stay with us and have 
 a nice place to sleep in. " 
 
 " And niceys to eat ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Me neber leave you," exclaimed Tinker, heartily. 
 
 " That's right ; and so you had to spy after us? " 
 
 Tinker nodded. 
 
 "Why you ?" 
 
 "'Case Tinker get on without making ob no noise. 
 'Case Massa Forstersays Tinker's got such a deblish black 
 carcase dat de sharp-eye ole 'Arkaway neber see him." 
 
 " Oh," said old Jack, " that's it, is it ? " 
 ' Yes, sar. " 
 
 'So you have been following us all the way from 
 Sydney?" 
 
 Yes, sar." 
 What for ? " 
 
 " To try and catch all de niceys you got, sar." 
 
 " Very good, very good," said Harkaway, with a sly 
 chuckle; " forewarned, forearmed. If they get their claws
 
 j6 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 on our niceys, as you call them, Tinker, I'll give them 
 leave to keep therm." 
 
 " If dey get 'em, sar, dey keep 'em, and no axe your 
 leave." 
 
 " Bravo, Tinker ! " laughed young Jack. "You're not 
 such a fool as you look." 
 
 "No, sar; more nor you, sar; not such a fool as you 
 look. " 
 
 "Now, I suppose, Tinker, that if we had got on a bit 
 sharper, we should have caught some more of them as 
 well as you?" 
 
 "Yes, sar; on'y dey got 'osses, and dey got guns. 
 Dey shoot de dogs, sar." 
 
 "Shoot the dogs ! " 
 
 "Yes ; dey no like dogs ; Massa Forster says de 'fernal 
 dogs spile eberyting ; else he bag bag your missus he 
 bag all de bressed bilin'. Dat's what Massa Forster say." 
 
 The listeners looked more and more serious, as word 
 after word fell from the black boy. 
 
 It revealed a plot against them of a very serious nature 
 their lives were at stake. 
 
 Constant vigilance was the only thing which could 
 
 save them from death. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 'Jack." 
 'Yes, dad." 
 
 ' I leave Tinker to your charge." 
 'Very good, dad." 
 
 ' Be careful. Never lose sight of him. It is the most 
 lucky hit you ever made in your life, to have got hold of 
 him, for this has probably saved us from a deadly peril." 
 " You may rely upon me, dad," returned young Jack. 
 From that moment Tinker was ever in the presence of 
 young Jack, or of his comrade, Harry Girdwood. 
 
 That night, before they ventured to retire to rest, they 
 went the round of the camp, to post fresh sentries, and 
 leave all secure. 
 
 Everybody, and, in fact, every thing, was used to ensure 
 their complete safety. 
 
 The two boys accompanied Harkaway on his rounds, 
 and consequently Tinker was of the party likewise. 
 
 The bloodhounds were brought out by Sunday, and 
 posted singly at different places.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 77 
 
 In order to guarantee against their straying in the still 
 hours of night, a stout stake was fixed firmly in the 
 ground, and a good long tether allowed to each. 
 
 The dogs growled a good dead at the black boy at first. 
 
 But they were quite pacified when they saw young 
 Jack take his prisoner by the hand in a friendly way. 
 
 Then they smelt him about, and finally accepted a 
 caress from him, which was given at old Jack's instiga- 
 tion. 
 
 "Good dog," said Tinker, eyeing him doubtfully all 
 the while ; " not eat dat." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 Tinker pointed to something on the ground, which 
 appeared to be exciting the attention of the hounds. 
 
 They looked closer, and found that it was a piece of 
 meat, apparently a morsel of freshly-killed beef. 
 
 "Where did that come from ?" said old Jack, in some 
 surprise. 
 
 Tinker laughed. 
 
 "I put it dere, sar," he said, "special for dogs, sar." 
 
 "What do you mean by that, Tinker?" demanded 
 Harkaway. 
 
 "Massa Forster, he tell me, sar, to put it down for 
 dogs, sar," replied Tinker, "an' he put suffin' nicey, 
 nicey on it for dogs, sar ; make um sleep, sar, so as dey 
 neber wake up." 
 
 " Poison ! " ejaculated Harkaway, aghast, "poison ! " 
 
 "Yes, sar ; make dogs sleep for eber. " 
 
 Every instant showed them some fresh symptoms 
 more alarming than what had gone before. 
 
 "We were just in time," said Harkaway, savagely; 
 "only just. Little did we think of this great danger 
 which was overhanging us the whole time." 
 
 The dogs were placed at three most dangerous posts. 
 
 Two were so tethered that they commanded the thickly- 
 wooded place upon their left. 
 
 The third dog was left to guard the opposite end of the 
 camp. 
 
 Young Jack kept Tinker at his heels the whole time. 
 
 In addition to these precautions, they observed one 
 very valuable rule. 
 
 A guard was mounted, and marchsd from post to post 
 throughout the night.
 
 78 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 Thus they avoided one very serious danger. 
 No more poisoned meat could be placed within reach 
 of their faithful four-footed sentinels. 
 At length the camp was reached. 
 All was stilL 
 
 All slept 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 Bang! 
 
 The sharp crack of a rifle. 
 
 What was that ? 
 
 Jefferson was on his feet, rifle in hand, in a moment. 
 
 Racing up to the place where Sunday was on guard, 
 he found that vigilant sentry in the act of reloading. 
 
 "I see some thing dodging about over thar," said 
 Sunday, "some skunk on the off-smell, so I dropped 
 him a pill" 
 
 "Did you hit him?" demanded Jefferson. 
 
 "Can't say that for sure," said Sunday. "I tried hard 
 to ; that's all I know." 
 
 The dogs barked. 
 
 The camp was all alive. 
 
 Harkaway and Dick ran up, rifle in hand, and in a 
 trice they were followed by the youths and the black boy 
 prisoner. 
 
 But it all came to nothing more serious than this. 
 
 One of Morgan's gang had probably been loafing about, 
 hoping to pick up some news or information to take to 
 his leader, and venturing too near, had served as a mark 
 for Sunday's rifle. 
 
 Sunday was a capital shot by this time, and if he did 
 not hit his man, it must have been uncomfortably near. 
 
 The guard was changed. 
 
 When this was done, the camp was left in peace and 
 undisturbed tranquillity till morning. 
 
 Whether Morgan and his band had taken alarm at the 
 decided attitude of the party on the march, or whether 
 it was that they had found occupation more profitable, 
 we are not in a position at present to decide. 
 
 One thing is certain. 
 
 Harkaway and his friends were left to.pursue their way 
 unmolested from this night.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 79 
 
 After a long and somewhat weary pilgrimage they 
 arrived at their destination. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 " Here we make our final pitch," said old Jack, plant- 
 ing a flagstaff in the soft, springy turf. " Here we must 
 start our new settlement." 
 
 " What name shall it bear? " demanded Dick Harvey. 
 
 "Don't christen it after me, my friends," implored the 
 modest Mole. 
 
 " No, we will not," said Jefferson, laughingly ; " much 
 as you deserve it. Our new settlement shall be called 
 ' Harkaway ! ' ' 
 
 A ringing cheer greeted this proposition. 
 
 And by that familiar title is this now flourishing settle- 
 ment known until this present moment of writing. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 HUNSTON'S ADVENTURES "OUT OF THE TREE INTO THE 
 
 FIRE " A LUCKY CHANCE THE FIRE-GOD WHO IS BLOONA? 
 
 THE MAKE-FIRE HOW THE MECHANICAL ARM DID HUNSTON A 
 GOOD TURN. 
 
 HAS the reader forgotten Hunston all this while? 
 Surely not. 
 
 It should be fresh in the reader's mind that the wretched 
 man, after travelling for weary miles through a desert 
 waste of country which had been seemingly untrodden 
 by the foot of man, had, when he least expected it, 
 come upon a tribe of his fellow-creatures, whose appear- 
 ance was any thing but reassuring. 
 
 A tribe of the Australian aborigines. 
 
 Upon their approach Hunston climbed a tree. 
 
 The savages, with many a wild cry, and with much 
 noise and discord, marched up to the very spot, and 
 encamped beneath the tree. 
 
 Here it was we left him. 
 
 He sat upon his perch, and shivered. 
 
 Not from cold. 
 
 Oh, no.
 
 8o JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 He trembled with fright alone. 
 
 The aspect of these people was enough to alarm any- 
 one. 
 
 They were the most hideous-looking members of the 
 human race that you could look upon, and their ugliness 
 was increased by the filthy paints with which their faces 
 and their bodies were smeared. 
 
 The women got some dried twigs together, and a 
 handful of yellow grass, with which they made a fire. 
 
 But as there was not the faintest breath of air stirring, 
 the thick smoke from the fire arose in a cloud so dense, 
 that Hunston was in danger of suffocating. 
 
 He dare not cough. 
 
 Yet the desire to do so was irresistible. 
 
 He was strangling. 
 
 He grew purple in the face. 
 
 His eyes grew dim. 
 
 With a gurgle or gasp he swayed to and tro upon his 
 branch, and feeling his danger, he threw out his arms to 
 save himself, but missing his hold, over he swayed, and 
 fell plump into the middle of the fire. 
 
 "Wa-hoo!" 
 
 The burning brands and twigs were disseminated 
 amongst the assembly generally. 
 
 The first yell that burst from the savages was the 
 signal for them to start back and seize their war-clubs. 
 
 ' ' Wa-hoo ! " 
 
 Hunston was momentarily stunned. 
 
 But soon recovering himself, he jumped up and shook 
 himself free from the burning twigs, and looked about 
 him. 
 
 "Wa-hoo!" 
 
 This time " Wa-hoo " meant something more than a 
 mere empty cry or a savage yell, for the man that gave it 
 sent a heavy missile at Hunston, which floored him. 
 
 They rushed upon him with the wildest and most alarm- 
 ing sounds, and seized him. 
 
 Hunston closed his eyes. 
 
 He thought nothing could save him now. 
 
 One of the women gave a shrill cry, which sounded 
 like caree-ki to him, not that he had the remotest idea 
 what caree-ki could mean, and thrust a burning brand 
 upon his cheek.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TRALIA. 8 1 
 
 " Hah ! " 
 
 "You she-devil ! " yelled Hunston. 
 
 He jerked himself under this torture, and gave the 
 woman one terrific smack that floored her. 
 
 He got a good deal mauled then, and it would have 
 gone even harder with him had not one of the savages, 
 who appeared to be a man in authority, interfered on his 
 behalf. 
 
 It was not humanity that prompted this interference. 
 
 The reason was that this chief, being a little more 
 intelligent than his fellows, felt his curiosity aroused by 
 Hunston's singular entrance upon the scene. 
 
 " You talk white man's tongue," said he ; " me talkee 
 too. " 
 
 Hunston seized upon this chance with great avidity. 
 
 "You are chief? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Then tell your people that they do wrong to harm 
 me. I do not hurt them I may do you good if you 
 will let me. " 
 
 "Good." 
 
 Then followed a consultation between the savages, of 
 which, of course, Hunston could not understand one 
 single word. 
 
 Apparently he convinced them, however. 
 
 " Where you come ? " 
 
 " Up there," replied Hunston, pointing to his late 
 perch. 
 
 " Good. My people think you are a bad spirit." 
 
 And here the chief gave a slight chuckle, which showed 
 that he was not altogether devoid of intelligence. 
 
 Hunston had a lucky inspiration at this. 
 
 "Not a bad spirit," said he. "I am a good spirit. I 
 come to serve you, and them too." 
 
 The chief turned serious at once upon hearing this. 
 
 "Good spirit ? " said he. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "What spirit?" 
 
 Hunston looked about him. 
 
 " Fire-god. You lit your altar-fire there, and it called 
 me down." 
 
 "What for?" 
 
 "To serve you." 
 6
 
 82 JA CJC HA RICA WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 ' ' Where you come from then ? " 
 
 "The sky?" 
 
 " Where Bloona come from? " 
 
 Hunston had not the remotest idea what was meant. 
 
 But it was neck or nothing now. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 This the chief communicated to his people. 
 
 An animated discussion took place, the issue of which 
 was awaited by Hunston with considerable anxiety. 
 
 The savage chief turned to him with a serious air. 
 
 " You no fire-god." 
 
 " What mean you ? " 
 
 "If you fire-god," said the savage, sternly, " de fire no 
 burn you." 
 
 "It does not burn me," returned Hunston, boldly. 
 
 "Look!" 
 
 The savage touched him upon the burnt cheek, from 
 which the scathed flesh was now peeling. 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 He winced. 
 
 But he pulled himself together. 
 
 "On the face," he said, promptly, " yes, but not every 
 where. Fire-god burn's on the face only just like you." 
 
 "But the body ?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 This was the luckiest thought Hunston ever had. 
 
 His presence of mind now saved his life. 
 
 ' See here. " 
 
 He took one of the burning sticks by the flaming end in 
 his mechanical hand. 
 
 "Good." 
 
 " Wa-hoo ! " cried the others. 
 
 "Wa-hoo" had to do service, apparently, for an end- 
 less variety of expressions in their native tongue. 
 
 "Do you see, O unbelievers ? " said Hunston ; " I can 
 with my hand hold this fiery brand without hurt." 
 
 ' ' Yes, yes. " 
 
 The savages yelled their approval in deafening fashion. 
 
 The self-styled fire-god then, holding the burning brand 
 by the flaming end, transferred it to his other hand by the 
 unburnt end. 
 
 Then he bared his arm. 
 
 His mechanical arm.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US 'TR ALIA. 83 
 
 "See here." 
 
 He rubbed the burning- stick up and down the thick 
 part of the arm, and allowed it to rest there. 
 
 When the savages saw this they were filled with won- 
 derment. 
 
 ' ' You come from the same place as Bloona ? " demanded 
 the chief again. 
 
 "Who the devil's Bloona,* I wonder;" thought 
 Hunston. 
 
 But he answered readily in the affirmative. 
 
 " My people say," objected the chief, " that you can't 
 be of the same race as Bloona." 
 ' Why ? " 
 
 ' Because you are white." 
 ' And Bloona is black ?" 
 ' Yes. You know Bloona? " 
 'Of course." 
 
 1 Why she black, then ? " 
 
 ' There are white as well as black upon earth, are there 
 not ? Why should there not be white and black up 
 there ? " 
 
 "Yes, yes." 
 
 This was seemingly unanswerable to the chief. 
 
 "You come to do us good? "said he to Hunston, 
 presently. 
 
 "If you let me." 
 
 " You help us catch lots of game? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "You shoot with make-fire? " 
 
 This would not have been very comprehensible had 
 not the savage shown his meaning by pantomime. 
 
 He cocked his fingers into a trigger, and imitated the 
 firing of a gun. 
 
 ' ' Yes, " answered Hunston, ' ' of course. Fire-god does 
 every thing like that." 
 
 "Good! " 
 
 "But I have no gun." 
 
 "Gun?" 
 
 ' ' Make-fire gun. " 
 
 * The reader, perhaps, is asking the same question but, we hope, in 
 more moderate language. Bloona is shortly to appear upon the scene ; 
 meanwhile, we may content ourselves with observing that Bloona is a 
 person in whom the reader is sure to take the liveliest interest.
 
 84 JA CK HA RKA WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "Ha! Good!" 
 
 He ran off, and reappeared in a minute or two with a 
 rifle and a powder-flask, and all kinds of modern appli- 
 ances. 
 
 " Hullo ! " exclaimed the fire-god in surprise, " where 
 did this come from ? " 
 
 "Me kill white man with spear and take it all away," 
 answered the chief, with pride. 
 
 ' ' Humph ! " 
 
 "Make fire now," said the savage. 
 
 Hunston at once proceeded to gratify them. 
 
 The savages crowded round him as he loaded the rifle. 
 
 They had killed the owner of the rifle to steal it, but 
 when they had got the treasure it was useless to them. 
 
 "What shall I shoot?" said Hunston, to the savage 
 chief. 
 
 "That." 
 
 He pointed to a bird of gaudy-coloured plumage which 
 just then rose with a shrill call from the nearest tree. 
 
 Hunston was by no means a bad shot. 
 
 He brought the rifle to his shoulder, fired, and down 
 fell the poor parroquet in the throes of death. 
 
 ' ' Wa-hoo ! " they cried. 
 
 And they all fell upon their faces around the wonderful 
 fire-god. 
 
 Hunston was once more in power. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A STRANGE CHANCE HUNSTON's FORTUNES CONTINUED. 
 
 AND so it transpired, that Hunston's falling amongst 
 savages was really the luckiest thing which could have 
 happened to him. 
 
 He had from the first moment that he had been landed 
 there by the Harkaway party, coveted the possession of 
 a rifle. 
 
 Here, at one lucky stroke of fortune, his heart's desire 
 was gratified at once. 
 
 And often he would look upon his mechanical arm. and 
 smile grimly to himself.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 85 
 
 "The legend on my arm does not seem to be verified 
 for once. Why, it saved my life most unmistakably in 
 this case," he would remark. 
 
 And so it had. 
 
 But was it not to reserve him for a fate more dreadful 
 yet? 
 
 He lived for a considerable time with this tribe of ab- 
 origines, wandering with them through country after 
 country, district after district, until one of the tribe came 
 to them with the startling news that he had fallen in with 
 a tribe of wanderers who were advancing straight in their 
 direction. 
 
 This was not all. 
 
 The wanderers were not coloured men, like Hunston's 
 companions, but whites. 
 
 Hunston watched the arrival of the white men with 
 great anxiety. 
 
 "The white warrior they called Captain Morgan is 
 there," said the leader of the tribe. "A great chief" 
 
 ' ' Morgan ? Who is he ? " 
 
 " Fire-god not know ? " 
 
 "Yes, I know," said Hunston, in some confusion. 
 "I know I know, of course. What the white men call 
 a bushranger." 
 
 "Yes, yes," said the chief of the tribe, quickly," "dat 
 right. Bushranger. 'Captain Morgan bushranger, great 
 chief, big warrior. " 
 
 Hunston was thinking very little of what was being 
 said. 
 
 His thoughts were occupied by one sole question. 
 
 How to get off. 
 
 " I have it," he said to himself, " I have it." 
 
 "Much money, Captain Morgan," said the leader of 
 the blacks. " Rich gold money many cattle." 
 
 "You would like to have his cattle ? " said Hunston. 
 
 "Could fire-god get Captain Morgan's cattle away for 
 us ?" 
 
 " Of course I could," replied Hunston. "I go there 
 and I charm it all away. All for you, then make fire all, 
 every thing. Shall I go ? " 
 
 The savage chief nodded eagerly at this. 
 
 "Go, go," he said. 
 
 Hunston had some slight misgivings, as he approached
 
 86 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 the group of white men, as to the nature of the reception 
 he might meet with, so he hoisted a handkerchief upon a 
 staff. 
 
 Now he had only just hoisted his flag when there was 
 a visible commotion amongst the white men, and two 
 rode out to meet him. 
 
 "Hullo," cried one of the horsemen, "stand a bit 
 who are you ? " 
 
 "A friend." 
 
 "English?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "What are you doing with those black devils, then?** 
 said the horseman. 
 
 ''Camping out," replied Hunston ; "firstly as their 
 prisoner, and now as their guest." 
 
 He advanced. 
 
 " Stand !" cried the horseman, bringing his rifle up to 
 his shoulder. "Advance another step and I fire." 
 
 "Fire!" quoth Hunston, not a little startled at this. 
 "What for? I am no enemy." 
 
 "You are no friend," retorted the horseman. 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "No friend of ours is in the company of those treacher- 
 ous black devils." 
 
 " But I tell you that they picked me up, sick and weary 
 of life ; by an accident they were induced to spare my life. 
 I practised a trick upon them, and they, superstitious 
 fools that they are, took me upon my own word for a fire- 
 god." 
 
 "A what?" 
 
 " Afire-god." 
 
 Hunston then related in a few brief words his fall from 
 the tree into the savages' fire, the lucky hit he had made, 
 and finally how he had gulled them by the application of 
 the fiery brands to his mechanical arm. 
 
 Now the part of his explanation concerning the mechan- 
 ical arm seemed to strike the horseman singularly. 
 
 A strange, almost wild thought flashed through his 
 mind. 
 
 He looked up suddenly, and spoke one solitary word 
 to Hunston, which startled the latter. 
 
 What was it ? 
 
 A name.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 87 
 
 "Toro." 
 
 Hunston jumped back a pace or two at the word. Did 
 he hear aright ? 
 
 "What did you say ? " he faltered. 
 
 " I only mentioned a name," was the horseman's reply. 
 
 "Say it again," quoth Hunston, his voice nearly failing 
 him; "say it again." 
 
 "Toro. Do you know the name? " asked the stranger, 
 with a keen glance. 
 
 "I of course " 
 
 He pulled himself up short 
 
 What if he should be running himself into a new 
 danger ? 
 
 Was it a snare ? No. 
 
 Impossible. So he reasoned. 
 
 And while he reasoned thus, the horseman was watch- 
 ing him keenly. 
 
 "I see that you do know Toro," he said, "and I see, 
 too, who you must be." 
 
 "I I " 
 
 "Yes, you are Hunston. You can't deny it. In fact, 
 I don't see why you should deny it. You are Hunston." 
 
 " How do you know my name? " 
 
 The other smiled. 
 
 "I needn't enter into any long explanation with you 
 on this point," he said, significantly. 
 
 And as he spoke he whistled for his companions, who 
 stood aloof till now, to ride up. 
 
 And when they came, the first of the party he saw was 
 Toro himself. 
 
 Yes, there was his old comrade. 
 
 Toro in the flesh. 
 
 Hunston seemed in doubt for a moment, then ex~ 
 claimed 
 
 "Toro!" 
 
 Toro took one step forward, looking keenly at his 
 friend. 
 
 " Hunston ! " 
 
 " Is it possible? " ejaculated the Italian. 
 
 "Am I dreaming?" said Hunston, in amazement, "or 
 can I believe the evidence of my own eyes ? " 
 
 A mutual explanation ensued. 
 
 Fate brought them together by accident, or rather, by
 
 88 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SOWS 
 
 a series of accidents, after they had been parted by thou- 
 sands and thousands of miles of sea and land. 
 
 "Captain Morgan," said the Italian, "I wish my old 
 comrade to join us. You could not easily find a more 
 valuable recruit. Will you have him ? " 
 
 " If he wishes." 
 
 "And you, Hunston, old comrade what say you? 
 Will you join our band? You may travel from pole to 
 pole and not find a braver or worthier leader than Captain 
 Morgan." 
 
 "With all my heart," was Hunston's reply. "Of all 
 things, it is what I would have asked you." 
 
 "Agreed." 
 
 ' ' Agreed. " 
 
 "Your hand upon that," said the bushranger chieftain. 
 " And you, my men all, draw round and swear him in. 
 From this time forth Hunston is one of our band.'* 
 
 "And now that that is settled so well, "said the Italian, 
 " a word in your ear that will startle you." 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "What service are we engaged upon now, think you ? " 
 
 "I know not." 
 
 "Have you forgotten an old schoolfellow of yours, 
 that you have followed up since boyhood, and have 
 threatened to kill." 
 
 "What," cried Hunston, " you cannot mean that " 
 
 " Harkaway is here," replied Toro. " He is travelling 
 up the country, and we are tracking his party." 
 
 Hunston's eyes flashed fire at this. 
 
 " Harkaway here ! Why, this is brave news, Toro, old 
 friend. And so, after all, fate wills it that Harkaway 
 should fall into my hands for my just vengeance. Yes," 
 continued Hunston, clenching his hands tightly, "Harka- 
 way, our reckoning is yet to come 1 "
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US 'TR ALIA. 89 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE NEW SETTLEMENT UP COUNTRY THEY OPEN WITH A FAIR 
 MR. MOLE REJOICETH IN SONG NIGGERS THEATRICALS SHOOT- 
 ING FOR NUTS THE FUN OF THE FAIR. 
 
 WITHOUT further adventures worthy of note, the Hark- 
 away party reached their destination in safety. 
 
 And with them travelled their new prisoner-recruit, the 
 blackboy, Tinker. 
 
 "Here, "said old Jack, planting his foot firmly upon 
 the ground, " here I plant my flag. This is the beginning 
 of the Harkaway Town." 
 
 The rest of the party within hearing sent up a cheer. 
 
 " Hurrah for Harkaway Town ! " 
 
 A log house was reared up in an incredibly short space 
 of time upon this very spot. 
 
 They had every thing to hand for the purpose. 
 
 Timber there was in profusion for the labour, and there 
 were plenty of willing hands, and tools of every descrip- 
 tion necessary for the task. 
 
 This was but the commencement of a series. 
 
 Around the first log house in which the Harkaway 
 family resided, small but substantial tenements grew up 
 as if by magic. 
 
 In an incredibly short space of time a small town arose 
 in the midst of a wilderness. At length, when the town 
 began to assume an aspect of completion, some of the 
 light-hearted members of the happy band proposed to in- 
 augurate it with a fair, with the view of attracting to the 
 place all the people of the neighbouring stations or settle- 
 ments. 
 
 Mr. Mole grew quite juvenile and uproarious as the 
 preparations went on. 
 
 " We'll have swings, dear boys," said he, " and round' 
 abouts, and cockshies, and shooting for nuts." 
 " And a troupe of niggers," suggested Harvey. 
 "Yes," said Mr. Mole; "and, above all, an Old Aunt 
 Sally, my dear boys." 
 "Of course."
 
 90 JA CK HARJCA WAY AND HIS SOJV 'S 
 
 "An Old Aunt Sally, of course," added young Hark- 
 away. 
 
 A strange idea flashed through young Jack's mind at this, 
 the result of which will later transpire. 
 
 Suffice it to say for the moment that it proved to be an 
 unlucky hit for the worthy Isaac. 
 
 Now, as usual under the circumstances, Mr. Mole, in 
 the excitement of the approaching festivities, took sly 
 nips of strong waters, that soon produced a very marked 
 effect. 
 
 He could not refrain from warbling a ditty that had 
 been rather popular in his young days 
 
 " ' Yes, I own 'tis my delight 
 
 To see the laughter and the fright- 
 Such a motley, merry sight 
 As a country fair. 
 
 " ' Some are playing single-stick ; 
 Some in roundabouts so thick ; 
 Maidens swinging till they're sick, 
 At a country fair.' 
 
 "Ah, "he went on to say, with a slight hiccough, 
 "there's single-stick, and and by Jove ! I never thought 
 of that. Who'll be clown for us ? " 
 
 " Clown ! " 
 
 "Yes must have a clown, of course," said Mr. Mole. 
 
 "I'll tell you," said Harry Girdwood "we'll have a 
 black clown." 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 "Tinker." 
 
 "Jolly notion ! " exclaimed Mr. Mole, in his most juve- 
 nile manner. " A black clown, with white paint on his 
 cheeks. Quite a sensation. Tinker will do well." 
 
 " We shall have to get up a concert," said young Jack. 
 
 " I'll sing a song," volunteered Mr. Mole at once. 
 
 "Comic?" 
 
 "He, he!" giggled the old gentleman ; "not exactly 
 comic ! something to tickle the general taste." 
 
 "Bravo!" said young Jack, quite convinced, appar- 
 ently, that Mr. Mole would shine as a singer. 
 
 "And we ought really to have a booth for theatricals." 
 
 "Ah, a play. A play's the thing."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRA LI A. 9 1 
 
 "I'll play a part, if you like," said Mr. Mole. "Romeo 
 would, I think, suit me." 
 
 " Romeo. Yes, but we were talking of playing Ham- 
 let," said young Jack, tipping the wink to his friend 
 Harry Girdwood. " What could you play, Mr. Mole? " 
 
 Mr. Mole's answer was given promptly and with pride. 
 
 "Hamlet." 
 
 "The principal character?" said Jack, vith a start. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 ' ' That's settled, then. We'll get out the bills I'll paint 
 them posters, with ' Isaac Mole ' in startling letters, 
 three feet high ' Isaac Mole, in his celebrated character 
 of Hamlet."'" 
 
 "We might add ' for this night only,' eh ? " suggested 
 Harry. 
 'Yes." 
 
 'That's settled." 
 
 ' All we have to do, then, is to cast the rest of the 
 piece, and to set work to study for the tragedy." 
 'Stop." 
 ' What is it ? " 
 
 ' How shall we manage the old business about Hamlet's 
 stocking ? " exclaimed young Jack. 
 
 " We'll cut that out, "said Mr. Mole, with great readi- 
 ness. 
 
 This settled, young Jack and Harry Girdwood left the 
 old gentleman, to consult about one of the last suggested 
 items in the programme of their fair. 
 
 Aunt Sally. 
 
 Young Jack had a notable scheme on for this. 
 
 It resulted from some information which he had acci- 
 dentally come by. 
 
 This information leads us back some little way in our 
 history. 
 
 It is, however, an important incident, for not only does 
 it lead up to what ensued at their opening fair, but it also 
 explains the meaning of some curious allusions made 
 by the chief of the savage tribe to Hunston, concerning 
 Bloona. 
 
 This the reader will, in all probability, remember. 
 
 But as this matter is of such importance, it deserves a 
 chapter to itself.
 
 92 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 SHORT RETROSPECT THE STORY OF BLOONA WHO IS SHE ? 
 
 YOUNG JACK DECIDES THIS CONSPIRACY AGAINST MOLE'S 
 
 HAPPINESS AUNT SALLY AND ITS AWFUL CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 THERE was an old coloured woman that travelled about 
 the country from one station to another, who got a pre- 
 carious living by a reputation for being a sorceress. 
 
 This old woman has a certain interest for all who have 
 followed the fortunes of the Harkaway family and their 
 companions, and therefore we request the reader not to 
 skip the following lines. 
 
 This old woman was called Bloona. 
 
 And thereby hangs a tale. 
 
 It was said that those who had known her longest, 
 remembered her being landed at Port Philip by an English 
 vessel, and that the sailors had a wonderful yarn about 
 having picked up a balloon at sea, in the car of which th^rc 
 was but one living soul, and that she was very nearly 
 dead. 
 
 Great care and attention upon the part of the ship's 
 doctor had brought her round. 
 
 But for a long while her reason appeared to have fled. 
 
 She could not tell them anything of her past life, nor 
 could she even pronounce her own name. 
 
 "Well," said the ship's doctor, who was a wag in 
 his way, "we can't learn anything about our dusky 
 Venus, but we can give her a new name. She may be a 
 new specimen of the genus homo, come down in a bal- 
 loon. We can advertise the birth 'Bloona, dropped 
 from the skies on such and such a day, latitude and lon- 
 gitude doubtful. ' " 
 
 And so the name of Bloona, for want of a better, clung 
 to her. 
 
 Now this old woman wandered towards the Harkaway 
 settlement, and Harkaway happened to come into contact 
 with her. 
 
 From the first moment that he saw her, he felt con- 
 vinced that he had seen her somewhere before.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TR ALIA. 93 
 
 He had informed young Jack of old Mole's marriage in 
 Limbi with two black women. 
 
 Jack thought he would convince himself about the mat- 
 ter, so followed up Bloona. 
 
 " Bloona," said the boy, " have you ever lived in other 
 countries than this one ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "England?" 
 
 She made no answer to this, but only gave a vacant 
 stare. 
 
 She was harmless and very daft, although having fre- 
 quent lucid intervals. 
 
 " You know what I say," pursued young Jack. "Eng- 
 land England, London. " 
 
 A hopeless, blank look was all her reply. 
 
 " England, I say," young Jack went on eagerly, watch- 
 ing for a gleam of intelligence. "England, not Limbi." 
 
 This shot told. 
 
 She gave a start, and her eyes flashed fire at the word. 
 
 "Limbi? Ah, Limbi/' she ejaculated. "Good 
 Limbi ? " 
 
 "You remember Limbi ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " I thought so," said young Jack. "I thought you 
 would remember it presently, Ambonia. " 
 
 She stared at him, and then repeated the word "Am- 
 bonia. " 
 
 Then she pushed her hair back off her face, and as old 
 recollections, coaxed back by the mention of the name, 
 rushed upon her, she gave a wild sort of cry. 
 
 "Ha, hah, hah!" she laughed, "I know now Am- 
 binia Limbi all all white husband. " 
 
 When after a while she relapsed into silence, young 
 Jack thought that he would try her still further. 
 
 Still he felt convinced that he had dropped upon the 
 truth from the outset. 
 
 She was much changed, yet he could not fail, from what 
 his father had told him, to recognise the long-lost wife of 
 Mr. Mole. 
 
 He thought to test her by the name of her lost spouse. 
 
 "Do you remember, Ambonia, about Mole ?" 
 
 "Mole, Mole," she repeated, several times. 
 
 "Yes Isaac "
 
 -4 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 "Ah, Isaac!" she ejaculated, with wild energy. 
 "Yes, yes, I know. Mole Isaac my white husband, 
 iny own warrior." 
 
 Young Jack grinned. 
 
 "Mole a warrior?" said he. " Well he's not what i 
 should call a warrior. However, perhaps it pleases her, 
 and I'm sure that it doesn't hurt me. Isaac Mole." 
 
 " My own, my own ! " called out the old woman, with 
 wild energy. "Oh, take me to him, and let these arms 
 clutch him tight tight." 
 
 "Shall I take you to him? " demanded young Jack. 
 
 " Yes, yes ; take me quick. I give him thousand 
 kisses. He like me, I like him." 
 
 She seized hold of Jack, and began to drag him about, 
 leading him such a dance that he almost repented of 
 having tackled her. 
 
 However, he got away at last, with the promise that he 
 would bring the lovely Mole to her. 
 
 He went off at length, and found Harry Girclwood. 
 
 "Harry," said he. "I've got the biggest lark on you 
 ever heard of. " 
 
 "What is it? " exclaimed Harry, with eagerness. 
 
 "Who do you think I've found? " 
 
 "Found?" 
 
 "Yes, found, for she certainly was lost till now." 
 
 "I can't say, old boy." 
 
 "Do you remember all the story of my dad's advent- 
 ures in the island of Linabi?" 
 
 "Yes, every word." 
 
 "And do you remember that old Mole got married 
 there ? " 
 
 "Very much married, too much married," replied 
 Harry, with a grin. 
 
 " Do you remember that he had two black wives ? " 
 
 "Yes, one died, and " 
 
 He paused, gave young Jack a sharp look, and then 
 ejaculated 
 
 " You've never found his other wife that he sent up in a 
 balloon ? " 
 
 Jack nodded. 
 
 "That's it ; the very same woman that he sent up in a 
 balloon." 
 
 " Get along ; what, one of his first wives ? "
 
 :xi. .,"Ji jtf.-u-', ,< : ' .. j; ./ iiw - 3?SS--is= . ^--
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA . 95 
 
 "You've hit it, Harry," said young Jack. " She was 
 picked up at sea in a balloon. Poor creature ! she has 
 seemed half silly ever since with the fright. Dad saw 
 her by chance, and told me who she was like. So I have 
 questioned her, and I have no doubt about it at all." 
 
 "Why, I scarcely believed in that part of the tale, "said 
 Harry, presently. " I half fancied that it was only a yarn 
 about Mole having two wives before his present one, told 
 to amuse us." 
 
 "Oh, no. Now for some fun." 
 
 ' ' Now look here, Jack ; we must take Mr. Harvey into 
 our confidence, but not say anything to your father about 
 it, or he won't let us have our full fun out of it " 
 
 "Agreed." 
 
 Poor Mole ! 
 
 A disaster was in reserve for him indeed. 
 
 Dream on, worthy Isaac, while you may. 
 
 Dream on. 
 
 Presently you will awaken to a reality, which it will 
 
 require all your courage and all your nerve to face. 
 ****** 
 
 The fair opened with a flourish of trumpets. 
 
 Young Jack, rigged out as a herald, blew a tara-ta- 
 tara-ta. 
 
 Harry rang a big bell, such as railway porters are wont 
 to deafen us with. 
 
 ' ' Oh, yes, oh, yes, oh, yes ! " he cried, and declared 
 the fair open. 
 
 There were hundreds of people from the settlements 
 about that part of the country. 
 
 After a variety of swinging and shooting for nuts, and 
 cockshies, and other similar recreations, they all started, 
 accompanied by the noisy bell, to hear an entertainment 
 given by an amateur troupe of Ethiopian serenaders. 
 
 Old Jack played the fiddle, Harvey was tambourine 
 and the corner men were young Jack and his comrade 
 Harry Girdwood. 
 
 They had new songs and new jokes and riddles, and 
 altogether the troupe of niggers, who were known as 
 the " Snowballs of Nubia," carried off the honours of the 
 opening of the fair. 
 
 " Now, Mithter Bones, "said Tambourine," " whaththe 
 next thong on de programme ? "
 
 96 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "De ' Wooden-Legged Warrior, '" responded Bones. 
 The song was greeted with the most uproarious mirth 
 
 and applause. 
 
 ****** 
 
 After an endless round of amusements there came one 
 of the chief attractions of the day's entertainment. 
 
 Aunt Sally. 
 
 "Aunt Sally you look upon as a rather degrading 
 amusement for a man, I suppose, Mr. Mole ? " said Dick 
 Harvey. 
 
 "I'm not above being amused by trifles, Harvey," said 
 the old gentleman, with a condescending smile. 
 
 " And do you consider Aunt Sally in that light, sir ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 ' ' I suppose you never had a shy at your black relative ? " 
 pursued Dick, artfully. 
 
 Mole smiled. 
 
 ' ' Before you were born. " 
 
 " Dear me," said Dick. " So long ago." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Capital," said young Jack. " I should so like to see 
 you have a shy at the old gal, Aunt Sally." 
 
 "Good," said Mole, chuckling. "Good again. I'll go 
 and show you a trifle in the way of Aunt Sally, unless 
 
 "Unless what, sir? " said young Jack. 
 
 "Unless my old hand has lost its cunning," said Mole. 
 "Why, you'll hardly believe what I am going to say." 
 
 "That's very likely." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "Nothing, sir." 
 
 ' ' I thought you said " 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 ' ; I'm very glad of it, for I don't like observations which 
 savour of impertinence." 
 
 " I was going to say that when I was a young man " 
 
 "What an immense long time ago that must have been." 
 
 "A century," suggested Harkaway. 
 
 Mr. Mole's nose curled up disdainfully. 
 
 "Such trivialities are really beneath my notice," he 
 said. "When I was a young man," he added, turning 
 his back upon Harkaway, " I was known as the champion 
 Aunt Sally player of the world. '' 
 
 "The champion Aunt Sally player? Dear me ! "
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US THALIA. 97 
 
 "I'll tell you, what, sir," said young Jack. "I'll bet 
 you a sovereign that you don't hit the pipe once out of the 
 mouth of the Aunt Sally I will show you." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " Not once." 
 
 "Bah!" 
 
 "Will you take the bet?" 
 
 "Of course, unless it is some catch, my young friend,'* 
 said the old gentleman. "You mean to prevent me." 
 
 "Not I." 
 
 "It is a trick." 
 
 " You shall have a fair field." 
 
 " And how many sticks ? " 
 
 "Twenty." 
 
 "Why, with a quarter of them I'll smash the Aunt Sally 
 you show me. I'll shiver it to a thousand atoms." 
 
 " Bet you a sovereign that you don't even touch it," said 
 Jack. 
 
 "Done !" 
 
 Off they marched in procession to the Aunt Sally. 
 
 Our ebon relative stood at some distance from the line 
 marked for the sportsmen to toe, and of this Mr. Mole 
 complained at first. 
 
 But they calmed down even this with the assurance 
 that it was the regulation distance, and that it per- 
 haps appeared further than usual to him, because 
 his sight was not as good as it had been once upon a 
 time, a statement which he indignantly refuted. 
 
 Aunt Sally looked very strange. 
 
 Instead of being the ordinary wooden doll perched upon 
 a short pole or stick, it was a large black figure seated in 
 a chair. 
 
 It looked like an old woman, and wore the orthodox 
 frilled night-cap. 
 
 The most striking difference between this Aunt Sally 
 and the Aunt Sally that we have all grown familiar with 
 in this, the mother country, was in the pipe, or more 
 properly speaking, in the way that the said pipe was 
 carried. 
 
 Aunt Sallys, as we see them here, generally carry their 
 pipes in their noses. 
 
 This Aunt Sally more naturally, perhaps, yet more un- 
 usually, carried the pipe in her mouth. 
 7
 
 98 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 Moreover, this Aunt Sally had not that rag-shop-doll look 
 about her which characterises all the Aunt Sallys we have 
 ever seen. 
 
 There she sat up, however, looking more like a black Guy 
 Faux of the female gender than Aunt Sally, yet answering 
 the purpose admirably. 
 
 "It is a precious long shy," said Mr. Mole, looking 
 rather blue ; " never saw anything like it." 
 
 "You want to be off the bet ? " said young Jack, hastily. 
 
 "No, that I don't." 
 
 " Go on then." 
 
 "Give me the sticks. I'll soon smash its nose." 
 
 "There." 
 
 "I shall not want all that bundle ; half, a quarter will 
 suffice, or I'll eat my head." 
 
 Confidence in his skill was shown in his voice, his look 
 and self-reliant eye. 
 
 ' I'll bet you ten pounds more before you start." 
 'What?" 
 
 ' I'll give you fifty to ten, Jack," said Mr. Mole. 
 
 ' Fifty ? " 
 
 ' Yes, fifty to ten that I smash the pipe, knock its old 
 head off, send it to smithereens, wherever that is, in one 
 shot. " 
 
 "Done." 
 
 "I'll take you on the same terms, Mr. Mole, "said Dick 
 Harvey. 
 
 "You shall." 
 
 "Agreed." 
 
 Mr. Mole stooped and selected one of the sticks. 
 
 Having picked one out, he poised it in his hand with 
 the air of an expert. 
 
 "This'lldo." 
 
 "Now then, sir," said Jack, junior; "one two 
 th " 
 
 "Oh, dear me !" 
 
 Mole dropped his stick. 
 
 "Hullo ! " exclaimed Harvey ; " what was that? " 
 
 "It's very odd, indeed, Harvey, my dear boy, but I 
 fancied that the figure of old Aunt Sally moved. " 
 
 "Moved? You must be mistaken, Mr. Mole." 
 
 Yet strange to relate, the bystanders generally had 
 shared Mr Mole's fancy in this.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 99 
 
 No one, however, said anything upon that side of the 
 question, for Harvey appeared so withering in his sarcasm, 
 that they did not care to incur its attack. 
 
 " You're not well," said Harvey ; "something has hap- 
 pened to you. Try again, try again, Mr. Mole." 
 
 "I will," remarked Mr. Mole, with an air of determi- 
 nation ; "it was no doubt fancy." 
 
 It looked remarkably like a wink for fancy. 
 However, he took up the stick again he had let it fall 
 from his hand and prepared to throw. 
 
 'One," cried young Jack, in a loud voice, "two " 
 
 Hah ! " 
 What is it?" 
 Look there." 
 ' I see nothing." 
 
 'What," ejaculated Mr. Mole, "don't you see the 
 figure ? " 
 
 The simple fact was, that at this precise moment, the 
 figure of old Aunt Sally had moved, the wooden old lady 
 effigy had gravely taken her pipe from her mouth, and 
 was nodding her head at Mr. Mole. 
 
 The latter paled with fright, as it were, and stood 
 quaking with fear, and looking on. 
 " Look," he gasped again. 
 Young Jack had looked. 
 "Ahem ! " he coughed. 
 
 And immediately old Aunt Sally replaced her pipe, and 
 resumed her statuesque appearance and attitude. 
 We have said statuesque. 
 
 We might have said statuesque if not graceful, for grace- 
 ful it decidedly was not. 
 
 Whatever is the matter, Mr. Mole ? " asked young 
 
 "then let anybody else but you look, and see for them- 
 selves." 
 
 He pointed to the figure, and every eye was turned that 
 way. 
 
 "See there, the dreadful old creature is wagging her 
 ugly head at me," cried Mole. 
 
 He paused stopped short 
 
 Then he said
 
 100 JACK HA RKA WAY A ND HIS SON'S 
 
 "Look again, Jack, the figure is opening its large black 
 mouth, as if about to speak." 
 
 "What is the matter? " asked the bystanders. 
 
 "What is it ? " echoed Mr. Mole ; "why, I am positive 
 that I saw it move its mouth." 
 
 "Whose mouth? " 
 
 "Aunt Sally's." 
 
 "Bah!" 
 
 "You may 'bah,'" said Mole, stoutly, "but I can 
 trust the evidence of my eyes, and I can swear that it 
 moved, opened its ugly mouth, and " 
 
 Young Jack cut him off short in the midst of his 
 speech. 
 
 "Don't talk nonsense, sir," he said, peremptorily ; "if 
 you want to cry off your bet, say so, only don't shilly- 
 shally." v 
 
 Mole was furious. 
 
 ' ' How dare you, how dare you, you you you im- 
 pudent young jacknapes ? " 
 
 "Now don't call me out of my name, " replied the boy, 
 coolly; "not jacknapes, but Jack Harkaway, junior, at 
 your service. Only don't pretend you can hit anything 
 in future. I forgive you your bet, sir, if you can't find 
 the money; that's enough." 
 
 This brought Isaac Mole up to a white heat. 
 
 " I'll stick to my bet, and what's more, I'll make you 
 stick to your bet ; and if you get the best of Isaac Mole, 
 why, I'll I'll I don't know what damme ! " 
 
 "Go on, then," said young Jack. "Aunt Sally's be- 
 fore you." 
 
 "Give me the stick." 
 
 As Mole took the stick, Aunt Sally took a sight. 
 
 "Hah!" shrieked Mole, "that ugly thing must be 
 
 o ^ 
 
 alive. 
 
 Then the stick fell from his hand. 
 
 The bystanders looked first at him, and then at Aunt 
 Sally. 
 
 The old lady had dropped her pipe, and was behaving 
 in a most unladylike manner at Mr. Mole. 
 
 There was no getting over this. 
 
 She was taking a sight. 
 
 At length Mr. Mole recovered his speech. 
 
 "She's alive, alive," shouted Mole.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. IQI 
 
 There was no mistake about it ; she was alive. 
 
 "Why," exclaimed one of the public, "it's an old black 
 woman that has been gammoning us." 
 
 " Let us have her out," shouted another. 
 
 The suggestion was caught up eagerly. 
 
 A rush was made at Aunt Sally, and Mole was in that 
 rush. 
 
 They dragged her off her seat, and pulled her up to 
 where Mr. Mole was standing. 
 
 And then oh, then ! 
 
 What took place ? 
 
 Aunt Sally tore off her cap, gave a wild cry, and rushed 
 at the dumb-stricken Mole. 
 
 "Isaac my Ikey Ikey," she shrieked, "my Mole, 
 my own Mole ! " 
 
 With which she threw her large black arms around 
 his neck. 
 
 As Mole rested thus in her embrace, he noticed a 
 strangely familiar ring in her voice, and his very soul 
 quailed. 
 
 He was paralysed with fright at first, but recovering 
 himself, he struggled to get free 
 
 But Aunt Sally was far too much for him when once 
 she had fastened on. 
 
 She held him as if in a vise, and continued crying out 
 
 " Ikey Ikey, my own Ikey, my Mole, my own Mole, 
 come to my lubbing arms." 
 
 " Hooray ! " shouted the lookers-on in a chorus. 
 
 " Let go, you black devil," shrieked Mole. 
 
 "My Ikey, my Mole," vociferated Aunt Sally ; "come 
 and lub me." 
 
 ' ' What does she want with the old gentleman ? " de- 
 manded one of the crowd. 
 
 "It's my husband my beautiful Mole," retorted Aunt 
 Sally, proudly. " I lub him him lub me." 
 
 "Hah !" 
 
 A cry like that of a wounded stag burst from poor old 
 Mole at these words. 
 
 "Get out, Sally," said someone; "why, he's got a 
 wife already." 
 
 " Yes, and a black one," suggested another voice. 
 
 " My Ikey, my Ikey's only my Ikey ! " cried Aunt Sally, 
 again, in mixed anguish and affection.
 
 102 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SOA r 'S 
 
 Mole struggled to get free at the neck, and at length 
 succeeded, but she held him still, although at arm's 
 length. 
 
 " Mole, my own Mole, my pretty Mole," she exclaimed, 
 piteously, "don't you remember your poor wife who 
 went up in a balloon ? " 
 
 " Ha, ha ! " from the crowd. 
 
 " Ha, ha ! Up in a balloon," cried Mole, in accents of 
 mad despair. 
 
 ' ' Your own lubly wife. Yes, dearest, I am for eber 
 your Ambonia. " 
 
 "Guggle, guggle ! " murmured Mole. , 
 
 And then his wooden legs gave way beneath him, and 
 he sank upon the ground with a groan of unutterable 
 despair, saying 
 
 "Up in a balloon, boys, up in a balloon." 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 TWICE WEDDED ONCE MORE HIS FEAR AND HIS CUNNING NO 
 
 AVAIL HOW HE GOT OVER HIS TROUBLE. 
 
 YES, there was no mistake about this. 
 
 It was Ambonia. 
 
 Mole's Limbian wife, that he had married years ago. 
 
 Old Jack knew it almost at once when he had come 
 across her under the significant name of Bloona. 
 
 The explanation of that suggestive name had told him 
 all. 
 
 Hence the secret of Mr. Mole's present trouble, for 
 young Jack had arranged that Ambonia should stand as 
 Aunt Sally, and by that means discover her lost Mole. 
 ****** 
 
 Need it be said that Mole's fright was some thing 
 terrific ? 
 
 You can imagine the poor old gentleman's agony. 
 
 Poor Mole 1 
 
 This was a calamity which, of all others, he certainly 
 had never looked forward to. 
 
 He had long regarded his troubles in the matrimonial
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 1 03 
 
 speculations in which he had been inveigled in th island 
 of Limbi as over. 
 
 Alas! 
 
 He soon discovered his mistake now. 
 
 He was rudely awakened to the fact that he was rather 
 more married than ever. 
 
 Far more so. 
 
 When he reflected awhile about his black American 
 wife Chloe, and he looked forward to her meeting with 
 his long-lost Ambonia, he felt as if cold water, to use his 
 own expression, were trickling down the small of his back. 
 
 "Mole! Ikey!" shrieked Ambonia; "come to your 
 old gal's arms ag'in. I lub you." 
 
 And she seized him in such a bear-like hug that she 
 squeezed all the breath out of his body. 
 
 "Why don't you spoke to me, Ikey?" cried Ambonia, 
 to whom the restoration of her long-lost helpmate appeared 
 to give back her reason. ' ' Ain't you glad to see your 
 old gal ? " 
 
 "Yes, yes," cried Mole, in woeful tones; "of course I 
 am." 
 
 "Why don't you cuddle me up? " cried out Ambonia, 
 in accents of bitter reproach. 
 
 She pitched her reproaches in such a high treble that 
 Mole's alarm increased every instant 
 
 " Dear, dear ! " he cried, in distress, "I wish you would 
 only draw it a leetle bit milder. I shall have Chloe here." 
 
 " What ? " shrieked Ambonia. " What Chloe do with 
 you? You my husband." 
 
 Ambonia fired up at the name of another woman. 
 
 "Eh? nothing, my dear," stammered Mole, greatly 
 perplexed. 
 
 "What name did you say ? " 
 
 "N-n-no thing." 
 
 "Be golly!" said the dusky lady, eyeing Mr. Mole 
 menacingly. "You said something about a gal." 
 
 "N-n-no." 
 
 "You did! " 
 
 Her voice and manner struck terror to his very soul. 
 
 If Chloe should but hear ! 
 
 The idea was too horrible to contemplate. 
 
 Now, just, as this thought flashed through Mole's mind, 
 Chloe's voice was heard close by.
 
 J04 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 Instinctively Mrs. Mole (number three) had smelt 
 danger from afar, and she came running up to the spot. 
 
 " Isaac, my dear old man," she said. 
 
 " My dear " began Mole. 
 
 "What you do here?" thundered Ambonia, in menac- 
 fng accents. 
 
 It was getting warm for Mole. 
 
 Too warm for him. 
 
 "Who is that pusson ? " demanded Ambonia. 
 
 "How dare you call me a pusson?" cried Chloe. 
 ' You're a pusson yourself, so there now." 
 
 And this she gave out as if it ought to silence the other 
 on the instant. 
 
 Chloe didn't know the other lady, it was clear. 
 
 "Ikey," said Ambonia, in her most endearing manner, 
 "Ikey, mylubby, if I find you have been a-lowering your- 
 self by speaking to this strange pusson, you'll have to 
 suffer for it, so." 
 
 And down came one hand upon the other with great 
 force. 
 
 Poor Mole closed his eyes in despair. 
 
 "Mr. Mole," said Chloe, with ill-suppressed wrath, 
 "tell that negro woman to go." 
 
 "Who are you, you black ting, tell dis lady to go?" 
 cried Ambonia. 
 
 "Mrs. Mole, madam," responded Chloe, with a bob 
 that was meant for a ceremonious curtsey. 
 
 Ambonia jumped up as if she had just received her death- 
 wound from a gun. 
 
 "You Mrs. Mole?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 The other made no reply, but stepped back aghast. 
 
 Then recovering herself, she turned to Mole, and fixing 
 him with her big eyes, she pumped herself up to a 
 "white" heat, preparatory to opening fire upon him. 
 
 " So you got another gal, after sending me up in a bal- 
 loon," she said. "You wretch! you beast! You get 
 another wife. You send one up in a balloon, with noth- 
 ing to eat, while you get another ! I'll teach you ! " 
 
 And she was about to teach him as she promised, when 
 Mrs. Mole the third stepped up before her. 
 
 And then Chloe stuck her arms akimbo, and looked very 
 big things.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. ^ O r 
 
 They stared at each other fixedly for awhile. 
 
 And then Chloe said in most significant tones 
 
 ' ' Well, mum ? " 
 
 "Well, mum?" 
 
 ' ' How dare you talk to my husband like that ? Do you 
 know that he's my lawful wedded, and that you're no 
 better than a 'truder here ? " 
 
 She meant intruder. 
 
 Ambonia was not critical as to a syllable, more or 
 less. 
 
 She squared her shoulder, a la Madame Angot, at Chloe, 
 and "went in." 
 
 "You're a low, ignorant nigger," she said, "for Ike 
 was my husband before he heerd or seen you." 
 
 " Hah ! " shrieked Chloe, "is that true, Ikey Mole? " 
 
 Poor Mole stammered, and tried to explain himself. 
 
 But in vain. 
 
 He could scarcely get out a word. 
 
 " Of course it's true," said Ambonia, "so come along 
 with your own ole sweetheart, Ikey dear. Come to my 
 arms and me take care of you." 
 
 With this she darted round her rival, and seized her 
 faithless husband by the arm. 
 
 At one tug she would certainly have pulled him off his 
 pins, had not Chloe laid hold of him by the other arm, and 
 held fast on. 
 
 "Come here," cried Ambonia. 
 
 "Come here," cried Chloe. 
 
 And didn't they tug? 
 
 Over went Mole one way, and then the other. 
 
 After a succession of see-saws, Chloe, being the younger 
 and the stronger woman, gave one violent tug that jerked 
 their victim off his feet. 
 
 Down he went sprawling, and up went his timber 
 toes. 
 
 This had a very remarkable effect upon Mole's Limbian 
 wife, who now perceived for the first time the strange 
 physical drawback of the husband she was struggling 
 for. 
 
 What did those ugly wooden legs mean ? 
 
 Ambonia remembered her Mole having two beautiful 
 legs. 
 
 Mole, who, in spite of his terror was not exactly a fool
 
 1 06 JA CK HARK A WAY AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 saw Ambonia's surprise, and was not slow to take advan- 
 tage of it. 
 
 "This poor woman is altogether wrong," he said, as a 
 last desperate venture ; "she takes me for her husband." 
 
 "Yes," cried Mrs. Ambonia Mole, with great fury. 
 "But what am these wooden legs for? " 
 
 "You see that she knew so precious little of me, that 
 this surprises her," said the artful Mole, holding up one 
 wooden leg. Ambonia was fairly staggered. 
 
 Mole went on. 
 
 Now was his time to follow up the little advantage thus 
 gained. 
 
 " Hah, I see ! " he exclaimed, hysterically. "My good 
 lady, you must have known my brother my twin brother, 
 Isaac Ikey Mole." 
 
 "Your brudder ?" cried Chloe, who couldn't see what 
 he was driving at at all. 
 
 "Yes, my twin-brother," said Mole, while Ambonia 
 stared in silence. "We were so much alike, that no one 
 could tell us apart." 
 
 "Never." 
 
 "That's it," said Mole, "never! No one ever guessed 
 any thing of it at all. No one could tell which was Isaac 
 or which was Isaac Ikey when we had got our trousers 
 on." 
 
 The ladies shrieked. 
 
 ' ' Disgustful ! " cried Chloe, stalking away. 
 
 "Stop, stop, my dear," cried Mole. "I mean that is, 
 the only point of difference between us is that which you 
 see. Isaac Ikey, my twin brother, was born with his full 
 complement of natural legs, while I " 
 
 He sighed and pointed significantly to his wooden 
 legs. 
 
 " You nebber born like dat," said the sceptical Am- 
 bonia. 
 
 "Oh, indeed," said Mole; "wasn't I? You look in 
 the newspapers of the time, and the medical journals, and 
 you'll see ; why, the wooden-legged babe was the wonder 
 of the age. So I tell you what," he went on to say, cock- 
 ing his eye up at Ambonia, "you had better go over to 
 England, and find my brother, if you want him." 
 
 But Ambonia, though rather shaken, was not yet done 
 with altogether.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. t O j 
 
 "No," she said, stoutly, "one of us is mistook, dat's 
 sartain, but faint dis chile. Dat young pusson," meaning 
 Chloe, "had better go over to England forde oderMole " 
 
 Saying which, she made a grab at poor Isaac. 
 
 It was now getting beyond a joke, so Mole's tormentors 
 came up to the rescue. 
 
 They calmed the irate negress Ambonia, and they made 
 her understand that although her marriage with Mole 
 might have been all right according to Limbian law, it 
 would not hold good here. 
 
 Chloe, upon the other hand, was safely tied to the 
 worthy Isaac by the Christian church. 
 
 This, and a bribe, with the means of returning to her 
 native land being placed in her power, they contrived to 
 get clear of her, but not before she gave Mole one tight 
 embrace, saying 
 
 ' ' Perhaps me come back for you some day, Ikey, then 
 me keep you all to myself." 
 
 Poor Isaac suffered more agony than will bear calm 
 contemplation. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 A HOLIDAY LORD HIGH PROTECTOR MOLE LOST IN THE BUSH 
 
 AUSTRALIAN SCENES. 
 
 MR. MOLE'S game at Aunt Sally, and its results, formed 
 a capital subject for conversation in the little settlement 
 for some days. 
 
 Bloona, alias Ambonia, had for the time disappeared, 
 though there was no knowing how soon she might re- 
 appear to claim her spouse. 
 
 Dick Harvey even suggested that she had gone to col- 
 lect an army of the natives, by whose aid she would en- 
 force her matrimonial rights, while old Jack suggested that 
 perhaps she had gone down to Melbourne to appeal to 
 the highest colonial courts to decide the question. 
 
 "Oh, Lord ! there will be a pretty exposure if she does," 
 groaned the ex-tutor. 
 
 " How so ? " asked Dick. 
 
 "It will be reported in the Australian papers, English
 
 1 08 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 papers will copy it, and then all the world will know that 
 Professor Mole, com ah ! " 
 
 "Committed bigamy, you mean." 
 
 "That is an odious phrase, Harvey ; however, be it so, 
 and the world will laugh when it hears that Professor 
 Mole committed bigamy, as you say, with a a brace of 
 black women." 
 
 "Besides attempting to win the affections of a Scotch- 
 Greek monthly nurse," observed old Jack. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said Mole, rising, " your conversation is 
 getting vulgar and impertinent. I leave you. " 
 
 So saying, he stalked away. 
 
 Of course, they laughed at him. 
 
 But they could not always laugh even at Mole, and 
 young Jack, with his friend, Harry Girdwood, began to 
 long for some new excitement. 
 
 "Three or four days in the bush by ourselves, Harry. 
 That would be the thing." 
 
 " Yes ; I should like it." 
 
 "Then I'll go and speak to dad at once." And young 
 Jack rushed off. 
 
 ' ' You'll get carried off by the bushrangers, " said old 
 Jack, in reply to his son's application for leave of absence. 
 
 "We shall be armed." 
 
 "No doubt, but you must not go." 
 
 "But Harry and myself are a match for a dozen ; be- 
 sides, we have not heard any thing about the rascals for 
 a long time past." 
 
 "You seem bent on going." 
 
 ' ' We are, dad. " 
 
 "You'll come to grief." 
 
 "You ought to have more confidence in the heir to your 
 world-renowned name." 
 
 "You ought to have less cheek, youngster. Well, go 
 if you like, but 1 insist upon your taking Sunday and 
 Monday." 
 
 "And Tinker?" 
 
 "Why, no ; I may want the lad." 
 
 "My dear Harkaway," said Mole, who had been listen- 
 ing, "I really think it would be better if I accompanied 
 this expedition. I should be a protection against all dan- 
 gers. " 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha!"
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. i o 9 
 
 "You may laugh but surely you have forgotten howl 
 vanquished the Greek brigands, and how in the days of 
 yore I slaughtered the countrymen of this benighted 
 savage. " 
 
 The benighted savage was Monday, who had entered 
 the room, and who now joined in the conversation, 
 with 
 
 "Don't you call names, Massa Mole an' you nebber 
 slaughter none o' mine countrymen." 
 
 " Though he married a few of your countrywomen, eh, 
 Monday ? " 
 
 "The conversation is growing offensive again," said 
 Mole. 
 
 Young Jack, however, brought the conversation back to 
 its starting-point his proposed excursion into the bush, 
 and finally old Jack consented, on condition, as aforesaid, 
 that Sunday and Monday should be of the party, and that 
 they should all be thoroughly armed. 
 
 Accordingly the next morning at an early hour they 
 started five of them in a kind of rude cart, with very 
 strong springs, fit for the rough work it would have to 
 encounter. 
 
 Their course was a northerly one, young Jack's object 
 being to explore, if possible, a range of mountains said to 
 be situated in that direction. 
 
 It was very sultry weather, although the sun was over- 
 cast with clouds. 
 
 However, they had a compass to steer by, and all went 
 well 
 
 For a time. 
 
 Long before noon Mole felt thirsty, and the boys felt 
 hungry, so it was resolved to take half an hour for rest and 
 refreshment. 
 
 The meal ended, they resumed their journey. 
 
 Presently young Jack said 
 
 "Those are not the trees we resolved to go to." 
 
 "Certainly not," replied Harry. "Where is the com- 
 pass, Monday ! " 
 
 " Compass, Massa Harry ?" 
 
 " Yes, quick." 
 
 The compass, which they had already consulted twice, 
 could not be found. 
 
 It was lost, and so were the young explorers.
 
 110 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 A council of war was at once held, and old Mole, for a 
 wonder, made a sensible proposition. 
 
 "We had better get on to those trees," said he, "and 
 camp there, where probably we shall find fodder and water 
 for the horse. To-morrow, if the sky is clear, we can steer 
 by the sun." 
 
 This appeared very practical, and they agreed to do so. 
 
 But their troubles were not over. 
 
 The axle of the cart snapped with a sudden crack, and 
 all their provisions went rolling in the sand. Monday and 
 Sunday hastened to extricate the horse from the shafts of 
 the fallen vehicle, but as soon as ever he was at liberty, he 
 bolted, and was soon lost to sight 
 
 ' ' What is to be done now ? " asked Mole. 
 
 "Take up our traps and walk," replied young Jack. 
 
 "Whereto?" 
 
 "To that clump of trees where you proposed we should 
 roost. So bear a hand here, Monday." 
 
 " All right, Massa Jack." 
 
 While the party were loading themselves, the trampling 
 of many hoofs, the cracking of whips, and the shouts of 
 men, caused them to turn their eyes in the direction of 
 these sounds. 
 
 They were caused by a large herd of bullocks being 
 driven homeward by the stockmen. 
 
 The animals, like all bush cattle, were more than half 
 wild, and needed a good deal of force, as well as persua- 
 sion, to keep them in the forest track. 
 
 Some of them seemed inclined to make a rush at Jack 
 and his friends, as they stood under the trees. 
 
 But a few cracks of the formidable whip from the power- 
 ful man in charge changed their intention, and brought 
 them back to the ranks. 
 
 The men employed were four, of whom one, a native 
 black, was on foot. 
 
 Jack's party hailed this opportunity of asking their way 
 out of the predicament of being "lost in the bush." 
 
 But before they could do so, the principal of the new- 
 comers addressed them. 
 
 " Hullo, mates ! " said he, pulling up his horse, "where 
 do you hail from ? You've got bushed up, I reckon." 
 
 "We have indeed lost our way," answered Jack, " and
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 1 1 x 
 
 have been wandering all day without sighting any bush- 
 station, or so much as a shepherd's hut." 
 
 "Well, you're on the right track, anyhow. It's always 
 safe to follow the course of a creek, for it's bound to lead 
 you to some inhabited place in time ; but we're going to 
 steer straighter than that ; if you'll join us, you can have 
 rest and food." 
 
 Jack and his comrades thanked him, and then asked 
 
 ' ' How far is it ? " 
 
 "What, my hut? Close by; a matter of five miles. 
 We'd be there in no time, if it wasn't so hard to keep 
 these cusses in order. Come up, you varmint ! " he ex- 
 claimed, cracking his whip over one of the unruly bul- 
 locks, who bellowed with the pain, and galloped away. 
 
 Jack and his friends couldn't help looking at that whip. 
 
 They had never seen such a formidable instrument in 
 their lives. 
 
 The handle was not much more than a foot in length. 
 
 The lash was a terrible leathern thong measuring about 
 twelve feet, and at the end was a silk "cracker," the 
 sound of which was almost as loud as the roar of a 
 cannon. 
 
 The man who carried this was a tall, handsome fellow 
 of six feet, in a " colonial tweed jumper," or woollen shirt, 
 tight trousers and big jack-boots, while his embrowned 
 visage and long beard and hair were shaded by a broad- 
 brimmed, cabbage-tree hat. 
 
 He carried a knife and a revolver, and was mounted on 
 a powerful black horse. 
 
 His companions were stockmen of an inferior stamp 
 and appearance, the native Australian, a woolly-headed 
 and bowlegged specimen of black humanity, being appar- 
 ently clad in the cast-off clothes of his master. 
 
 Jack and his companions were soon on good terms with 
 the party, and the stockman was equally communicative. 
 
 " My name is Joe Freeman, and I don't care who knows 
 it," said he. "I'm a native Englishman, like yourself, 
 but I went out to California when very young, made al- 
 most a fortune at the diggings, ran through it, and then 
 came here to get another. I didn't find it, though, and in 
 the course of seven years I've been first one tiling, then 
 another, and now I've got the charge of the Gobberalong 
 cattle-run, on the Wimmeroo Cre V
 
 112 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 " Gob what was that you said? " asked Mr. Mole. 
 
 ' ' Gobberalong ; that's where I live. It's a native name ; 
 we've lots of native names about here. The next station's 
 Bangaranga ; next to that's Duckandilly, Coomang, and 
 Bunyiparinga. " 
 
 "Upon my word, they sound very pretty," said Mr. 
 Mole, taking out his pocket-book. "The aboriginal lan- 
 guage seems a very liquid one full of vowels. Let's put 
 a few of them down. How do you spell them ? " 
 
 "I don't spell 'em at all," answered the stockman. 
 "This is a part of the Wimmeroo Creek," pointing to 
 the stream, which they were now leaving behind them. 
 "It goes close by my station, and afterwards flows into 
 the Wurree-Wurree River. " 
 
 "Is all this land under your management?" asked 
 Harry Girdwood. 
 
 "Yes; our run takes up nearly all the Wangatoola 
 plains and the Wurree-Wurree district. My governor, 
 Major Durant, is one of the biggest landowners in the 
 colony. He holds over fifty thousand acres of land, and 
 has altogether two hundred and fifty thousand sheep 
 and close upon three thousand head of cattle." 
 
 " You do things on a large scale here," observed Jack. 
 
 "We do, slightly." 
 
 In this conversation they pursued their way through 
 the open forest, into the still more open plains, until the 
 Stockman's residence came in sight. 
 
 The stockman's dwelling-place was a large hut. built of 
 "slabs," or rough logs, of mahogany colour, with a roof 
 of bark. 
 
 Near it were one or two smaller huts for the assistants, 
 and buildings and enclosures for cattle stretched away in 
 the background. 
 
 " This is the celebrated cattle station of Gobberalong," 
 said Joe Freeman, with a crack of his whip, " and you're 
 as welcome to it as a nugget to a digger. No ceremony, 
 now. " 
 
 And having dismounted, he pushed open the door, and 
 invited them to enter. 
 
 Inside the place was "rough and ready," but comfort- 
 able, divided into two rooms, one of which did duty for 
 kitchen and sitting-room. 
 
 "This is my crib," observed Joe, " and I must leave
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 1 13 
 
 you while we ' yard ' the bullocks, when I shall be ready 
 for something in the provision line, as I dare say you 
 will. Pete, old boy, put on some extra rations, will you ? 
 Steak and damper for half-a-dozen, at least." 
 
 At length driving in the cattle was accomplished, and 
 the stockman, hot, dusty and exhausted, returned to his 
 guests. 
 
 "There, I think we've fixed 'em all now," said the stock- 
 man, " and I'm ready for tea and dampers. Hope they're 
 ready for me, Pete." 
 
 "Right you are, boss," responded the hut-keeper, " but 
 I never dreamt as you had such a lot of company coming, 
 and I've had all my work to make preparations accordin'. " 
 
 "Sit round, chums," said the stockman; "all's wel- 
 come here. We don't see new faces too often to get tired 
 of 'em. Well, I'm glad to say my work's done for to- 
 day. " 
 
 And sitting down in his chair with a sigh of relief, he 
 took off his cabbage-tree hat, hurled his formidable stock- 
 whip in a corner, and with Jimalong's assistance, divested 
 himself of his ponderous jack-boots. 
 
 "Well," whispered young Jack to Harry, " this seems 
 all very comfortable." 
 
 "Yes, but I don't mean to be deceived by appearances, 
 I can tell you." 
 
 ' ' How do you mean ? " 
 
 "Why, I fear these men are friends of the bushrangers 
 in league with Morgan." 
 
 By the time all this had been said, the " dampers" 
 were done, also some prime rump-steaks, "grown on the 
 premises," as Joe Freeman whimsically expressed it. 
 
 "Not much fear of bushrangers here," said young Jack to 
 Harry. 
 
 The tea was of the finest and strongest (coming direct 
 from China), and for fear it shouldn't be strong enough, 
 the stockman " diluted " it with brandy. 
 
 "That's not a bad idea of yours, my friend," said Mr. 
 Mole, seeing him do this. " Hand me the flask, please.^ 
 And he was soon clutching a formidable ' ' leather bottell, " 
 containing at least a quart of the alcholic liquid, which, 
 next to rum, was the object of his most passionate adora- 
 tion. 
 
 "It corrects the rawness of the tea, you see," he ex- 
 8
 
 114 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON *S 
 
 plained, as he continued to pour it into the cup ; " besides, 
 being in itself of a nourishing and stimulating quality, so 
 much so, that the faculty in England have of late years 
 administered brandy in all cases of " 
 
 "Take care, sir," said young Jack, "you'll spill it. 
 You're brimming the cup over." 
 
 "Dear me! so I am," said Mr. Mole. "It has half 
 filled my saucer as well ; but I can't put it back now. I 
 really didn't mean to take so much ; it was quite an acci- 
 dent. Never mind; there are worse misfortunes than 
 that." 
 
 "A great deal worse ones for him, I should say," 
 whispered Harry Girdwood to Jack. " From his expres- 
 sion, he evidently enjoys the accident a good deal." 
 
 " Well, I declare ! '' cried old Mole, drinking the beverage 
 out of the saucer with a loud " swoop," of enjoyment, 
 " if it isn't exactly like ' Robur, the new tea spirit!' 
 Shouldn't wonder if this is how it's made. Well, this 
 suits me capitally, and I recommend you, my boys, to do 
 likewise." 
 
 "No, thank you," said Jack. "I prefer my tea and 
 brandy in separate parcels. They don't agree well when 
 mixed. The very smell of it always puts me in mind of 
 sea-sickness." 
 
 "What do you think, pals? " said Joe. "I propose we 
 all go out kangarooing to-morrow morning. A twenty- 
 mile run or so after a ' boomah ' you'll find good sport. 
 Did you ever try it on ? " 
 
 "Never," answered young Jack ; " no more have any 
 of my friends here, I don't think, have you, boys? " 
 
 Harry Girdwood replied in the negative, to which Sunday 
 and Monday also added a disclaimer. 
 
 Mr. Mole, who was busily occupied in sugaring his tea, 
 shook his head solemnly. 
 
 " It's the finest sport in the world," proceeded the stock- 
 man, enthusiastically. "Talk of your fox-hunting, with 
 your kid-glove sportsmen in dandy clothes, and horses as 
 smooth and tame as kittens, and all for chivying after 
 a miserable varmint no bigger than a colley-pup ! give me 
 a spell on one of our half-wild bush horses, after an old 
 man kangaroo ; that's your sort ! " 
 
 "Is there plenty of big game about here? " asked young 
 Jack.
 
 X L VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. i j 5 
 
 "Plenty of every game," answered the stockman; 
 "kangaroos, dingoes, emeus, bustards, not to mention 
 wombats, bandicoots, and the native devil. I could keep 
 you well supplied with good sport if you were to stop here 
 a twelvemonth. 
 
 " But can you mount us all?" asked Harry. 
 
 "Mount you? Why, haven't you seen what a little 
 lot of horses we've got in this station alone ? My gov- 
 ernor could mount half-a-dozen regiments of cavalry, at 
 a few days' notice to collect 'em." 
 
 "But they're all so wild," said Jack. 
 
 " Oh, we don't take long breaking 'em in by our sys- 
 tem, " answered the stock-rider. ' ' We're rough and ready, 
 we are, and I'll guarantee to take the nonsense out of the 
 wildest colt in the colony under a week, unless he's got 
 the very devil himself into him. But I always keep half- 
 a-dozen good tame ones in the stable, and that will be 
 enough for all of you. " 
 
 " I'll tell you one person you'll not be able to mount 
 easily," said Mr. Mole, "and that's myself." 
 
 "Well, it will be rather a difficulty," the bushman ad- 
 mitted, looking at the ex-usher's wooden pins. 
 
 " I certainly do find it so in general, Mr. Freeman, I 
 assure you," said Mole, " not from any deficiency in my 
 equestrian capabilities oh, dear, no ; I could ride like 
 Mazeppa himself, if I only had my legs. 
 
 " My legs," repeated Isaac, sentimentally, apostrophis- 
 ing the roof of the hut, " my unfortunate understandings. 
 Alas ! they are gone for ever. I wonder where they are 
 now, and what they are doing? How true it is that 
 ' absence makes the heart grow fonder.' Oh, my poor 
 old legs." 
 
 And the veteran \viped away a tear just in time to pre- 
 vent it falling into his cup of (brandied) tea. 
 
 "I tell you what we might do, Mr. Mole," sugges- 
 ted Jack. " We could have you tied to the saddle, and 
 your wooden legs encased in jack-boots, fastened to the 
 horse's girths. You couldn't tumble off then, and you 
 would have your hands free to guide the animal." 
 
 "Especially if mounted on some spirited and sensible 
 critter such as I can recommend," added the stockman. 
 
 "It mustn't be too spirited, "'said Mr. Mole, who had 
 still some lurking doubt as to his riding powers.
 
 1 1 6 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "No; but such an animal as my mare Wildfire would 
 suit you to an ace, I know." 
 
 " Wildfire ! Don't like the name sounds rather omin- 
 ous," said Mr. Mole, shaking his head; "too spirited, I 
 fear, for a fellow who's not so young as he was, and hasn't 
 his proper quantum of leg." 
 
 "Well, now, I know a horse that might have been 
 made for you," said Joe, "a quiet old nag, called Milk- 
 and-Water, from his mild disposition and his sort of 
 sky-blue colour." 
 
 " Milk-and-Water, eh? I like that better," said Mr. 
 Mole. 
 
 "Not so well as he likes milk and rum, though," ob- 
 served Harry Gird wood to Jack in an undertone. 
 
 "If it can be done safely," concluded Mr. Mole, "noth- 
 ing will please me better than joining in the hunt. Re- 
 serve Milk-and-Water for me, will you ? " 
 
 " Certainly, with pleasure," answered the cattle-keeper, 
 with a half-concealed smile about his countenance. 
 
 Mr. Mole having drank another nice cup of tea, well 
 fortified, now grew loquacious. 
 
 "Ah," he said, looking out at the wild landscape, " this 
 puts me in mind of old times." 
 
 "What times?" asked Jack and Harry, in astonish- 
 ment ; "do you mean to insinuate that you have been to 
 Australia before ? " 
 
 "I did, my boy, I did," answered the veracious tutor. 
 " I never told you of it, nor anyone else, for it's one of 
 those things not generally known ; but I emigrated during 
 the gold fever, and stopped a year and a half." 
 
 " Why didn't you stop altogether? " asked Joe. 
 
 "No use, you see. Rough times. I had some sport, 
 though ; went gold-digging." 
 
 "Harry," said Jack aside, "old Mole's at his Mun- 
 chausen crammers again." 
 
 "It's the tea that's done it," answered his friend. 
 
 " Find any gold in the diggings ? " asked the stockman. 
 
 "A nugget, somewhere about this size, that's ail," an- 
 swered Mr. Mole, holding up a piece of damper the size 
 of his hand, "worth some hundreds; but I got robbed 
 bringing it home ; and then I was sent out with a govern- 
 ment party to capture two runaway convicts. I got sep- 
 arated from the others and met the two ruffians face to
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. i r 7 
 
 face in a lonely gully. We had an awful fight. I knocked 
 down one and overpowered the other, and at last had the 
 good luck to deliver them both alive into the hands of the 
 government." 
 
 " Plucky fellow ! " exclaimed the bushman. " And you 
 got the reward, of course ? " 
 
 "Two hundred pounds, "replied Mr. Mole ; "but I got 
 robbed of most of that, too, and only had enough left to 
 bring me back to England. " 
 
 " Well," said Jack, "I am surprised ! You never told 
 any of us a word of this before. " 
 
 " No, my boy ; it was my modesty, you see don't like 
 to brag of one's own deeds, you know." 
 
 "Of course not," said young Jack. 
 
 "I'll tell you all about it," proceeded Mole, "but not 
 now not now. Don't feel very well, somehow." 
 
 Mr. Mole indeed showed symptoms of indisposition. 
 
 His face was red, his eyes bloodshot, his utterance 
 rather thick, and his movements very eccentric. 
 
 "Mustn't drink any more Robur just now," he said, 
 "too hot pour it in the saucer." 
 
 In attempting to do which he blundered so that the 
 liquid was spilt all over the table and floor. 
 
 "Dear me," exclaimed Mole, "what a pity! Beg a 
 thousand pardons. I'll try to wipe it up." 
 
 And he half-rolled, half-threw himself on to his knees, and 
 attempted to scrub the wet floor with his cabbage-tree hat. 
 
 But the effort was too much, and he was soon extended 
 at full length on the floor in a state of unconsciousness. 
 
 His last audible words were 
 
 " Wipe it up wipe up the Robur." 
 
 "Well, if he ain't far gone, I'm done!" exclaimed 
 Joe ; "and no wonder. I ain't got a weak head myself, 
 but sugar me if I could take three cups of strong bohea 
 half filled up with brandy, and be fit for much standing 
 up after it. Is he often took bad like this ? " 
 
 "Yes; he's unfortunately subject to these attacks," 
 answered Jack. 
 
 "It's a bad complaint," said Joe. " I've seen a good 
 deal of it m my time. Let's wrap a 'possum rug round 
 him, and put him out of the way in a corner." 
 
 By this device he was not only securely folded up in 
 the rug, but " toted " into the corner near the fire.
 
 1 1 8 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "There, old fellow, you're safe now," said Joe, 
 "Chums, it's getting nigh roosting time; here's my 
 nest," he added, pointing to the sheep's-skin rug which 
 he had laid down in front of the fire. ' ' In the room there 
 you'll find a regular bed which you young gents are 
 welcome to." 
 
 "But we can't think of turning you out of your own 
 bed like that," protested young Jack. 
 
 "Turn my grandmother ! Do you think I ain't accus- 
 tomed to sleep anywhere and everywhere nowhere, for 
 the matter o' that ? One luxury, however, I can't do 
 without, and this is it." 
 
 Taking out a briar-root pipe, he filled it with tobacco, 
 lit it at the fire, and saying "Good-night, chums ; pleas- 
 ant dreams," rolled himself up in his extempore bed, and 
 proceeded to smoke himself to sleep. 
 
 ***** * 
 
 It was about five o'clock on a glorious morning when 
 young Jack and his companions turned out ; and then 
 the stockman and his assistants proceeded to tend their 
 cattle and turn them out into the rich and boundless 
 pastures. 
 
 Mr. Mole, who still felt some effects from his last 
 night's experiment in beverages, confined himself to tea 
 pure and simple, without making it into " Robur. " 
 
 By six o'clock they were ready for starting. 
 
 Jack and his companions were well mounted on 
 spirited horses of a breed not far removed from the pure 
 English hunter, and such as would have been worth a 
 good price in the old country. 
 
 The mounting of Mr. Mole, on the redoubted steed 
 " Milk-and- Water," was, after all, a matter of no small 
 difficulty. 
 
 It took the united efforts of Jimalong and Joe, assisted 
 by Sunday and Monday, with suggestions from Jack and 
 Harry, to secure the tutor safely on his equestrian perch. 
 
 The first attempt was so far a failure, that the venerable 
 Isaac, not being properly balanced, pitched off on the 
 left side of the horse, and on the second he tumbled off 
 on the right, still more heavily, and would have probably 
 been not a little injured, but that he was providentially 
 caught in the arms of the Prince of Limbi. 
 
 At length he was properly fixed, and in repose.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 119 
 
 He certainly looked a very passable, if not a mag- 
 nificen* equestrian. 
 
 The big jack-boots, drawn up to the thighs and fast- 
 ened there with straps, were so natural in appearance, 
 that no one out of the secret would have known but what 
 they concealed real legs ; or, to describe it in the facetious 
 terms used by young Jack, no one would have sup- 
 posed that " Mole's entire " was destitute of two leading 
 members of the firm. 
 
 The proof of the pudding, however, is in the eating, 
 and it remained to be seen how Mr. Mole would get on. 
 
 When the chase came to be in full swing, certain rest- 
 less symptoms on the part of Milk-and-Water more than 
 once made Isaac apprehensive that he was not so quiet a 
 steed as his name and reputation would imply. 
 
 Little did he suspect that the animal in question was 
 really one of the most spirited in Joe Freeman's whole 
 stud, named, indeed, "by the rule of contrary," and that 
 Jack and Harry had connived at this heartless deception. 
 
 Jimalong now appeared, holding with some difficulty 
 four large dogs, a cross between fox and greyhounds. 
 
 The party had to get over some miles before they roused 
 the game, notwithstanding that Joe had declared his 
 region to be "chock full" of kangaroos, but at length a 
 fine specimen of that tribe was discovered, and gave hopes 
 of some lively sport 
 
 "A boomah ! a boomah ! " was now the cry, first 
 started by Jimalong, whose savage power of eyesight en- 
 abled him to be the first to espy the game, and the dogs 
 gave tongue at the same moment as they also sighted it 
 
 "Cobbon good, good!" exclaimed Jimalong; "big 
 kangaroo, old man boomah ! " 
 
 It was indeed a boomah, a magnificent specimen of the 
 kangaroo tribe, measuring at least, six feet in height, and 
 mighty of haunch and extent of hind leg. 
 
 He was standing feeding upon a patch of long grass 
 when he first became aware of his enemies' approach. 
 
 He instantly raised his head, looked round at them, 
 paused a moment, and then bounded off in gigantic leaps 
 of twenty or thirty feet each. 
 
 "Loose the dogs, Jimalong," cried Joe Freeman. 
 "Now, then, my boys, sit fast, and prepare for a run ; 
 we're going to have some sport"
 
 120 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 It was all very well to say "sit fast," but Mr. Mole, fov 
 one, could not well obey the order. 
 
 In the first place, his steed, Milk-and-Water at the verj 
 first signal for the chase, started off like a war-horse a\ 
 the trump of battle, giving his rider, who was not pre- 
 pared for such a sudden movement, a considerable shock, 
 and causing him to clutch the reins tightly. 
 
 As the horse quickened its pace, too, he found truit, 
 despite what he considered the security of his fastenings. 
 he began to "joggle " and bump about in the saddle in a 
 manner that was decidedly unpleasant, and such as he 
 had by no means bargained for. 
 
 He could do nothing at all to control the steed, and his 
 helpless wooden legs rattled, as he went, inside the bi^ 
 jack-boots, like a thin rapier in the scabbard of a gigantic 
 broadsword. 
 
 But Mole's courage did not give way yet, or rather, he 
 would not show that he was frightened. So he forced his 
 features into a smile, which was a ghastly imitation of 
 enjoyment and high spirits. 
 
 "Tally ho ! tally ho ! " and away went the kangaroo 
 taking a downhill course, as these creatures generally do, 
 for then their wondrous powers of speed are still further 
 increased, and their enormous leaps even more extended. 
 
 No British red deer of old, with Robin Hood and his 
 merry men behind him, could have ever been fleeter than 
 this Australian substitute for the former quadruped, to 
 which, in size and colour, he bore no slight resemblance, 
 though the mode of progress was so different. 
 
 The dogs made after the game at full stretch, and the 
 whole party were soon in the excitement of a rapid chase. 
 
 For a mile or two they seemed to be gaining on trie 
 kangaroo, whose pace seemed relaxing as if by exhaus- 
 tion. 
 
 Jack and Harry thought the run would be a short one 
 after all. 
 
 Poor Mr. Mole who got more and more uncomfortable 
 as they proceeded, devoutly hoped that it would. 
 
 But Joe, as an experienced " kangarooer, " knew the 
 tricks of those animals too well for that. 
 
 "The critter's only reserving his strength," he said; 
 "wait till we gain on him a little more, and then see 
 what a spurt he'll put on."
 
 AD VENTURES /TV A USTRALIA. 1 2 i 
 
 And indeed so it proved, for when the dogs seemed to 
 be gaining on their prey, they suddenly saw the animal 
 turn, and hopping over a high bush, set off over the ooen 
 ground at a pace greater than he had before attained. 
 
 It was indeed an exciting and exhilarating race. 
 
 "Tally ho ! tally ho ! " again cried Joe Freeman. 
 
 "Tally ho ! tally ho ! " faintly cried poor old Mole. 
 
 As they proceed'ed they roused other game. 
 
 The bandicoot and wombat, seeing and hearing the 
 threatening cavalcade, scuttled back to their retreat. 
 
 Sometimes herds of kangaroos of the smaller kinds 
 would be roused and join the pursued one. 
 
 But the dogs, undistracted by these fresh objects of 
 pursuit, ever kept their attention to the splendid quarry 
 they were resolved on bringing down. 
 
 And how fared that gallant sportsman, Mr. Mole? 
 
 Alas ! although he was destined that day to do prod* 
 igies of valour, he was any thing but enjoying himself. 
 
 Every moment his fastenings seemed to become looser, 
 the saddle harder, his imprisoned wooden legs more heir> 
 less. 
 
 Every moment Milk-and-Water behaved more like 
 Mazeppa's famous Tartar steed. 
 
 "Not much milk and water about him, after all," 
 thought Mr. Mole ; "I begin to think he has been christ- 
 ened by the rules of contrary, on the same principle as a 
 six-foot prize-fighter is called The Infant. Oh, dear, this 
 is decidedly unpleasant. Oh, oh ! " 
 
 It decidedly was, especially when the steed took to 
 leaping over numerous fallen trunks or thick bushes, or 
 edging so close against the trees that his rider had a diffi- 
 culty in dodging in time to prevent being torn or dragged 
 by the branches, and each of such perilous escapes per- 
 ceptibly loosened the fastening that held him in his 
 place. 
 
 In the wild hurry of the chase, the horsemen got often 
 widely separated. 
 
 Milk-and-Water, entirely of his own accord, for his 
 rider was to him a helpless burden, seemed determined to 
 be ahead of the chase. 
 
 He shot on ahead of all his equine companions, and 
 any spectator might have betted safely upon his being 
 first at the winning-post.
 
 122 JACK HARK A WA Y AND JUS SOW 'S 
 
 " Oh, I say, isn't Mole going ahead? " exclaimed Jack, 
 spying him from a distance. 
 
 " Or rather his horse is," replied Gird wood ; "I don't 
 believe the old boy's urging him on ; more the other 
 way." 
 
 "Bravo, Mole you'll be first in the finish," shouted 
 Jack, waving his hat, for he knew it was too far for his 
 congratulations to be heard by their object. 
 
 Mole waved his cabbage-tree headgear in response, 
 but in so doing, struck it against a tree with such violence, 
 that not only was the hat hopelessly smashed, but his 
 hand also received a knock that made him roar. 
 
 He bent forward, clutching the mane and reins with all 
 his might, for he felt the straps that had fastened his 
 boots to the girth snap altogether, and his only hope of 
 keeping on lay in his arms and hands. 
 
 Thus again he urged on his wild career, the boots dang- 
 ling loose in the stirrups in a manner ludicrous to others, 
 but not pleasant to the sufferer. 
 
 And a sufferer Mr. Mole certainly was. 
 
 An hour and a half had this exciting chase continued. 
 
 The kangaroo was showing unmistakable signs of ex- 
 haustion, the dogs were gaining on him, and at length 
 there was a wild shout of triumph from the huntsmen 
 when they perceived the foremost hound had reached the 
 quarry, which stood backed against a tree as if at bay. 
 
 "That's cooked him. I believe, my boys," cried Joe. 
 
 But it was not so yet ; the kangaroo waited for his 
 enemy to approach, and then simultaneously with the 
 rush upon him, met the dog by upraising one of his hind 
 feet. 
 
 With the long sharp claw, the boomah, now towering 
 up to his six feet of height, ripped up the flank of the poor 
 dog, which, with a dismal howl, rolled backwards on the 
 sward, and expired. 
 
 The boomah then recommenced his flight, and ere the 
 other dogs could come up, he was some distance be- 
 yond them. 
 
 "Oh, he's off towards the Wurree-Wurree River," said 
 Joe, as he rode up to his companions ; " he'll take to the 
 water now. That's their last dodge, but it won't help 
 him very much. I'm sorry for poor Ponto, though, and I 
 shouldn't wonder if we lose another before we've done."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTKALIA. j 2 ^ 
 
 "By Jove! Look at Mole now," cried Harry Gird- 
 wood ; "he seems determined to top us all in speed." 
 
 " Milk-and- Water certainly is a devil to go," said the 
 stockman, gazing- admiringly at that flying steed. "Up 
 to this, I should always have laid odds on Wildfire but 
 Milky beats her." 
 
 Strange as it may seem, despite his perilous position, an 
 exhilarated, triumphant, and ambitious feeling entered 
 into Mole's heart. 
 
 He saw that he had distanced his companions, and he 
 perceived that the kangaroo was nearing the water, 
 where he would probably be at bay, and he saw not why 
 he even he, the unappreciated Isaac, should not be first 
 in at the death, and even kill the kangaroo himself. It 
 would be a glorious achievement, and one to talk of and 
 enlarge upon for ever afterwards. 
 
 He had a knife and a pistol, and it was indeed hard 
 that the suffering he had undergone during their terrible 
 ride, should not be compensated by some triumph. 
 
 A fresh jerk of great violence, as his horse made a 
 bound down hill, nearly unseated Mr. Mole in the midst 
 of these rapid but inspiring reflections ; and one of the jack- 
 boots, knocked out of the stirrup by the same movement, 
 slid off, leaving one of the timber toes exposed, and 
 greatly increasing the rider's peril. 
 
 The glistening silver winding of the Wurree-Wurree 
 River now hove in sight, and the kangaroo, closely pur- 
 sued by the remaining dogs, was making towards it. 
 
 Arrived at the bank he made a mighty plunge, alighting 
 about in the centre. 
 
 The dogs were after him in a moment and one swim- 
 ming up to him, tried to fly at his throat, but the old man 
 now firmly planted upright on his place of vantage, his 
 fore feet and the upper part of his body rising above the 
 water, received the attack with the boldness of desperation. 
 
 Gripping the dog with his claw, he struggled not only 
 to prevent being fastened upon, but to get the head of his 
 assailant under water. 
 
 This, after a few minutes' struggle, and some injuries 
 inflicted by the dog, the boomah accomplished, and the 
 gallant beast's head was kept under until .ve was suffo- 
 cated by the object of his pursuit, who had only two dogs 
 to contend with.
 
 124 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 Mole had little time for calm observation. 
 
 Hurried along breathlessly after the dogs, jolted right 
 and left, and hanging on only by a miracle, he arrived at 
 the bank of the river, Jack and the others being still a 
 considerable distance behind him. 
 
 All resolutions as to what he should do next were 
 put a stop to by the independent action of Milk-and- 
 Water. 
 
 That spirited steed evidently had no great liking for the 
 latter element, for no sooner had he reached the bank, 
 than resolving neither to enter the water nor to put up 
 any longer with his useless rider, he made a halt so sudden, 
 and kicked up hindward so vigorously, that Mr. Mole was 
 jerked into the river as easily as a stone out of a sling. 
 
 He fell with a cry of alarm and surprise. The shock 
 was all the more considerable as he was not prepared for 
 it, and in fact for the moment he believed that he had had 
 all the life knocked out of him. 
 
 In a few moments, however, he rose fully to the sur- 
 face, and found himself within a few feet of where the 
 kangaroo stood at bay, facing the remaining dogs. 
 
 Seeing the fate of their companions, these animals were 
 rather chary of attacking their gigantic quarry, and indeed 
 the boomah, now towering up as tall as a giraffe, at least 
 in Mr. Mole's eyes, did look very formidable. 
 
 But the courage of Isaac at this sensational crisis reas- 
 serted itself, and he resolved to take the opportunity of 
 killing the kangaroo, and covering himself with glory. 
 Waving his knife with one hand, with the other, assisted 
 by his wooden legs, he swam frog-fashion up to the creat- 
 ure, and when near enough, aimed a stroke at it with the 
 long sharp knife. 
 
 But the kangaroo, taking him for another species of 
 dog, or, at least, determined that, if possible, he should 
 die in the same manner as the last assailant, began attack- 
 ing him with his powerful fore feet. 
 
 In an instant the bosom of Mr. Mole's shirt was ripped 
 up by the sharp claws of the kangaroo, and but for the 
 undershirt, a deep wound would have been inflicted. 
 
 Then the infuriated animal fastened its claws on Mole's 
 neck, and strove to get his head under water. 
 
 Mr. Mole was at his last gasp. 
 
 He nensr dreamt " the oW man had so much blood in
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. x 2 $ 
 
 him " (to quote our friend Macbeth), and he gave himself 
 up for lost, and, regardless of valour, bawled out 
 
 " Oh, why did I come hunting? Help, help ! " 
 
 A report came from the pistol of young Jack, who, with 
 his comrades, had now reached the bank. 
 
 With excellent aim and it was a dangerous experi- 
 ment, considering how closely Mole was struggling with 
 the animal Jack levelled at the kangaroo's head, and so 
 well did the shot take effect, that in a moment the animal 
 relaxed its hold on Mole, and rolled over dead in the water. 
 
 The intrepid Isaac, breathless and exhausted, was soon 
 lifted out of the water by Joe and Jimalong, and dragged 
 up the bank. 
 
 " You've had a narrow escape, my friend, I can tell you," 
 said the stockman. "Whatever made you get so close 
 to the boomah like that? Why, you have got the courage 
 of a giant, sir. I know I shouldn't like to do it, for the 
 critter's a devil at close quarters." 
 
 "For Heaven's sake a glass of rum, "gasped Mole; 
 " I'm dying. " 
 
 ' ' Lucky I've not come unprovided, " said Joe, the stock- 
 man, taking a flask from his pocket and holding it to the 
 lips of Mr. Mole, which closed upon it, and for several 
 seconds held it tight by the force of suction. 
 
 "Now land the game, boys, and let's cut it up," said 
 the stockman. "We've had fine sport, barring the loss 
 of the dogs, who were worth more to me than a dozen 
 boomahs. " 
 
 Under the influence of his favourite remedy, combined 
 with the geniality of the Australian sun, Mr. Mole was 
 not very long in recovering from the effects of his ducking, 
 his fright, and his exhaustion. 
 
 At all events he was able to take part in the species of 
 picnic which followed. 
 
 It was a lovely and enjoyable scene, with the lofty forest 
 trees towering above them. 
 
 Flocks of parrots chattered overhead, or flew whistling 
 to and fro, their magnificent plumage glistening in the 
 sunlight, and there was one bird, the organ magpie, that 
 enlivened their picnic with a song as tuneful as that of a 
 nightingale. 
 
 "This is delightful," said Mr. Mole, who still kept the 
 rum bottle all to himself. He had mixed it with water
 
 126 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 just to his own liking, though he drank out of the bottle. 
 "Delightful perfect paradise. Here's success to kan- 
 garooing. " 
 
 " And to the health of the mighty hunter, Isaac Mole," 
 returned Jack and Harry. 
 
 "And his horse, Milk-and-Water," added Joe, pointing 
 to that animal, who was now tied up to a tree, and peace- 
 fully grazing. 
 
 " Well, I don't care what anybody says," protested the 
 tutor. " I've done my duty as an Englishman. I con- 
 sider I've won the honours of the day. Didn't I ride in 
 front of all of you, and get in at the death first? Didn't I 
 grapple with the monster in a death-struggle after he had 
 killed two dogs, and finish him off with a blow of my 
 knife ? 
 
 "Am not I the hero of the fight?" he added, after a 
 pause. 
 
 " I rather fancy it was my shot that settled the kanga- 
 roo," said young Jack, quietly ; " look, here's the mark 
 where the bullet went through his head." 
 
 " Yes, but observe how his throat is gashed about," 
 said the tutor. " I did that, at close quarters, and alone, 
 my boy." 
 
 "More like where the dogs attacked him," said Joe ; 
 "you couldn't do much with your knife when we found 
 you much as you could do to keep your head above 
 water ha, ha ? " 
 
 "Ah, well, for all you say, it was I that settled the 
 kangaroo," said Mole, decisively, " and considering the 
 size of the animal, and the run he gave us, that isn't so 
 bad for the first day's sport for a new chum." 
 
 "A new chum ! " exclaimed the stockman. "I thought 
 you were an old hand, mate. Didn't you tell us you 
 were over in the colony before? " 
 
 "I ! When ?" asked Mole, in surprise. 
 
 "Last night. You told us how you came over during 
 the gold rush, and went to the diggings and got a nugget, 
 and got robbed of it, and then went and captured two 
 convicts with your own hands ; don't you remember ? " 
 
 " Impossible ! " exclaimed Isaac. " I never could have 
 made any such statement." 
 
 "You certainly said so, though," said young Jack. 
 " Didn't he, Harry ! "
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 I2 7 
 
 " Of course he did," acquiesced Harry Girdwood. 
 
 "You're having a joke on me, I see," said Mr. Mole, 
 adjusting his spectacles. " If I said all that, I must have 
 been suffering from delirium tremens, or " 
 
 " Tea and brandy, alias Robur," supplied Jack. 
 
 "Hush, my boy, say no more, you hurt my feelings," 
 said the tutor. " I fancy now that the tea was a little too 
 strong. But, after all, the adventures I told you were all 
 true, only they happened to a second cousin of mine, and 
 not to myself." 
 
 "By that line of argumenting, friend," observed the 
 stockrider, " you might describe how you won two great 
 victories, and then say afterwards 'All this is quite true, 
 only it didn't happen exactly to me, but the Duke of 
 Wellington.' " 
 
 A laugh was raised by this application of Mr. Mole's 
 sophistry, and he felt he was rather getting the worst of 
 the joke. 
 
 " No matter," said he, " a day will come, as they say 
 on the stage, or rather, a day has come a day of triumph 
 for Mole Mole, the great kangaroo hunter. Behold, here 
 is the ocular proof." 
 
 And he swung round him the huge tail of the slaughtered 
 animal. 
 
 "Ask me not to part with it," he exclaimed, rising 
 excitedly in an upright posture. "I wish I had full use 
 of my legs, I'd get up and try a pas de joie, I feel so 
 delighted. Isn't it a magnificent one ? six feet long at 
 least. I'll keep it just as it is, so that nobody may doubt 
 my statement as to the size of the quadruped it originally 
 belonged to. I'll treasure it as my own life," he added, 
 again swinging the formidable appendage in such a 
 manner that Jack and Harry narrowly escaped getting a 
 blow from it. 
 
 From this condition of exhilaration Mr. Mole passed 
 to the opposite extreme of quiescence in other words, he 
 began to feel drowsy, and at last went off into a sound 
 doze, with his back resting against a tree, the rum bottle 
 in one hand and the kangaroo's tail in the other. 
 
 The others continued their conversation, when they 
 were suddenly interrupted by a fearful sound proceeding 
 from the thick forest behind them ; it resembled the war- 
 whoop of the American Indian tribes.
 
 128 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 Simultaneously, a long spear came whizzing into the 
 midst of the seated circle, grazing the shoulder of Joe, 
 but fortunately sliding on to the grass without injuring 
 any one. 
 
 "Natives!" exclaimed the stockman, starting to his 
 feet ; "look out, chums, they're upon us ! " 
 
 Sure enough, a crowd of dark figures, tall, muscular, 
 and nearly naked, with frizzly heads and negro features, 
 burst from the dense forest upon the party. 
 
 Armed with spears, boomerangs, clubs, or waddies, 
 these savages were evidently some of the most formidable 
 and ferocious of their race. 
 
 The whites were on their feet in a moment of course 
 excepting Mr. Mole and, drawing their pistols and 
 knives, prepared for a fray, and a desperate battle suc- 
 ceeded. 
 
 The natives were recognised by the stockman as be- 
 longing to the Wurree-Wurree tribe, noted for being a 
 scourge to the white settlers for their cattle-stealing pro- 
 pensities. 
 
 Instigated partly by hatred to the white men, but still 
 more by a desire to possess themselves of the kangaroo 
 they had killed, and if possible some of the horses (which 
 they used not for riding, but for cooking and eating), they 
 had made this sudden attack on the unprepared party of 
 picnickers. 
 
 Without firearms, it might be thought that the blacks 
 stood no chance against the whites, but they so far out- 
 numbered the attacked party, and were so dexterous with 
 the spear, waddy, and boomerang, that the odds were 
 nearly on their own side. 
 
 Many shots were fired, and seven of the savages fell 
 dead or wounded, but Joe Freeman and his friends soon 
 found that the game was against them. 
 
 At first the natives appeared to be easily driven off, but 
 no sooner were they out of sight, than, sheltered by the 
 trees, they deluged the whites with such a shower of 
 spears and boomerangs, that it was only by a miracle 
 they all escaped killing. 
 
 Pistols seemed useless against these agile savages, who 
 seemed able to dodge bullets as easily as spears. 
 
 Jimalong, the " tame black" stockman, evidently con- 
 sidering "discretion the better part of valour," made off
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 129 
 
 at the beginning of the fray, though the two dogs, who 
 seemed to delight in the scene, remained to take part in it. 
 
 At length, all the ammunition being exhausted, Joe 
 Freeman saw that further fight was useless, so he shouted 
 to his companions to make for the horses before the 
 natives could capture those animals. 
 
 All were in the saddle in a moment (always excepting 
 our friend Mole), and to lighten weight, the remains of 
 the kangaroo were left behind, and the natives pounced 
 upon them with a howl of triumph. 
 
 The whites immediately spurred on their horses, the 
 natives giving chase, yelling, screaming, and leaping, 
 and hurling their missiles after them until they were out 
 of sight. 
 
 In this wild stampede for which our friends can 
 scarcely be blamed, for to stay longer would have been 
 certain death the redoubted steed Milk-and- Water was, 
 like his master, left behind. 
 
 The natives thought they had got a prize in this fine 
 animal, but no sooner did they untie the rope that fas- 
 tened him, than he gave a mighty plunge, sent two of his 
 would-be possessors sprawling, and set off homeward 
 through the forest at a pace that rendered his capture 
 hopeless. 
 
 The only remnant of the hunting party now left behind 
 on the scene of action, was the unfortunate tutor, Isaac 
 Mole. 
 
 It is needless to say that Mr. Mole had been long ere 
 this thoroughly roused from his peaceful slumbers by the 
 tumult going on around him. 
 
 For him to join in the fray was impossible ; he could 
 not then rise to his feet ; all he could do was to bawl out 
 loudly for assistance. 
 
 Never in all his wanderings did he feel more terror than 
 when, as he lay thus helpless under the tree, he saw the 
 whole lot of them, intoxicated with their triumph over the 
 white fellows, and their gallant capture of the boomah 
 and a half empty brandy bottle, come dancing around 
 him. 
 
 They yelled, they screeched, they made hideous grim- 
 aces, they joined in a savage chant, of which " Yah-lah- 
 roo ! " was apparently the chorus, and seemed determined 
 to do their utmost to frighten old Mole to death.
 
 130 JACK HA RKA WAY AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 This was not, however, the worst he anticipated, for he 
 had heard terrible stones of the cannibalism of the natives, 
 and beheld with a shudder the formidable grinders of the 
 chief and his followers. 
 
 Not that we imagine that the spectacle of old Mole, 
 with his wooden legs, his spectacles, and his scared and 
 ghostly countenance was particularly appetising even to 
 the cannibal mind, but he feared the worst, and grasped 
 his kangaroo tail in one hand, and his rum bottle with 
 the other, to defend himself with, if need were. 
 
 The wooden legs seemed to astonish the natives a great 
 deal ; they had never seen any thing like them before, 
 and they probably regarded the tutor as some sort of white 
 monstrosity. 
 
 He endeavoured by signs to make them understand his 
 particular infirmity, and also to implore their pity, and to 
 make himself better understood, addressed them in a kind 
 of nigger, or broken English. 
 
 But this failed to make them " comprenny," and they 
 jabbered away in their own tongue at a considerable rate 
 as they crowded around them, pinched, poked, and 
 prodded his wooden legs, and tried to account for the 
 phenomenon in their own way. 
 
 "Oh, Lor'," exclaimed Isaac to himself; "here's a 
 fix ! I wish I had a wooden body as well as legs, for then 
 I shouldn't be able to feel the tortures I know they mean 
 me to go through, and if they took to eat me, I should 
 disagree with them. 
 
 " My good friends, niggers, men and brudders, please 
 leab me alone. I no good to chaw-chaw at all, and you 
 can have my two timber pins, since you've taken such a 
 fancy to 'em, if you'll only spare my life." 
 
 " Kur-rur-wan-ran-kan ! " was the chiefs only reply to 
 this appeal, and the words seemed to mean " lift him up 
 and carry him to our tents," for that is what two natives, 
 one taking Mr. Mole by the shoulders, the other lifting up 
 the wooden legs, immediately proceeded to do. 
 
 One hungry-looking savage, with formidable teeth, 
 made a sharp bite at one of poor Mole's wooden legs, but 
 did not seem to relish the flavour. 
 
 It was no use to struggle ; he was as helpless as an in- 
 fant in their hands, and he could only appeal more loudly 
 than before to their sense of compassion.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. I3I 
 
 This, however, proved to be equally unavailing. 
 
 He was carried off into the woods by his captors. 
 
 The chief looking and gazing reflectively at the two 
 new crutches which Mr. Mole had left under the tree. 
 
 The savage evidently thought they were some sort of 
 weapons, but whether of the nature of a gun, a club, or 
 a spear, he could not make up his mind. 
 
 Poor Mr. Mole's rum bottle, with all its delicious con- 
 tents, for he had not drunk half of it, fell as a trophy into 
 the hands of the chief. 
 
 The group of tents, or "gunyahs," appertaining to the 
 Wurree-Wurree tribe was situated in a very wild gully 
 or valley. 
 
 It was a wild and picturesque spot, but Mr. Mole was 
 In no position to appreciate its beauties, which came upon 
 his vision more in an upside down view than otherwise. 
 
 For his bearers carried him especially down hill with 
 his head hanging much lower than his feet would have 
 been if he had had any. 
 
 A crowd of natives of all kinds, men, women, and 
 children, surrounded the captive as soon as he arrived at 
 the tents, and danced round him, yelling, grinning, and 
 altogether conducting themselves, in Mole's own words, 
 as if they were not natives of Australia, but of Van 
 Demon's Land. 
 
 This joke was perpetrated by Mr. Mole in describing 
 the scene afterwards, for he was in no jesting mood at 
 the time. 
 
 His firm belief then was that they intended to have him 
 for supper, and that their " Yah-lah-roo " was a chorus of 
 delight at the prospect of eating a white man, and that 
 his arrival was hailed as if he were provisions brought 
 into the camp. 
 
 And the alacrity with which the natives began kindling 
 a fire, evidently for cooking purposes, made him feel faint 
 
 "This is queer treatment for a man who has graduated 
 at an English University," moaned the tutor, as he lay 
 thus. "Strange beings; they have let me keep my 
 kangaroo tail. I should have thought they would have 
 wanted it for soup. But I'll only part with it with my 
 life, unless I can't help myself. Bless me, what's that 
 smell of cooking ? " 
 
 By moving a little, he was able to see through a hole
 
 132 JA CK HARKA WAY AND HIS SON'S 
 
 in the tent, and then perceived in the open space the 
 natives engaged at their feast. 
 
 They had kindled a large fire, and were squatting round 
 it. 
 
 The kangaroo haunch, cut up into huge steaks, was 
 being grilled, or rather burnt, over the embers. 
 
 These children of nature were too impatient to wait 
 until the meat was done through. 
 
 No sooner was it a little browned than they took it up, 
 and gnawed some off as it was, and then put it back 
 again to cook a little more. 
 
 This seemed to Mr. Mole a new and original way of 
 dining. 
 
 It was with a pang of deep regret that Mr. Mole saw 
 his favourite rum bottle being passed round from the chief 
 to the warriors whom he most favoured. 
 
 As the natives were thus enjoying themselves, their 
 jabbering tones were gradually stilled. 
 
 This comparative stillness, combined with the heat of 
 the day, was so lulling to Mr. Mole, that in a short time 
 he actually went off into a doze, which imperceptibly 
 became a deep slumber. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A LADY FALLS IN LOVE WITH MOLE AND PROPOSES. 
 
 HE was at length awakened by strange voices close to 
 him, and found by the position of the sun that it was late 
 in the day. 
 
 He still lay on a 'possum skin in the tent, and a group 
 of natives were peering in at him grinning at the en- 
 trance. 
 
 Then it was that he first experienced a sense of loss, and 
 next, to his inexpressible grief, realised what he had lost. 
 
 It was his kangaroo's tail ! 
 
 "My tail, my kangaroo's tail, my trophy of the chase, 
 and only memento of this glorious day ! " he exclaimed, 
 sitting up ; " who has taken it? " 
 
 The only reply was a shout of "Cobbon, cobbon ; 
 good, good ! " from the blacks outside, who seemed to
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 '33 
 
 regard these excited observations with just the same de- 
 light as a child would the first speech of a parrot he was 
 teaching. 
 
 "Where's my kangaroo tail ? " shouted Mole ; " do you 
 understand ? My kan-ga-roo tail." 
 
 Here the chief, for whom the other natives all made way, 
 popped his woolly head, adorned with cockatoo's feathers, 
 in at the entrance, and said with a wide grin 
 
 " Burra, burra, wa goo, tee-lang. " 
 
 "Just so, "said Mr. Mole; "I fully agree with your 
 remark, only it don't enlighten me as to what end my tail 
 has come to." 
 
 And he called out again 
 
 "My kangaroo tail," louder than ever. 
 
 To which the chief replied, pointing suggestively down 
 his own throat 
 
 "Kan-ga-roo tail soup." 
 
 "Oh, it's made into soup, is it ?" said Mole. "Well, 
 it was a mean thing to come and take it from me when I 
 was asleep ; I ought to have had a voice in the matter. 
 I should like to have some of it, at any rate. I'm getting 
 rather hungry again ; bring me some kangaroo-tail soup," 
 he added, with a gesture eloquently expressive of swal- 
 lowing. 
 
 "Kan-ga-roo tail soup," echoed the chief, and now 
 evidently understanding him. " Yowi, Yowi." 
 
 And he gave orders to his subordinates that the deli- 
 cacy should be brought. 
 
 Instantly a particularly ugly native, bearing a mighty 
 cauldron, probably stolen from some settler's hut, en- 
 tered, and approached Mole, the chief and several other 
 warriors accompanying him. 
 
 ' ' What's this ? " cried Mole, looking in vain for the hot 
 soup he expected. 
 
 For he saw nothing but a sediment of dark brown ge- 
 latinous substance, sticking to the bottom and edges, in- 
 side the pot, in which the marks of fingers were plainly 
 visible. 
 
 It might have been humanly possible to scrape up a 
 few mouthfuls of the horrid mess, but who was going to 
 do it ? 
 
 "Take it away," he cried, with a gesture of disgust. 
 "The greedy savages, they've eaten it all, and licked
 
 134 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SOWS 
 
 and clawed the saucepan so dry, that there's not much 
 more than the smell left, and now they offer it to a white 
 man. Ugh ! perish the thought." 
 
 " Mor-ro-bung-keen ! " observed the chief, grinning, 
 and then he disappeared for a moment, and brought in a 
 little wiry black, whose appearance and actions reminded 
 Mole forcibly of his friend Nero. 
 
 "I'm Billygolong," he remarked, "tame black fellow ; 
 spick white man's lingo." 
 
 "Do you?" exclaimed Mole. "I'm glad of it; per- 
 haps you'll be able to answer me a few questions. Do 
 your tribe, yon black fellows Wurree warriors ahem ! 
 ever eat white man?" 
 
 "Ole chief," he said, "eat 'em up; other ole chief 
 alive, he eat kangaroo. " 
 
 " Well, that is an improvement, I must say," observed 
 Mole; "to give up cannibalism is a decided step in the 
 path of civilisation. Won't your people let me go ? " 
 
 "We gib up white mans," answered Billygolong, "if 
 other white mans gib us sheep and bullocks." 
 
 "Oh, I see, I am to be kept as a sort of hostage till I 
 am ransomed ; just like those villainous brigands do in 
 Greece. Who would have thought these black rascals 
 had so much cunning ? Do you always treat white men 
 well ? " he asked, doubtfully. 
 
 "We kill some, and eat 'em," answered the native, 
 with a grin, " if we don't get bullocks and sheep." 
 
 "The devil you do ; I'm in danger of my life, after all. 
 What can be done ? I must say some thing to frighten 
 them. 
 
 "Look here, you black fellow, it won't do for any thing 
 to happen to me here. Do you know who I am ?" 
 
 The savage shook his head. 
 
 " I'm Lord Mole, chief medicine-man to the great white 
 Queen of England ; legs cut off in battle by Russian boom- 
 erangs. If queen finds you kill her medicine-man, she'll, 
 send hundreds thousands white men, with thundcrsticks, 
 and kill all black men ; there ! " 
 
 " Yowi ! " exclaimed the native, evidently impressed by 
 his threat, which he immediately communicated to the 
 chief, who had some time before entered the tent with a 
 coloured lady of the tribe. 
 
 The chief, fully believing the exalted rank to vrhich Ins
 
 AD VENTURE IN A US TRALIA. t ^ 
 
 prisoner laid claim, was resolved to increase the ransom 
 he had intended claiming, but at the same time to take 
 care of their captive and use him well. 
 
 It did not follow, however, that the means taken to do 
 this were such as must please the object of their kindness. 
 Mr. Mole soon found that their well-meant efforts were 
 destined to place him in rather embarrassing positions. 
 
 In the first place, the native lady, who was the chiefs 
 sister, seemed inclined to pay him particular, though un- 
 welcome attentions. 
 
 She could speak English about as well as Billygolong, 
 and by this means was enabled to make her sentiments 
 known to the captive, and also to overwhelm him with 
 questions, which he could not always understand, and 
 generally found a difficulty in answering. 
 
 "Me like white mans," she observed, with a look of 
 tenderness that made Mr. Mole feel nervous. "Me 
 marry once to black chief, he ill-treat me ; beat me with 
 waddy, till another black man speared him in forest, an(f 
 he dead." 
 
 "A widow, by Jove!" exclaimed Mole. "This is 
 worse than all. Good gracious ! the idea of my being at 
 her mercy," and he gazed with awe upon her. 
 
 Truth to tell, the female aborigine is seldom very 
 attractive in appearance, and if Kobba-wobba (that was 
 her name) ever were so, it must have been a very, very 
 long time ago. 
 
 She was tall, gaunt, and hard-featured, with a ring 
 through her nose, and a mouth capacious enough to 
 show that she had lost half her teeth at least, and what 
 remained were as black as ebony, while as her attire 
 consisted principally in a 'possum-skin cloak, which 
 had seen considerable service, she was not assisted much 
 by the advantages of the toilette. 
 
 "Me like white mans better than black mans," she 
 repeated emphatically ; " black mans beat lubras with 
 waddy, white treat lubras kind, not beat them." 
 
 "Don't they, though?" returned Mole. "I rather 
 doubt it ; there's plenty of wife-beating in some parts of 
 England, by all accounts." 
 
 "So," proceeded Kobba-wobba, with still greater 
 emphasis, "me wish a good deal to be lubra of great 
 medicine man, of great Queen of Whiteland."
 
 136 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "That's rather cool for this hot climate," said Mole to 
 himself. "Madam, I grieve to say that circumstances 
 render it impossible that bless me ! what am I talking 
 about ? the fact is, Kobba-wobba, I couldn't marry you ; 
 I have one, two, three lubras already. " 
 
 ' ' White lubras ? " she asked, anxiously. 
 
 " Black, nigger black, though they're not natives here ; 
 but if they thought I even dreamed of looking out for you, 
 they'd murder me and you as well if they got the chance." 
 
 Kobba-wobba still asserted her preference for a white 
 husband. 
 
 Mr. Mole determined to humour this impressicn. 
 
 "I think I know of a white man that will suit you ex- 
 actly. He is very young, great warrior, wonderfully 
 handsome, with whiskers of golden colour, great chief of 
 the white queen's army much money, red coat covered 
 with gold. " 
 
 "That good," said Kobba-wobba, with much satisfac- 
 tion, "that very good ; what him name?" 
 
 "General Walker," replied Mole. "He's a particular 
 friend of mine." 
 
 " Waw-ker ? Me remember dat ; where he stop now ? " 
 
 "Well, he's some distance; but, if you'll do all you 
 can to get me well treated by the chief while I'm here, 
 and persuade him to let me go, I'll find him out as soon 
 as ever I get free, and send him to you." 
 
 The effect of this agreeable fiction upon the simple 
 savage was very conciliating, and Mole was glad to find 
 he had made a friend of Kobba-wobba, as well as of her 
 brother, the chief, who, by the way, rejoiced in the high- 
 sounding epithet of Kul-la-ba-long-tee-boo. 
 
 Mr. Mole's appetite returning after a time, he wished 
 very much that the natives would bring him something 
 palatable. 
 
 The desire he expressed to Billygolong, who re- 
 sponded 
 
 "Iss, gone to get some ; see black chief come, bring- 
 ing some thing a good deal nicer for white man. " 
 
 And Mole saw the chief again entering the tent, carry- 
 ing a tin dish containing some thing of strange shape and 
 colour, smoking hot, and slightly resembling small 
 sausages. 
 
 "Thanks; but what is it?" asked Mole, raising him-
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 '37 
 
 self into a sitting posture, and with a look of distrust 
 " Heaven ! why, it looks like " 
 
 " Nice fat young snakes, roasted," explained Kobba- 
 wobba ; " chief got 'em from under his large gum tree ; 
 beau'ful, nice as kangaroo." 
 
 Sure enough, Mr. Mole realised, to his horror, that the 
 contents of the tin dish were about half a dozen large 
 sections of the juvenile serpent, browned over the fire, 
 giving forth a savour not unpleasant, but most repulsive 
 in idea. 
 
 Mr. Mole actually fancied he saw them writhing about 
 as if they were alive. 
 
 "So nice," exclaimed Kobba-wobba, holding them 
 towards Mole, and turning them over with a knife. 
 
 ' ' Ugh ! take it away, " cried he, scowling in horror. 
 
 The black looked surprised ; he was rejecting what was 
 considered a great delicacy by the Australian natives, 
 and the chief had himself taken considerable trouble to 
 catch and kill a snake for the purpose of giving their 
 guest a treat. 
 
 He could not understand the objection to the delicious 
 food which "goes down like marrow" in the opinion of 
 the native epicures, and could only suppose that Mr. 
 Mole was merely standing on ceremony, and wanted a 
 little coaxing, which he left to the feminine blandish- 
 ments of Kobba-wobba. 
 
 "Come, must eat it, white man," said she persua- 
 sively, selecting the largest piece ; " eat all up quick, 
 nicer than 'possum, or quail, or sheep flesh ; black fellow 
 eat many, many." 
 
 "Let 'em," almost shrieked Mole, "but I can't; I'll 
 die of hunger first ; take the horrid thing away. " 
 
 Not only persuasion, but force was now employed, 
 for, by the direction of the chief, Billygolong held firmly 
 the head of the unfortunate Mole, while Kobba-wobba 
 proceeded to feed him. 
 
 On seeing the loathsome object so near him, Mr. Mole 
 struggled, tried to push back the hand that held it, but 
 the chief, seizing his arm, prevented this. 
 
 Mole closed his eyes in horror, and opened his mouth 
 to give vent to ejaculations of disgust. 
 
 This was the very worst thing he could do, for it gave 
 the chieftainess an opportunity.
 
 138 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 As soon as he felt the hot meat touch his palate, he 
 gave a complete shriek of horror. 
 
 "Phew ! " he spluttered out, " I won't eat it. Murder ! 
 help ! I shall be choked, poisoned ! " 
 
 And with a violent effort he succeeded in ridding him- 
 self of the nauseous mouthful, just in time to prevent 
 it slipping down his throat. 
 
 "Oh, I'm so sick ! " he cried, "can't eat snake, snake 
 kill white man. If I eat it I shall die at once." 
 
 Kobba-wobba's compassion was now so far aroused, 
 that she desisted in her efforts, and gave the dish of 
 delicacies back to the chief, who received it with evident 
 reluctance. 
 
 Billygolong, who seemed to be a recognised " snapper- 
 up of unconsidered trifles," pounced upon the rejected 
 snake as it lay upon the ground, threw back his head, 
 and swallowed each piece at a gulp, much as a white 
 man would an oyster. 
 
 The chief now went out to find some other food, that 
 might better recommend itself to the taste of the white 
 fellow. 
 
 What could be more delicious and acceptable than a 
 fine iguana, or eatable lizard ? 
 
 They abounded in that neighbourhood, and could b& 
 killed and cooked in a very short time. 
 
 There was one crawling up one of the gum trees ; down 
 he must come. 
 
 Kul-la-ba-long-tee-boo took aim, and threw his boom- 
 erang gently ; it went about fifty feet into the air, whirled 
 round, and descended, whizzing, close to the tree, and 
 bringing down the lizard with it. 
 
 A sable warrior ran to pick it up, and handed it to the 
 chief, who ended its dying agonies with his knife, pre- 
 pared it for cooking, stuck a skewer through it, and then 
 gave directions for it to be grilled over the fire. 
 
 It was not long before this new delicacy was brought 
 in whole to the hungry tutor ; but hungry as he was, he 
 was not quite far gone enough to "tackle" the un- 
 pleasant object before him. 
 
 He had heard of the delicacy before, and saw no 
 reason but prejudice why it should not be really good 
 eating ; but, when he saw this specimen of the ugly rep- 
 tile, looking for all the world line a young crocodile, his
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. iy^ 
 
 antipathy was so great that he could no more touch it 
 than he could the worm. 
 
 "Pah! away with it !" he cried. "What will these 
 savages be bringing me next, I wonder? Broiled nigger, 
 I expect ! " and then, looking round, and feeling the 
 necessity of conciliating his sable friends, he said 
 
 "No, no; too rich ; too good for white man. White 
 man ill, stomach weak, die if he eat lizard." 
 
 The chief murmured ; he was beginning to be tired of 
 this. 
 
 This second refusal was too much. 
 
 It was " the last straw that broke the camel's back " of 
 his patience. 
 
 For the last half hour he had been trying to please a 
 man, who seemed determined not to be pleased. 
 
 The idea of anyone who would not eat snake and who 
 would not eat lizard ! 
 
 What would he eat ? 
 
 Didn't he deserve to be left to starve ? 
 Kul-la-ba-long-tee-boo, however, resolved to give 
 Mole one last chance for his life. 
 
 Yes, Mole should have one more chance one more 
 dainty dish should be provided for the white man, and if 
 he could not eat that, he might starve. 
 
 It was now getting towards night, and the wild denizens 
 of the forest were beginning to think of rest. 
 
 Flocks of parrots, and other birds, were returning 
 homewards, flying over the trees close to the tents. 
 
 The chief, scarcely moving from the entrance of his 
 tent, stood watching a large body of these parrots, until 
 they were close over his head, and then hurled his boom- 
 erang into the midst of them. 
 
 The whole flock flew off, screaming in a deafening 
 manner, but one parrot came fluttering to the ground, 
 struck by the sharp missile. 
 
 A native boy picked up the fallen game, and brought it 
 to the chief, who, by way of recompense, handed the 
 cooked lizard to the lad, who proceeded, with one of his 
 companions, delightedly to devour it. 
 
 The bird was then plucked, drawn, and cooked, and 
 Mr. Mole was at last gratified by a smoking dish of 
 roasted parrot. 
 
 He contrived to enjoy it very much, and the natives
 
 I do JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 took such a great interest in the affair, that a number of 
 them crowded around him all the time, jabbering and 
 gesticulating in a manner almost enough to frightep 
 away a white man's appetite altogether. 
 
 But Mr. Mole was becoming hardened under such in- 
 fluences. 
 
 By this time it was night, and the moon shone over- 
 head, but it was often clouded. 
 
 But the large fire of logs gave such a spreading and 
 ruddy glow that all the gunyahs were more or less illumi- 
 nated by its beams. 
 
 By this light Mole was enabled to perceive that a con- 
 siderable amount of bustle and preparation was going on 
 in the camp, and the sable warriors seemed particularly 
 attentive to their weapons and their own personal adorn- 
 ment. 
 
 "What is going to happen now, Billygolong I" asked 
 the prisoner of that agile attendant. 
 
 " Grand corroboree," replied he ; "black fellows dance 
 and fight, and do big jumps." 
 
 "Ah ! I've often thought I should like to see a corro- 
 boree," cried Mole; "I understand they paint themselves 
 before they dance." 
 
 "Iss, iss, paint very much," replied the savage. 
 
 Kul-la-ba-long-tee-b'oo just then entered the tent, carry- 
 ing a species of palette, formed of the bottom of an old 
 tin can, on which were a variety of mysterious pigments, 
 and a sort of reed that served as a paint-brusn. 
 
 The aboriginal warrior threw aside his opossum cloak, 
 and appeared with his finely-proportioned and slightly- 
 tattooed form uncovered, save by a broad girdle of kan- 
 garoo skin. 
 
 In this condition he commenced besmearing himself 
 with some of the paint first. 
 
 He enlivened the proceeding with an eccentric dance, 
 perhaps in order to make the paint dry quicker ; and, 
 when the first coat was set, he touched it up with some 
 dabs of a livelier colour. 
 
 At this stage, Kobba-wobba was called in to put the 
 finishing touches with a delicate brush, formed from the 
 paw of the kangaroo rat. 
 
 Mr. Mole watched these operations with considerable 
 interest, reflecting what an amount of trouble people,
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. ! 4 1 
 
 both savage and civilised, are apt to take in order to make 
 themselves look hideous and unnatural. 
 
 But all his cogitations were upset, when he perceived 
 the object of his regard coming towards him, accom- 
 panied by Kobba-wobba, with the brush and palette in 
 her hands. 
 
 "Now white man's turn," she said; "paint all over, 
 and look much pretty." 
 
 " Heaven ! you don't intend to adorn me in that style, 
 I hope ! " cried Mole. 
 
 " Iss, iss!' said Billygolong ; " chief say white man 
 must put on paint for grand corroboree." 
 
 "But I can't take part in the corroboree," protested the 
 tutor. " I'm not a native ; I'm an outsider, and, besides, 
 how can I dance without any legs? " 
 
 All his objections, however, did not move his captor. 
 
 He ordered Billygolong to hold him, whilst he himself 
 stood ready to assist with his mighty strength in bringing 
 the prisoner to reason. 
 
 But Kobba-wobba, as soon as Mole was seated, stripped 
 to the waist and securely held in the clutches of Billygo- 
 long, behaved in a manner that surprised her native 
 friends. 
 
 She thurst her painting materials into the hands of the 
 chief, and fell on her knees at the feet of Mr. Mole or 
 rather where the feet of Mr. Mole should have been, for it 
 was the strange absence of those extremities that excited 
 the admiration of Kobba-wobba. 
 
 She lifted both wooden legs with such haste that poor 
 Mole was nearly thrown backwards, and in great alarm 
 shrieked out 
 
 "What are you doing, woman? Don't kill me." 
 
 "No kill, much lub. How you get wood feet? You 
 much bery big chief; much dance wid strong leg not 
 get tired." 
 
 "I am tired of this kind of life," groaned Mole, in 
 bitterness of spirit, for while Kobba-wobba was admiring 
 his legs, the chief had commenced putting a fresh coat of 
 paint on the white man's chest. 
 
 "You lub Kobba-wobba?" asked the woman, with a 
 sigh. 
 
 " No ! " 
 
 "You try hab Kobba-wobba for lubra what you call
 
 142 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SOWS 
 
 wife ; den we hab piccaninnies wid stick legs all same as 
 great white chief." 
 
 "I won't! I forbid the bans! I've been married a 
 great deal too much in my lifetime, and I call you all to 
 witness I'll never marry that woman." 
 
 "I paint you much beau'ful den you lub me." 
 
 "Never! and I won't be painted," cried Mr. Mole, 
 
 However, it was decided that Mr. Mole must be painted 
 at all risks. 
 
 Objections were useless, only serving to irritate his 
 captors, and render them more violent. 
 
 The chief went all over Mole's chest, arms, and back 
 with his large brush, which he dipped in the glutinous 
 kind of black paint. 
 
 He was obliged to submit to being daubed over with 
 this material till his whole complexion seemed changed. 
 
 Actors have assured us that nothing is more unpleasant 
 than painting and glueing their faces preparatory for 
 pantomime or burlesque make-up ; what must Mr. Mole, 
 then, have felt when not only his face, but his body 
 and arms, were thus encrusted with an offensive pig- 
 ment? 
 
 He narrowly escaped getting some in his eyes, and 
 when the operation was completed, and he was held up 
 to dry, he experienced a sensation of mental and bodily 
 anguish which outdid all his previous experiences. 
 
 The coat of paint did not take long to get dry, and then 
 it felt as stiff and uncomfortable as a suit of armour, and 
 Mole the warrior could hardly move. 
 
 But his tortures had not ended yet ; as soon as it was 
 ascertained that the coating had set, that female artist, 
 Kobba-wobba, stepped forward and commenced adorning 
 Mr. Mole's unfortunate carcase and countenance with a 
 choice pattern of her own invention, in no less than four 
 bright colours. 
 
 Isaac submitted to this operation with all the fortitude 
 at his command, though his modesty was shocked. 
 
 Kobba-wobba, on the contrary, seemed delighted with 
 the task, and gave her client such a variety of elaborate 
 embellishments, that he declared, when it was done, he 
 felt and looked exactly like a newly-hung wall-paper. 
 
 All the time the sable lady was going into exclamations 
 of delight at the beauty of her own work, and when corn-
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. I43 
 
 pleted, she was in such an ecstasy of delight and pride 
 that she finally threw down her implements and danced 
 with joy, exclaiming 
 
 ' ' Cobbon cobbon ! Good, good ! " 
 
 "I wish you felt like I do, old girl," said Mole, "and 
 you'd be more likely to say bad, very bad. Well, if this 
 isn't a world of suffering ! Ah, what is coming now ? " 
 
 The chief entered, with an enormous head-dress, in the 
 form of a wig, evidently manufactured from the frizzly 
 heads of some slain enemies, crested with a plume of 
 parrot's feathers. 
 
 This they fixed on Mr. Mole's head, by tying it under 
 his chin. 
 
 An opossum cloak was thrown over him, and he was 
 lifted on an old wooden chair, probably stolen from some 
 settler's hut. 
 
 In this guise the tutor, now to all appearance a super- 
 annuated native, was carried out of doors and set down 
 under the gum trees with the other spectators who had 
 assembled to witness the corroboree, Billygolong still by 
 his side to guard him. 
 
 The tribe began with a series of shrill yells, accom- 
 pained by violent gesticulations, beating of drums, the 
 clatter of sticks together, and the whizzing in the air of 
 pieces of wood fastened to a string. 
 
 This was the overture, and a very hideous and dis- 
 cordant one it was. 
 
 After that, the first party of performers rushed in with a 
 wild war-whoop, and commenced dancing round the fire. 
 
 Never had the venerable Isaac Mole, in the whole 
 course of his experience, seen such dancing or such 
 dancers. 
 
 With clubs in one hand, and boomerangs in the other, 
 the sable warriors capered round and round and to and 
 fro, sometimes like street niggers in a breakdown, some- 
 times as wildly as the dancing dervishes of Persia, and 
 sometimes, oftener than all, like lunatics, or the witches 
 in "Macbeth." 
 
 Then the savages, after a short interval, began again, 
 increased in numbers by another party, whom they soon 
 engaged in a spirited sham-fight. 
 
 With a yell of defiance and a loud clatter of weapons, 
 the two parties rushed together in close action.
 
 "44 J A CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 From the fierceness of their manner and speech, Mr. 
 Mole supposed that they really had quarrelled, and in- 
 tened to have it out to the death. 
 
 At length one party of combatants had to give way ; 
 they were driven from the field, and their opponents pur- 
 sued them with yells of triumph. 
 
 Both soon disappeared in the darkness of the forest, 
 but sounds of shrieks and groans, blows and clashing of 
 weapons convinced Mr. Mole that a fearful massacre was 
 going on out of sight. 
 
 "Good gracious ! " he exclaimed, " is that the way you 
 black fellows have a friendly dance, by pitching into each 
 other in this murderous style ? " 
 
 " Fowi, iss, iss," answered Billygolong, with a wide 
 grin, " always so at a corroboree ; but don't kill-kill ; only 
 make believe." 
 
 "It's too much like reality, though, for my taste," 
 mused Mole, " and I shouldn't much care about being in 
 the thick of the battle. Hallo, here they are again, and 
 they don't seem much damaged either. I wish I could 
 run away." 
 
 "Great kangaroo dance come nex'," observed Billygo- 
 long, who was as good as a programme. 
 
 The whole body of the warriors now reappeared, hav- 
 ing apparently made up their quarrel without bloodshed, 
 and commenced some fresh gambols. 
 
 The men threw aside their weapons, drew up their arms 
 into the smallest compass, and commenced hopping like 
 kangaroos. 
 
 The imitation was wonderfully lifelike, and the immense 
 leaps taken by each didn't fall far short of those performed 
 by the genuine animal. 
 
 Mr. Mole was reminded of his recent hunting achieve- 
 ments. 
 
 These personators of the kangaroo, to render the thing 
 more natural, had tufts of grass in their mouths, on which 
 they pretended to be quietly feeding when they were dis- 
 turbed by the other warriors, armed, and hopped away 
 in a manner wonderfully true to nature. 
 
 Hitherto, not more than half of the force of the tribe 
 had engaged in the revels, the remainder being seated 
 among the spectators under the trees, wrapped in their 
 opossum cloaks.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 '45 
 
 Suddenly, at a thundering signal on the drum, these 
 started up, threw aside their cloaks, and with a wild 
 " Whroo ! Whroo ! " began a demoniac witches' dance 
 round the fire. 
 
 Mr. Mole gave an exclamation of astonishment at their 
 ghastly appearance, for they had painted ribs and bones, 
 in white, upon their bodies and limbs, which, by the dark- 
 ness of the background, gave them just the aspect of a lot 
 of animated skeletons. 
 
 "Dead man's dance," exclaimed Billygolong. " Dat 
 am splendid." 
 
 "Bless my soul; what an idea," exclaimed Mole. 
 "Puts me in mind of Holbein's Dance of Death, in which 
 I remember " 
 
 But at this moment he felt himself seized behind, and, 
 ere he could object, he and his chair were lifted aloft on 
 the shoulders of four stalwart aborigines. 
 
 " Here, I say," cried Mole, "you'll break my neck ; do 
 please be careful." 
 
 The savages then carried him toward the fire. 
 
 Not doubting that they intended to offer him up as a 
 burnt sacrifice, Mole objected strongly by a series of 
 passionate protestations. 
 
 "My good-looking friend, what are you about, pray? 
 Understand I object to being burnt ; let me down ; I'm a 
 freeborn Englisman ; let me down, I say." 
 
 His words were drowned in the yells and shouts of bar- 
 barous triumph that rang from all sides ; his struggle was 
 in vain, and as he was carried more than five feet from the 
 ground a distance, to fall, which would seriously dam- 
 age a wooden-legged man Isaac felt that the best thing 
 he could do was to hold on to his seat. 
 
 The natives underneath commenced a wild dance, 
 which had the effect of making Mr. Mole feel as if he were 
 mounted on a kangaroo or giraffe, or out at sea in a 
 washing-tub during a storm. 
 
 How he managed to keep his seat was a mystery. 
 
 The music struck up louder than ever. 
 
 Every sitting warrior rose, like a giant refreshed, and 
 commenced fresh gambols ; the old chief, with the bound 
 of a kangaroo, suddenly leaped into the circle of the 
 dancers brandishing his powerful waddy, and shouting 
 Yal-lul-lu-bah ! "
 
 1 46 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 Mr. Mole was carried round and round the huge camp, 
 fire till he felt quite giddy, and expected every moment 
 that they intended to tilt him into it and burn him like an 
 Australian Guy Fawkes. 
 
 It was, at least, evident that this part of the performance 
 was meant for his especial behoof, for the wild songs and 
 yells were directed towards himself. 
 
 For a considerable time his bearers stood still, holding 
 him as high up as they could, whilst all the others danced 
 round. 
 
 No one, ever acquainted with our old friend Isaac, 
 could possibly have recognised him as he looked on that 
 memorable occasion. 
 
 Black all over the face and body, with crescents, stars, 
 and stripes in white and red ochre and an enormous 
 woolly wig crested with feathers, and an opossum cloak 
 concealing his lower extremities, he sat, the centre of 
 attraction to a group of yelling and dancing savages, in 
 the red glare of the forest fire. 
 
 Isaac Mole indeed ? Why, he looked far more like the 
 great Panjandrum himself, with all his worshippers around 
 him. 
 
 "I do believe they take me for some white divinity," 
 he thought, " and are chanting hymns of praise to their 
 idol. Misguided beings ! " 
 
 His bearers now set into motion again, and recom- 
 menced a rapid walk round the fire. 
 
 It grew into a run, and then to a gallop. 
 
 Every moment Mr. Mole expected to be pitched out of 
 his seat, while the deafening discord in his ears, the wild 
 scene before him, fright and the rapidity of the jolting 
 motion, almost drove him distracted. 
 
 At length he felt he could endure it no longer. 
 
 The chair jolted till it was impossible to retain his hold, 
 p.nd with a cry of horror out he fell on to the ground, close 
 to the fire. 
 
 In a moment he felt his woolly wig in a blaze. 
 
 Poor Mole gave himself up for lost. 
 
 But a black fellow promptly extinguished the flame of 
 the burning head-dress, and then he was once more seated 
 under the gum-tree. 
 
 That was Mr. Mole's last ordeal that night for the sav-
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRAL2A. x 4? 
 
 ages were tired out with their exertions, and throwing 
 themselves round the fire, soon fell asleep. 
 
 Mr. Mole quickly followed their example. 
 
 How long he had slept, he knew not, but he was 
 
 awakened by a hand being placed firmly over his mouth. 
 
 ' Hush ! not a word, if you value your life," whispered 
 
 the owner of the hand. " It's Harry, who has come back 
 
 with Jack and the stockman to save you." 
 
 Then a moment afterwards came the words 
 
 "Rise up and walk between us as quietly as a cat on 
 velvet." 
 
 Mole obeyed, and, luckily, was too bewildered to speak 
 or make any outcry. 
 
 He rubbed his eyes and looked. 
 
 Yes, there sure enough were the two boys ; and two 
 paces off the stockman, with a brace of loaded revolvers 
 in his hands. 
 
 Quietly as possible they walked till they were quite a 
 hundred yards from the camp. 
 
 There they found half-a-dozen other well-armed men, 
 who had been collected by Jack's friends to rescue the 
 white prisoner. 
 
 They had even prepared a horse for Mr. Mole, with 
 another pair of boots for his unlucky wooden legs to be 
 inserted in. Mount and away was the word. 
 
 But unluckily, before Mr. Mole could be properly fixed 
 in the saddle, one of the horses gave a loud neigh. 
 
 The natives heard it, and with loud yells started in pursuit. 
 
 " Make haste, sir. Up with you." 
 
 The savages were in sight now, for the moon had risen 
 and as soon as they saw the white party, they commenced 
 to throw boomerangs and spears. 
 
 But a few shots checked their advance, and Mole hav- 
 ing been " fixed," away went the whites, soon leaving 
 the savages behind. 
 
 After a ride of three hours they reached a station where, 
 after a hearty laugh at Mole's paint, he was cleansed and 
 supplied with garments. They rested till daylight, and 
 then, after a hearty breakfast, started for the Harkaway 
 settlement. 
 
 The relation of their adventures caused some excitement 
 there, and the description of Mole in his war-paint was a 
 theme of mirth for many a day.
 
 1 48 JA CK HARK A IVA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 ROOK'S TROUBLES MORGAN AGAIN A DESPERATE PLAN TINKER 
 
 VANISHES LEAVING ROOK IN TROUBLE HOW HILDA WAS 
 
 CARRIED OFF. 
 
 WE will now look after old friend Jack and his party 
 in their new camp. 
 
 All went well, and everybody looked happy, and hope- 
 fully regarded the future. 
 
 Everybody but one man. 
 
 Rook! 
 
 He had weighty matters upon his conscience. 
 
 Harkaway had given him a splendid chance of begin- 
 ning life again and redeeming the past. 
 
 How had he profited by it ? 
 
 In a way that made him feel ready to put the muzzle 
 of his rifle into his mouth and blow his brains out. 
 
 He had acted as a fool as well as a traitor. 
 
 " When I think that I was idiot enough to listen to 
 Morgan," he muttered, as he walked along by the river's 
 bank, "when I reflect on the shallow trap into which I 
 fell, I could put an end to myself." 
 
 " Yah, yah ! " 
 
 A low, nigger chuckle came from the shrubs skirting 
 the river, and out popped Tinker. 
 
 "Morning, Massa Rook," said Tinker, nodding gaily. 
 
 " Rather late for morning, Tinker," returned Rook, 
 giving him a sharp, scrutinising glance. 
 
 " Yes, yes," said Tinker, looking down thoughtfully. 
 
 And then suddenly looking up, he faced Rook, and 
 said 
 
 " Nice man Captain Morgan." 
 
 Rook started. 
 
 " Morgan ! How should I know ? " 
 
 Tinker chuckled. 
 
 " You know bery well, I know bery well." 
 
 "What!" said Rook, to himself, "is it possible that 
 this nigger is one of Morgan's spies in the camp, all this 
 while ? oh, impossible." 
 
 " Massa Morgan coming presently ; he come to 
 frighten old Mole yah, yah ! "
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTXAUA. , 4 g 
 
 " I don't know Morgan, nor any thing about him," 
 returned Rook, coldly, "and I don't want to know him." 
 
 " Oh, yes, sar, you do ; you know all about him, you 
 know well ; him robber, bushranger." 
 
 And he nodded with such significance, that Rook began 
 to feel uncomfortable. 
 
 He reflected awhile. 
 
 A hundred thoughts chased each other through his mind 
 at once. 
 
 " I'll go to Mr. Harkaway and tell him every thing," he 
 said; " he'll forgive me again, I know well. He'll help 
 me to keep straight, he'll " 
 
 "Oh, golly!" cried Tinker, suddenly, and disap- 
 peared. 
 
 Two men had crept from behind the trees before Rook 
 could perceive them, and stood before him. 
 
 Their appearance was so sudden that he was consider- 
 ably startled. 
 
 Yet not more so than when he recognised their voices. 
 
 " Rook," said the nearest to him. 
 
 " Captain Morgan." 
 
 "Quite an unexpected meeting, is it not?" said the 
 notorious bushranger, with a quiet smile. " We have 
 lost sight of you of late. What is the best news ? " 
 
 Rook hung his head, but made no answer to this. 
 
 " Do you hear?" 
 
 " Yes, I hear/' returned the ex-convict, coldly ; " but 
 I have no news to give you." 
 
 "Indeed," said Morgan, gaily; "what a precious 
 slow place this must be for one of your sort." 
 
 Rook beat the ground impatiently with his foot for 
 several minutes, while he summoned up courage. 
 
 At length he burst out 
 
 " You must not look to me for assistance any more," 
 he said, violently. "These people have shown me all 
 sorts of kindness and I will not betray them. " 
 
 Morgan frowned. 
 
 " Hold your mutinous tongue, Rook !" he said, in a 
 voice which made the ex-convict feel very uncomfortable. 
 " If I see any signs of disaffection amongst my people, 
 I have a swift and sure means at command for putting 
 an end to it." 
 
 Rook glanced round.
 
 150 /A CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON '.S 
 
 Morgan had got a revolver pointed at him. 
 
 " I don't know what you mean," he said, faintly ; " 1 
 owe you no allegiance. " 
 
 The bushranger gave a hoarse laugh. 
 
 "No allegiance! " he cried; " why, what do you 
 mean, confound you ! Why, I must be growing patient 
 in my old age. I've put a bullet into many a man before 
 now for less than that." 
 
 Rook made no reply. 
 
 The captain of the bushrangers had a trick of manner 
 about him which cowed the ex-convict. 
 
 And Morgan knew it. 
 
 He knew well that he held the power over him which 
 a strong mind always exercises over a weak. 
 
 " Look you here, Master Rook," said he, after awhile, 
 " you are a simpleton, and you're young in my serv- 
 ice, so I overlook what you have said. But I have this 
 to tell you, and you will please look upon my words as 
 orders, not to be lightly played with." 
 
 A retort rose to the ex-convict's lips, but he repressed it 
 
 " I haven't depended upon your assistance alone here ; 
 I have others in the settlement upon whom I rely for 
 information." 
 
 " Spies?" 
 
 "Eh!" 
 
 " Others," said Rook, with a start ; " who can it be ? " 
 
 " That is my business ; I have my spies, as you are 
 rude enough to call them. Well, it pleases me to fancy 
 the good looks of Mrs. Harvey." 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 " The beautiful Hilda. Well, within a few minutes, 
 she will be in my power. Don't look alarmed. You 
 will have to render some assistance. " 
 
 " I ! " 
 
 " You." 
 
 " Not I ; I swear " 
 
 " Silence ! make no remark, but listen. She has now 
 set out with her daughter, and is walking by the riverside. 
 All you have to do in the matter, is to go to the girl 
 Emily I believe she is called and say that her father has 
 sent, for her ; make some excuse, and that I leave to your 
 fertile invention, for getting her away from the others
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. j 5 , 
 
 from her mother. I will see to the rest with my men, 
 who are waiting even now with the boat." 
 
 Rook shook from head to foot on hearing this. 
 
 But he was silent. 
 
 "Now go," said Morgan, sternly ; " that way quick, 
 and remember what you have to do." 
 
 Rook stared upon the ground,, but said never a word. 
 
 He paused irresolutely, for awhile, and then, without 
 raising his eyes, he walked off sharply in the direction 
 indicated by Morgan. 
 
 " What shall I do first? " he said, to himself; " go to 
 Mr. Harkaway or to Mr. Harvey, or shall I first warn 
 them ? While I am gone to Mr. Harkaway, the mischief 
 may be done ; no, I had far better seek them and " 
 
 As he thus soliloquised, he came suddenly in sight of 
 two ladies, strolling along the waterside. 
 
 A thrill of terror shot through him as he recognised 
 the people of whom Captain Morgan had spoken. 
 
 Mrs. Harvey and her daughter, little Emily. 
 
 He did not wait an instant, but flew to them, and bade 
 them get back to the camp with all haste. 
 
 His manner appeared wild, and his voice incoherent ; 
 and at first they could scarce make out what he meant. 
 
 "Be off," he exclaimed, in an excited undertone. 
 "Run fly for your lives. A moment more and it will 
 be too late." 
 
 "The poor man is mad," said Mrs. Harvey to herself. 
 
 Rook saw, by her half timid look and shrinking manner, 
 what was passing in her mind. 
 
 "I am as sane as you are," he cried; "fly for your 
 lives, I say. Morgan the bushranger and his men are 
 hovering about." 
 
 " Morgan ! " ejaculated Hilda, in terror. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Come, then, Emily quick, dear," said Mrs. Harvey; 
 ' ' fly back to the house as fast as your legs will carry you. " 
 
 Emily ran off like the wind. 
 
 But her mother, who was less nimble, had not got three 
 yards before Morgan and his men pounced upon her. 
 
 " Not so fast, my pretty one." 
 
 " Help ! help " she shrieked. 
 
 "Come, come, my lovely one," said Morgan, " don t 
 fear me. I mean no harm. "
 
 1 5 2 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND 
 
 " Help ! help ! " 
 
 Morgan now began to fear that her cries would be 
 heard. 
 
 So he lifted the struggling Hilda in his arms, and hur- 
 ried her away, in spite of all her wild efforts to disen- 
 gage herself. 
 
 Meanwhile Rook had made desperate attempts to raise 
 the alarm in the camp. 
 
 He ran on a little way, and blew loudly upon an alarm- 
 whistle. 
 
 Still no one appeared to respond. 
 
 Hilda's shrieks for help were now piteous. 
 
 So the ex-convict, Rook, casting off all considerations 
 for himself, rushed to intercept the bushrangers. 
 
 Morgan was making good progress with his strug- 
 gling victim, while his men were following close behind, 
 to oppose anybody. 
 
 Rook d ished after them. 
 
 "Stop, villain !" 
 
 Then he seized Morgan by the collar and swung him 
 round, and Hilda was free. 
 
 But, before she had got three steps, Morgan clutched 
 her again. 
 
 At that same moment he whipped out a pistol, and pre- 
 sented it at Rook. 
 
 "Traitor ! " he cried, "take your death." 
 
 Click ! a flash in the pan. 
 
 "Confusion ! " angrily cried the bushranger chief. 
 
 "Help! help!" exclaimed Rook, wildly; for he now 
 aw the hopelessness of attemping to cope with such 
 odds. 
 
 Still he thought to detain them until assistance should 
 come to him. 
 
 " Help ! help ! Harkaway, to the rescue ! " 
 
 He rushed again at Morgan, but the latter met him 
 with a blow from the butt end of his pistol, so well di- 
 rected that it stretched Rook upon the ground. 
 
 At this instant shots were heard in rapid succession, at 
 no great distance from the spot. 
 
 Rook heard them ere his senses forsook him before he 
 received that terrible blow and he despaired. 
 
 He guessed that an attack, real or feigned, had been 
 made upon the other end of the settlement, in order to
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRAL1A . , 5 , 
 
 distract the attention from the scene of this present out- 
 rage. 
 
 And with this dreadful, despairing thought upon his 
 mind, all became a blank. 
 
 He fainted from the pain of his wound. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 HOLE MEETS HIGHWAYMEN AND IS ROBBED THE BAGS OF GOLD 
 WHAT FOLLOWED THE USES OF GUNPOWDER TEA TIT FOR 
 TAT. 
 
 PERHAPS an explanation of the shots which the unfort- 
 unate convict heard would interest the reader. 
 
 For this, we must turn to our old friend, Isaac Mole. 
 
 Mr. Mole, whose old weakness had completely got the 
 better of him of late, had only just taken the pledge, pre- 
 vious to going on a journey to a neighbouring settle- 
 ment. 
 
 The object of this journey was to make a heavy pur- 
 chase of specie for private speculation. 
 
 He had been greatly struck by the tales he had heard of 
 the marvellous finds of speculative diggers ; and armed 
 with a well-lined purse he went off, mounted upon a 
 stout cob, for he was becoming quite a skilful horse- 
 man. 
 
 He succeeded wonderfully beyond his hopes. 
 
 Returning, he was so filled with satisfaction at his 
 trading, that he was induced, in spite of his pledge-tak- 
 ing not being two days old, to accept a glass of grog 
 from one of the diggers with whom he had traded. 
 
 Facilis descensus Averni. 
 
 One drop led to another. 
 
 The result may be seen easily enough by the intelli- 
 gent reader. 
 
 Poor Mole got 
 
 Hush! 
 
 He jogged along upon his cob, his gold jingling in his 
 pockets, as oblivious of any thing wrong as you could 
 wish, and singing blithely to himself, when suddenly,
 
 j 54 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 from behind a clump of trees, two men started out and 
 confronted him. 
 
 "Hullo!" 
 
 " Hullo ! " 
 
 The exclamation was mutual. 
 
 "Whither so fast, Mr. Mole?" said one of the new- 
 comers. 
 
 "Mr. Molel" quoth the worthy Isaac; "then you 
 know me?" 
 
 "Of course." 
 
 " Dear me 1 " said Mr. Mole, in a tipsy voice ; " won- 
 derful." 
 
 "Who doesn't know the great Mr. Mole?" ejaculated 
 one of the strangers. 
 
 "Will you get down and take some thing to drink with 
 us, Mr. Mole? " said the other man, politely. 
 
 Mr. Mole could not resist such an invitation. 
 
 Down he dropped onto his wooden legs without another 
 word. 
 
 The man who had invited him poured out some spirits 
 from a pocket-pistol into a horn cup, and handed it to 
 Mr. Mole. 
 
 " Your goodsh I mean good healsh health," stuttered 
 the old gentleman. 
 
 "And yours," said the others, feigning to drink. 
 . When Mr. Mole had drained his cup, according to cus- 
 tom, for he always drank a cup, one of the men, without 
 another word of warning, popped out a pistol, and made 
 this unceremonious request 
 
 "Just let us have a look at your nuggets, if you please, 
 Mr. Mole." 
 
 Mr. Mole said nothing. 
 
 The perspiration trickled down Mole's back, but he 
 simply took out his bag, and dropped it into the other's 
 hand. 
 
 "That's not all you have got," said the man, sharply, 
 placing his pistol close to Mole's head. 
 
 "What, more?" 
 
 "One more. Hand it over." 
 
 "Here it is," said Mole, with a sigh; looking rather 
 timidly at the pistol the man still held. 
 
 After all, he thought he had better get home with a
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 '55 
 
 whole skin, and minus his bags of gold, than with his 
 riches, and riddled with bullets. 
 
 So reasoned Mole. 
 
 And he was right. 
 
 " A nice little haul," said the man who had taken two 
 bags. 
 
 "Very," said the other. 
 
 "What!" exclaimed Mole, wildly; "what, do you 
 mean to take all from me ? " 
 
 The two men burst out laughing at this. 
 
 "You get home now, Mr. Mole," said one, "as fast 
 as you can, or you may find a bullet in some part of your 
 body. " 
 
 "Yes, get home, and thank your lucky stars that we 
 don't want the cob as well," said the other. 
 
 "Give me my bags," cried poor Mole. 
 
 "Bah ! " said one of the gentlemen, " get along home.'' 
 
 " You're not going to rob me thus." 
 
 "No, no we have done it we are not going to do it. " 
 
 " Goodness me 1 " exclaimed Mr. Mole, " what will my 
 wife say ? " 
 
 " Probably say you are an old coward," said one of 
 these amiable robbers. 
 
 " Or perhaps she'll only unscrew one of your wooden 
 legs and whack you with it," suggested the other. 
 
 "Oh!" cried Mole. 
 
 "Good-night." 
 
 And they started off. 
 
 "Stop, stop ! " cried Mole, " don't go." 
 
 They pulled up short. 
 
 " Have you got any more?" 
 
 "No, no ; but do come back." 
 
 " What on earth are you bothering about? " 
 
 "Just have a little pity," implored Mole ; " think what 
 I shall have to suffer when I get back." 
 
 They laughed at this. 
 
 "Why, you discontented old fool," said one of these 
 amiable gentlemen, "just compare yourself with that old 
 man we stripped of his purse, or money-bag, for it was a 
 money-bag " 
 
 "And well filled," suggested his companion. 
 
 "Capitally what would he say to find we had^let you 
 off so easily eh? That's what I want to know."
 
 156 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "Can't say, I'm sure," replied Mole, "only I know 
 that you'll make it precious warm work for my wife with 
 me." 
 
 "Ha, ha!" 
 
 " Don't laugh, " said Mole imploringly, "don't laugh. 
 Do you really mean to take my money-bags ? " 
 
 "Of course we do." 
 
 "Well, then, in common gratitude, help me out of this 
 trouble. " 
 
 " How ? " demanded one of the robbers, much amused 
 at the suggestion. 
 
 " Put a bullet through my coat-tails," said poor Mole. 
 
 "Oh, if that's all, willingly," was the reply. 
 
 Mole held out the tail of his coat, and the robber blazed 
 away. 
 
 Bang ! went a bullet through it. 
 
 "Now another, if you please," said Mole. 
 
 He held out the other side, and the other knight of the 
 road let fly at it. 
 
 "Thank you. Now another." 
 
 This was granted by the robber. 
 
 "Now another, if you please, this side of my coat 
 tail." 
 
 A fourth report, and a fourth hole in his coat was the 
 result. 
 
 "One more, if you will kindly oblige me." 
 
 "I haven't got any more," said one of these amiable 
 robbers, examining his powder-flask. 
 
 " But you have," said Mole to the second robber. 
 
 "No, not a shot." 
 
 He looked at his ammunition before he replied. 
 
 " Are you sure, sir? " asked Mole. 
 
 "Sure ? Yes," said the man, laughing at Mole. 
 
 "And you ?" 
 
 "No ; I said so already." 
 
 " Very good, " said Mr. Mole. "Then, my very good 
 young men, I have." 
 
 And Mole produced a pair of pistols. 
 
 He quietly presented one at each of them. 
 
 "Now," said he, his tipsy demeanour vanishing at 
 once, "just give up those bags." 
 
 "Never! " cried the two robbers, looking at each other, 
 surprised at Mole's artful trick.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 157 
 
 "Then I shall put a bullet not in your coat, but in 
 your head," said Mole. 
 
 "What? would you kill us ?" cried the men, looking as 
 though they would run. 
 
 "Stop, or I fire!" 
 
 Mr. Mole's demeanour had some thing unpleasant about 
 it now, and when he made a sort of jerky movement for- 
 ward, down dropped a bag from the hand of one of thf 
 robbers. 
 
 "Now the other, if you please." 
 
 " Come, now, I say " 
 
 "The other," said Mole, sternly. 
 
 "There!" 
 
 Down it went. 
 
 ' ' Thank you. Now the rest. " 
 
 "That's all." 
 
 "Come, I say," quoth Mr. Mole in awe-inspiring ac- 
 cents, * * don't try on any foolery with me, for I have 
 promised to take home some plunder, and I know what 
 you have got, so down with it. " 
 
 The two knaves looked at each other for counsel. 
 They had not a word and scarcely a look for themselves. 
 
 " You must be quick, or one of these pistols may go 
 off," cried Mole, holding them in a line with the robbers' 
 heads. 
 
 One grumblingly forked out a canvas bag of gold. 
 
 "Go on, my dear boys," said Mr. Mole. 
 
 '*I've got no more." 
 
 '*And you?" 
 
 "Not a skurrick," said the other, whatever a skurrick 
 might be. 
 
 ' ' Then off with you, " said Mole, ' ' or I'll blow you into 
 smithereens." 
 
 His look alarmed them. 
 
 " Now if you are not off by the time I count ten, I 
 fire." 
 
 Off they ran. 
 
 And when they were fairly out of sight, Mole picked up 
 the bags and fastened them about him. 
 
 " Ha, ha 1 that's a stroke of business," said he to him- 
 self. "But they wouldn't have parted with their treasure 
 like that if they had only known that my^ pistols were 
 loaded by Mrs. Mole with gunpowder tea."
 
 158 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 And chuckling thus, he rode home on his cob. 
 
 When he came to count his gains, he found himself not 
 less than three hundred pounds in pocket over the trans- 
 action. 
 
 " This is a real slice," said he. 
 
 And forthwith he set himself to invent a plausible yarn 
 by which he should appear even more heroic than he had 
 yet shown himself. 
 
 "Oh, oh I" laughed Mole, looking at his coat-tails, 
 "I shall turn this to some account. Ha! my courage is 
 great." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE PURSUIT OF HILDA TINKER'S PROGRAMME HOW HE THREW 
 
 A LIGHT ON THE JOB. 
 
 THE alarm of Hilda's abduction soon spread in the set- 
 tlement. 
 
 Harvey, as you may suppose, was in an awful state of 
 mind. 
 
 A party of armed men was organised in the space of a 
 few minutes, and dispatched under different commanders 
 in pursuit. 
 
 Their object was to spread out, and cover thus the 
 longest line of country possible, and then at a certain 
 distance, begin to advance at each extremity of the line 
 so as to form a circle. 
 
 In this way the advance was made with great rapidity, 
 when, as Harkaway was about .to start, Tinker came 
 bounding up to him. 
 
 " Massa Harkaway, Massa Harkaway," he cried pant- 
 ing. 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "Suffin' to tell yar, Massa Harkaway," he panted. 
 
 "Go on then!" exclaimed Harkaway, impatiently; 
 "for I have no time to lose." 
 
 "Mrs. Harvey " 
 
 "Yes, yes ; we all know that carried off by Morgan's 
 people, no doubt." 
 
 "An' Rook." 
 
 "What?"
 
 ADVENTURES IN A VSTRALIA. , ; g 
 
 " Rook, sar ; dat 'femal cantankerous bad Rook. 
 Nasty fellar, Rook, sar." 
 
 Harkaway grew very uncomfortable at this. 
 
 " Why, what do you know against Rook, Tinker?" 
 
 "Rook am Cap'en Morgan's man, sar," replied the boy, 
 with a significant leer. "Cap'en Morgan gib him ounces 
 ob de yaller gold for to do all sort bad work ; immense 
 bery awful bad fellow, sar." 
 
 Tinker's extravagant adjectives worried old Jack in his 
 present state of mind. 
 
 " Just say what you mean, Tinker, and don't beat about 
 the bush, or I'll flay you alive. " 
 
 "I see Rook waitin', sar, waitin' for dat Cap'en Mor- 
 gan, an' dey do a big talk all about Mrs. Harvey." 
 
 Harkaway bounded forward at this, and caught Tinker 
 by the throat. 
 
 " Don't you attempt to play any tricks with me, don't 
 tell any lies, or you'll wish you'd never been born." 
 
 " I'se tellin' ob de troof, ebery word, sar, s'elp me golly, 
 dere, sar. I know, sar, I watch Rook, 'case I see Cap'en 
 Morgan an' de oders come up, an' so I run away and pre- 
 tend to be awful feared, an' den I come back and I 
 
 see- 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " Lor', Massa Harkaway, how you do jump down poor 
 Tinker's froat an' den I see Cap'en Morgan talking wid 
 Rook." 
 
 "Hah!" 
 
 "Yes, sar." 
 
 "What about?" 
 
 "All 'bout taking Mrs. Harvey away." 
 
 ' ' The villain ! " groaned Harkaway, "after all I've done 
 for him, the scoundrel." 
 
 "Yes, sar." 
 
 "What did they say?" 
 
 " He want Rook to help him, and Rook won't an 
 den dey say all sorts naughty words together, and dey 
 fight." 
 
 "Fight!" 
 
 "Yes, sar." 
 
 "Tinker," said Harkaway, looking him very straight in 
 the face, " you're telling me lies." 
 
 "No, sar," protested the boy, earnestly; "dey fight
 
 1 60 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 awful, until Cap'en Morgan smack him head wid der 
 pistol, and Rook lay down and go to sleep. !' 
 
 "Go to sleep," returned old Jack. "Oh, I see he 
 fainted." 
 
 ' ' Yes, sar ; dat's it. " 
 
 Harkaway felt this a relief to his mind. 
 
 It was painful beyond measure to think Rook could 
 have behaved like a traitor. 
 
 "Well, well, Tinker," he said, " having got over that, 
 the next thing is to see about getting Mrs. Harvey back 
 as fast as we can." 
 
 "Yes, sar," exclaimed Tinker, with sudden vivacity. 
 
 Then he lapsed into sudden silence for awhile, from 
 which he presently awoke, and with a grin he said to 
 Harkaway, in a tone indicative of wonderful self-confi- 
 dence 
 
 'Tinker do dat." 
 ' Do what ? " 
 
 ' Get back Missie Harvey awful double quick. " 
 ' You ! " exclaimed Harkaway, with a smile. 
 'Yes, sar." 
 ' How ? " 
 
 'Massa Harkaway doesn't recollect dat Tinker was 
 wid Cap'en Morgan," he said, slily. 
 
 "Hah!" ejaculated Harkaway, catching at once at 
 this notion, " I do recollect, Tinker; and if you are a 
 good boy and true to us, you shall earn a better and a 
 greater reward than any thing you can dream of." 
 
 Tinker looked earnestly at his master at this. 
 
 "Don't want nuffin', Massa Harkaway, for dat; Missie 
 Harvey awful partikler fond of Tinker ; Tinker awful 
 partikler fond of Missie Harvey. Massa Harvey quite 
 jealous of Tinker yah, yah ! " 
 
 Old Jack could not repress a smile himself. 
 
 "No matter for that I'll undertake to say that Mr. 
 Harvey will get over his jealousy, if you are the means of 
 restoring his wife to him. " 
 
 ' ' Yes, sar. " 
 
 "Now, tell me quickly, for the time is getting on, and 
 I am growing impatient to be doing some thing more than 
 gossip here ; tell me how you propose to go to work." 
 
 Tinker began his reply by scratching his wool. 
 
 "Tinker'll go back fust, and den he'll see, and have a
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TR A LI A. i 1 
 
 talkee-talkee, and watch, and whistle you all when to 
 come up ! Bring all de niggers and all de gallopshus 
 make-fires ; and hab a cantankerous immense big blaze 
 away at Cap'en Morgan." 
 
 "Very good, Tinker," said Harkaway ; " I think I can 
 trust you now." 
 
 "Yes, sar. " 
 
 "Then let this be the signal between us ; but first let 
 me recommend the greatest caution, my good Tinker." 
 
 Tinker winked. 
 
 "Yes, sar, Tinker am sich an artful cuss yah, yah ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 HILDA AND THE BUSHRANGERS FAMILIAR FACES AN ALARM 
 
 TINKER THE SPY MORE NEWS. 
 
 HILDA struggled vainly in the arms of her captor. 
 
 The strength of the notorious bushranger was some 
 thing prodigious. 
 
 In spite of all her wildest efforts, she was borne away. 
 
 After a certain time, her strength began to fail her. 
 
 Her fright was piteous to behold. 
 
 A deathly faintness stole over her, and her senses were 
 fast deserting her. 
 
 The sickly pallor of her cheek evidently alarmed the 
 daring Morgan. 
 
 " Come, come, sweet one, " said he ; " let this revive you. " 
 
 And he pressed his lips to her cheek. 
 
 Hilda was aroused at this indignity, and she fought her 
 captor furiously. 
 
 Seizing him by the hair, she tore so viciously at him, 
 that in sheer self-defence he let her fall. 
 
 As soon as she was upon her feet, she fled. 
 
 But her success was short-lived, for in the space of a 
 minute or two, the bushranger was upon her again. 
 
 "If you get so rumbustical, my love," said he, press- 
 ing her to him in spite of herself, " we must find some 
 means of holding you down ; don't scratch, or I shall 
 have to clip your claws."
 
 162 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 They reached their destination after a weary journey, 
 for Hilda would not walk. 
 
 Such a burden to carry is all very well for awhile, but 
 even the most muscular man must necessarily tire under 
 the load that he had to bear. 
 
 Upon their arrival at the bushranger's camp, they were 
 met by two men, amongst others, whose appearance 
 struck additional terror to her soul. 
 
 One was Hunston, who had ever been associated with 
 the troubles of herself and her friends. 
 
 Toro, the Italian brigand and bully, was the other. 
 
 " Hallo !" cried Hunston, "why, you have bagged a 
 prize, Captain Morgan." 
 
 "Don't you see who the prize is ? " exclaimed Toro. 
 
 "A lady?" 
 
 "Aye ; but who ? " 
 
 Hunston stared again. 
 
 "Is it possible ? Can I believe the evidence of my own 
 eyes? Mrs. Harvey?" 
 
 Hilda roused at this, and drawing herself up before 
 Hunston she exclaimed, in a voice of passionate en- 
 ergy 
 
 " If you have a spark of manhood left, Mr. Hunston, 
 you will protect me from these ruffians. " 
 
 "Gently, gently, fair one," said Captain Morgan ; "no 
 names." 
 
 "No one means you any harm, Mrs. Harvey," said 
 Hunston, " and as you are Captain Morgan's guest " 
 
 " Prisoner. " 
 
 " If he likes to place you under my care, I am sure we 
 shall get on well together. " 
 
 There was nothing much in the words, but the look that 
 accompanied them made her shiver. 
 
 He drew near with an ominous gesture, when Morgan 
 stepped before him. 
 
 "Stand back !" 
 
 "Why, really, Captain Morgan, I am an old acquaint- 
 ance. " 
 
 " Enough," said Morgan, sharply; "there is nothing 
 like an understanding. Remember that I allow no 
 familiarities with my guests. This lady must be treated 
 with as much respect as myself. Let the least complaint 
 come from her about you, or about anyone of you, woe
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US 'TR ALIA. 1 63 
 
 betide him. He will have to render me strict account 
 Do you hear? " 
 
 ' ' You are too " 
 
 "Silence ! " shouted the bushranger. 
 
 Hunston was about to make some hasty rejoinder, 
 when the expression of the bushranger captain caused 
 him to be prudent. 
 
 Morgan was an unpleasant enemy to make, and Hun- 
 ston felt an instinctive dread of him. 
 
 Disagreeable forebodings were ever in his mind in the 
 presence of the redoubtable bushranger. 
 
 Were these forebodings really justified? 
 
 Time will show. 
 
 Meanwhile, Hunston with difficulty swallowed his 
 wrath, and walked away moodily. 
 
 "Come what may," he muttered to himself, "I shall 
 make a point of squaring accounts with our bully friend 
 Morgan. Hang his impudence." 
 
 ****** 
 
 " Place the guard for the night," said Morgan. 
 One of his most reliable men proceeded to this task, 
 when suddenly a black object tumbled into the open out 
 from a cluster of thickly-grown shrubs and bushes. 
 "Hallo!" 
 
 "Shoot him down ! " 
 
 "The blacks are upon us!" cried Captain Morgan. 
 "Up with every mother's son of you. Look to your 
 rifles. " 
 
 "Yah, yah ! " said a familiar voice, "don't be so cata- 
 wampously immense big frightened, Cap'en Morgan. 
 Taint de debil, only poor nigger cove, boy Tinker." 
 ' Tinker ! " 
 'Yah, yah." 
 
 ' What brings you here ? " 
 
 'Got away from Massa Harkaway, sar, " replied 
 Tinker, " and I'se come to gib you warning." 
 ' Of what ? " 
 ' Dey's coming. " 
 ' What, here ? " 
 
 ' Dey no find out yet, but dey got a big lot of men 
 from eberywhere ; all got horses and make fires. We 
 get off, sar, sharp, sar, or de debils come up and make 
 sassingers of dis fair infant. Yah, yah ! "
 
 164 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SOWS 
 
 Hilda heard. 
 
 She recognised Tinker at once, and at first she had 
 gained new hope. 
 
 But now, on hearing, as she thought, that he was in 
 league with the bushrangers, despair seized her. 
 
 "Deceitful wretch!" she cried, passionately, at the 
 black boy. "After all the kindness we have shown 
 you." 
 
 " Yah, yah ! " grinned Tinker ; "you no lub me." 
 
 Hilda was violent, and in her indignation she quite 
 forgot the terrors of her present situation. 
 
 " If I ever get back, you shall have a sound whipping 
 for this, you little fiend ! " she exclaimed. 
 
 "Yah, yah! " 
 
 And " Yah, yah ! " being all she could get out of him, 
 she said no more, but bit her lips in sheer mortification. 
 
 Meanwhile, the bushrangers redoubled their vigilance 
 round their camp. 
 
 Not a precaution was neglected. 
 
 Sentries were posted in all directions. 
 
 And now it was that Captain Morgan showed how ad- 
 mirably fitted he was for the post of commander. 
 
 He was everywhere at once, and displayed the greatest 
 energy and activity without making any particular fuss 
 about it. 
 
 "Stay you there, Tinker," he said, turning round, be- 
 fore quitting the sight of his prisoner. 
 
 "Yes, Captain Morgan. Tinker keep dam partik'lar 
 watch over lubby gal, sar ; yah, yah ! " 
 
 "That's right." 
 
 And the captain of the bushrangers, perfectly at ease 
 in his mind upon that score, turned round and resumed 
 his duties. Now when Morgan was fairly out of sight, 
 Tinker's demeanour changed with strange suddenness. 
 
 He dropped his aggravating laugh, and turned serious 
 at once. 
 
 He shot a glance of meaning at Mrs. Harvey, and then 
 he marched off to the clump of trees which sheltered the 
 open spot at no great distance. 
 
 He dodged in and out of these forest monarchs to as- 
 certain that there were no interlopers on the watch, and 
 then back he ran. 
 
 But just as he was returning, a tall, dark figure made
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRAUA. j 65 
 
 a sudden appearance upon the scene, and stepped up to 
 Hilda 
 
 "My fair Hilda," said Toro, for it was the Italian, 
 "you're looking now lovelier than ever." 
 
 Hilda curled her lip haughtily, but was silent 
 
 "Come, Mrs. Harvey, beauteous signora, one chaste 
 salute nay, don't refuse me. I have loved you from the 
 first." 
 
 He would have seized her in his arms, but Hilda was 
 not to be thus rudely approached with impunity. 
 
 She dragged herself away, and called loudly for help. 
 
 In an instant Tinker came bounding up to the spot. 
 
 " Be off, you imp of Satan ! " thundered Toro ; "be off, 
 or I'll slay you." 
 
 " No, no," said Tinker, grinning, "you no kill Tinker, 
 but Tinker kill you gollopshus immense big quick if you 
 ain't gone." 
 
 Toro, with a fierce oath, strode after the black boy. 
 
 Now Tinker showed extreme artfulness, for he appeared 
 to dodge him, and yet he allowed himself to be caught. 
 
 " Now you shall have it ! " muttered Toro, between his 
 teeth. 
 
 Holding the black boy with one hand, he made a 
 sharp slap at him with the other. 
 
 Down bobbed Tinker. 
 
 "Yah, yah!" 
 
 "Curse your yah, yah!" cried the Italian, furiously 
 seizing him again. "Take that ! " 
 
 Tinker was out of his arms again in a jiffy. 
 
 A precious awkward thing to hold was Tinker, for 
 beyond one very small garment, he had no clothes on 
 whatever. 
 
 His skin was smooth and shining, and altogether he 
 was as difficult to hold as an eel. 
 
 Toro was about to fly after the boy again, when sud- 
 denly he felt a sharp, stinging sensation on his right leg, 
 just above the knee, and looking down, found that it was 
 bleeding. 
 
 "Why, what on earth " 
 
 He paused in utter amazement. 
 
 "Want any more like dat, bully man?" asked Tinker. 
 
 " Why, you have stabbed me ! " 
 
 "Yes, bully man," grinned the boy, " only a lilly bit ;
 
 1 66 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 gib you immense cantankerous lot more next time. 
 Don't be greedy, yah, yah ! " 
 
 And then he took from his loin cloth a stumpy knife, 
 with which he had contrived to wound the Italian. 
 
 But the latter had not felt the wound in the excitement 
 of catching the eel-like black boy. 
 
 "I'll kill you for this," said Toro, fiercely. 
 
 "Oh, no," returned the Tinker, with irritating cheerful- 
 ness, "you no catchey Tinker. Massa Morgan beat 
 you, and you awful big afraid ob Massa Morgan ; yah, 
 yah ! " 
 
 Toro bandaged his leg round with his neckcloth, and 
 then made after the boy. 
 
 But he might as well have tried to catch a rainbow, or 
 an electric shock. 
 
 Tinker was, as vulgar folks say, all over the shop at 
 once. 
 
 He was a master in the art of aggravating, too, and he 
 had an endless lot of tricks calculated to goad a man like 
 Toro to desperation. 
 
 He would wait until he got close up to him, and then, 
 after some insulting gesture, he would pelt him with a 
 handful of mud or stones, and bound away like a rocket. 
 
 In the course of this singular chase, Tinker ran round 
 towards the spot where Hilda stood, and here he pulled 
 up short, holding his hands behind him while he waited 
 for Toro to approach. 
 
 The Italian came on. 
 
 But he did not observe that Tinker had handed Mrs. 
 Harvey a piece of paper. 
 
 She opened it eagerly, and found, hurriedly written 
 upon it, these words 
 
 " Keep up your courage ; we are near, and shall soon 
 set you free. The bearer of this is a friend, in whom you 
 may implicitly rely. 
 
 "JACK H." 
 
 The words danced before her eyes. 
 
 For a moment she quite forgot her presence of mind, 
 and she spoke her thoughts aloud. 
 
 "How I wronged that brave boy! Poor Tinker! 
 They are here, perhaps perhaps even now about to rush 
 in and drive these wretches and ruffians away."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 167 
 
 Toro advanced, and Tinker dodged away as usual. 
 
 But Toro caught sight of the open paper in Hilda's 
 hand, and in an instant his suspicions were aroused. 
 
 Without one word or sign of warning, he made a stride 
 forward and snatched the paper from her hand. 
 
 " What is this ? Hah! treason!" he cried. "By the 
 fiends, the boy shall die ! " 
 
 The words were barely uttered, when Tinker sprang 
 upon him with the agility of a monkey, and snatched the 
 paper away. 
 
 His stumpy knife played its part again, for Toro 
 received a hideous gash in the cheek that laid bare the 
 bone. 
 
 Toro gave a yell of mingled agony and rage. 
 
 "You Satan's egg!" he yelled, holding his cheek, 
 while the blood poured through his fingers, "you shall 
 die by slow torture for this." 
 
 "Big bully man; yah, yah!" was Tinker's only 
 reply. 
 
 And he threw in another sight, placing his fingers to 
 his nose, and wound up by pelting the wounded Toro 
 with pebbles. 
 
 Just at this moment Captain Morgan came up with 
 two of his followers. 
 
 "Hullo!" he cried; "why, what is all this outcry? 
 I thought the Philistines were down upon us." 
 
 " Seize that boy ! " cried the Italian. 
 
 They laid hands upon Tinker, who stood very pluckily 
 in custody. 
 
 "I found him conniving with the prisoner; he gave 
 her a letter." 
 
 "Oh," exclaimed the virtuous Tinker, "what a 
 naughty, great big lie." 
 
 " A letter ! " cried Captain Morgan. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Where is it?" 
 
 "He has it now/' 
 
 They searched the black boy. 
 
 He had not many corners to conceal anything, you see, 
 and they found nothing at all upon him. 
 
 "There are no signs of a letter," said Morgan, sternly. 
 
 "Then he has swallowed it," persisted Toro. 
 
 He was right. Tinker had.
 
 1 68 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 At the first sign of danger, he scrambled it into his 
 mouth and bolted it as easily as if it had been a Cockle's 
 antibilious. 
 
 The ingenious black boy, however, threw up his hands, 
 showed the whites of his eyes, and appeared otherwise 
 greatly scandalised. 
 
 "Oh, my, what a great whacker, Cap'en Morgan, sar," 
 he said, in virtuous indignation. " Dis naughty, ugly 
 fellar wanted to kiss your gal de imperant beast ! an' I 
 ses 'Cap'en Morgan left Tinker on guard, so no you 
 don't/ and ses he 'Yes I do,' and he went forme; 
 but I gib him one in de leg and anoder in de cheek, and 
 he no like my nicey-niceys, and he couldn't catch me, 
 and den, in a beast of a great, big, immense temper, he 
 ses ' I'll told Cap'en Morgan dat you brought a letter, 
 and den Cap'en Morgan'll gib you suffin' for yourself. ' " 
 
 This sounded like the truth. 
 
 Morgan glanced from the boy to Toro and then to Mrs. 
 Harvey. 
 
 Approaching the latter, he raised his hat politely. 
 
 " I hope, madam, that you have been put to no annoy- 
 ance by my people," he said. 
 
 "But for that boy I should have been subjected to the 
 grossest insults from that ruffian, your worthy comrade." 
 
 Morgan changed colour. 
 
 "Has he dared " 
 
 " The boy spoke the truth when he told you that he 
 had defended me." 
 
 Morgam nodded his head in a determined manner. 
 
 "Good ; we can't allow this sort of thing to continue. 
 An example must be made ; seize Toro. " 
 
 Several of the bushrangers obeyed his order. 
 
 "Tie him up." 
 
 "Not before me," cried Mrs. Harvey, eagerly, "not 
 before me, I implore." 
 
 "Your wishes are law to me," returned the bushranger 
 .Chief ; ' ' remove him. " 
 
 The Italian was bustled away from the spot 
 
 "Now, Tinker." 
 
 "Yes, sar." 
 
 " Get some nice pliable switches, willows if you can." 
 
 "Yes, sar," said Tinker, in eager anticipation. 
 
 "And flog away until you are tired out."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 1 6g 
 
 "Tinker no get tired eber ; him work hard, yah, yah; 
 whack ! whack ! on de big Toro's back." 
 
 And grinning all over his face, the black boy turned off 
 to the flogging. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 IN WHICH A DISGRACEFUL CONSPIRACY IS HATCHED AGAINST 
 ISAAC MOLE. 
 
 THE greatest excitement prevailed in Harkawayville, 
 as they had christened their new settlement. 
 
 Anxious moments these were indeed for all who were 
 left behind. 
 
 Amongst these were of course the ladies, with the un- 
 fortunate exception of the one whose loss caused the 
 present trouble. 
 
 The two boys, young Jack and his comrade Harry 
 Girdwood, were left on guard. 
 
 Mr. Mole, too. 
 
 The unfortunate ex-convict Rook was found to be in a 
 most precarious condition, and he was tended with the 
 
 greatest care by the ladies. 
 
 ****** 
 
 "Do you know, my dear Jack," said Mr. Mole, "I 
 can scarcely restrain my impatience when I think " 
 
 "Of what, sir?" 
 
 "Of your dear, brave father and poor Dick being in 
 peril there, while we are on guard here. I long for " 
 
 "For what ? " 
 
 ' ' Glory, Jack, glory ; to share the dangers. I was 
 never born for a quiet life ; my love was danger always." 
 
 ' ' Ahem ! " 
 
 "You appear doubtful." 
 
 "Not I, sir." 
 
 "Well, I must tell you that I have grown rusty since 
 my last little skirmish on my way from the gold fields 
 yonder. Gold ; what a magic ring ! What music ! 
 What fascination in the sound, but still the word danger 
 I love better. " 
 
 "Yes," said Jack, smiling inwardly at the old gentle- 
 man's enthusiasm.
 
 ^70 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 " This is a wonderful country. I shouldn't wonder if 
 there was gold upon the very earth we tread." 
 
 "Mr. Mole, Mr. Mole," cried a clear, ringing voice, 
 with a pleasing foreign accent; "you are growing 
 greedy, I fear." 
 
 " Not I, Paquita, my dear," said the old gentleman; 
 "only it is really a tempting subject to excite even the 
 most stoical of our kind. " 
 
 " Harry," said Paquita. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " We want you and Jack." 
 
 The two boys followed Paquita into the house. 
 
 They found little Emily awaiting them. 
 
 The poor child was in the greatest distress, and, in- 
 deed, had never got over the shock which the outrage on 
 her mother had occasioned her. 
 
 She was constantly in tears, and knew not a moment's 
 rest in mind or in body. 
 
 Young Jack, her gallant champion, was the only 
 person who could cheer her at all. 
 
 Paquita knew this well. 
 
 " Here, Jack," said little Emily, forcing an appear- 
 ance of cheerfulness which she was far from feeling ; 
 " here are the English papers. Now come, all of us, and 
 have a good read." 
 
 "Let Harry read out to us," said young Jack ; "he's 
 the best reader. " 
 
 This was settled, and Harry Girdwood selected some 
 interesting pieces until he came upon one which excited 
 general attention, and led to some very singular results. 
 
 " Salting a mine." 
 
 "Whatever can that mean, Harry ?"- said little 
 Emily. 
 
 "Wait a bit ; this would interest old Mole finely." 
 
 He read it down, and found that it was a law case 
 exciting great attention in London, which treated of a 
 gigantic swindle in getting up a company for the pur- 
 chase of a diamond mine. 
 
 Diamonds had been purchased at a great cost, and the 
 ground which they proposed purchasing was "salted" 
 i.e. , sprinkled with real diamonds just before it was 
 visited by the committee of inspection. 
 
 "This is glorious!" exclaimed young Jack, laughing
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 171 
 
 all over his face. "How I should like to salt a mine 
 for old Mole." 
 
 " Not easily done we want the materials," said Harry. 
 
 " The diamonds ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " But I mean a gold mine." 
 
 " I see but how ? " 
 
 "Why, we could get a little real gold if necessary, but 
 I don't see that it is ; that's near enough," he added, 
 pointing to an old-fashioned brass candlestick. 
 
 "That?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Now, now, it's all very well, but old Mole is not to 
 be gulled without a little trouble." 
 
 "Perhaps not, but you have heard of candlestick 
 gold ? " 
 
 ' ' Yes. " 
 
 "Well, then, I know that this old fellow melted down 
 would make lovely gold, and you shall see it too." 
 
 Poor Mole. 
 
 Fun and danger loomed in the distance once mo r e. 
 
 And yet, at this very moment, he was calmly sleeping 
 hard by, dozing after a whisky toddy of such a strength 
 as would make you or I wink again. 
 
 But the details of the infamous conspiracy against the 
 worthy Isaac's peace of mind must be related in another 
 chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 HOW IT WAS PREPARED FOR MR. MOLE WHAT WICKEDNESS ! 
 
 THE GREED OF GOLD THE TRANSFER MOLE A MINE OWNER 
 
 WHAT NUGGETS ! WHAT GOLD ! WHAT WEALTH ! 
 
 " FIRST take our candlestick," said young Jack, "and 
 melt it carefully down into little bits, then pick out the 
 mine, then remove a few inches of the earth from the 
 surface and mix the nuggets sparsely, mind, so as not to 
 excite any suspicions." 
 
 "Then," added Harry Girdwood, solemnly, "we let 
 Mr. Mole have an accidental view, and see what can be 
 done. "
 
 172 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "Agreed." 
 
 They shook hands over this iniquitous compact, the 
 young miscreants, and completed their proceedings. 
 * * * * * * 
 
 Some few days after this, strange rumours got to be 
 buzzed about the settlement. 
 
 The two darkeys, Sunday and Monday, it was whispered, 
 had lighted upon gold. 
 
 You can imagine the effect of these reports. 
 
 The two dusky diggers roped-in their ground and al- 
 lowed none of the curious to approach too closely. 
 
 Mr. Mole heard these rumours in due course, as Harry 
 and young Jack took care he should, and down he hobbled 
 to see for himself. 
 
 Now began the extreme artfulness. 
 
 The conspirators had well matured their plans. 
 
 They hung back, pretending to take no particular 
 notice of the matter, and awaited Mr. Mole. 
 
 He came. 
 
 They knew that he was sure to tackle them, and he did. 
 
 " Do you really think, dear boys, that these two niggers 
 have hit upon a mine? " he said. 
 
 " Of course they have, " said young Jack, "not much 
 doubt about that, eh, Harry ? " 
 
 "But of course, Mr. Mole, it belongs to them," said 
 Harry. 
 
 "And what what can be the value of their find?" 
 asked Mr. Mole, eagerly. 
 
 "Can't say." 
 
 "But you have seen a good deal more of it than I 
 have," said Mr. Mole, eagerly ; " what should you say ? " 
 
 "A few thousands at the outside," suggested Harry 
 Girdwood, " only a few." 
 
 " Yes," said young Jack, "these mines are so decep- 
 tive, you never know what's what" 
 
 "Precisely." 
 
 "Sometimes a good thing turns out a regular duffer." 
 
 ' ' A what ? " 
 
 "Duffer." 
 
 "I object to such an expression," said Mr. Mole who 
 was upon his dignity, "even when a gold mine is in 
 question. Slang, my dear boys, is objectionable in man, 
 woman, or child."
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 '7* 
 
 'Quite so," said Harry. 
 
 ' But what is your real opinion about " 
 
 ' The mine ? " 
 'Yes." 
 
 'It is a fine thing," said young Jack, "but I don't 
 want Sunday or Monday to get too great an idea of it, or 
 they might run the price up of their treasure." 
 
 "I see," said Mr. Mole, winking and looking most 
 artful, " they want to sell ? " 
 
 "Not want to," replied young Jack; "they would, 
 perhaps, and I should like dad to buy as cheap as pos- 
 sible." 
 
 Mr. Mole walked away. 
 
 These words made a deep impression on his mind, and 
 he came speedily to the inevitable conclusion that he 
 would like to be the purchaser. 
 
 The conspirators had, of course, calculated upon this. 
 
 So he sought Sunday on the quiet, and sounded him. 
 
 "I can't say as I want to sell it, brudder Mole," said 
 Sunday, "an' if I did, I don't s'pose that I could find 
 anyone to give my price." 
 
 Mr. Mole fidgeted. 
 
 "What do you call your price?" he asked, vainly try- 
 ing to conceal his eagerness. 
 
 ' ' Oh, a whole lot of money, " said Sunday. 
 
 "What do you mean by that? Ten pounds?" asked 
 Mr. Mole, by way of a feeler. 
 
 " More likely fifty," returned Sunday. 
 
 Mole chuckled. 
 
 If the find was worth anything at all, fifty pounds was 
 a ridiculously small price to put upon it. 
 
 What could be better ? 
 
 " Perhaps I might buy it," said he, in an off-hand way, 
 " if we could come to terms. I should like to see it very 
 much. " 
 
 "Well," said Sunday, " as you are my own brudder, 
 in a manner of speaking, I don't know that I ought to 
 refuse. But Monday don't let no one look at it ; ^yalt 
 until there ain't no one about, and then you can come in. 
 
 "All right." 
 
 And Mr. Mole walked off to chuckle and rub his hands 
 
 in silent satisfaction. 
 
 ******
 
 174 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 They were alone. 
 
 Mr. Mole stood within the magic circle, the roped-in 
 space to which the two darkeys, Sunday and Monday, 
 asserted their claim. 
 
 "So this is the spot ! " said Mole. "Who would ever 
 imagine that we were walking pver the precious metal 
 here ? However did you find it out? " 
 
 "I was digging some sand out when I first got hold 
 of a bit of yellow metal," replied Sunday, " a lump." 
 
 "A lump?" echoed Mr. Mole, in awe-stricken accents. 
 ' ' Large ? " 
 
 "Very." 
 
 "Goodness me! I should so much like to see some 
 of it," said Mr. Mole. 
 
 "Easy enough," returned Sunday, promptly. 
 
 So saying, he placed a shovel in the old gentleman's 
 hands. 
 
 " Have a dig." 
 
 Mr. Mole said never a word, but drove the spade into 
 the soft, yielding earth. 
 
 One shovelful was turned over, and as he let the sand 
 and earth drop from it, half a dozen heavy nuggets fell 
 to the ground. 
 
 Mole's eyes dilated as he plumped on and scrambled 
 them up in his hands. 
 
 " Gold, gold, gold ! " he muttered, vainly endeavouring 
 to subdue his excitement ; "what a feast, ye gods ! " 
 
 "You ain't found much, brudder Mole?" said Sunday, 
 who was complacently smoking his pipe. 
 
 "No, no, no ! " returned Mole, "not much." 
 
 "Not so much as I turned up every go, brudder 
 Mole." 
 
 Mole gave a subdued but ecstatic groan. 
 
 " How much do you want for me to take it off your 
 hands?" 
 
 H '.v pounds." 
 
 -''s Monday? " 
 
 ': > I am, Mr. Mole," said the Prince of Limbi, 
 st ;>];; ;;:; up, for he had been hanging about awaiting his 
 cue. 
 
 niday wants to buy out your right to this piece of 
 land for fifty pounds." 
 
 " Does he? " said Monday ; "well considerin' thai it's
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTKALIA. ,75 
 
 mine ^as well as his, he might ask me before he does 
 anything." 
 
 "Just so." 
 
 " I hope they're not going to quarrel over it," thought 
 Mole, anxiously; "there never was a more foolish in- 
 vention than partnership." . 
 
 "I know you would like for brudder Mole to have it, 
 Monday," the darkey said, in a semi-apologetic tone to 
 his partner in the diggings. 
 
 "Oh, of course. Mole is our friend." 
 
 "If that's agreed," said Mr. Mole, much relieved and 
 eager to clinch the bargain, "here's the money." 
 
 "Good, friend Mole. You will make your fortune. 
 Vou find lots of gold, if you dig long enough for it." 
 
 "Let's have it all in fair and business-like order. Give 
 sne a receipt, and state on it what it is all for," said Mole. 
 
 " Bery good, brudder Mole," said Sunday, leering at 
 his black partner ; " you draw up de paper dockyment, 
 and we'll write our names to it." 
 
 4 ' Agreed. " 
 
 "That's capital," said Mr. Mole. "I'm delighted to 
 find you such business-like people ; and now, all we have 
 to do," he added, producing a written paper from his 
 pocket, " is to sign this." 
 
 Sunday took the paper, and scanned its contents. 
 
 Then he handed it to Monday. 
 
 "Why, Mr. Mole," said the latter, "you have got it 
 already written out. " 
 
 Mr. Mole appeared slightly confused at this. 
 
 "Yes, I have," he said, coughing a little ; "I had some 
 faint idea that you would perhaps be inclined to treat 
 with me." 
 
 "Oh." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " How very odd." 
 
 A short silence ensued ; and then Mr. Mole produced 
 u pen and an inkhorn. 
 
 It looked as if every thing had been cut and dried in 
 he old gentleman's mind. 
 
 "Well," he said, nervously, "we had better sign." 
 
 "Perhaps you'd like to try the ground a bit more be- 
 .bre you settle it," suggested Monday. 
 
 "They're hanging fire," said Mr. Mole to himself.
 
 1 76 JA CK HARK A WAY A ND HIS SON'S 
 
 "No, no," he added aloud, in as off-hand a manner as 
 he could assume, " we are all friends together, and there's 
 no deception." 
 
 "Oh, no," exclaimed Sunday, showing the whites of 
 his eyes in his virtuous reproof even of the remark ; 
 "could I deceive my own brudder?" 
 
 "Oh, bother the brother," said Mr. Mole, impatiently, 
 for he never relished the claim of kindred which Sunday 
 was constantly asserting. 
 
 Sunday grinned. 
 
 "Sign away, all of us, den," he said. 
 
 And he opened the final negotiation by scrawling his 
 own signature across the document. 
 
 Monday grinned. 
 
 " That's it," said Mr. Mole, folding up the paper and 
 pocketing it; " now it's mine. I will to work, and find 
 gold, gold, gold." 
 
 Sunday and Monday grinned as they walked away. 
 
 There was a ring in their laugh that the worthy old 
 gentleman hardly liked. 
 
 No matter. 
 
 He held the treasure. 
 
 "What did the quaint niggers mean by that hoarse 
 laugh ? " he asked himself again and again ; "no matter, 
 those laugh best who laugh last." 
 
 Still he had just the faintest misgivings. 
 
 "Surely, they can't have played me any trick ?" he 
 said to himself, again and again. "Oh, no " 
 
 He stooped and picked up a piece of the shining yellow 
 metal. 
 
 "This is solid fact," he said, as he fondled it in his 
 hand, " solid, solid fact, and there's no mistake about it." 
 
 He looked about him anxiously as he spoke. 
 
 Already his newly-acquired wealth was bringing its 
 penalties. 
 
 Such is the price of riches. 
 
 " I shan't be able to leave it night or day," he said to 
 himself. "As soon as it gets known how rich the prize 
 is, it will excite the cupidity of every one in the settle- 
 ment." 
 
 So he prepared to camp there for the night ; but before 
 night came he dug, and sifted, and sifted and dug until 
 he had got several ounces of the precious metal, and
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. ! 7 7 
 
 gathering them all together, he held his treasure in his 
 open palms, groaning in ecstasy over it. 
 
 "Made for life," he kept muttering to himself, "for 
 life, for life. Mole, Mole, you're a lucky old dog." 
 
 And so mumbling he dropped into a feverish sleep ; 
 but trouble was already looming in the distance. 
 
 Trouble which the old gentleman had never contem- 
 plated. Trouble in the shape of his old tormentors. 
 
 But before we can let the reader enjoy further Mr. 
 Mole's perplexities we must return to Hilda. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 AN ALARM THE BUSHRANGER'S RESOLVE THE MARCH TO BATTLE 
 
 BRAVE LITTLE TINKER LEFT ON GUARD "AIN'T I WICKED 
 
 JEST ? " A FIGHT. 
 
 THE punishment of the Italian ruffian was interrupted 
 by a sudden alarm. 
 
 Bigamini, who had fallen naturally into his old and 
 congenial character of spy, came flying up to Captain 
 Morgan with the most startling intelligence. 
 
 "There's a whole army upon the march, Capt'in 
 Morgan," he said, in considerable excitement. 
 
 "An army of what ? " demanded the bushranger chief, 
 with coolness. 
 
 "Enemies," replied the spy; "all the settlement, I 
 should say." 
 
 In one party ? " 
 ' No ; several. " 
 ' Who leads ? " 
 
 ' Harkaway is leading one of the parties." 
 ' And the other ? " 
 
 1 Harvey one and that big Jefferson, the American, the 
 other," was the reply. 
 Morgan frowned. 
 
 " They mean business, apparently," he said. 
 " Precious ugly business too, capt'in," said the cockney 
 spy : "s'elp me Robert." 
 Morrran smiled.
 
 1 78 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 "Ah, well, I dare say we shall be ready for them 
 they don't know Captain Morgan yet." 
 
 "Ah, Capt'in Morgan," said Bigamini, "if you would 
 take a numble cove's advice, you'd let that lovely gal 
 
 go-" 
 
 " What ! " thundered the bushranger chief, turning upon 
 
 the spy as if he would annihilate him, "do you dare to 
 offer your counsel ? " 
 
 ' I only " 
 
 Silence ! " 
 'Beg parding." 
 : Silence." 
 'Yes, sir." 
 Go ! " 
 Yes, sir." 
 
 And precious glad of the permission, the spy scrambled 
 out of the fierce chiefs presence. 
 
 Morgan walked up and down in thought for some little 
 time. 
 
 "They must not get as far as this, at any rate," he 
 muttered to himself; "no, no; I must meet them half- 
 way and fight them. They shall have a taste of bush- 
 fighting, and see how they like it. 
 
 "Yes, yes, Harkaway, in Captain Morgan you will 
 find no Greek or Italian coward to fight with, but an 
 Englishman bold as yourself." 
 
 Then turning sharply round, Morgan called the black 
 boy. 
 
 "Yes, Cap'en Morgan," answered Tinker, bounding 
 forward. 
 
 "There's going to be a fight, Tinker," said Morgan. 
 
 "Larks ! " cried the black boy, capering about ; " gal- 
 lopshus larks. Tinker go and put on his war-paint." 
 
 " No, no ; you'll have to stay on guard here." 
 
 "Where?" demanded the boy apparently crestfallen 
 and disappointed. 
 
 "Here, to mind Mrs. Harvey. You shall have some 
 of the fighting a little later on. " 
 
 " Bery good, sar," returned Tinker, "I mind de gal, 
 sar ; nobody take away your gal away from Tinker, 
 sar. " 
 
 ' ' Treat her with every respect " 
 
 "Yes, sar."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TR ALIA. 1 79 
 
 "And I'll reward you handsomely, for you are a fine 
 boy. " 
 
 " Tinker a lubly boy, sar," returned the young nigger, 
 proudly; "splendiferous, magnificent critter ; look at him 
 noble self, sar." 
 
 "Well, I don't know so much about your looks," re- 
 turned the brushranger chief, "but you are faithful to 
 those you like, and those you serve." 
 
 Tinker's eyes twinkled strangely as he replied 
 
 "Yes, sar, Tinker bery faithful, sar. So you find, 
 sar. Awful splendid faithful critter, sar, to those he 
 lubs. " 
 
 "Well, now I'm off, that's enough for you. Look well 
 after the lady." 
 
 ' ' Yes, sar. " 
 
 " And look to me for your reward," said Morgan. 
 
 "Yes, sar, Tinker do him duty, sar." 
 
 And with a final word of admonition, the leader of the 
 lawless bushrangers started off to collect his men, and 
 march on to meet the advancing army from Harkaway 
 settlement. 
 
 "Oh, yes," said Tinker, "I'll mind de gal; Missie 
 Harvey bery safe wid dis chile yah, yah ! Poor Cap'en 
 Morgan yah, yah, yah ! Golly ! ain't I thunderin' can- 
 tank'rous wicked jest yah, yah ! " 
 
 And Tinker grinned, looking intensely satisfied at his 
 own wickedness. 
 
 What shape his wickedness took will soon be explained 
 to the reader. 
 
 Morgan was already on the march, and, indeed, had 
 progressed some considerable distance, when a loud 
 warning call behind them attracted attention. 
 
 " Hullo ! " exclaimed the bushranger, "look round." 
 
 "There's someone coming," said one of the men. 
 
 A man, bounding along at a tremendous pace, now ap- 
 peared in sight. 
 
 " Stop, stop ! " he shouted out as he ran. 
 
 "Why, it's that idiot, Bigamini," said Captain Mor- 
 gan. 
 
 He was right. 
 
 Bigamini bounded up to the party of bushrangers, out
 
 1 80 JA CK HA RKA WAY A ND HIS SOX'S 
 
 of breath, and apparently in a state of intense excitement 
 and alarm. 
 
 ' ' What on earth ails you ? " demanded Captain Morgan, 
 as Bigamini came up. 
 
 " Sich a blessid patter I've had of it," he gasped, "sich 
 a game of 'are an' 'ounds, blowed if I've got no wind 
 left to speak of." 
 
 "What's the matter now ? " demanded the bushranger 
 chief. " Speak quickly." 
 'She's gone." 
 ' Gone ? " 
 Bolted ! " 
 ' Who has gone ? " 
 'The gal Mrs. Harvey." 
 
 ' But where's the boy, Tinker ? " cried Morgan, clutch- 
 ing hold of Bigamini. 
 
 "Bolted, likewise," said the spy; "absquatulated, 
 namassed, sloped." 
 
 Morgan was fairly staggered at this news. 
 
 " I'll not believe it ! " he exclaimed ; " you're deceiving 
 me. Beware how you trifle with me." 
 
 He seized Bigamini fiercely by the throat. 
 
 " I say now, capt'in, drop it," remonstrated the luck- 
 less spy. "You can't get her back by stoppin' the hair 
 in my wisen." 
 
 Morgan threw him heavily away, and he fell. 
 
 "Why didn't you intercept them ? " he said. 
 
 "'Cos why?" answered Bigamini. "I was a-listening 
 behind the trees, and I heerd the black kid talk about 
 which way they was going as soon as you were fairly out 
 of the way. Then says I to myself, if I stops 'em now, 
 they'll diddle me afterwards ; the best course is to con- 
 sult the capt'in before he gets too far off " 
 
 "And while you are here ? " 
 
 "They've bolted." 
 
 "Fool! " 
 
 "Not quite a fool neither, Capt'in Morgan, 'cos 
 I know exact the way as they have took, 'cos why ? I 
 heerd 'em map out all their journey as nice as nine- 
 pence. " 
 
 "And you think you could overtake them? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Are you armed ? "
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. rfz 
 
 "I've got my barkers," replied Bigamini, producing his 
 pistols. 
 
 "Off with you then," said the bushranger, "overtake 
 them, or never show up here again." 
 
 "Yes, capt'in." 
 
 "Shoot the boy." 
 
 "I will, with pleasure, capt'in." 
 
 "And bring back the lady. Respect her, or you will 
 have to answer to me." 
 
 " Never fear, capt'in." 
 
 " Mind, bring her back, or don't show your face to me 
 again. " 
 
 " I'll bring her back, and give Tinker a shot through 
 his impish head," said Bigamini, earnestly. 
 
 And off he ran. 
 
 "The capt'in ain't to say chi'ce in his lingo," said the 
 spy. ' ' In fact, he's so very insultin' at times as he gets 
 my monkey reg'lar up. Talking of monkeys, I wonder 
 whether that young monkey Tinker will show fight ? " 
 
 It is rather odd that his soliloquy should so run upon 
 the word monkey. 
 
 And why ? 
 
 Read on, and you will see. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 It was true. 
 
 Tinker had run away with the prisoner he had been 
 left to guard. 
 
 It was also true, unfortunately, that while they were 
 concerting their plans, and mapping out the route back to 
 the settlement, Bigamini the spy was lurking in ambush 
 and listening to what was being said. 
 
 Now Tinker knew every inch of the ground, so to 
 speak. 
 
 Trees, stones, and other signs, which to a stranger 
 would have passed unnoticed, served him as landmarks 
 in his progress. 
 
 Part of the country which they had to traverse was flat 
 and unmarked by any special features. 
 
 But after an hour's hard walk, or, perhaps, we should 
 more properly say run, for they kept upon the trot for the 
 most part of the journey, the ground grew more uneven,
 
 182 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 and assumed an appearance of hill and vale, that prom- 
 ised well for Hilda's desires. 
 
 And frequently they came in sight of trees. 
 
 This was regarded as a piece of good fortune by both 
 of them. 
 
 They could rest here for awhile in safety. 
 
 And rest they did, for they were both fatigued with their 
 exertions. 
 
 "I can scarcely put one foot before the other now, my 
 good Tinker," said Mrs. Harvey. 
 
 "Awful great big sorry for dat, Missie Harvey," said 
 the black boy, " 'cos Tinker ain't big enough to carry 
 you home." 
 
 Hilda smiled. 
 
 "No, Tinker, I should be too big a baby for you, I 
 fear." 
 
 "You not a baby at all, Missie Harvey," said Tinker, 
 proudly; "you bery bold lady, bery lubly lady, bery 
 brave lady." 
 
 She smiled again. 
 
 "Not altogether a coward, yet not brave." 
 
 She concluded with a faint scream. 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 "Which?" 
 
 " Look ! " 
 
 She pointed to the branch of one of the nearest trees, 
 where a fantastic-looking object squatted upon a branch^ 
 looking down upon them. 
 
 A huge monkey. 
 
 There he sat chewing some thing that he had found, and 
 looking as wise as an owl. 
 
 Tinker made a step or two forward to inspect the 
 strange object closer. 
 
 "Don't leave me, Tinker," exclaimed Mrs. Harvey; 
 "stay close by me." 
 
 "All right, Missie Harvey; don't you know dat re- 
 markable gollopshus individdle ? " 
 
 "Know him ; no." 
 
 "Why, it is Nero." 
 
 Nero for it was our old friend grinned, and slid down 
 from his perch. 
 
 " Good Nero," said Hilda ; " I am so glad it is a friend ; 
 shake hands. "
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 183 
 
 Nero put out his paw. 
 
 He wagged his head in his well-known old-fashioned 
 way, and grinned at them both, dividing his attentions and 
 his favours fairly between them. 
 
 "How are all at home ? " said Mrs. Harvey smilingly. 
 
 Nero caught a flea by way of answering this. 
 
 "Oh, Nero, Nero, why can't you talk? You could 
 make me feel so happy, or perhaps not. Perhaps you would 
 have bad news to tell me. Well, well you have none at 
 all; 'no news is good news,' we have always heard. 
 Nero ! " 
 
 This last mention of the monkey's name was caused 
 by his sudden rushing off. 
 
 Back he flew to his tree, and began tearing furiously 
 at one of the smaller branches. 
 
 "Nero !" 
 
 " Come back, sar." 
 
 Nero took no heed of Mrs. Harvey nor of Tinker. 
 
 Evidently there was some thing wrong with him. 
 
 What could it be ? 
 
 They had not long to wait to find out, for while their 
 attention was thus absorbed by the wild antics of the 
 monkey, a voice exclaimed 
 
 " Got you at last, have I ? " 
 
 Hilda turned with a half-stifled scream. 
 
 There, not ten feet from where she stood, was a man, 
 presenting a pair of pistols at them. 
 
 One at herself. 
 
 The other at Tinker. 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 "Now, marm," said this man, "back you go, or I'll 
 shoot you, damme ! " 
 
 " Ugly beast ! " cried Tinker. 
 
 But he kept at a respectful distance from the threaten- 
 ing pistol. 
 
 The reader has, of course, divined who this was. 
 
 Bigamini. 
 
 Who could it be but the villanous spy ? 
 
 When he boasted that to quote his own peculiar idiom 
 he ran like a blooming deer, his brag was not altogether 
 devoid of foundation. 
 
 He had precious soon caught them up, when we take 
 into consideration the long start they had got of him.
 
 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SOWS 
 
 "Come along, my dainty girl," said he to Hilda ; "off 
 with you." 
 
 "Never," returned Hilda, proudly ; "I'll die first." 
 
 "Now, don't you aggrawate a poor devil," said 
 Bigamini, "or blest if you mayn't die, and no error 
 about it." 
 
 "Begone, and let us proceed on our way," said Hilda, 
 loftily. "If you attempt to molest me further you will 
 suffer ; I have a husband. " 
 
 " I know Dick Harvey very well," returned Bigamini 
 insolently ; "we're old pals, in fact." 
 
 "Then you know that Richard Harvey is not a man to 
 be trifled with ; you are safe only at a distance." 
 
 "Oh, I'll keep a long way off him, with you; so on 
 you come." 
 
 " Begone ! " 
 
 "You defy me?" 
 
 "I do." 
 
 "You beast, put down dat cantank'rous, nasty, dam 
 make-fire," said Tinker to the spy. 
 
 "If you ain't off double quick, you black devil, I'll 
 shoot you. I got orders for it. " 
 
 "Yah, yah ! " jeered Tinker, "you big drunk, can't aim 
 straight yah, yah ! " 
 
 "Can't I ?" retorted Bigamini ; "take that." 
 
 And he let fly. 
 
 Hilda gave a scream as Tinker dropped and rolled over 
 and over upon the hard ground. 
 
 Bigamini ran up to finish him. off, when strangely 
 enough, Tinker, in his struggles, rolled between the spy's 
 legs, and tripped him up. 
 
 And they both rolled upon the ground together. 
 
 In fact, they were in half a jiffey so thoroughly mixed 
 up, that the difficulty was to distinguish which was 
 which. 
 
 Tinker's oily skin offered no hold to his adversary. 
 
 After a momentary scramble, up Tinker got, and 
 snatched up the pistol that was yet undischarged from 
 the ground. 
 
 Bigamini saw how matters were, and ducking to avoid 
 the fire, in case Tinker should be about to shoot, he leapt 
 upon him. 
 
 Hilda now flew to Tinker's assistance.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 1 85 
 
 But her aid was not needed, for help came from a most 
 unexpected quarter. 
 
 Some thing whizzed through the air, and came down 
 with a mighty thwack upon poor Bigamini's sconce. 
 
 Down he dropped. 
 
 "Oh, oh!" he yelled. "I'm done for. Murder 
 oh ! " 
 
 " His unexpected assailant was the monkey, Nero. 
 
 Tinker stepped back, pistol in hand, and left Bigamini 
 and Nero to have it out together. 
 
 Nero's gentle nature vanished altogether, and dropping 
 the branch of the tree which he had torn off for a cudgel, 
 he fell on the spy. 
 
 They closed. 
 
 Now, no sooner did Bigamini see that big, hairy face 
 close to his, and the fierce eyes gleaming into his own, 
 than fear filled his craven soul, for he had quite forgotten 
 the existence of the great monkey. 
 
 "Oh, the devil ! I'm in the clutch of the Evil One at 
 last," he groaned. 
 
 Still he fought. 
 
 Yet not with the vigour and fierce determination he 
 would otherwise have shown. 
 
 Nero tore at him with the greatest ferocity, and buried 
 his claws in the wretched man's flesh. 
 
 So desperate was the battle that Bigamini was speedily 
 blinded with his own blood. 
 
 And all the time, Hilda and Tinker stood looking on. 
 
 Hilda horrified, fear-stricken, at the spectacle. 
 
 Tinker laughing. 
 
 Yes, the black boy enjoyed it mightily. 
 
 " Nero, Nero ! " cried Mrs. Harvey. 
 
 But Nero's blood was up. 
 
 He paid no heed. 
 
 " Drag him away, Tinker," she implored ; "he will kill 
 that wretched man." 
 
 "Yah, yah!" 
 
 "Do you hear? " 
 
 "Yes, Missie Harvey, deblish fine dat, de ugly feller 
 no kill me den. Yah, yah! gib it him, Nero. Go 
 it, Nero ! him dam bad man." 
 
 Nero wanted no encouraging to this end. Bigamini s 
 struggles grew fainter.
 
 1 86 JA CK HARKA WAY AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 He battled feebly, instinctively, while the monkey was 
 as fresh and as vigorous as ever. 
 
 He fastened at length upon the wretched spy's throat, 
 and there he held him to the bitter end. 
 
 Bigamini fought no longer now. 
 
 His head fell back. 
 
 His arms hung helplessly at his side. 
 
 His eyes were starting from their sockets. His tongue 
 protruded. 
 
 A ghastly, sickly, spectacle. 
 
 Bigamini the murderer, convict, and spy, was dead ! 
 
 "Come away, Tinker," exclaimed Hilda, in accents of 
 mingled awe and horror ; "he has killed him." 
 
 ' ' Yah, yah ! " grinned Tinker. " Immense, big, splen- 
 did fellow, Nero. Me lub Nero ; him better man dan that 
 wicked spy." 
 
 They turned away. 
 
 And happily they reached the settlement without any 
 further molestation. 
 
 And now you understand why we remarked upon the 
 singular chance of Bigamini using the word monkey 
 repeatedly in his memorable soliloquy, after starting upon 
 this pursuit, destined to prove fatal to him. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 ANXIETIES HOPES AND FEARS A VISIT TO MR. MOLE'S MINE 
 
 WARNINGS OF DANGER FOREWARNED, FOREARMED. 
 
 WHEN Hilda and Tinker reached the settlement, they 
 found that there were no tidings whatever of Harvey or 
 of Harkaway nor, indeed, of any of the party who had 
 gone in pursuit of her. 
 
 This was a sad result, indeed, after her happy escape 
 from peril. 
 
 " There is no fear, mamma," said little Emily, who, it 
 need not be said, was overjoyed to see her mother again, 
 "for they are so strong and so brave. Uncle Harkaway 
 is with papa and Mr. Jefferson and numbers of our men, 
 all armed, and brave as can be." 
 
 "I can't say that I fear," answered Hilda, "for, to-
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 187 
 
 gather, I don't believe that there are many that could op- 
 pose your father and brave Jack Harkaway. Harkaway ! " 
 she added; "why, there is music in the very name." 
 
 And so there was. 
 
 Traitors trembled at the sound, and true men grew 
 enthusiastic in the praises of old Jack. 
 
 " Dad is safe enough," said young Jack, repeatedly. 
 
 This was not only to reassure his mother and their 
 friends generally, but also to make himself easy in his 
 mind, which he was very far from being at present. 
 
 Indeed, he had very serious doubts of it. 
 
 Anxiety was upon every face in the settlement. 
 
 At length they came to the resolve to send out a man 
 in search of the absent friends. 
 
 One of their men volunteered for this service, and he 
 was duly armed and furnished with provisions of the 
 most portable character. 
 
 This done, they grew more easy in their minds. 
 
 "Another day," said Mrs. Harkaway, with a sigh 
 of relief, " and we shall certainly have them with us 
 
 again." 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 Another day passed. 
 
 Yet no tidings. 
 
 Two days more, and three men were started off in an- 
 other direction. 
 
 A full code of signals was arranged with them, and every 
 possible precaution was taken. 
 
 And this tended considerably to restore confidence in 
 
 all their minds. 
 
 ***** 
 
 " Well," said Harry Girdwood, " I don't see the fun 
 in making ourselves and everybody else wretched." 
 
 " Nor I." 
 
 "Nor dis chile!" said Tinker, with a precious long 
 face ; " I'se cantank'rous, dam miserable ! " 
 
 " Let's go to the gold mine, and see how old Mole is 
 getting on. " 
 
 "Good!" 
 
 Off they started, accompanied by Tinker. 
 
 Now Tinker's face lit up immediately, for when it was 
 a question of visiting the old gentleman, the young darkey 
 gave a pretty shrewd guess that it meant fun.
 
 1 88 /A CK HA RKA WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 Fun or mischief and they were much the same to 
 Tinker. 
 
 Now they found Mr. Mole all alone, hard at it, digging 
 away for bare life at his mine. 
 
 The new mine-owner had certain difficulties to labour 
 against, but he fought them manfully. 
 
 The pick he could ply with tolerable skill, and a cer- 
 tain amount of force. 
 
 But what baffled him, at first, was the spade. 
 
 To drive it well into the earth, he had, of course, to 
 press it hard with his timbertoe, and this wanted a deal 
 of dodging. 
 
 He would lunge furiously at the edge of his shovel, 
 and miss it five or six times in succession, to the infinite 
 amusement of our fun-loving boys. 
 
 " If your mine doesn't turn up trumps, sir," said young; 
 Jack, with a serious air of interest, " you could yet turu 
 your ground to good account. " 
 
 Mr. Mole fidgeted nervously at this. 
 
 " What do you mean by that ? " 
 
 " Only in case of accidents, sir," said young Jack. 
 
 " What then?" 
 
 " You could cultivate it wonderfully well." 
 
 Mr. Mole did not quite understand the allusion. 
 
 " You possess great natural advantages for gardening s 
 sir ; you understand ? " 
 
 " No ; that's it, my dear boy I don't understand." 
 
 " Why, look how you could dibble in your cabbage 
 plants or potatoes, for instance," said Harkaway, junior, 
 as he walked of 
 
 Sold ngain ! 
 
 Mr. Mole nearly choked with indignation. 
 
 But it was all thrown away, for young Jack was already 
 
 out of hearing, 
 
 ****** 
 
 Mr. Mole had profited by this allusion to his infirmity. 
 
 Amongst the mechanics in the settlement was a very 
 skilful wood-carver, and Mr. Mole employed this man to 
 make him a pair of wooden feet, like lasts upon which 
 the boots and shoes are made. 
 
 These were so constructed as to screw firmly on to his 
 wooden extremities.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRAL1A. 189 
 
 And thus he vanquished the difficulty of digging with 
 the spade. 
 
 ' Well, sir, " said Harry Girdwood, as they came up, 
 ' how do you progress ? " 
 
 " Fairly, my boy, fairly," responded Mr. Mole, putting 
 on a cheerful air, which was really not warranted by the 
 amount of success he had met with. 
 
 '' Many nuggets ? " 
 
 Mr. Mole looked wonders. 
 
 If looks could be interpreted, Mr. Mole certainly meant 
 to insinuate a mountain of gold. 
 
 " I'm glad it has turned out so well," said Harry Gird- 
 wood. 
 
 " Especially as we recommended it, Harry," said young 
 Jack. 
 
 ' ' You find lots o' brass, old Massa Mole ? " said Tinker. 
 
 Harry and young Jack felt just a bit uneasy at this 
 familiar term for gold. 
 
 But Mr. Mole took it very good-naturedly. 
 
 "Lots," he replied with a smile; "in fact he, he! 
 excuse my little jokes I shall have as much brass as 
 you three put together he, he ! " 
 
 "Ha, ah, ah 1 " laughed Harry Girdwood, nudging 
 Jack. 
 
 And then they laughed all together. 
 
 Isaac Mole thought, in his innocence, that they were 
 laughing with him, not at him. 
 
 " I must tell you, sir," said young Jack, with his most 
 respectful manner, "that we had an object in coming 
 here. " 
 
 "Indeed!" 
 
 "Yes, sir.'' 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 " The news of your wonderful mine has got all over 
 the country, Mr. Mole," said young Jack. 
 
 " Gossiping fools, to talk of it ; it might do no end of 
 mischief." 
 
 " It has, sir," said Jack, seriously. 
 
 " Never !" 
 
 " Oh, indeed it has ; in point of fact, sir, we have only 
 now come to see if you fear molestation ! " 
 
 " Molestation where ? what from whom ? " 
 
 " Morgan."
 
 190 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 At the mention of the notorious bushranger's name, Mr. 
 Mole jumped up like a parched pea in a fire-shovel. 
 
 ' ' Captain Morgan ? " 
 
 " Yes, a fact, sir." 
 
 " Why, how the deuce can he " 
 
 A disagreeable feeling possessed him, and he could not 
 finish his sentence. 
 
 "The danger, sir," said young Jack, deliberately, 
 " from what I have heard, does not proceed from Mor- 
 gan, directly." 
 
 "No?" 
 
 " No, sir ; for, from information I have received " 
 
 " It sounds just like Scotland Yard," said Mr. Mole. 
 
 " Yes, it does ; unfortunately, you haven't Scotland 
 Yard here to help you." 
 
 Young Jack's serious air and subdued manner duly im- 
 pressed Mr. Mole. 
 
 " My dear boy," he said, " you surely don't mean to 
 say " 
 
 " Don't make yourself uneasy, sir; but the bushrangers 
 have so I have heard employed a gang of the aborig- 
 ines to drop down upon you. " 
 
 "What!" 
 
 " A fact, sir ; and so we came on to see if we could ren- 
 der any assistance. We didn't run very hard, for we knew 
 that you were a match for a good many niggers, no 
 matter what country they came from. " 
 
 Mr. Mole at this pulled up his shirt-collar, and shot out 
 his cuffs, with a pardonable gesture of pride. 
 
 " Rather ! " 
 
 "And we were doubtful," said Harry Girdwood, 
 " whether you would accept our assistance ? " 
 
 " I'm very grateful for your offer," said Mr. Mole, with 
 dignity ; " but I rather flatter myself that I am more than 
 a match for a good mob of niggers. " 
 
 " Of course, sir." 
 
 " It is not known to any of you how I tackled a whole 
 tribe of North American Indians once." 
 
 " I remember some thing of it, sir," said our youthful 
 hero ; " but I forget the details." 
 
 "You would, Jack, you would," said Mr. Mole; "it 
 was just before you were born, Jack." 
 
 " It was, sir."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. I9I 
 
 " I'll tell you, then," said the inventive Mole. " I was 
 asleep in our log-house, alone the rest of our party was 
 away when I was aroused by the whistle of the savages. 
 But I didn't make any fuss at all. 
 
 " No use." 
 
 " None, "said Harry, pretending to be deeply interested. 
 
 " No ; so I got up, and got into the loft, with my rifle. 
 On they came, yelling discordantly. I distinguished the 
 chief by his eagle-plume, and, by gad, I potted him ! " 
 
 " You talk of an Indian chief, sir, as if he were a 
 bloater. " 
 
 ' ' Or shrimps. " 
 
 "Well, then, my dear boys, I reloaded, and blazed 
 away again into the thick of them." 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 "Then, when I had laid seven of them low, out I 
 rushed, and made an awful row. ' Come on, the rest of 
 you ! ' I cried, as if there were hundreds behind me. I 
 dashed at 'em, and, by the living jingo, I scalped seven- 
 and-twenty before you could wink an eye." 
 
 "Lor'! " 
 
 "Oh, golly, golly ! " cried Tinker, evidently frightened. 
 
 " Seven-and-twenty, as I am a sinner ! " said Mr. Mole. 
 
 "Dear, dear ! " 
 
 "The other fifty fled as if the old gentleman had been 
 after them, and would you believe it, dear boys " 
 
 "No, we shouldn't," said Harry, sotto voce. 
 
 "They actually left me alone, single-handed, master of 
 the field ! " 
 
 " That's as true as any of Mr. Mole's warlike exploits," 
 said young Jack, tipping the wink to Harry. 
 
 "It never got very public," suggested Harry. 
 
 "No, publicity is not my desire," said Mr. Mole, with 
 a lofty wave of the hand, " it never was." 
 
 "'On their own merits modest men are dumb,'" quoted 
 Jack. 
 
 "Precisely." 
 
 "Had it only become generally known," said Harry 
 Girdwood, seriously, "Mr. Mole would have been put up 
 as a candidate for the presidency." 
 
 "Not only put up," said young Jack, piling it on stiffly 
 now. "but returned, for a dead certainty." 
 
 "Oh," said Mr. Mole, "I am not vain or ambitious ;
 
 192 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 if I were, there is no doubt but that I could have been 
 elected." 
 
 "Your modesty, Mr. Mole, is too much," said young: 
 Jack. 
 
 "Well, then, I suppose, sir," said Harry, "our assist- 
 ance, in case the niggers come down on you, would be 
 of no good ? " 
 
 "Perhaps it might," returned the old gentleman, with 
 a simper of vanity. 
 
 "Well, then, it only remains for us to go ; we'll leave 
 our pistols first, for we brought them purposely." 
 
 "That's very kind of you, Harry," said the old gentle- 
 man ; " but I have no powder and shot." 
 
 "They are already loaded, sir." 
 
 He winked at Jack. 
 
 "But one charge might not be enough," said Mr. Mole. 
 
 "We have no more ammunition to leave you, sir. " 
 
 They had particular reasons for not leaving powder 
 and shot in Mole's clutches. 
 
 You will understand this presently. 
 
 "But you are well loaded," said young Jack; "and, 
 with four pistols, you will be able to scatter a whole tribe 
 of savages." 
 
 "Rather!" 
 
 "You look awful cantankerous fierce, sar; look, sar, as 
 though you eat up dozen niggers," said Tinker, pretend- 
 ing to tremble. 
 
 "I don't think they will venture too near me," said 
 Mole. 
 
 " Look out for the night, sir," said Harry Girdwood. 
 
 " Don't close your eyes. " 
 
 "I always sleep with the left one open," chuckled 
 Mole. 
 
 So off went the boys.
 
 ADVENTURES IN A US TR ALIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 AWFUL ENCOUNTER BETWEEN MR. MOLE AND THE SAVAGES THE 
 
 MYSTERIES OF THEIR NATIVE TONGUE. 
 
 MR. MOLE chuckled quietly as they disappeared. 
 " I don't think that the niggers would relish about with 
 Isaac Mole," he said, stoutly. 
 
 " The rough old commodore, 
 The tough old commodore." 
 he warbled. 
 
 "Perhaps," he said to himself, his expression losing 
 some thing of its mirthful attribute, "perhaps it would be 
 better if they came in the day. It is difficult to distin- 
 guish a dark man on a dark night, and a nigger and night 
 are much the same colour, and I hope they won't come 
 in very great force, ahem ! 
 
 "Confound those beasts. I wish they would mind 
 their own business instead of worrying about my dig- 
 gings. And niggers are such very low-minded persons ; 
 they're not satisfied with getting the upper hand, they 
 have such objectionable ways of gouging and scalping ; 
 that's what I have to complain of always." 
 
 He looked up at the setting sun, and then he looked at 
 the settlement some distance away. 
 
 Ugh! 
 
 Why did he refuse the boys' assistance ? 
 
 " I am such a rash, headstrong fool," he said to him- 
 self. "Pluck is all very well in its way, but really a 
 man with a wife and family like me, ahem ought to pay 
 some respect to his skin. But rash daring was always 
 my weakness ; I am like some old war-horse, I can't 
 smell fighting without snorting to be in it. 
 
 " Lord ha' mercy ! what's that? " 
 
 A long shrill note, a profound too-oo-woo. A sort of 
 burlesque of the owl, and unmistakably rendered by a 
 human throat. Mr. Mole had heard such a cry long 
 years before. 
 
 Too well did he remember when, where, and under 
 what dreadful circumstances. 
 
 It was in the Island of Limbi. 
 13
 
 194 J A CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 The war-cry of the savages. 
 
 Horrible reminiscence, this, all things considered. 
 
 ' ' Too-y-woo ! " 
 
 ' ' There it is again. Oh, Lord ! oh, Lord ! " exclaimed 
 Mole, starting up aghast. 
 
 He had been hoping that he was deceived at first. 
 
 Now there could be no mistake about it. 
 
 In his little tent he kept a bugle with which he was 
 wont to signal to Monday from the settlement when he 
 was in need of any thing. 
 
 So he blew a sharp note upon this at once, and waited 
 the answer in some anxiety. 
 
 The answer came. 
 
 Monday was there, then, ready at hand in case of 
 need. 
 
 "Pheugh!" * 
 
 What a relief ! 
 
 Mr. Mole could not deceive himself now ; he was 
 really alarmed. 
 
 He got out his telescope, and eagerly scanned the 
 country round. 
 
 Yet no signs of any enemy could be perceived. 
 
 "Was it my fancy?" he said to himself. "Surely not, 
 no. Hang it, that would look as if I was frightened, and 
 I rather flatter myself that Isaac Mole is just about the 
 last man in this part of the world to get frightened." 
 
 He looked under his blanket for some thing. 
 
 Not there. 
 
 Where could he have put it ? 
 
 He routed out several nooks and corners in his tent, 
 and finally produced from beneath a pile of straw a small 
 stone bottle labelled "whisky." 
 
 "I'm obliged to be a little bit sly," he said to himself. 
 "Chloe is so dreadfully curious; the way she routs out 
 every hole and corner of this place is most distressing to 
 a man of my outspoken, frank, and truthful nature." 
 
 He poured out a little into a cup, and drained it off. 
 
 " Hah ! " he said, smacking his lips in a sort of subdued 
 ecstasy, " that's something like." 
 
 It is astounding how his spirits rose as the whisky 
 went down. 
 
 He grew valiant immediately. 
 
 "If they don't muster too strong," he said to himself,
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 1 95 
 
 "twenty, perhaps but joking apart, I don't think I could 
 tackle more than twenty." 
 
 He got the whisky again. 
 
 ' ' Beastly weak this is, " he said, taking out the cork ; 
 "been well watered before I got it. Awful thieves the 
 dealers are. Why can't they content themselves with an 
 honest profit ? Hah ! " 
 
 He took a suck. 
 
 "Two- thirds water." 
 
 The old gentleman got rather drowsy soon, and put- 
 ting his loaded pistols handy, he settled himself down on 
 his blankets to go to sleep. 
 
 "Let 'em come, ya-haw," he yawned, "let'em come 
 blow the lot to smithereens ya-haw knock 'em into 
 the middle of next week damme, I'd knock 'em into the 
 middl<e of next year." 
 
 And with similar bold resolves, he gradually sank back, 
 
 and slept. 
 
 * # * * * * 
 
 " Too-y-whoo ! " 
 
 " Too-y-whoo-oo ! " 
 
 "Eh, what!" exclaimed Mr. Mole, drowsily; "come 
 in, my dear, don't knock." 
 
 "Too-y-whoo ! " 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 "Wahoo!" 
 
 Mr. Mole sat bolt upright, and looked about him. 
 
 The alarming sound was repeated once more. 
 
 "I was dreaming," he said, "dreaming that I was 
 back in England ; I wish I was." 
 
 "Too-y-whoo." 
 
 " Good Heaven ! what a dreadful row." 
 
 The awful sounds were close at hand this time. 
 
 ' ' The savages. " 
 
 Yes, there could be no mistake about it now. 
 
 Mr. Mole scrambled for his pistols. 
 
 Where were they ? 
 
 He dived under the blanket, under the straw, and all 
 over the tent. 
 
 All in vain. He could not feel them. 
 
 The sounds of the approaching savages grew more and 
 more distinct. 
 
 " Good Heaven !" gasped the old gentleman, "win
 
 1 96 JA CK HARK A WAY AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 a fool I was to drink that whisky. Beastly strong stuff ! 
 Why, it must be over proof." 
 
 There was a wild, discordant yell outside, and lo ! at 
 the entrance of the tent appeared three black forms. 
 
 Mole shrank back. 
 
 Three horrible looking blacks, all besmeared with 
 ghastly pigments. 
 
 Two carrying war-clubs. 
 
 The third with a bow and arrow, ready to let fly at the 
 unhappy old gentleman. 
 
 "Oh-h-h!" 
 
 Mr. Mole gave a prolonged groan. 
 
 " Don't, for mercy's sake ! " 
 
 The three savages set up a fearful din, all three speak- 
 ing at once, producing the most deafening Babel of in- 
 comprehensible sounds. 
 
 "Oh, goodness me !" cried poor Mole; "whatever 
 will become of me ? " 
 
 "Carajo caramba !" yelled the nigger with the bow 
 and arrow. 
 
 "Dear me ! " ejaculated Mole ; " it's a Spanish savage." 
 
 One of the others carrying the war-clubs advanced into 
 the tent, flourishing his formidable weapon. 
 
 " Keri-chi ko kum kemeri thar cum totnamcortrode ! " 
 yelled the savage. 
 
 Mole shut his eyes, groaning 
 
 "Oh, I'm a dead man." 
 
 Never were such sounds heard by mortal ears. 
 
 His time was come, he thought. 
 
 The other savage came in with a bound. 
 
 "Wik wak wallah ! " he shouted. 
 
 "Exactly so, my dear sir," said Mr. Mole, hoping to 
 conciliate him ; "exactly so, but do take a seat and rest 
 yourself. " 
 
 "Hikey pikey ticksey wick, sheepsedantators, " re- 
 marked the savage. 
 
 "Never should have thought it, my dear sir," said 
 Mole, in much the same manner that he would have as- 
 sumed to conciliate a dangerous lunatic. 
 
 The third savage lowered his bow and bounded after 
 his comrades. 
 
 He flew wildly round Mr. Mole, singing an awe-inspir- 
 ing dirge.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. ig-j 
 
 Then he wound up by saying, in a menacing manner 
 
 " Wah hoo, cantank'rous big duffah. Wah hoo ! " 
 
 "Oh, Lor'! oh, Lor'!" moaned Mole, in deep dis- 
 tress, " do keep still there, good fellows." 
 
 But the manner of the other savages tended a little to 
 restore his confidence. 
 
 They appeared inclined to treat. 
 
 "Buckra warrior Mole," said one of them. 
 
 "Dear me, he knows my name," said Mole. "Yes, 
 sir. " 
 
 ' ' Hokus pokey tikey hi in witechapel par willages com. " 
 
 And an awful gesture accompanied this alarming 
 speech, which to Mr. Mole meant the end of every thing. 
 
 "Take all take all!" he groaned, "leave me my 
 life." 
 
 "Buckra warrior Mole," said the savage, benignantly. 
 " Morgan say all money all gold ! " 
 
 "Ah, you speak English, noble savage," ejaculated 
 Mole, eagerly. 
 
 "Yes, backslang patter sanjiles gric otater can," re- 
 sponded the savage, with another dance. 
 
 "What a very extraordinary language," said Mr. Mole. 
 "Some words sound exactly very queer English. So 
 Morgan says all money, all gold? " 
 
 " Yes, and buckra warrior Mole's head." 
 
 " Ugh, my head ! " shrieked Mole. 
 
 The savage took out a knife about six inches long, and 
 executed an Australian saraband. 
 
 " It's all up," said Mole. " Good-bye, Chloe, good-bye 
 to the twins. Good-bye to my dear Jack to my dear 
 Harvey ; I shall never see them again." 
 
 The savage who had before held the bow and arrow, 
 menacing the poor gentleman, had by this time found a 
 stone bottle and taken a suck at it 
 
 The potent spirit made him cough, and choke, and 
 splutter, and then its effects began to tell upon him im- 
 mediately. 
 
 He talked wildly. 
 
 "Ole Massa Mole," he said, with a tipsy air. 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Mole, looking up; "what is it, my 
 worthy young savage ? Only spare my life, and Mole 
 will be your slave. " 
 
 "Ole Massa Mole am agallopshus ole soul."
 
 198 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SOWS 
 
 "Goodness me!" ejaculated Mole; "I declare, it 
 sounds like Tinker." 
 
 The savage giggled. 
 
 "Yah, yah!" 
 
 This settled it. 
 
 Mole recognised him at once. 
 
 Filled with rage and indignation, the old gentleman 
 got over his fright in some slight degree, for he made 
 sure that Tinker had turned traitor. 
 
 He scrambled up, and before the others could guess 
 what he was at, he made a rush and a blow at Tinker. 
 
 Had it taken effect, Tinker would have felt it ; but 
 that youthful nigger was knocked off his perch already 
 by the strong drink, and at that very moment measured 
 his length upon the ground. 
 
 Mole dashed past the savages to the door of the tent, 
 and then blew a loud blast upon his bugle. 
 
 Then off he hobbled as fast as he could go. 
 
 The call was answered from the settlement. 
 
 " Saved, saved ! " cried Mole. 
 
 He was not long in reaching his friends, you may be 
 
 sure. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Now the savages made no attempt to follow him. 
 
 On the contrary, as soon as he was gone, the other 
 two followed Tinker's example by rolling on the ground, 
 not in liquor, but in the wildest mirth. 
 
 They absolutely yelled with laughter. 
 
 And when they had had their laugh out, they went to 
 the tub of water outside the tent and washed their faces 
 and hands with all possible haste. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Mole came back followed by eight armed men. 
 The foremost were Sunday and Monday. 
 " Where are the thieves, sar ?" demanded Monday. 
 "Let's get at 'em," said Sunday, pushing forward. 
 " Here they are, in the tent." 
 The armed men pushed Mr. Mole on. 
 The tent was entered and there they saw 
 Young Jack and Harry Girdwood squatting on the floor, 
 washing Tinker's face and head with a wet towel. 
 "Jack!" 
 "Yes, sir," answered our young hero, looking up.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 1 99 
 
 And Harry!" ejaculated Mr. Mole. "Why, sure- 
 
 ly- 
 
 " We've frightened the savages away, sir," said young 
 Jack. 
 
 ' ' You have ! " exclaimed Mole ; ' ' there, I told you so, " 
 he added, turning to the men with him, "and yet, would 
 you believe it, for a moment I half thought that you had 
 had the impudence to to " 
 
 "Hikey pike wahditch and biled owl ! " said young Jack. 
 
 " With a wak-wallah ! " added Harry Girdwood. 
 
 Mole started. 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " Keriki ko liveranbaken wallah ! " said young Jack. 
 
 This was too much for the audience. 
 
 They burst into a regular yell of laughter. 
 
 Mr. Mole looked very sheepish. 
 
 Then very savage. 
 
 Then he thought it best to dissemble. 
 
 He knew that unless he could get out of the mess 
 adroitly, he would never hear the last of it. 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha ! " he grinned, " so you thought I didn't 
 know you ! Why, you wild dogs, I knew you from the 
 lirst ha, ha, ha ! " 
 
 "Come, come, I say, Mr. Mole," said Harry Girdwood, 
 "that won't do ; you were in an awful fright.'' 
 
 "I, "said Mr. Mole loftily, "I should like to see the 
 man who could ever boast of frightening Isaac Mole." 
 
 "Then why did you bring all these people with you?" 
 
 " Just to show them what fools you had made of your- 
 selves." 
 
 But stand out as he would he could not get over it, and 
 it was many a long day before he heard the last of the 
 savages' attack upon his diggings. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 OLD JACK FALLS INTO TROUBLE BURIED ALIVE DESPAIR. 
 
 WE must now return to Harkaway, Jefferson, and Dick 
 Harvey. 
 
 In the first place we must deal with Jack Harkaway.
 
 200 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'-S 
 
 Old Jack was the foremost of the expedition, a fact 
 Which will not by any means surprise our readers. 
 
 His ambition was to rescue his old friend's wife from 
 the clutches of the villanous bushranger, Captain Morgan, 
 to take her back to Dick, and watch the flush of happi- 
 ness and of gratitude mantle his honest cheek. 
 "I shall do it, too," said old Jack to himself. 
 Little did he know what had already taken place. 
 Little did he think that already Hilda was being cared 
 for by that honest but eccentric little nigger, Tinker. 
 
 Harkaway had got a pretty correct notion of the route 
 his friends in advance were likely to travel, and he set 
 out upon their track at a spanking rate. 
 
 But unfortunately he veered slightly in his course, with 
 a very sad result. 
 
 Instead of coming up with his own party, he crossed 
 the line of the bushranger's scouts. 
 
 The signal was passed from mouth to mouth, and be- 
 fore old Jack could realise what had occurred, he was 
 toppled over by an unseen enemy and made prisoner. 
 
 "Got one of you," said a ruffian, bending over Hark- 
 away ; "you will do, to begin with." 
 
 Jack saw that he was, for the time, trapped. 
 "What's your price to let me go?" demanded old 
 Jack. 
 
 The bushranger looked about him. 
 
 There were too many of his companions about for him 
 to treat on such a subject. 
 
 "More than you could pay, I know. You can talk to 
 Captain Morgan about that." 
 ' Captain Morgan ? " 
 'Yes." 
 
 'So I am his prisoner? " 
 'Yes." 
 
 ' Let me see him." 
 'Presently." 
 ' Is he away ? " 
 'Not far?"' 
 
 ' Very good. I wish to speak with him as soon as 
 may be. " 
 
 Old Jack's idea was that by a liberal outlay he might be 
 enabled to induce the ruffians to part with their prisoner, 
 Hilda.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTKAL1A. 3OI 
 
 For himself he thought little indeed, at present. 
 
 While this thought was engrossing his whole attention, 
 a voice suddenly exclaimed in his ear 
 
 "So, so, old friend, we meet again once more." 
 
 Harkaway gave a start as he looked up. 
 
 " Hunston? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "You in league with my enemies, as you ever were ? " 
 said Harkaway. 
 
 ^Aye," responded Hunston ; "and I hope I ever shall 
 be." 
 
 " It is almost time that you repented of your evil ways, " 
 said Harkaway. 
 
 "I am going to begin my repentance shortly." 
 
 "When?" 
 
 "When I have squared accounts with you," replied 
 Hunston. 
 
 "Ungrateful wretch," ejaculated old Jack. "Do you 
 forget that I saved your life again and again after a 
 succession of outrages which no other man living would 
 have pardoned ? " 
 
 "Brag away, brag away," sneered Hunston. "You 
 play the part of Good Samaritan, and you don't forget to 
 brag about it. Pah ! you were always a sickening cad 
 with your cant, Harkaway." 
 
 The latter was silent. 
 
 A flush of honest indignation mantled his cheek. 
 
 "Your good opinion, Hunston," he said, "would be 
 my condemnation your condemnation is the real com- 
 pliment." 
 
 This made Hunston writhe. 
 
 He could not subdue Harkaway's courage. 
 
 "You can brag, Jack Harkaway, "said Hunston, grin- 
 ning with fiend-like pleasure as a horrible thought crossed, 
 him ; "but I've got one in store for you that shall make 
 you shake from top to toe like an aspen leaf." 
 
 Harkaway did not even deign to reply. 
 
 "Dig the grave, "said Hunston, turning to the bush- 
 rangers. 
 
 What ! a grave ! 
 
 Harkaway heard it, as it was meant he should. 
 
 But he could not believe it possible that 
 
 No, no.
 
 202 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 This was part of Hunston's programme to make him 
 show the white feather. 
 
 But there wasn't such an article in the Harkaway ward- 
 robe, as old Jack's friends had often and often remarked. 
 
 The men proceeded leisurely to dig the grave. 
 
 From time to time, Hunston would watch his old foe 
 to see if there were any symptoms of fear about him. 
 
 But not a quiver of an eyelid betrayed that old Jack 
 realised what was passing. 
 
 Nor did he. 
 
 He knew that he was in peril. 
 
 Instinctively he felt the gravity of his position. 
 
 Yet little did he anticipate the fiend-like cruelty med- 
 itated by the heartless villain whom he had forgiven forty 
 times and more, and whose miserable life he had saved 
 over and over again. 
 
 "There," said Hunston, " that will do. I don't want it 
 too deep." 
 
 "Why, it will hardly cover him in," returned one of 
 the gravediggers. 
 
 " That's what I want." 
 
 " How so ? " 
 
 "I only wish to nearly cover him. Leave his head a 
 little out, so that he may not die too quickly, else he'll 
 not taste all the horrors of death to their full extent. " 
 
 Harkaway felt a little uneasy. 
 
 Well he might. 
 
 The words of the ruffian implied a dreadful death. 
 
 Yet he could not be mistaken. 
 
 He was to be buried alive. 
 
 Buried alive ! 
 
 Does the reader fully realise the horrible thought ? 
 
 It is not easy to grapple with such a hideous reflec- 
 tion. 
 
 Yet this was Hunston's determination. 
 
 Harkaway, his hated enemy, the one man upon earth 
 for whom he had nurtured the bitterest enmity for 3 
 whole generation, was now in his power, and he should 
 taste the bitterness of a lingering death. 
 
 Death in its most dreadful form. 
 
 Slow torture. 
 
 "In with him." 
 
 " Ready," said the gravediggers.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US 'TR ALIA. 2 03 
 
 The bushrangers seized the prisoner by the shoulders 
 and feet, and dragged him into the newly-dug grave. 
 
 Brave old Jack never uttered a word ; he was bound 
 hand and foot. 
 
 He could not escape from the bushrangers, who sur- 
 rounded him on all sides. 
 
 Yet he disdained to show the white feather to this 
 heartless, graceless ruffian who had, in cold blood, con- 
 demned him to such a fate. 
 
 "Now beg your life, Jack Harkaway," said Hunston. 
 
 Old Jack smiled. 
 
 A quiet, irritating smile, far more galling to his enemy 
 than blows would have been. 
 
 "Beg your life." 
 
 "Of you?" 
 
 "Of who else?" 
 
 "I wouldn't be beholden to you even for that." 
 
 Hunston turned livid with rage, and advanced to strike 
 him, but Jack's bold look made the villain lower his arm. 
 
 "Fill in the grave." 
 
 The two gravediggers obeyed orders. 
 
 A few shovelfuls of earth were thrown over old Jack, 
 and then Hunston bade them hold. 
 
 "Now beg your life, Jack Harkaway, of Hunston." 
 
 No answer. 
 
 "Ask for mercy, Jack Harkaway," he said, "and 
 perhaps I may relent." 
 
 "Bah!" 
 
 Hunston held the best end of the rope this time, it is 
 true, yet, never at his worst strait, did he suffer more than 
 now. 
 
 Hunston felt rage, humiliation, disappointment, all 
 all together. 
 
 Nothing could subdue the valorous soul of brave Jack 
 Harkaway. 
 
 " Fill in his grave quick this time," said Hunston. 
 
 "Aye, aye, let's get it over." 
 
 The spades went to work such spades as they had 
 and the unfortunate captive's body was rapidly covered. 
 
 "Not over his head." 
 
 The eagerness of this showed the villain's intentions 
 clearly enough. 
 
 Slow torture !
 
 804 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SCA"S 
 
 By that was the death to which he doomed Harkaway. 
 
 Where were his comrades now ? 
 
 Where was Harvey ? 
 
 Where was the bold and stalwart Jefferson ? 
 
 Miles and miles away from this, probably. 
 
 But would Morgan and the rest of the bushrangers ap- 
 prove of Hunston's thus gratifying his own present spite, 
 and sacrificing the interests of the gang ? 
 
 Surely not. 
 
 The thought had barely crossed him, when he gave a 
 terrific cry a yell so loud and so sudden that the ruffians 
 commanded by Hunston fell back affrighted. 
 
 " Help ! To the rescue of Harkaway ! " 
 
 It echoed all round the place. 
 
 But no answer came. 
 
 No signs of help. 
 
 They piled on the earth, and poor old Jack gave him- 
 self up for dead, but his courage was still with him. 
 
 "At last, Jack Harkaway," said Hunston, "at last, 
 after waiting all these years, after going all over the 
 world for it, I have achieved the one absorbing idea of 
 my life. You are done for. Die, die, good Harkaway," 
 he added, grinning with the intensity of his bitterness, 
 " die like a rat in a trap, but with never a bit of cheese 
 to nibble at with never a chance of gnawing yourself 
 free. Die, knowing that it is I, Hunston, your old school- 
 fellow, that doomed you to death." 
 
 Never a word did Jack speak. 
 
 He gave his villanous enemy a proud, defiant look, 
 even while despair settled upon him. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 IN THE NICK OF TIME JEFFERSON TO THE RESCUE A FATAL 
 
 FIGHT TWO TO TWELVE ROUT OF THE BUSHRANGERS, AND 
 
 DEATH OF JEFFERSON. 
 
 " HARK ! " 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 ' ' Didn't you hear that ? " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " I could almost swear I heard a cry."
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. . 205 
 
 " Fancy." 
 
 "Perhaps," answered Jefferson ; " yet I thought " 
 
 He listened intently again, and a second cry came, 
 fainter even than the first. 
 
 Yet it was sufficiently distinct to indicate the direction 
 from whence it came. 
 
 "I could swear that I heard it," said Jefferson, with an 
 air of conviction ; " moreover, Harvey, I feel sure that it 
 is a familiar cry." 
 
 "Whose?" 
 
 "Jack's." 
 
 Harvey stared. 
 
 "Why, Jefferson," he said, "if you did really hear 
 any thing, it was so faint that you could certainly not say 
 what it was, even if it was a human voice." 
 
 Jefferson made some impatient rejoinder, and looked to 
 his firearms. 
 
 "I am so certain of it," he said, "that I am going off 
 to try and be in time." 
 
 " In time for what? " 
 
 "To save him." 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 "Jack." 
 
 Harvey looked upon his companion as mad. 
 
 "If you hear my revolver fired twice," said Jefferson, 
 "come up as fast as you can, for I may wa t help." 
 
 And before they could say any thing more, Jefferson had 
 gone. 
 
 He started off at a run, and soon disappeared. 
 
 He had passed years in the backwoods, and his hear- 
 ing was more acute than that of Dick Harvey, or, indeed, 
 of any ordinary hunter, and soon he heard sounds con- 
 firming his suspicions. 
 
 More cries, louder and more distinct than ever. 
 
 Aye, and the voice was now unmistakable. 
 
 "Jack Harkaway's voice, for a million ! " 
 
 He redoubled his speed, and got over the ground like 
 lightning until, at length, he was startled by hearing a 
 diabolical sound of triumphant laughter. 
 
 This was followed by a noisy demonstration, in which 
 some half dozen voices joined. 
 
 "Strangers!" exclaimed Jefferson, in alarm; "then 
 Harkaway is in the hands of the Philistines, as I feared.
 
 206 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 What shall I do ? Signal Harvey, and the men, or no, 
 I will keep my two shots, for I may want them, and they 
 might alarm the enemy to no good. " 
 
 On he ran until he came to the top of a hill, upon the 
 further side of which a tragedy was being performed. 
 
 There was Hunston and his mob of ruffians engaged in 
 burying poor Harkaway alive. 
 
 Jefferson took in the scene at a single glance. 
 
 He was so close, that he was within pistol-shot. 
 
 Out came his revolvers, and taking a rapid, but yet 
 careful aim, he let fly. 
 
 Bang, bang ! they went. 
 
 A cry of mingled pain and surprise came from the bush- 
 rangers, as they looked up. 
 
 " Hillo, ho, Harvey ! " yelled Jefferson. 
 
 And down the steep declivity he tore. 
 
 "Harvey, Harvey, hallo!" he shouted, as he ran. 
 "Rescue, rescue! Courage, Jack, old boy; here's help. " 
 
 "Jefferson," replied Harkaway, very faintly. 
 
 "Right, Jack." 
 
 Hunston turned pale at the sound. 
 
 His first impulse was to fly ; but shame stayed him. 
 
 "Don't run away," said the men, "stay and fight it 
 out." 
 
 Two of the bushrangers were down Math the first fire. 
 
 But now getting in better range, Jefferson blazed away 
 again. 
 
 Down went another, howling with pain. 
 
 Now we do not mean to say that they would have run 
 away from a single enemy, but in the suddenness of 
 Jefferson's attack, they felt sure that he was followed by 
 a large party, and so they all with the exception, of 
 course, of the three wounded men turned and fled. 
 
 Jefferson flew up to the grave, and tore wildly at the 
 earth. 
 
 It had been thrown loosely over the victim, and so to 
 release him was not a very long, nor a very difficult job. 
 
 One stroke of his long bowie knife loosened the thongs 
 which bound him. 
 
 "God bless you, Jefferson," said Harkaway; "you 
 have saved me." 
 
 Before Jefferson could make any reply, a loud outcry 
 from the enemy attracted their attention.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRA LI A. -_ GJ 
 
 "Look out, Jack, my boy," cried Jefferson, "they are 
 coming, and we must fight for life. " 
 
 "Curs ! " cried one of the wounded, who was writhing 
 upon the ground. "Eight men run away from one. He 
 is alone." 
 
 The flying bushrangers did not want this information, 
 however. 
 
 The first fright over, they saw that their alarm was un- 
 necessary. Back they came. 
 
 " Look out, Jack, my boy," said Jefferson. 
 
 "All right, old friend" 
 
 "Take this, Jack." 
 
 He thrust his pistol into Harkaway's hand. 
 
 The bushrangers came on with a rush. 
 
 A shot, at close quarters, was fired from the enemy, 
 and an involuntary cry escaped Jefferson. 
 
 "Heaven ! " he exclaimed, "I am hit hard, Jack." 
 
 " Miscreants 1" cried old Jack; "they shall pay bit- 
 terly for that." 
 
 Snatching up the nearest weapon to hand one of the 
 spades which had been employed in digging his grave 
 he dashed rapidly to meet the foe. 
 
 Jefferson pulled himself together. 
 
 ' ' Now for it. " 
 
 Nearing them, old Jack made a sudden rush forward, 
 and fired his revolver right into the thick of the rascals, 
 then he fell upon them with his spade. 
 
 Two broken heads were the result of his first attack. 
 
 Up came Jefferson just as Hunston was reeling back 
 with the shock, and shooting out his sledge-hammer fist, 
 he grassed the traitor like a butcher fells an ox. 
 
 The bushrangers were one and all big, powerful fellows ; 
 men, in a word, who could always hold their own. 
 
 But they had not been accustomed to see such fight- 
 ing men as Jefferson and Jack Harkaway. 
 
 The former went in for all round fighting, abandoning 
 his pistols and knife, and there was scarcely a man there 
 present but received some striking proofs of his prowess. 
 
 In less time than it takes us to record the fact, there 
 was not a sound pate present. 
 
 He shot out at their heads, and the proofs of the exact- 
 ness of his aim were shown in bleeding mouths, and flat-
 
 2 oS JA c K HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 tened noses, while there was scarcely an eye but what 
 was rapidly going into mourning. 
 
 Nor was Harkaway idle, as you may suppose. 
 
 He did not dispense his favours so evenly as Jefferson. 
 
 He singled out such of the ruffians as had shown him 
 the greatest cruelty, and he peppered them in a way that 
 they never forgot. 
 
 "Murder ! " yelled one of the most cruelly used. 
 
 "Take that ! " cried Jefferson. 
 
 He took it. 
 
 It was not at all nice, nor would the man have taken it 
 had he been able to do as he liked. 
 
 But it was not a matter of choice. 
 
 That was simply a knock on the head, which threatened 
 *o put an end to his tricks for many a day. 
 
 Down he went, like a stone in a pond. 
 
 Now while the fight was going on thus well for our 
 friends, Jefferson and Harkaway for they had scarcely 
 received a scratch after Jefferson's shot, of which more 
 anon the bold American gave a sudden cry of anguish. 
 
 Down he went. 
 
 Hunston, who was sprawling upon the ground, had 
 dealt him a treacherous stroke across the leg with his 
 long knife that had severed the tendons of his knee. 
 
 But the dealer of this fatal stroke soon repented of it. 
 
 Jefferson fell half upon him. 
 
 Badly wounded though he was, he had yet strength 
 enough left to hammer away at the enemy's face. 
 
 And soon the villain Hunston was battered out of all 
 recognition. 
 
 One of the friends being down, it soon became very hot 
 work for the other. 
 
 Poor old Jack was sorely pressed by the enemy. 
 
 Yet he contrived to keep them at bay pretty fairly, for 
 he had a strong and dexterous right arm, which they one 
 and all had learnt to dread. 
 
 " Shoot him down ! " shouted one of the villains. "Who 
 has got a pistol ? " 
 
 " I have." 
 
 " Fire away, then." 
 
 A sharp report followed this appeal closely. 
 
 But happily the bullet whistled close to old Jack's ear 
 without doing him any damage.
 
 ADVENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 209 
 
 An inch nearer and it would have been awkward. 
 
 Harkaway dropped on them in reply. 
 
 Ding, dong ! he went at the man with the pistol, and 
 his fists did not do as the bullet had done. 
 
 They did not whistle past him, but came straight home, 
 and made the wretched possessor of the pistol bitterly 
 repent ever having fired that shot. 
 
 The first blow from old Jack's left knocked his head 
 completely out of the square. The man lived long 
 after. 
 
 But he never, got over the crick in the neck which that 
 doughty blow gave him. 
 
 Old Jack was on his mettle. 
 
 It was a rare sight to see him drop into those ruffians. 
 
 How it would have gladdened the heart of some of his 
 old schoolfellows, and his old college chums, too. 
 ****** 
 
 "Jack," called the poor maimed Jefferson, faintly, for 
 his strength was nearly spent. 
 
 Harkaway heard him. 
 
 But his attention was given to the three cowardly vil- 
 lains, who were endeavouring to topple him over, and he 
 could not even reply for the moment. 
 
 "Jack, 1 1 lend a hand. It's all over with your old 
 friend Jefferson." 
 
 Harkaway gave a heartrending cry. 
 
 The word gave him a fresh energy the energy of 
 despair. 
 
 Dashing at his adversaries, he scattered them and ran 
 to Jefferson. 
 
 One of the wounded men had spitted him with a knife 
 as they lay side by side upon the ground. 
 
 And now the life blood was ebbing fast from the brave 
 fellow's breast. 
 
 It was a piteous sight. 
 
 Harkaway saw the fatal knife, reeking with the bold 
 American's blood, and it filled him with madness. 
 
 He fell upon the destroyer with deep rage in his heart, 
 and gave him no mercy. 
 
 But this act nearly cost him his own life, for the rest of 
 the men were upon him in an instant, and he was borne 
 
 to the ground and overpowered. 
 
 ****** 
 
 14
 
 210 JACK HA RKA WAY A ND HIS SON 'S 
 
 Suddenly there were four or five shots fired in rapid 
 succession. 
 
 A party of armed men came down the hill at a desper- 
 ate pace. 
 
 It was Harvey and his friends. 
 
 The bushrangers, now reduced to three, vainly en- 
 deavoured to fly. 
 
 There was not a sound man amongst them, for Jeffer- 
 son and old Jack had so dealt upon them that they could 
 not get over the ground very fast. 
 
 Before they could get a dozen yards, they were shot 
 down or beaten to the ground. 
 
 The victory was, after all, with our friends. 
 
 But ah, at what a terrible price ! 
 
 Harkaway had three wounds, ugly to look at, but not 
 dangerous. 
 
 Alas for poor Jefferson ! 
 
 He was one mass of wounds, from top to toe. 
 
 The knife and the bullet had done their work. 
 
 " Harvey," said Jefferson, faintly, "give me Something 
 to drink. I shall choke with thirst." 
 
 A flask of brandy was placed to his lips, and he drank 
 freely. 
 
 The ardent spirit appeared to revive him. 
 
 "Hah! that's brave," he said, speaking with evident 
 difficulty for a minute or two. " It can't last long." 
 
 "Come, come, Jeff," said Dick; "it isn't so bad as 
 "that." 
 
 "It is, though," returned the dying man, seriously. 
 "Where's Jack?" 
 
 " Here, Jefferson," said Harkaway. 
 
 " Much damaged? " asked the brave American, with a 
 faint smile of recognition. 
 
 ' ' No, no knocked about. " 
 
 "But not fatal?" 
 
 " I trust not." 
 
 "Heaven be thanked!" returned Jefferson, earnestly, 
 "for the sake of your poor wife and your boy. Jack, old 
 friend, I am going home fast, "he went on, seriously. "I 
 begin to see clearly, now, on certain points." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 ' ' You must leave these wild scenes. A family man has 
 no right to play pitch-and-toss with his life like that. For
 
 ADVENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 2 1 1 
 
 me it is very different. I had nothing to live for, and I 
 shan't live long." 
 
 Here he smiled grimly. 
 
 "Yes, you will, you must, for all our sakes," cried Hark- 
 away. 
 
 " Not I. I feel I am about leaving you all in this world 
 for ever." 
 
 "No, no." 
 
 "Yes, it is so. That last dig was quite enough to do 
 for me, if I hadn't received my quantity before, which I 
 had. But we have peppered them royally, Jack, old boy. " 
 
 "We did we did," returned Harkaway, pressing his 
 hand. 
 
 ' ' Harvey. " 
 
 "Yes, Jefferson." 
 
 "Give me another pull at the bottle, while you count 
 up the field. " 
 
 Harvey obeyed. 
 
 Another drink gave the brave man renewed strength, 
 and he awaited Harvey's reply with apparent eagerness. 
 
 "Eleven of them." 
 
 " Huzzah ! " cried the dying American. "That's 
 something. By Heaven, Jack, these vagabond bush- 
 rangers will learn to respect the name of Harkaway for 
 evermore." 
 
 The effort cost him dearly, and as the last word passed 
 his lips, Jefferson sank back pale and breathless. 
 
 "Jack." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Dick." 
 
 "Here, Jeff." 
 
 "Give me your hand a hand each," said the brave 
 fellow, looking up into their faces. "The end is near 
 a few moments only, and it will be farewell." 
 
 "Jeff, Jeff," exclaimed Harvey, averting his face; 
 "you'll break my heart." 
 
 "Don't be a fool, Dick," returned the dying man, 
 changing his humour with quaint suddenness. ' ' Don't re- 
 gret me, dear boys. Why, if I had to choose my death 
 this minute, I could not hit upon one half so glorious. I 
 have learnt to love you, Jack, as a brother, and to me it is a 
 real happiness to have fallen in saving you. God bless 
 you, Jack ! "
 
 212 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 Harkaway returned his grip in silence. 
 
 His heart was far too full for words. 
 
 "You'll have to put me in the grave they dug for Jack," 
 he said, turning to Dick Harvey, with a sad smile. "An 
 odd fancy, that. Good-bye. Think of poor Jeff some- 
 times, and never regret this glorious day. I'm going to 
 rejoin my dear friend, Brand poor little Magog ! a dear 
 friend to me and to go to him above, in a better and 
 brighter world, takes away what little bitterness death 
 has for me. Jack, dear boy Dick " 
 
 His voice grew fainter. 
 
 A film gathered over his eyes. 
 
 He tried to speak again. 
 
 But although his lips moved, no sound came. 
 
 It was too late. 
 
 A faint, spasmodic quiver of the lips, and the bravest 
 heart that ever beat was still for ever. 
 
 The bold Jefferson had gone to rejoin his friend, Magog 
 
 Brand, in real earnest. 
 
 * # # # * * 
 
 Slowly reverently they laid the dead brave fellow in 
 the grave ready dug. 
 
 The only funeral service given over him was a silent 
 prayer and the bitter tears of his heart-broken friends and 
 comrades. 
 
 " Farewell, dear, dear Jefferson ! " wailed Harkaway. 
 " We shall never look upon such a friend as you again." 
 
 "Never," iterated Harvey, bitterly, " never." 
 
 " Peace be to his ashes ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 MR. MOLE HAS A WONDERFUL ADVENTURE HOW TINKER FISHED 
 
 HIM OUT A WICKED HOAX. 
 
 UNEASINESS prevailed in the settlement. 
 
 Day after day passed by, and no news of Jack or Dick, 
 
 Young Jack and his friend Harry Girdwood did their 
 best to reassure Mrs. Harkaway and the ladies generally. 
 
 They were, however, far from comfortable in their own 
 minds.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TRALIA . 2 1 3 
 
 Where could they be ? 
 
 Why was there no message ? 
 
 Some terrible mishap, doubtless, had occurred. 
 
 The only person in all the settlement who appeared to 
 take it less to heart than the rest, was Tinker. 
 
 The black boy was not wanting in sympathy nor kindly 
 instincts ; but he constantly repeated that it was not so 
 easy to get over the ground as they supposed. 
 
 Now so lightly did Tinker take the matter such was 
 his boundless confidence in his master, old Jack, and in 
 Jefferson, Harvey, and the rest that he kept up his 
 pranks, and kept the settlement generally in a state of 
 commotion by one particular experiment. 
 
 He rigged himself up a tent close beside Mr. Mole's, 
 and into this tent, in the dead of night, he conveyed a 
 pick and spade, and a variety of tools. 
 
 Mr. Mole eyed that tent with distrust, for Tinker had 
 shown him that he was an adept in the villanous art of 
 practical joking. 
 
 Still Tinker kept to his own tent, and never by any 
 chance ventured to intrude upon Mr. Mole. 
 
 Meanwhile, Tinker worked as hard as a galley-slave 
 under his own canvas. 
 
 No one could guess at what. 
 
 Tinker was close. 
 
 "Close as wax, sar, dis bewful lubly chile, sar," he 
 said, with a grin, to anyone who tried to fathom him. 
 Mr. Mole was uneasy. 
 
 From Tinker's tent came forth the most discordant 
 sounds, which continually reminded poor Mole of that 
 attack upon his mine by the sham savages. 
 
 And when he showed at the tent door, the black boy 
 bore very evident signs of having worked very hard. 
 Worked at what ? 
 
 Mole grew more and more uneasy in his mind. 
 
 Was there some fresh conspiracy hatching ? 
 
 "That beast of a black boy means mischief, I know," 
 said Mole to himself, repeatedly. "Does he mean to 
 rob me?" 
 
 Dreadful thought. 
 
 Poor old Mole dared not leave his mine. 
 
 Waking or sleeping, he dared not leave it. He ate in it 
 
 He drank in it, and wrapped in a thick blanket, he slept
 
 214 JACK HARK A WAY AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 in it, and during his sleep, young Jack and Harry would 
 creep in silently and in the earth place a few small bits 
 of the old brass candlestick, just to encourage old Mole 
 in his search for gold. 
 
 Now, although Mole's property has been designated 
 the mine, the reader must not suppose it was an excava- 
 tion of any very great depth. 
 
 The mine consisted of a hole some ten feet span, at 
 the bottom of which was a smaller excavation two feet in 
 circumference, and perhaps about the same depth. 
 
 Here it was that Mr. Mole was convinced lay the 
 metal which was to reward him for all he had suffered 
 and undergone in the past. 
 
 This was now a spot most jealously guarded by the 
 mine owner, who sat on the side of the pit with his feet 
 in the hole at the bottom of it. 
 
 "Now, if I drop off to sleep," said the wary Mole to 
 himself, with a chuckle, " I'll defy Master Tinker or any 
 of the robbers to come and play tricks with my property, 
 without disturbing me. 
 
 "Ya-awh, it's astonishing how drowsy I feel," said 
 Mr. Mole, yawning. " I shall knock myself up, if I don't 
 
 look out ya-awh ! " 
 
 ***** * 
 
 Tinker plied pick and spade. 
 
 He was always at it. 
 
 And why? 
 
 There was a reason for it, and that reason was shortly 
 to appear. 
 
 "Golly, ain't I wicked?" he said to himself, as he 
 paused in his self-set labour. 
 
 "Cantankerous, big, naughty, spiteful I am. Yah, 
 yah ! ': 
 
 He stopped suddenly short in his laugh. 
 
 "Who's dar?" 
 
 "It's only me, Tinker," answered a familiar voice. 
 
 "Massa Jack? " 
 
 "Yes," said our youthful hero; "and Harry's with 
 me." 
 
 "What you want?" asked the black boy, running up 
 to meet him, so as to prevent him taking a close obser- 
 vation of his work. 
 
 "We only want to know what you are doing ? "
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 2I 5 
 
 " Have you found a gold mine, too ? " asked Harry. 
 
 Tinker replied with a suppressed grin, that rumbled 
 audibly in his inside, as though it threatened some vol- 
 canic eruption. 
 
 "Massa Jack," said Tinker, pulling a hypocritical face, 
 " I'se awful wicked just." 
 
 "We know that you're awful wicked, Tinker," said 
 Harry Girdwood. 
 
 " Now tell us what you are after here," said young 
 Jack. 
 
 "You no tell nobody?" said Tinker, in a whisper. 
 
 "No." 
 
 " An' you, Massa Harry ? " 
 
 " No, no." 
 
 Thus assured, Tinker drew near to whisper to them 
 his mysterious secret. 
 
 But the joke of the situation so tickled his fancy that 
 he couldn't get a word out for laughing. 
 
 "Golly, I 'spects I'se gwine to bust right up wid laugh- 
 ing," he said, holding his sides. 
 
 "Well, out with it, Tinker," said young Jack, impa- 
 tiently, "and let us 'bust up ' with you." 
 
 "Look hyar," said the black boy, leading them into 
 his digging. ' ' Look at dis hyar funnel. " 
 
 "Funnel! Oh, you mean tunnel," said Harry Gird- 
 wood. 
 
 "Dat's it." 
 
 "And what's that for? " 
 
 "Why, dat funnel goes right away to " 
 
 And here he sank his voice to a whisper, and finished 
 in young Jack's ear. 
 
 Harry heard it too. 
 
 And then these three young boys laughed until they 
 held their sides. 
 
 What could it be ? 
 
 We shall see. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Mr. Mole dozed. 
 He yawned. 
 Dozed again. 
 
 And then the unearthly sounds issuing from the next 
 tent aroused him. 
 
 "Thought I heard something," he muttered. "Cer-
 
 2 1 6 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 tainly thought I heard a noise. Very odd. Strange 
 things happen to people. I'm just as if I was taking a 
 foot-bath. Ha, ha, ha ! " 
 
 The idea tickled him. 
 
 "Just like a foot-bath, for all the world. Fancy wash- 
 ing my wooden legs. Ha, ha ! " 
 
 As Mr. Mole again dozed, a singular event occurred. 
 
 The ground beneath his feet was pierced by a thick 
 rod. 
 
 This shot up. 
 
 Then there was a pause, and presently some water 
 oozed slowly out. 
 
 It came on quicker and quicker with a gurgling sound, 
 until the hole at the bottom of the pit was full. 
 
 A foot-bath. 
 
 It was indeed a foot-bath with a vengeance. 
 
 While the wooden limbs were bathed, it was all very 
 well, but the water rose higher, until it reached his 
 flesh. 
 
 And then it struck a sudden chill to him, that caused 
 him to rouse up with a shiver. 
 
 "What an extraordinary feeling," he exclaimed ; "just 
 for all the world as if I was sitting in cold wat hullo ! " 
 
 He stared in utter amazement. 
 
 What could it mean ? 
 
 The water rose higher and higher, until it covered his 
 legs and thighs. 
 
 This aroused Mr. Mole thoroughly, and he gave a 
 mighty jump out of the hole. 
 
 But the water had made it slippery at the edges, and 
 down he flopped, faster than he had got up. 
 
 But this time, he went sprawling full length in the hole, 
 only to scramble up again spluttering and puffing. 
 
 A miserably ludicrous aspect he presented, when he 
 got up too. 
 
 And the water was still rising. 
 
 He clutched frantically at the edges of the mine, but 
 the earth crumbled in his fingers, and down he went 
 again. 
 
 " Help ! " he shouted. " Help, help ! Something's the 
 matter with my gold mine. Help, help ! "
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 217 
 
 Had poor Mole been less frightened, he might have 
 heard Tinker's triumphant laughter. 
 
 "Tinker!" cried Mole, wildly, as the water rose 
 higher and higher. "Tinker ! Help, good, kind Tinker 1 
 Help, Tinker, you villain. Oh, good Tinker! come and 
 help your old friend Mole. 
 
 Tinker came running out of his tent, followed by Harry 
 Girdwood and young Jack. 
 
 "Oh, Lor' oh, Lor', Massa Jack!" cried Tinker, 
 (seemingly in the greatest surprise. "Jes' look hyar. 
 Hyar's Massa Mole a-swimmin' like mad. " 
 
 "Pull me out, you young villain ! " yelled Mole. 
 
 "What yar washin' yerself for, Massa Mole? " inquired 
 Tinker. 
 
 Mole made a grab upwards, but missing his hold, 
 down he dropped again, and was covered with the water. 
 
 " Beast ! " he cried, as soon as he could get his breath. 
 "Pull me out, you young black beast ! " 
 
 " Yes, sar," answered Tinker, as coolly as if the matter 
 was one of no urgency whatever. "Wait till I get my 
 fishing rod." 
 
 "You devil!" cried poor Mole. "I'll have you 
 whipped." 
 
 ' ' Yah, yah ! " laughed Tinker. 
 
 " You'll suffer for this." 
 
 Tinker laughed in his aggravating way, and took an 
 elaborate double sight at Mole, who writhed with rage 
 and with the unpleasantness of the situation. 
 
 "The water is rushing in quicker. I shall be drowned. 
 Help me out, oh 1 I'll kill you ! " yelled Mole, shaking 
 his fist up at him. 
 
 "Den I no get you out," cried Tinker, running away. 
 
 "Tinker, Tinker!" cried Mole. "Good Tinker, do 
 help me out." 
 
 Tinker slowly returned. 
 
 " Dat's better," he said. "And now," he added, 
 gravely wagging his forefinger at the unfortunate gold 
 digger. "You be good boy for the fewsher ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes ! " gasped Mole. 
 
 "Den out you come." 
 
 Saying which, he let down a rope, and pulled the old 
 gentleman out. 
 
 Once free from the water, he hoisted him up, until Jack
 
 2 1 8 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 and Harry were within reach, and they helped drag him 
 free. 
 
 Tinker sat on the ground, laughing at the miserable 
 figure old Mole cut at that moment 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 MR. MOLE MAKES AN AWFUL DISCOVERY THE TEST OF THE 
 
 GOLD AND THE EXTINGUISHER NUGGET. 
 
 "WHY, however did the accident happen, sir? " asked 
 Harry Girdwood. 
 
 " I struck on a spring, I suppose," replied Mole. 
 
 The three boys exchanged significant looks. 
 
 "No doubt, sir." 
 
 " Good lot of springs, Massa Mole," said Tinker, grin- 
 ning. 
 
 "I should almost think so," said Mr. Mole, shaking 
 the wet off his hair and face ; "now, look here, Tinker." 
 
 "Yes, sar." 
 
 "Just you run up to the big house and get me a change 
 of clothing. " 
 
 "Yes, sar. Oh, sar, I tell you what you look like, 
 sar ; you look like a splendiferous water mole, sar ; yah, 
 yah ! " 
 
 "Fly!" 
 
 "Yes, sar." 
 
 Tinker ran off, just in time to save himself from a lump 
 of mud Mole was about to throw at him. 
 
 And while he was gone, Harry and young Jack strolled 
 round Mr. Mole's gold and water mine. 
 
 No sooner were they gone than Mr. Mole was seized 
 with a fit of curiosity. 
 
 ' ' What can that boy Tinker have been after there ? " 
 he muttered to himself. 
 
 So looking about him to see that Harry and young Jack 
 were occupied elsewhere, he stepped into the tent and 
 
 " Goodness me ! " 
 
 There was a huge hole in the ground which almost 
 rivalled the mine itself. 
 
 "This is a very singular thing," said Mr. Mole aloud.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 219 
 
 "Niggers and monkeys are almost kindred. This young 
 Tinker has been seized with a fit of imitation. He's been 
 digging because I have been digging." 
 
 He drew nearer. 
 
 The excavation which Tinker had so laboured at went 
 in a slanting direction so as to reach, at its bottom, the 
 depths of Mr. Mole's celebrated mine. 
 
 This was a very singular fact to Mr. Mole. 
 
 "There's something in that," muttered the old gold- 
 seeker to himself. "Some deep villany ; why, what can 
 this be ? " 
 
 A pipe. 
 
 An iron pipe, and fitted into the top of it an immense 
 funnel which seemed to indicate that it had been used as 
 a water-pipe. 
 
 Mole staggered back, and looked about the tent, when 
 his eyes dropped on to a big tub of water, half sunk in 
 the ground, close by the pipe and funnel, but which had 
 been momentarily concealed from view by a mound of 
 the earth thrown up out of the tunnel. 
 
 "There's something in this more than meets the eye," 
 said Mr. Mole, to himself. "That tub is to supply the 
 water which is poured down the pipe by means of the 
 funnel. That is clear enough. But where the deuce 
 does this water-pipe lead to ? Where ? Unless into my 
 gold mine ? " 
 
 It flashed across him at once. 
 
 And as the trick dawned upon his startled imagination, 
 he could only find one word in which to express his utter 
 disgust and indignation. 
 
 " The little black beast ! " 
 
 As this epithet escaped him, he heard the voice of 
 Tinker, shouting 
 
 "Where am de old water mole? " 
 
 "Come along, Tinker," cried young Jack. "What a 
 long time you've been." 
 
 "De lubly Missie Mole wouldn't gib me de Mole's 
 fings." 
 
 " Little beast," muttered Mole, under his breath, " I'll 
 ' fings' you." 
 
 By this the irate old gentleman meant to convey a 
 novel form of punishment which Tinker was very far 
 from expecting.
 
 220 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 He quietly dipped a pail of water from the tub and 
 waited. 
 
 Crouched up behind Tinker's own tent. 
 
 Holding Tinker's own pail of water. 
 : Where is Massa Mole ? " 
 1 Isn't he there ? " demanded Harry Girdwood. 
 No." 
 
 ' Look round." 
 
 ' He ain't dere, by golly," said Tinker. "And I'se got 
 such gollopshus bewful close for him, all dry and warm 
 ha, ooh ! " 
 
 The latter ejaculation was elicited by the sudden dash- 
 ing of the bucket of water from behind the tent into the 
 young darkey's face. 
 
 "Take that and that," cried Mole, rushing out and 
 giving the surprised Tinker a vicious thump with the now 
 empty bucket; "undermine me, will you? Flood my 
 property ? Make a water mole of me, and try to drown 
 me, will you ? Take that and that. " 
 
 And at each word he laid it on pretty hard. 
 
 Tinker scrambled up when the first surprise was over, 
 and bolted off to a safe distance. 
 
 "Ugly ole man, with nasty legs," cried the smarting 
 Tinker, taking a sight. 
 
 This aggravated Mole again, and round he went after 
 him at a dashing rate. 
 
 But Tinker was an awkward customer to try on a race 
 with, for he dodged and doubled in a way that would 
 have surprised the most active people. 
 
 He was here, there, and everywhere in a jiffey, bound- 
 ing about like an india-rubber ball. 
 
 Presently he was down. 
 
 " I have you now ! " exclaimed Mole. 
 
 No ! Mr. Mole had not got Tinker, for that active 
 black youth nimbly rolled aside and was on his feet in an 
 instant. 
 
 Then he waited until the old gentleman was close 
 upon him, and bolted off just as the other thought he 
 had him in his clutches. 
 
 At length Mr. Mole, fairly pumped out, was obliged to 
 sit down and pant for breath 
 
 "You young black viper," gasped Mole, "I'll have 
 you tied up and flogged within an inch of your life."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TR ALIA. 2 2 i 
 
 " Yah ! ooh ! you turn old nigger-hunter," jeered Tinker, 
 from a safe distance. 
 
 " Bring me my dry clothes, my boy." 
 
 Tinker never moved. 
 
 " Do you hear, sir ? " 
 
 ' ' Yes, sar. Dis chile hear be wful, only he don't come. " 
 
 Threats being of no avail, Mr. Mole called for assist- 
 ance to young Jack and his companion, who stood near 
 enjoying the scene. 
 
 ' Bring me my dry clothes, Jack, my boy." 
 'Can't, sir." 
 ' Why ? " 
 ' They're wet. " 
 
 ' Why, you don't mean to say that that beast of a 
 boy " 
 
 "Not a beast, sir," replied Jack. "You w r etted them 
 yourself, when you doused the water over that rude 
 Tinker." 
 
 "I shall catch the lumbago and tic-doloreux and 
 sciatica, and all the rest of it," Mole answered 
 
 "Yes, sar, "grinned Tinker, " you getde ticbago,an'de 
 asiatica, an' all de family of dem tic things." 
 
 "Fiend ! " yelled Mole. 
 
 "Yes, sar." 
 
 "Devil! " 
 
 "Yah, yah ! dat's me, sar," responded Tinker, cheer- 
 fully. 
 
 Mr. Mole tried threats and denunciations until he saw 
 that it was of no avail. 
 
 And then he returned to coaxing, and in this way was 
 happily more successful. 
 
 Tinker was induced to make a second journey to the 
 house for more garments, and so Mr. Mole got a dry 
 
 rig-out. 
 
 ****** 
 
 "My opinion is," said Mr. Mole, dubiously, "that you 
 are all in this job." 
 
 Young Jack and Harry Girdwood protested their in- 
 nocence ; but protested in vain. 
 
 "I wouldn't believe you on oath," said Mr. Mole, "not 
 either of you, but I'll tell you what. I'll look over it all 
 on two conditions." 
 
 "What are they, sir?"
 
 2-2 JACK HARK A W4Y A\D KjS SON 'S 
 
 "Firstly, that you help me undo the mischief you have 
 caused. " 
 
 "And next? " 
 
 "That when you have helped me draw off the water, 
 you don't mention a worcr of this to any body." 
 
 This they willingly agreed to. 
 
 They set to work with a will, and it was a very short 
 job. 
 
 The water sank into the earth when they had got a 
 bucket or two of it out. 
 
 So that it was all but a matter of a few hours' work. 
 
 When the mine was clear they set to work digging 
 with Mr. Mole, and strange to relate, they had not been 
 long at work when they came to some very remarkable 
 results. 
 
 Young Jack was digging vigorously at a new part on 
 the higher ground when Mr. Mole caught sight of some 
 thing glittering in the shovelful of earth that the boy had 
 turned over. 
 
 " What's that ?" 
 
 He bounced eagerly upon it. 
 
 " A nugget ! " 
 
 "Never !" 
 
 " It is, it is ! " cried Mr. Mole, joyously. 
 
 He rubbed off the earth sticking to the metallic object 
 of his excitement, and then revealed the nugget, which 
 was of the most curious shape. 
 
 It was a cone and hollow. 
 
 "Why, bless me," said the excitable mine-owner, with 
 a puzzled air ; " it looks for all the world like an extin- 
 guisher. '' 
 
 The boys could no longer contain themselves. 
 
 A general explosion followed ; they burst into a yell of 
 laughter that might have been heard in the settlement 
 hard by. 
 
 Mole looked up. 
 
 What could it mean ? 
 
 A dreadful suspicion flashed across his mind as he fell 
 to rubbing furiously at this newly-discovered nugget. 
 
 "It is, it is! "he cried, in despair, "a brass extin- 
 guisher. " 
 
 " Lubly gold dat, sir. Tinker glad to turn water 
 mole to get such lubly gold."
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 223 
 
 ' ' You you you- 
 
 He had exhausted his vocabulary of abuse, and could 
 not think of any name vile enough for the black boy. 
 
 "Bewful, gollopshus nugget, dat 'stinguisher, Massa 
 Mole." 
 
 Mole groaned. 
 
 He had never said a word, but scrambled out of the 
 diggings and went into his tent, where the small bag of 
 nuggets was hidden. 
 
 Dragging it out, he applied the test it is strange that he 
 should not have thought of it before, but he had had no 
 suspicions of trickery and it all proved to be like the 
 extinguisher. 
 
 Candlestick gold, melted down by Jack and Harry. 
 
 His anguish on making this discovery could only find 
 vent in one word. 
 
 "Sold!" 
 
 He was. 
 
 "It's a robbery, too, "he exclaimed in his indignation ; 
 "an infamous conspiracy and a robbery those boys 
 were in it. I'll have them all trounced Harkaway shall 
 know of it." 
 
 He paused. 
 
 If Harkaway knew of it the tale would fly all over the 
 settlement, and he would not dare to show his face for 
 months. 
 
 When he reflected, he felt rather ashamed of the greed 
 of gain that he had shown in his purchase of the mine. 
 
 He knew that he had been chuckling over the way in 
 which he had got such a grand bargain out of those two 
 unsophisticated darkeys, Sunday and Monday at least 
 he thought and he knew that on that ground he was not 
 justified in making it a ground of serious complaint. 
 
 But he could not swallow the transaction. 
 ' Listen to me, you boys," he said, severely. 
 ' We'se listening sar," responded Tinker, promptly. 
 ' I didn't speak to you," retorted Mr. Mole tartly. 
 'No, sar ; dis lubly child spoke to you, sar." 
 ' Hold your tongue." 
 
 ' Bless my 'art," said Tinker, " ain't Massa Mole in a 
 immense cantankerous big temper? Yah, Tinker run 
 and fetch some rum to mix wid the water Massa Mole 
 swallowed, yah, yah ! "
 
 224 JACK II ARK A WA Y AND HIS SO A* 'S 
 
 " You have been joining in a swindle," said Mr. Mole, 
 not deigning to notice the irrepressible Tinker. " That'? 
 just what your practical joking has led you into." 
 
 " A swindle ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " But you haven't read Sunday's letter." 
 
 "What letter?" 
 
 " He told me that he had left a letter for you in the 
 tent." 
 
 "My tent?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Mr. Mole ran back to the tent and looked eagerly about 
 him. 
 
 "There it is." 
 
 Yes, there it was ; a big white paper, pinned with a 
 wooden skewer to the canvas wall of the tent in a prom- 
 inent place enough, but one which had hitherto escaped 
 Mr. Mole's attention. 
 
 "DEAR BRUDDER MOLE, 
 
 "You wanted to buy a gold mine for nuffin or there- 
 about, and so you was soldyesself. I carn'trob my own 
 relashin, an' so I return your money, less the price of the 
 candlestick. An' we don't charge nuffin for the amusa- 
 tion [probably the writer meant ' amusement '] that we 
 have give you, brudder Mole, nor nuffin for this bevvful 
 moral lesson agin greed of gold. So no more jes' at 
 presenk from your own brudder, 
 
 " CESAR HANNIBAL A. JEX, 
 "Common known as SUNDAY." 
 
 " Done for !" groaned Mole, as he concluded this sin- 
 gular composition. 
 
 "Yes, sar, done brown, not black, sar. " 
 
 Tinker was there at the entrance to the tent, nodding 
 and grinning. 
 
 "Done for Massa Mole, sar. Done for bewful luscious 
 brown. Yes, sar." 
 
 Mr. Mole used a naughty word, and rushed at him. 
 
 But Tinker was off. 
 
 And when he got out he saw young Jack, Harry Gird- 
 wood, and Tinker, stepping out towards the settlement, 
 at a smart pace.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 225 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha!" 
 
 The laughter of those mirth-loving young practical 
 jokers rang in his ears, and caused him the most lively 
 apprehensions. 
 
 "It will never do to let them carry that tale to the 
 settlement," said Mr. Mole ; "I shall never hear the last 
 of it. I had much better compromise the matter with 
 them. Join in the laugh at my own expense. Ugh ! " 
 
 That was a pill to swallow ; but he got it down as best 
 he could, and made up his mind promptly. 
 
 ****** 
 
 ' Here he comes." 
 'Mole?" 
 'Yes." 
 
 ' Shall we run ? " 
 
 'Yes, sar, " responded Tinker. "Dis bewful infant 
 means to bolt. " 
 
 "Stop a bit," said Harry Girdwood, looking back; 
 " whatever is he after now ? " 
 
 They turned round, and saw Mr. Mole coming along 
 as fast as he could stump it, and waving a white pocket- 
 handkerchief at them as he came. 
 
 "A flag of truce, by the living jingo!" exclaimed 
 Jack. 
 
 "So it is." 
 
 "He's afraid of the chaff." 
 
 " I'se gwine ! " cried Tinker. "Me not let him catch 
 dis nice infant." 
 "Stop, stop ! " 
 
 But Tinker was not to be coaxed into this. 
 He had not got the same faith in a flag of truce as his 
 more civilised companions, and he was already back in 
 the settlement with Sunday and Monday, while Mr. Mole 
 came on chatting with the two boys, making the best of 
 his misfortune. 
 25
 
 226 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 MOLE LEADS A RELIEF PARTY IN SEARCH OF OLD JACK. 
 
 WHEN the settlement was reached, there was a discus- 
 sion going forward which turned them all from gay to 
 grave at once. Bad news had arrived about the absent 
 friends. 
 
 A messenger had come in from Harkaway, announcing 
 the unfortunate death of the brave Jefferson. 
 
 Sunday and Monday were holding a meeting with sev- 
 eral of the most trustworthy of the settlers, and volun- 
 teers were invited to join a relief party. 
 
 Young Jack and his brave companion, Harry, would 
 fain have gone with the party, but this could not be en- 
 tertained for a moment. 
 
 Somebody must remain to guard the settlement, for it 
 was just possible that the bushrangers, who were known 
 to be very numerous, would discover the comparative 
 weakness of the place, if a sufficient guard were not 
 kept. 
 
 In that case, in all probability, they would make a de- 
 scent upon them and take them by surprise. 
 
 As Tinker whose advice, although couched in his own 
 peculiar phraseology, was invaluable now explained to 
 them, the bushrangers knew the country so much better 
 than the settlers did, that it would be comparatively easy 
 for Morgan to detach a party and send them down upon 
 the unprotected people at home. 
 
 They had plenty of men for the service. 
 
 " Somebody must command here," said Mr. Mole. 
 
 The old gentleman quite forgot his little private griev- 
 ances in this state of affairs. 
 
 " Of course," said Harry Girdwood ; " there must be a 
 leader that we can all look up to." 
 
 " What do you say to Mr. Mole ? " suggested one of the 
 men. 
 
 "Not I," returned Mole; "I'm going after our dear 
 friends, to see if I can take one life for poor Jefferson's." 
 
 " You are going with the volunteers ? " said Harry. 
 
 "Yes."
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 227 
 
 " You rm*t not, sir," said young Jack. 
 
 " I shall 1" 
 
 His voice and manner showed a degree of firmness to 
 which they had not been accustomed. 
 
 And, indeed, do what they would to move him, it was 
 of no avail. 
 
 He was as firm as a rock. 
 
 All his old eccentricities of character seemed to vanish 
 before the alarming state of things which the messenger 
 of ill had brought them. 
 
 " Well, then," said one of the settlers, " who is to be 
 named leader here while you are all away ? " 
 
 "Let us vote." 
 
 "Good." 
 
 "I propose that Jack Harkaway, junior, shall be nom- 
 inated," said Mr. Mole. " He's very young for the post, 
 you may say, but he is a worthy son of a worthy father, 
 and when not at his monkey tricks, he has his head 
 screwed on the right way." 
 
 It was put to the vote, and carried unanimously. 
 
 Mr. Mole needed no better revenge than this if he 
 could only have thought of it, but his mind was full of 
 more serious matters, for the generous eulogies pro- 
 nounced by the old gentleman made our hero feel very 
 uncomfortable over his share in their little wickedness of 
 the gold-mine hoax. 
 
 "And now we're off," said Mr. Mole, shouldering his 
 rifle. 
 
 "Already?" 
 
 "No time like the present," replied the old gentleman ; 
 " besides, who knows what is going on now ? Who can 
 say what sort of a fix our dear boys are in ? " 
 
 "On we go," said the volunteers, eagerly. 
 
 "Keep a careful watch, Jack." 
 
 "I will, sir." 
 
 "Mind your sentries are posted everywhere, and fre- 
 quently relieved." 
 
 "Trust me, sir." 
 
 "I do, my boy, I do," said Mr. Mole, shaking his 
 hand warmly. "God bless you. Right about face, 
 quick march ! "
 
 228 JACK HA RKA WAY AND HIS SOWS 
 
 And off they marched, the remaining- settlers sending a 
 ringing cheer after them to help them on their way. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 HUNSTON'S PUNISHMENT HIS COMRADES JUDGE AND CONDEMN 
 HIM THE EXECUTION. 
 
 HUNSTON was badly hurt in the fatal fight. 
 
 But not dead. 
 
 As he lay stretched upon the ground surrounded by 
 the dead and dying, he dare not move hand or foot lest 
 they should revenge upon him the death of Jefferson. 
 
 But when the triumphant enemy had moved a little 
 way off to pay the last sad tribute of respect to their lion- 
 hearted dead, Hunston contrived to crawl into the low 
 brushwood and hide himself. 
 
 Here he lay, a prey to the most violent anguish of his 
 wound, and devoured by fever. 
 
 He would have given any thing for one drop of water. 
 
 Hour after hour, he lay there parched choking. 
 
 And when some hours had thus gone by, his sufferings, 
 instead of diminishing, were terribly increased by the 
 anguish of his arm. 
 
 The mechanical limb seemed like a ton weight dragging 
 upon him. 
 
 And up that shoulder shot sharp burning pain that 
 made him cry out in spite of himself, so cruelly poignant 
 were his sufferings. 
 
 He tried to free himself from the arm, but vainly. 
 
 Whether it was that in his agony he did not go to work 
 in the right way, or whether from weakness or the con- 
 fined space in which he lay concealed, he could not move it. 
 
 The old superstitious feeling came back. 
 
 He felt that the murdered Emmerson's legacy of hate 
 was at last dragging him down. 
 
 "It's all over now," muttered the guilty man, 
 hoarsely; "all over, and Emmerson will not be de- 
 ceived ; he must have his hand in my last agonies. Oh, 
 if I could but drag it off ugh ! "
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 229 
 
 A fearful groan escaped him, and he sank back half 
 
 He remained in a state of semi-stupor for half an hour 
 or more, and as his consciousness came back, his pains 
 returned with more than their former force. 
 
 "I was a fool to hide away," he murmured. "If I 
 had remained in sight, they would have finished me off, 
 and I shouldn't be now dying a death of torture. Oh, 
 that someone would come and put the finishing stroke 
 to me now." 
 
 Barely were the words uttered when he heard the 
 sound of voices near at hand. Familiar voices, too. 
 
 ' ' There's the spot, Captain Morgan ; and see here, 
 captain." 
 
 It was one of the men who had taken part in the late 
 encounter with Harkaway and his party. 
 
 The only one who had got off comparatively free. 
 
 This man had fled in good time, and coming by acci- 
 dent across Captain Morgan, had related the fact in the 
 most favourable light for himself. 
 
 He had run away, according to his own account, 
 simply because he was not sure whether Hunston was 
 acting unaer orders or not. 
 
 This hit Captain Morgan on his tender side. 
 
 He was a strict disciplinarian, and most jealous of his 
 authority beirtg- usurped by anyone. 
 
 "What!" eAtlaimed the notorious bushranger, "six 
 men killed omiight." 
 
 "Yes, cap ta*, %> replied his informant, "six that we 
 know of. " 
 
 " I wish we had tmly got Master Hunston here," said 
 Morgan, bitterly ; *-he should not have much chance of 
 taking such a job ufon himself again. " 
 
 Hunston heard every word of this quite distinctly. 
 
 " He can't have got far, captain." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "He was badly hurt" 
 
 "So much the better." 
 
 Hunston winced. 
 
 There was not much hope or comfort in this for 
 him. 
 
 "Call your men, Barber," said Morgan, "and let them 
 look after this Hunston."
 
 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 The bushranger's men were summoned, and then an 
 active search for Hunj. began. 
 
 They were not long in routing him out, and he was 
 brought before Morgan to be tried and answer for the 
 calamity he had caused. 
 
 "Now," said Morgan, "what have you to say for 
 yourself? " 
 
 "Only this," replied Hunston, faintly, for he was ex- 
 hausted with his sufferings; "I have lost my life in 
 righting in your cause." 
 
 " That's false," retorted Morgan. "You sacrificed my 
 men in trying to gratify your own private spite. " 
 
 "And yours." 
 
 " My affairs had no place in your mind," said Morgan, 
 sternly, "and you know it." 
 
 "Haven't I paid the penalty for it?" said Hunston. 
 "I am done for." 
 
 "Not yet, but you may be. Hark you, my men, this 
 fellow has come amongst us to sacrifice the lives of our 
 comrades for his own purposes. He tried to torture a 
 man to death. Now, Harkaway is no friend of ours." 
 
 "No, no." 
 
 "True, he is not, but we are men, not cannibals or 
 wild Indians. We can kill our enemies in fair fight, but 
 not bury them alive." 
 
 "No, no." 
 
 "What shall we do to him for this ?" said Morgan. 
 "What can we do to him for causing the death of so 
 many of our best and bravest comrades ? " 
 
 No answer came. 
 
 "Speak." 
 
 The men were still silent, and Hunston began feebly 
 to hope. 
 
 "Is hanging too good for him? It is, but we must 
 show him more mercy than he would show to his 
 enemies. Who has the rope ? " 
 
 One was speedily brought. 
 
 Hunston said never a word. 
 
 A sickening dread had fallen upon him, but he knew 
 well that no appeals for mercy would be entertained by 
 these men. He merited none. 
 
 One end of the rope was cast over the branch of a tree, 
 and a noose was made in it.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 23 1 
 
 The arms of the condemned man were fastened behind 
 nim. 
 
 The noose was placed round his neck. 
 
 A slight tremor of the neck was perceptible as th2 
 fatal cord touched his flesh, but he said nothing. 
 
 A dull, settled look was upon his face, and strange to 
 relate, at this awful moment he had quite forgotten ths 
 present, and was back in the past. 
 
 All the events of his old life passed in rapid succession 
 before his eyes, and pang after pang of regret shot 
 through his hardened heart. 
 
 " Have you any thing to say? " demanded the bush- 
 ranger. 
 
 No reply. 
 
 "Sulky, are you?" said Morgan, brutally. "We'll 
 cure that for you. Pull away, lads ! " 
 
 The next moment Hunston was dangling in the air. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 MEETING WITH HARKAWAY's PARTY THE SCOUTS AND THEIR 
 
 NEWS A BRUSH WITH THE BUSHRANGERS HOT WORK HOW 
 
 MOLE KEPT HIS ENGAGEMENT. 
 
 MOLE'S party made forced marches until they came up 
 with Harkaway and the rest of them. 
 
 We pass over the warm greetings which were exchanged 
 the eager inquiries that went forward on either side. 
 
 "I'm very glad to see you, old friend," said Harkaway 
 to Mole, "but yet sorry that you should have ventured 
 out on such an adventure as this." 
 
 "My dear Harkaway," replied his old tutor, "Isaac 
 Mole knows how to take care of himself." 
 
 "Of course." 
 
 " He flatters himself that he never shrinks from work 
 when a friend is in danger," said Mr. Mole, with a touch 
 of his old dignity, "but I hope to show you, Harvey, 
 that I have yet some steam left in me." 
 
 "I don't doubt it for a moment, sir," said Harvey. 
 
 ' ' I'm afraid you do. " 
 
 "No, no."
 
 232 JACK HARKA IVA Y Al\D HIS SON 'S 
 
 "You wouldn't be here, sir," said Harkaway, "if you 
 hadn't got as much of the old fire in you as ever." 
 
 This gratified Mr. Mole more than any thing. 
 
 While they were engaged in this conversation, there 
 was a wild " whoop " or cry, and a black man, dressed in 
 a small pocket-handkerchief only, bounded up to the spot. 
 
 Mr. Mole jumped back. 
 
 "What's this?" 
 
 "It is Wangi, a scout we have engaged," replied Hark- 
 away. "He knows Tinker, and all about Morgan and 
 his men." 
 
 " Is he reliable ? " asked the cautious Mole. 
 
 "Quite." 
 
 Wangi was a bright specimen of an ugly race, and he 
 was full of intelligence. 
 
 They had come across him just at the right moment, 
 for the bushrangers had been ill-treating the unfortunate 
 fellow, and he was smarting under a sense of injury, both 
 physical and moral. 
 
 He had been so kindly used by the Harkaway party 
 that he was eager to render them every possible service. 
 
 "Well, Wangi," said old Jack, "what have you dis- 
 covered this time ? " 
 
 " Morgan warrior close," replied the scout, pointing to 
 the direction he had come from. 
 
 "How far?" 
 
 "Close, so close." 
 
 ' ' The deuce he is. Are they in force many warriors 
 there with him ? " 
 
 "Four six ten." 
 
 "Ten?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And Morgan, that makes eleven." 
 
 " Morgan can count for three," said Dick ; "he's quite 
 as good as three of the others." 
 
 "Quite." 
 
 "Then Morgan, the great bushranger, shall be my 
 especial care, " said Mole. 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 Harkaway thought it over seriously awhile. 
 
 " Yes," he said, with an air of resolution, "let us go 
 on ; we must exterminate these miscreants." 
 
 The scout now explained that the bushrangers had
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 233 
 
 caught one of the Harkaway party, and were about to 
 make short work of him. 
 
 "You are wrong there," replied Harkaway, "we are 
 all here present. " 
 
 The scout explained that it was at any rate an enemy 
 of theirs, and a white man hence his reason for presum- 
 ing it to be a member of the Harkaway expedition. 
 ' Perhaps it is one of Morgan's band." 
 ' No friend no bushranger," said Wangi, with a posi- 
 tive air. "Catchee catchee " 
 
 ' Oh, they caught him, did they ? " 
 'Yes. In the bush ; all bad so bad." 
 'What, wounded?" 
 'Yes." 
 
 ' This is very strange," said Harkaway ; " let us hurry 
 forward. " 
 
 " There's some ugliness going forward," said Harvey, 
 "and we are bound to be in it." 
 
 "And as for this Captain Morgan," said Mr. Mole, with 
 a swagger, " let him look out." 
 
 They hurried forward, and after a rapid march, the 
 scouts came running back with warning gestures. 
 ' They are hanging a man," said one. 
 ' Hanging ! " ejaculated Harkaway. 
 'Yes." 
 
 ; Do you know their unfortunate victim ? " 
 'No." 
 
 ' Is Morgan there ? " 
 
 'Yes," replied the scout, and a big, foreign-looking 
 fellow, who must be the Italian brigand chap I have 
 heard so much about." 
 "Toro?" 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Come along, then. We have got our work to do,' 
 said Harkaway, as he loosened his pistols in his belt, so 
 as to be ready for use. 
 
 They crept up noiselessly until they were within twenty 
 feet of the bushrangers. 
 
 Then, upon a preconcerted signal, they fired a volley 
 and rushed on. 
 
 The bushrangers were taken by surprise. 
 Then a stampede occurred, and Morgan's voice was 
 heard in fierce tones.
 
 234 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON ' J 
 
 "You white-livered scoundrels," he cried, turning 
 round indignantly, for he found himself alone in the 
 open. 
 
 He saw the enemy coming down upon him in all di- 
 rections, and he never attempted to move, but boldly 
 faced them. 
 
 This example was soon followed by his men in very 
 shame ; back they came to the support of their chief. 
 
 There was a momentary pause, and the bushranger 
 chief was the first of his party to break ground. 
 
 He cocked his rifle up to his shoulder, was just upon 
 the point of delivering his fire, when Mr. Mole stumped 
 forward and hurled his hat at him. 
 
 It served the purpose of putting him off his aim. 
 
 Else Dick Harvey would not have lived to join further 
 in the encounter, for the bushranger's aim was deadly, 
 and he meant the shot for Dick. Now, while they were 
 variously engaged thus, Harkaway rushed to the tree 
 where the wretched Hunston was dangling, and cut 
 down the body. 
 
 At the self-same instant a shot was fired which entered 
 the right breast of Hunston. 
 
 At the same time, Captain Morgan made a rush at his 
 assailant Mr. Mole and being as active as he was 
 vigorous, he soon toppled the old man over. 
 
 Mole was awfully frightened ; but he clutched his rifle 
 tenaciously, and swinging it round his head, he brought 
 it down with tremendous force on Morgan's arm. 
 
 The next moment Mole pulled the trigger, and then 
 fell backwards. 
 
 " Bang ! " 
 
 At the self-same instant, the bushranger chieftain was 
 heard to groan, and clapping his hand suddenly to his 
 chest, he staggered and fell. Dead ! 
 
 Yes, the redoubtable bushranger, Captain Morgan, 
 was dead. 
 
 And his conqueror was Isaac Mole.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRAUA. 235 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 SUNDAY'S LAST TUSSLE WITH TORO VICTORY. 
 
 MR. MOLE soon realised the fact of his victory, and he 
 Was not slow to take advantage of it, for he was not the 
 man to lose a bit of any possible glory in such a lucky 
 stroke. 
 
 " Behold, I have finished Captain Morgan," he cried, as 
 he got up from the ground ; " now smite the rest of the 
 villains smite 'em hip and thigh ; charge 1 " 
 
 There was a cheer from the settlers. 
 
 The bushrangers turned tail on seeing their leader fall, 
 and fled precipitately, just as Toro appeared on the scene. 
 
 "Harvey," cried Harkaway, holding Hunston in his 
 arms, "look at this wreck of a man. Wangi." he added, 
 to the scout, " bring me some water. He ij not dead; 
 he has only fainted, I think." 
 
 With infinite pains they brought Hunston to conscious- 
 ness. 
 
 And while Harkaway held his old enemy in his arms, 
 Harvey, Mole, and Monday followed the defeated bush- 
 rangers closely up. 
 
 A regular panic had seized upon them, and they fled 
 madly. 
 
 In vain did Toro endeavour to rally them. 
 
 The Italian bully, with all his many defects, was no 
 coward, and he was wild with rage and disappointment 
 at their ignominious flight. 
 
 " Stop, cowards, " he cried, ' ' stop ; stand and face them. " 
 
 On they fled, faster than ever. 
 
 "Curse your white livers," he cried; "go then and 
 leave me. If you are afraid, I am not. I'll show you how 
 a brave man can face his enemies." 
 
 This heroic speech had no effect whatever upon them. 
 
 They increased their speed and disappeared. 
 
 Toro launched one final curse after them, and turned 
 to face the foe. 
 
 On came the Englishmen, and with them the two 
 darkies, Sunday and Monday.
 
 236 JACK HARKA WAY AND HIS SON'S 
 
 "Don't fire," cried Dick, who could not help admiring 
 the boldness of the Italian ruffian. 
 
 ' We shan't take him alive," said Monday. 
 
 ' I know it," returned Harvey; " but give him a chance 
 
 as 
 
 we are four to one. Leave him to me." 
 
 'No," cried Monday ; "he shall be my job." 
 ' Never. " 
 
 ' It shall be no one's job but mine," said Sunday, with 
 a dash of firmness and dignity in his tone that few would 
 have expected to find in this humble negro. "We are old 
 enemies. ' He ill-used me when I was oppressed, and felt 
 ground down by the bondage of slavery ; but I have 
 learnt since then to feel like a man, and I will see to him 
 now ; so stand back." 
 
 And then, before they could offer a word of remon- 
 strance or objection, the sturdy n egro rushed forward, alone. 
 
 Now Sunday had nothing better to help him in his en- 
 counter with so redoubtable an antagonist than a short 
 dagger knife and a stout heart. 
 
 But he never quailed an instant. 
 
 " I'se come to fetch you, Toro," said the darkey, boldly ; 
 "so give in quietly." 
 
 Toro made no reply. 
 
 The audacity annoyed him. 
 
 So much so, in fact, that he was in a measure taken by 
 surprise when the bold darkey leaped upcn him, knife in 
 hand. 
 
 "Take dat." 
 
 Toro got it. 
 
 The knife had only about five inches of blade, but the 
 Italian got it all, up to the very hilt, in his shoulder. 
 
 With a cry of rage and pain, the Italian closed with his 
 adversary, and grabbed at the knife. But Sunday was 
 ready. 
 
 Wrenching the knife away with his whole force, he 
 severed the fingers of Toro's right hand, and jobbed away 
 again viciously. 
 
 This second blow took effect in his cheek, inflicting a 
 hideous-looking wound, which was not, however, so seri- 
 ous as the former blow. 
 
 Toro shook himself free, and swinging round his brawny 
 arm, he dealt the luckless negro a terrific blow which 
 floored him.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 237 
 
 The spectators gave a cry of alarm at this. 
 
 Their man was done for. 
 
 The Italian fell upon him with his whole weight, half 
 crushing the luckless black. 
 
 But what Sunday wanted in strength, was fully com- 
 pensated for in extra activity, and he grappled eagerly 
 with the foe. 
 
 A desperate and fatal struggle ensued. 
 
 Over and over they rolled, the Italian hammering away 
 at poor Sunday's head in a way that threatened to batter 
 his skull in. 
 
 But a negro's skull is proverbially thick. 
 
 Sunday's was no exception to the rule. 
 
 He took his punishment without any particular noise, 
 never attempting to dodge a blow, but giving his sole 
 attention to that ugly little knife. 
 
 And as they rolled over, he stabbed and stabbed again 
 with such fierce energy, that the Italian's huge body was 
 a mass of wounds. 
 
 At length, Toro seized the unhappy Sunday with his 
 left hand, and holding him momentarily at arm's length, 
 he dealt him one slaughtering stroke that sent him lifeless 
 to the earth. 
 
 But this was Toro's final effort, and almost at the same 
 moment, he shook all over and fell across his lifeless an- 
 tagonist with a dull, hollow groan. 
 
 Harvey rushed forward to raise the negro, but first they 
 had to drag the giant Italian off him. 
 
 Toro offered no resistance now. 
 
 He slid through their hands to the ground, and as he lay 
 on his back, he looked towards the lifeless negro with a 
 sickly smile of triumph, and so his features grew rigid with 
 the horrible look upon them. 
 
 "He's dead," exclaimed Mole, in an awe-stricken tone. 
 
 It was true. 
 
 The redoubtable brigand Toro had seen his last skir- 
 mish. 
 
 He would never trouble anyone of his enemies again. 
 
 "Poor Sunday ! " 
 
 " He's only swooning." 
 
 "I fear not."
 
 238 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 Sunday showed that the latter speaker's fear was justi- 
 fied, for as the words were spoken, he opened his eyes. 
 
 " Whar's de big beast ? " 
 
 " Hush, Sunday," said Mr. Mole ; "it's all over. The 
 wretched, misguided creature is dead." 
 
 ''And a good thing too sarve him right," responded 
 Sunday, heartily. 
 
 He scrambled on to his feet, but he was what fighting 
 men know as "groggy," and could hardly keep up. 
 
 His head was swollen to twice its ordinary dimensions, 
 and his body was knocked into a jelly. 
 
 Yet the stout-hearted darkey never thought of his own 
 hurts when he looked at his stalwart opponent, lately so 
 full of life and vigour, but now stiffening in death. 
 
 They were old enemies, and Sunday, although not 
 brutal by nature, could not help chuckling at his victory. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 HUNSTON'S LAST MOMENTS HARKAWAY'S GENEROSITY SAD MEM- 
 ORIES AND BITTER REGRETS EMMERSON IS AVENGED AT LAST 
 
 THE LEGEND ON THE MECHANICAL ARM IS FULFILLED THE 
 
 DEATH OF HUNSTON. 
 
 " HUNSTON ! come, look up, man." 
 
 Hunston opened his eyes, and looked wildly about him. 
 
 "Where am I ? " 
 
 "Here, with Harkaway, your old schoolfellow, Jack. 
 Say, how is it with you now ? " 
 
 Hunston glanced upwards, and his eyes rested upon 
 his old schoolfellow and college chum, the man he had 
 so cruelly wronged and plotted against throughout his 
 misspent career. 
 
 "Is it you, Harkaway, or do my eyes deceive me?" 
 
 "No," replied old Jack, sadly, "I am here, Hunston, 
 here with you, to help you, old fellow, if I can." 
 
 Hunston's head was resting upon Harkaway's knee, 
 but he could not believe that this was a proof of his old 
 enemy's forgiveness. 
 
 His evil nature could not comprehend such nobleness 
 of heart.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 239 
 
 "I am in your power, Harkaway," he said, "but not 
 for long no, not for long. " 
 
 " Hush ! " said old Jack. "Don't talk like that now. 
 Tell me what I can do for you. " 
 
 "Do for me ?" repeated Hunston. vaguely. "Noth- 
 ing ; they have done for me without your assistance this 
 time. No, no, nothing Emmerson has done it." 
 
 And he pressed his shoulder above the mechanical arm. 
 
 " Emmerson ? " said Harkaway. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 *' What mean you ? " 
 
 "His legacy has avenged him," responded Hunston. 
 " I feel the subtle poison coursing through my veins. 
 Nothing could save me. Sooner or later Robert Emmer- 
 son \vas to be avenged. I have escaped the knife, the bul- 
 let, and the rope. I could laugh at them all, for I knew that 
 I bore a charmed life, and that nothing could touch me 
 nothing but Robert Emmerson. His cursed skill has done 
 for me, and it has baffled the greatest doctors one and all 
 The legend on the arm is fulfilled. I am paying the for- 
 feit of a life's misdeeds, but not to you, Harkaway, not 
 to you ; it is the poison in the arm." 
 
 The look upon the wretched man's face told such a 
 piteous tale, that Harkaway turned his head away visibly 
 affected. 
 
 " You have got the best of it, Harkaway," pursued the 
 dying man, speaking now with evident difficulty ; " but 
 the wretched glory of conquering a poor outcast like me 
 doesn't belong to you ; it belongs to the dead and gone 
 to Robert Emmerson, not to Morgan, either. You'll look 
 after Morgan, Harkaway ? " 
 
 When one upon whom death had already set his seal 
 talked in this strain, it was inexpressibly shocking. 
 
 Harkaway turned his head away and sighed. 
 
 " You can spare Morgan your enmity now, Hunston," 
 he said, seriously. 
 'Why?" 
 
 ' He has gone before you." 
 ' Dead ? " 
 
 'Yes." 
 
 'You are deceiving me," said the dying man, sharply. 
 ' Why should I ? I tell you Morgan has already paid 
 the forfeit of his crimes. He is dead."
 
 2 40 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SOM 'S 
 
 Hunston's eyes sparkled with evident satisfaction at 
 this intelligence. 
 
 "That's brave news," he said. " I shall cheat you all 
 Morgan you all all but Emmerson. He is not to be 
 balked. I feel the deadly influence of his work stealing 
 round my heart, and crushing the life out of me slowly 
 slowly, but ah, how surely." 
 
 His voice grew fainter yet, and Harkaway moistened 
 his lips with the water that Wangi had brought. 
 
 This gentle action evidently surprised the suffering man. 
 
 "Come, come, Hunston," said Harkaway, in a kind 
 voice, "tell me if there is any thing that I can do for you. ' 
 
 "You are mocking me," said the dying man. 
 
 " Not I, by Heaven ! " 
 
 "Is it indeed possible, Harkaway, that you can forgive 
 such a guilty wretch as I am ? that you can pardon all 
 the evil I have wrought against you and yours ? " 
 
 "I can," returned Harkaway ; "I can and do, freely." 
 
 " Do you forgive my last act of cruelty ? " 
 
 "I do ; don't speak of it," said Harkaway, gently. 
 
 "You are the most wonderful of men," faltered Hun- 
 ston, "too good, too noble-minded for a base nature like 
 mine to understand. Ah, Harkaway, what a different 
 being I might have been had I been able to resist my evil 
 instincts as a boy. Contact with you should have elevated 
 me, and brought me to something better than this. But 
 no, it seemed only to tend to the very opposite direction. 
 The better you were, the more generous and forgiving, 
 the viler and baser I became. 
 
 "Oh, Jack, Jack!" he exclaimed, in bitter remorse. 
 "Oh, if I could only wake up to find that it had all been 
 a dream ! But no, no, Jack, death is stealing round me 
 now, and will not this time be shaken away." 
 
 And then a sudden change came over his face. 
 
 "Jack, I am thinking now of our schooldays! Ah, 
 Jack, if those times could come again, how different I 
 would act, to you and yours ! " 
 
 He held out his hand to Harkaway. 
 
 "Jack I must call you Jack, now. Hold my head 
 higher, Jack there." 
 
 His voice grew fainter and fainter. 
 
 "Will your wife forgive me? " lie murmured. 
 
 "Yes, yes."
 
 AL> IshNTURES IN A USTRAL I A. 241 
 
 "And your boy, and Dick Harvey, and Mr. Mole? " 
 
 "All all, willingly, freely," returned Harkavvay, much 
 affected. 
 
 "Bless you for those words of comfort. I pay my 
 debt," he went on, speaking now with the greatest diffi- 
 culty, " my debt to all." 
 
 Then after a moment's pause, he said, faintly 
 
 "Jack, pray for me ; ask your wife, Emily, to pray for 
 me." 
 
 And with these words upon his lips, his head dropped 
 upon Harkaway's knee, and all was over. 
 
 Hunston fell back dead in his old schoolfellow's arms. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 THE END OF THE BUSHRANGERS HOW TINKER LED HIS PARTY 
 TO A BLOODLESS VICTORY A SIGNAL TRIUMPH. 
 
 " BEHOLD, all of you, Captain Morgan is dead, and it is I 
 Mole that have done the daring deed," said Mr. Mole, 
 with a self-satisfied air; "and I feel comparatively at 
 rest, having rid the country of such pests." 
 
 "You? " 
 
 "Yes, I alone." 
 
 His hearers stared at the cool audacity of the old gentle- 
 man. 
 
 He did not scruple to assume the honour, and glory of 
 all that had been done. 
 
 "Yes, "he added, complacently, while the rest stared 
 and waited for a whacker ; " I never did a thing better 
 than this job, perhaps, and that is saying some thing." 
 
 " Yes," added Harkaway, drily "it is certainly saying 
 some thing." 
 
 "It has always been my principle," said Mr. Mole, 
 looking around him for admiration, "when I take a job 
 in hand of this kind, to finish it right off. Nip 'em in the 
 bud, sirs." 
 
 " Bravo ! " cried young Jack. 
 
 "Cut 'em up root and branch, no half measures." 
 
 " Hear, hear ! " 
 
 While Mr. Mole continued blowing his own trumpet in 
 16
 
 2 42 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON *S 
 
 the most brazen manner, young Jack whispered a word 
 or two to Tinker. 
 
 The latter grinned and disappeared. 
 
 "You mustn't suppose," said Mole, with a sort of de]>- 
 recating smile, "that I think I have done all by sheer 
 force of arms." 
 
 "Oh, you are too modest," said old Jack, winking at 
 Harvey, 
 
 "Oh, no." 
 
 " Well, now, that is a very manly and generous admis- 
 sion," said Dick. 
 
 "Ahem ! I know as well as you do that the name of 
 Mole has gone for some thing, that it lent a sort of moral 
 weight to our expedition. A good leader's name is a tower 
 of strength. The bushrangers had their spies, and when 
 it became known that Isaac Mole was in command, I 
 leave you to guess how completely they became demo* 
 alised. " 
 
 "No doubt." 
 
 "Oh, of course they would for you," said Harvey. 
 
 "In fact, if I had this job to do again, I should merely 
 let it go forth that Isaac Mole commanded the party, an I 
 then I should " 
 
 " Down with old Mole ! " cried a strange voice from th ' 
 bush. 
 
 ' ' Prepare your firearms. The bushrangers are on us, ' 
 shouted young Jack. 
 
 A couple of rifle-shots followed. 
 
 Then came a great shout. 
 
 "Down with Mole!" 
 
 " Oh, Lor' ! oh Lor' ! " exclaimed poor old Mole ; 
 "where shall I get to?" 
 
 It was royal fun to see him stump away ; in fact, you 
 could hardly understand how he got over the ground at 
 such a rate. 
 
 And as he disappeared, Tinker came out of the cover, 
 followed by Sunday and Monday. 
 
 "Gollupshus great big lark !" said Tinker, holding his 
 sides, and grinning. 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha ! " 
 
 "But the point is," said Rook, " that the bushrangers 
 are by no means exterminated." 
 
 "Aye, but the one or two that yet remain are dispersed,
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TRALIA . 2 43 
 
 will never gather together again aboutthis part of the 
 country." 
 
 "There's the rub," said Rook. " I'm told that five of 
 t?ae leading men after Captain Morgan are encamped up 
 at the creek yonder." 
 
 ' ' Never ! " 
 
 "It is true." 
 
 " Do you think they mean mischief, then ? " 
 
 " Undoubtedly ; they are by no means so demoralised 
 ?s Mr. Mole would make us believe." 
 
 "Me know whar to find de beggars, sar," said Tinker. 
 
 "You do?" 
 
 " And could lead us there ? " 
 
 "Believe yar, my boy," responded Tinker ; "walk up 
 .ehind 'em, too ; take immense dam big salt box, sar, and 
 put a pinch on dere bressed tails. " 
 
 "Bravo!" 
 
 "Let us keep this job to ourselves," said Harvey, " or 
 xe shall alarm the ladies again." 
 
 "Good." 
 
 " Who shall go ?" 
 
 "You and I," said Harkaway, " and Rook." 
 
 "Yes," said the latter, eagerly, " I'll go." 
 
 "An' me too," said Tinker, "me go and put all the lot 
 5.\ a bag a bressed big gollopshus bag, sar." 
 
 "Come along then, off we go," said Harkaway, who 
 was all impatience to get to work, as usual, when once 
 Ihe thing was decided upon. 
 
 Tinker led the way, and the three combatant members 
 of the expedition followed. 
 
 Each man had his rifle slung behind his back. 
 
 In their hands they carried each a brace of pistols. 
 
 It was necessary, for the sake of precaution, to reach 
 the creek by a circuitous route, and this involved a con- 
 siderable loss of time. 
 
 But the black boy Tinker proved to be a model scout. 
 
 Every inch of the ground was known to him. 
 
 After a long march their patience was rewarded. 
 
 Tinker, who was marching on about twenty yards 
 ahead of the party, turned round to them, and pointing 
 to a thicket at no great distance, motioned to them, invit- 
 ng the greatest caution and prudence. 
 
 The critical moment was rapidly approaching.
 
 2 44 J A CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 As they drew near the thicket, they saw the grey smoke 
 curling up above the shrubs, and they understood now 
 that they must prepare for some stiffish work. 
 
 It proved to be less serious than they anticipated. 
 
 They opened out, and each of them took up a separate 
 post, and in this way they advanced and pushed their 
 way through the bushes. 
 
 The bushrangers, who were five in number, were, as 
 might be seen at a glance, worn out by the recent fatigues 
 which they had undergone. 
 
 Four of them were stretched upon the ground around 
 the wood fire, wrapped in their rugs, asleep. 
 
 The fifth, who was mounting guard, had been over- 
 taken also by slumber, and was resting in a state of semi- 
 drowsiness upon his rifle. 
 
 Tinker made this man his mark at once. 
 
 Creeping like a tiger up behind him, he dealt him one 
 alarming blow with a heavy wooden club upon the back 
 of the head. 
 
 And down dropped this untrustworthy sentinel like a 
 log. 
 
 Tinker leaped upon him. 
 
 He had a rope all ready to hand with a running noose 
 in it, and this he slipped over his shoulders, fixing his 
 hands down his sides immovably. 
 
 The noise, slight as it was, sufficed to arouse the sleep- 
 ers, and when they opened their eyes, they found them- 
 selves faced by three armed men. 
 
 Three desperate men, each holding a brace of pistols. 
 
 1 ' Move a step, either of you, " said Rook, ' ' and we fire. " 
 
 "Wake up, men ; help ! " 
 
 "Another word, a sound, and it is your last utterance." 
 
 Now the bushrangers were not wanting in courage, but 
 they were completely overmatched. 
 
 " Yield ! " 
 
 " Never to you ! " cried the man. 
 
 "Hold your tongue, Morris," said Rook, unceremoni- 
 ously. " You have no chance, and you had better take 
 it quietly." 
 
 The bushranger never uttered another word. 
 
 He was completely bewildered. 
 
 "Tinker." 
 
 "Yes, sar."
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 245 
 
 "Bring a rope." 
 
 'Yes, sar." 
 
 "Tie him up." 
 
 "Yes, sar, I will, sar; dis chile do it awful double 
 quick." 
 
 He dropped down upon the bushranger Morris, and in 
 spite of his resistance, succeeded in fastening his arms as 
 securely as he had done those of the unfortunate sentry. 
 
 To secure the others was the work of a very few minutes. 
 
 What could they do ? 
 
 Nothing. 
 
 They were surprised utterly hopelessly taken at a 
 disadvantage. 
 
 "Now get up and march," said Harkaway. 
 
 They obeyed. 
 
 To hesitate was dangerous, seeing that they were faced 
 by three armed men, not to speak of Tinker, who, in his 
 excitement, was really no mean adversary. 
 
 "Wake up you warmint," said Tinker, giving the in- 
 sensible sentry a kick. 
 
 As this failed to arouse him, the dose was repeated until 
 the man was brought round. 
 
 And when they were all upon their feet, Tinker started 
 them by prodding them on their respective rears with a 
 wooden spear he carried. 
 
 " What are you going to do with us ?" demanded the 
 bushranger, Morris, sullenly. 
 
 " Put you in a place of safety," responded Rook. 
 
 " What !" echoed Morris, recognizing the speaker for 
 the first time, " is it you, Rook? " 
 
 "As you see." 
 
 "Traitor!" 
 
 "That's false," said Rook; "I am no traitor. I was 
 never one of you. I was forced into playing a loathsome 
 part. Morgan turned traitor to me. If ever I owed him 
 and you any allegiance, that freed me." 
 
 " Where would you take us ? " 
 
 "Where you will be unable to do any further mischief." 
 
 "Then we had better fight it out here, comrades," said 
 the bushranger, suddenly, facing round. 
 
 " No ; you had not," retorted Rook. "Not if you are 
 prudent. Your lives are safe. Resist, and they will not 
 be so long."
 
 246 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SOWS 
 
 "Curse your " luck, growled one of the prisoners ; "we 
 have no help for it." 
 
 " None." 
 
 "March," said Harvey ; "I'm getting tired of this." 
 
 "Spikey," cried Tinker, inserting about an inch of his 
 7/ooden spear in the sentry's back. 
 
 "Oho!" 
 
 "March." 
 
 And march they did. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 SURPRISE THE BUSHRANGER'S WIFE RELEASE OF THE 
 
 PRISONERS ROOK AND TINKER FIND THEMSELVES IN GREAT 
 
 PERIL. 
 
 THE town in which the sheriff of the county lived was 
 ^bout fifteen miles from the spot where the lawless re- 
 mainder of Morgan's demoralised band had been captured. 
 
 There was a lock-up there, and a magistrate could ex- 
 amine them before they were sent to prison. 
 
 All the bushrangers had their arms bound behind their 
 backs. 
 
 As they marched silently along, they looked very crest- 
 fallen and woebegone. 
 
 Jack wanted to get back to the settlement without 
 delay. 
 
 He did not see the use of taking the captives with him. 
 
 They would have to go, ultimately, to the sheriff, who 
 was an energetic man named Hardrock. 
 
 The town which he graced with his presence was called 
 Masdon. 
 
 He was extremely popular, and a terror to evildoers, 
 though the bushrangers had long held him at defiance. 
 
 Through coming frequently in contact with him, Jack 
 knew him well, and had every confidence in him. 
 
 After marching a few miles, Jack called a halt. 
 
 He and his party were provided with water-bottles and 
 sandwich cases. 
 
 They felt the necessity for some refreshment and a brief 
 rest
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TRALIA. 247 
 
 The bushrangers were permitted to sit down under the 
 shade of some gum-trees. 
 
 " I must have a bite of something/' said Jack, " and a 
 drink of water, for I'm parched. " 
 
 "Same here, " replied Harvey. "The sun's warm to- 
 day, and no mistake ! " 
 
 "Golly ! " exclaimed Tinker. "That am right. It hot 
 enough to scorch the tail off of a brass kangaroo." 
 
 " What do you know about it ? " asked Jack. 
 
 "Dat's my opinion, sar." 
 
 "Next time, when you've got one, be kind enough to 
 keep it to yourself." 
 
 "Dey won't keep, sar, unless I put dem on ice, and I 
 don't know where we're going to find dat perishable com- 
 modity in dis here bush." 
 
 " You know a lot, don't you ? " 
 
 "Been dragged up somehow, sar," replied Tinker. 
 
 "Don't you think, Rook," said Jack, " that you and the 
 boy could take the prisoners up to the sheriff without 
 Harvey and I ? " 
 
 "Certainly. Why not?" 
 
 "You are acquainted with the way to Masdon? " 
 
 "As well as you are, sir." 
 
 "And, if I am not mistaken, you have met Mr. Hard- 
 rock, the sheriff of the county ? " 
 
 "Once or twice." 
 
 "Very well," continued Harkaway. " You can deliver 
 these rangers into his custody." 
 
 " With pleasure," replied Rook. 
 
 "He will understand what to do with them." 
 
 "Put them in the lock-up, I guess." 
 
 "Tell him they are the remnant of Morgan's band, 
 captured by me." 
 
 "They are as harmless as dried snakes, sir," said Rook. 
 "I and Tinker can do the business." 
 
 "Up to de knocker," chimed in Tinker. 
 
 " That settles it," answered Harkaway. " Harvey and 
 I will return to the settlement." 
 
 "As you please, sir." 
 
 It was arranged that Jack and Harvey should go back 
 pJone to assure their friends of their success. 
 
 Rook and Tinker were to conduct the defeated rangers 
 ro the town of Masdon.
 
 2 48 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SOWS 
 
 Here they would deliver them to Mr. Hardrock, the 
 sheriff. 
 
 Their doom was the gallows. 
 
 Well had they merited the fate in store for them. 
 
 After partaking of the refreshment they had brought 
 with them, the party separated. 
 
 Harkaway and Harvey walked back to the settlement. 
 
 Making the rangers rise, Rook and Tinker started them 
 on the road to Masdon. 
 
 They imagined that they had an easy task before them. 
 
 In this conjecture they found that they were mistaken. 
 
 Morris, who had been Morgan's lieutenant and fast 
 friend for years, did not appear so dejected as his com- 
 panions. 
 
 "Mister, "he said, addressing Rook, " would you be 
 charitable enough to give a chap who's down on his luck 
 a chew of terbacker ? " 
 
 "Like a shot," replied Rook, good-naturedly. "Why 
 didn't you ask before ? " 
 
 " Didn't like to." 
 
 " Here you are." 
 
 Rook took a piece of navy plug from his vest pocket, and 
 breaking a bit off, put it in Morris's mouth. 
 
 He began to chew it vigorously. 
 
 " Bet your boots," he exclaimed, "I won't forget you 
 for this, if ever you should be placed in a hole and I'm by." 
 
 "'Tain't my fault you're going to be landed." 
 
 "I know that ; it's that infernal Harkaway that's got 
 his knife in us," said Morris. 
 
 " Don't call him names." 
 
 " I feel bad over it."' 
 
 "Mr. Harkaway is a fine fellow, and every inch a 
 gentleman." 
 
 " He's been too clever for us." 
 
 "Hasn't he had enough to put up with from your 
 gang ? " asked Rook. 
 
 " Maybe ; but we haven't got the steel yet. The key 
 isn't turned on us." 
 
 "What do you mean ? " 
 
 "Morgan had a wife and a brother." 
 
 "Sol have heard. What of that ? " 
 
 "Mrs. Morgan is a regular amazon. She used to work 
 with us, and we called her Fighting Sue. She had a
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 249 
 
 baby, and Morgan built her a house near Masdon, in the 
 woods. Morgan's brother Bob lived with her, plretending 
 to cut wood and sell it ; but Morgan took his booty to 
 the house. " 
 
 "Aren't you giving him and her away ? " queried Rook. 
 
 "That don't matter," replied Morris. 
 
 "How's that?," 
 
 "We've had private information that Fighting Sue and 
 Bob are coming on the warpath to avenge the death of 
 the king of the bushrangers." 
 
 "Is that so?" 
 
 "Fact. I don't mind telling you. I'll bet they'll bring 
 Borne of the boys with them. They know the road. 
 We aren't landed yet, by a long way." 
 
 Rook looked grave. 
 
 So did Tinker. 
 
 There might be trouble yet before they reached the 
 town of Masdon. 
 
 Both held their rifles tighter, and prepared for a pos- 
 sible encounter. 
 
 "Yes," continued Morris, as if talking to himself, "I 
 ain't lost all hope yet. " 
 
 "Shut your mouth, you fool 1" said one of his com- 
 panions, named Daggersberg. 
 
 He was reckoned the most bloodthirsty member of the 
 band. 
 
 There was no act of cruelty, however atrocious, that 
 he would hesitate to commit 
 
 When robbing a house, after killing the father, he 
 would take a baby from its mother's arms, and throw it 
 up in the air, when he would empty his revolver at the 
 hapless, innocent infant. 
 
 All who knew him called him the Terror. 
 
 "I ain't saying nothing out of the way," replied 
 Morris. 
 
 "You're talking private business, and if I had my 
 hands free, I'd give you a lick in the mouth." 
 
 " It would take a better man than you to do that." 
 
 "Perhaps some day I'll make you eat those words," 
 retorted Daggersberg. 
 
 Morris held his peace. 
 
 He was induced to do so by a peculiar sound in front 
 of him.
 
 3 5 o JACK HARK A WAY AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 It was the cry or note of a bird, only found on the 
 Australian continent. 
 
 This bird is known as the laughing jackass to the 
 settlers. 
 
 There was nothing extraordinary to Rook and Tinker 
 in the cry. 
 
 But it had a peculiar significance for Morris and his 
 captive friends. 
 
 Long ago, Morgan had adopted this call as a secret anc* 
 private signal and warning for the bushrangers. 
 
 If they were in any trouble, or lost in the bush, o 
 wanted help, or wished to communicate with one another, 
 this was their call. 
 
 It was not difficult to learn. 
 
 Morris could imitate the bird to perfection. 
 
 Again the weird, startling note was heard. 
 
 This time Morris answered it, his heart beating wildly. 
 
 He felt sure that there was some meaning attached to it. 
 
 Ardently he hoped that the wife of the dead bushranger 
 was not far off. 
 
 Fighting Sue would not come alone. 
 
 She was sure to bring some reliable fighting men with 
 her. 
 
 Scarcely had the cry escaped his lips, than a reply was 
 heard. 
 
 There was a bend in the road. 
 
 Rook and Tinker were ahead of the prisoners, and as 
 they turned the corner they halted. 
 
 Though they held their rifles cocked, ready for use, in 
 their hands, they did not attempt to discharge them. 
 
 Right in front of them was a woman on a black horse, 
 which she bestrode like a man. 
 
 She wore moleskin trousers, also masculine fashion, a 
 loose tunic, confined at the waist by a girdle, and a broad- 
 brimmed felt hat. 
 
 This was Fighting Sue, the widow of Morgan, the 
 dreaded bushranger whom Harkaway had brought to his 
 doom. 
 
 She was tall, stout, stern, and hard-featured, but not 
 wholly devoid of good looks. 
 
 At one period of her life, when younger, and before 
 care and trouble fell upon her, she had no doubt been 
 handsome.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 251 
 
 She had let the bridle-rein fall on the horse's neck, the 
 inimal standing quiet in the middle of the road. 
 
 In each hand she held a seven- chambered revolver, 
 with which she covered both Rook and Tinker. 
 
 She could have killed either of them at a moment's 
 notice. 
 
 Behind her, on foot, were grouped six strong, rough- 
 looking men, who were armed with Winchester rifles. 
 
 In their belts they had stuck both knives and daggers. 
 
 They had their guns at the shoulder, and only awaited 
 their mistress's command to fire. 
 
 " Hold up your arms ! " shouted the amazon. "I am 
 Morgan's widow. Surrender, or you are dead men ! " 
 
 Rook and Tinker had no option but to comply. 
 
 They had been completely taken by surprise, owing to 
 the sudden appearance of the party in front of them. 
 
 The bushrangers just behind Rook and Tinker recog- 
 nised friends among those supporting Fighting Sue. 
 
 With a dejected air, Rook let his gun fall to the ground 
 and threw up his arms. 
 
 This example of total and unconditional surrender was 
 immediately followed by Tinker. 
 
 The black boy could have cried with vexation. 
 
 But there was no help for it. 
 
 In a moment the six men who formed the band of 
 Fighting Sue advanced. 
 
 Two of them picked up the rifles that had been dropped, 
 and also deprived Rook and Tinker of their pistols. 
 
 They were then not bound, but handcuffed together, 
 like malefactors of the deepest dye. 
 
 The men had made a raid on a police-station in a town 
 they had passed, and the handcuffs had been stolen there- 
 from. 
 
 No time was lost by the others in releasing their 
 friends. 
 
 Then there was a general and cordial shaking of 
 hands. 
 
 Bob Morgan, brother of the deceased bushranger, greeted 
 Morris, and Daggersberg clasped the not very delicate 
 hand of Fighting Sue. 
 
 "We did not expect to meet you so soon," said Sue, 
 "nor did we think to see you in custody." 
 
 "Your messenger came to us in the bush," replied
 
 2 S 2 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SOWS 
 
 Daggersberg. "and reported that you were coming to 
 join us with half-a-dozen good men and true. " 
 
 "Quite correct. I have lost no time since my poor 
 husband's death." 
 
 " You will avenge it ! " 
 
 "Will I not, by heaven ! " exclaimed the woman, pas- 
 sionately. " That is why I am here." 
 
 "We will nobly support you." 
 
 "Of that I am sure. I have always heard Morgan 
 speak most highly of you. " 
 
 " If there was a post of danger to be filled, he usually 
 assigned it to me." 
 
 " How do I come to find you prisoners ? " asked Fight- 
 ing Sue. "I was making for your camp." 
 
 "It is broken up," answered Daggersberg. 
 
 ' ' How by whom ? " 
 
 "That meddlesome fellow, Harkaway, pounced upor, 
 us, and before we could defend ourselves, we were capt- 
 ured. " 
 
 " Harkaway again ! He has been our curse," she said, 
 bitterly. " Where is he ? " 
 
 "He and his friends, with the exception of the two 
 who had us in charge, have gone back to the settlement 
 lately made called Harkawayville. " 
 
 "I have heard of it as a thriving place," exclaimed 
 Sue, adding, "Are these men, the white and the black, 
 of note ? " 
 
 "They seem to be thought a lot of," replied Daggers- 
 berg. 
 
 "Keep a sharp watch on them. I give them into 
 your care for the present. " 
 
 " No fear of me neglecting them." 
 
 Morris and the other two men now came up to and 
 thanked Mrs. Morgan for her timely succour. 
 
 Daggersberg fell back and placed himself in front of 
 the manacled captives. 
 
 " It's a queer world," remarked Rook. 
 
 "I reckon the world won't trouble you much longer," 
 replied Daggersberg, brutally. 
 
 " If so, I can't help it ; but if we fall, our death will be 
 fully avenged." 
 
 " We chaps will run the risk of that You are counting 
 on your pal, Harkaway ? "
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 253 
 
 "Of course I am," said Rook, "and he's thoroughly 
 reliable, too. If we don't turn up at the settlement be- 
 tween this and to-morrow morning, there'll be a row." 
 
 "You won't, then, I can tell you." 
 
 " Have you heard what's to be done with us ? " 
 
 "Take that, and don't presume to ask any more ques- 
 tions," cried Daggersberg. 
 
 As he spoke, he struck Rook a blow on the mouth, 
 which loosened his teeth and made his lips bleed. 
 
 Presently the order was given to march. 
 
 Fighting Sue, Bob Morgan, and Morris had been hold- 
 ing a consultation. 
 
 It was decided to enter the bush, and as soon as they 
 came to a stream, to form a new camp. 
 
 The old one was to be finally abandoned. 
 
 The widow intended to follow her husband's lawless 
 profession. 
 
 And, above all things, to avenge his death upon Hark- 
 away and those who were associated with him. 
 
 Two men were detailed to guard the captives, one be- 
 ing Daggersberg. 
 
 After leaving the high-road and entering the bush, they 
 did not proceed more than three miles before they came 
 to the very spot they required. 
 
 It was a piece of ground sheltered by scrub and trees, 
 through which ran a stream. 
 
 A halt was called, a fire was lighted, some dampers 
 made, and a portion of a kangaroo, which Morris had 
 shot, was nicely broiled. 
 
 Stakes and boughs were cut ; the stakes driven into the 
 ground, the boughs interlaced to make walls ; grass was 
 pulled to fill up the interstices ; a roof was formed, and 
 soon each man had a hut to sleep in. 
 
 A superior one was erected for the widow. 
 
 When the shades of night began to fall, and the air 
 grew cooler, they piled more branches on the fire and sat 
 round it. 
 
 The prisoners, over whom Daggersberg watched, were 
 the subject of their conversation. 
 
 Mrs. Morgan did not attach much importance to 
 Tinker. 
 
 He was only a black boy, whom she thought might be 
 spared to make them a servant
 
 254 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 Rook, however, she was inclined to hang on a tree by 
 the roadside. 
 
 Some body passing along would be sure to see it, and 
 disseminate the news. 
 
 This would be a direct defiance to Harkaway. 
 
 Only one of the band raised his voice against the pro- 
 posal, 'and that was Morris. 
 
 He had promised to befriend Rook if he could, and he 
 kept his word, 
 
 But he was overruled. 
 
 The members of the band were not inclined to enter- 
 tain considerations of mercy. 
 
 After a parley, it was decided, with only one dissentient 
 voice, that Rook should die. 
 
 Tinker was to be the camp servant and odd boy, with 
 a stone attached to a chain round his foot to prevent his 
 running away. 
 
 Rook was condemned to be hanged by the roadside, 
 at daybreak the next morning. 
 
 Mrs. Morgan wrote, in pencil on a piece of paper, 
 words to the effect that he was put to death by order of 
 the widow of the late bushranger, and the sentence ex- 
 ecuted by members of her band. 
 
 This placard was to be fixed to his breast. 
 
 It was, indeed, throwing a challenge at law and estab- 
 lished authority. 
 
 When this was settled, Bob Morgan proposed that his 
 sister-in-law should be made the head of the band. 
 
 He further suggested that she should be known as the 
 Queen of the Bushrangers. 
 
 Both propositions were carried by acclamation. 
 
 Morro said that Bob Morgan should be lieutenant, 
 which was agreed to. 
 
 The camp was to be known as Morgan's Nest. 
 
 Their objects would be to plunder houses, rob travellers, 
 and be revenged on Harkaway and his friends. 
 
 When all was arranged, Daggersberg was told to in- 
 form Rook of his fate. 
 
 This was a congenial task to the bushranger. 
 
 The rest of the band retired to their huts. 
 
 Overhead the stars were shining brightly in the dark 
 vault of heaven.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 255 
 
 Tinker had stretched himself on the ground, but Rook 
 sat up. 
 
 He looked at Daggersberg, and a tremor came over 
 him. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 ROOK'S FATE SNATCHED FROM THE GRAVE THE LAW'S DELAY. 
 
 IT was a chilly night, the wind having suddenly 
 changed. 
 
 A cold blast swept shrilly through the branches of the 
 trees, and rain fell at intervals. 
 
 Sailors would have termed it squally weather. 
 
 Daggersberg was the sentry appointed for the first half 
 of the night, and, as we have stated, was ordered to in- 
 form Rook of the doom which awaited him on the mor- 
 row. 
 
 He was of Dutch extraction, and, like most of his com- 
 patriots, a great smoker. 
 
 For a time he walked up and down, his rifle on his 
 shoulder and his pipe in his mouth. 
 
 Then he knocked the ashes out of the bowl and went 
 up to Rook, who, still seated under a tree, was gazing 
 vacantly at the expiring embers of the fire. 
 
 Now and again the wind would fan them into a fierce 
 blaze, and anon they would almost die out. 
 
 "My friend," exclaimed Daggersberg, "I have sad 
 news for you." 
 
 Rook looked up. 
 
 "That is no more than I expected," he replied. "You 
 bushrangers have not much of a reputation for mercy." 
 
 "No one shows us any," remarked Daggersberg. 
 
 " Do you deserve it ? Why don't you work for a living, 
 kistead of robbing people ? " 
 
 " I like the life ; and as for work, there is plenty of that 
 about it, let me tell you." 
 
 How long have you been at it ? " 
 
 "Going on five years ; ever since Morgan started." 
 
 "You'll get wiped out before long, only you can't see 
 it," replied Rook. 
 
 "Not by the sheriff," Daggersberg laughed. " He has
 
 256 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 tackled us several times, and always got the worst of it. 
 We know Sheriff Hardrock, of Masdon, and he knows us. " 
 
 "That may be so. You forget, however, that if the 
 sheriff holds aloof, you will have to account to Harkaway 
 if you injure me or that black boy who is sleeping by my 
 side." 
 
 " He is safe," answered Daggersberg. "The Queen of 
 the Bushrangers has decided to keep him as a servant." 
 
 "If you reckon on keeping that boy, you make a mis- 
 take. He'll cut and run. " 
 
 "Not if we hobble him, with a piece of wood fastened 
 to a chain round his leg." 
 
 "He'll skip, for he's as 'cute as they make them. 
 Young Harkaway sets great store by him." 
 
 " We don't care a snap of the fingers for the Harkaways 
 and their party." 
 
 " You'll have to. None of you know them so well as 
 I do. The elder Harkaway is a masterpiece," said Rook. 
 "If you keep the boy you'll rue it. But to business." 
 
 "That's what I was coming to." 
 
 "What's my fate to be ? " 
 
 "You've got to have your neck stretched, my boy, 
 early to-morrov/, so if you know any prayers, you'd bet- 
 ter rake 'em up," replied Daggersberg. 
 
 A shudder ran through Rook's frame. 
 
 The sentence of death had not been expected by him. 
 
 It was hard to be hurried out of the world in such a 
 sudden and cruel manner. 
 
 Then there was the ignominy of a death by hanging. 
 
 It was the fate of a common malefactor. 
 
 "You'll be sorry for it," he exclaimed. "Harkaway 
 might have left you alone if you'd not interfered with me 
 and Tinker." 
 
 " Can't help it ; the band have decided against you," 
 rejoined Daggersberg. 
 
 " Have I no friend amongst you ? " 
 
 " Only Morris. He spoke up for your life." 
 
 "You can get money for my release by sending to 
 Harkawayville. " 
 
 "It's no use holding out any hope to you, old son. 
 The queen and Bob Morgan are full of revenge for the 
 death of the greatest bushranger Australia ever produced. 
 They mean to hang Harkaway before they've done."
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA, 
 
 2 57 
 
 That's all talk." 
 
 " I don't know so much about that," said Daggersberg, 
 with a thoughtful shake of the head. 
 
 " Leave me to myself, will you please ? " replied Rook. 
 
 " With pleasure." 
 
 "You've told me that I have to look eternity in the 
 face very shortly, and I want to think it over." 
 
 " It's a sure thing ; don't hope." 
 
 "I'm no coward, but I'm not in the humour for talk- 
 ing." 
 
 "If I could help you, I would." 
 
 "Help me," repeated Rook. "You can if you choose." 
 
 " How?" 
 
 "Set me and the boy free. We will make tracks for 
 Harka way ville. " 
 
 " That would cost me my life." 
 
 " Come with us and I will make a man of you. What 
 are you now ? " 
 
 "You can answer the question as well as I." 
 
 "An outlaw, a bushranger, a bandit," said Rook. 
 
 "More than that," replied Daggersberg, gloomily. 
 
 "Tell me," asked Rook, under his breath. 
 
 He knew that this man had a fearful past. 
 
 Were it not so, he would not have been in the position 
 he was. 
 
 Only fugitives, criminals of all sorts, became bush- 
 rangers. 
 
 "Murderer ! " replied Daggersberg, calmly. 
 
 "Whom did you kill?" asked Rook. 
 
 " My wife. It was her fault. " 
 
 "That is why you are a fugitive from civilisation?" 
 
 "Nothing else. If I went back from the bush, they 
 would have me, and do with me as the queen and her 
 people will do with you to-morrow." 
 
 "Say no more ; I am resigned, "Rook answered. 
 
 He fell back and closed his eyes. 
 
 Daggersberg resumed his patrol. 
 
 In due time, he was relieved by Bob Morgan, being 
 very glad of a few hours' repose. 
 
 When the dawn came, Morgan was joined by Morris. 
 
 After a few words, they roused Rook and Tinker, who 
 for some time had been fast asleep. 
 
 To the leg of the black boy they riveted a chain, at the 
 17
 
 258 JACK HARK A WA V AND 1US SON'S 
 
 end of which was securely fastened a heavy log of 
 wood. 
 
 "What are you doing to this child? asked Tinker, 
 when the operation was completed. 
 
 "That's just to keep you steady," replied Morgan. 
 
 " I's right enough." 
 
 "You've got to be the bushrangers' servant slave, 
 if you like to call it so, for you'll have to wait on the 
 camp." 
 
 "Get more kicks than ha'pence, I guess." 
 
 "Right you are, if you don't behave yourself," said 
 Morgan. 
 
 " I've got to grin and bear it." 
 
 " No mistake about that." 
 
 "What's the berth worth, old cornstalk ?" 
 
 "A smack side of the head, if you let your tongue 
 wag." 
 
 "Is Mr. Rook in it?" 
 
 "No ; he isn't taking any. He is going to stretch his 
 neck, so you may say good-bye. " 
 
 Tinker's face became grave. 
 
 He showed by his looks how much he felt. 
 
 The two shook hands. 
 
 Then Rook was told to march after Morgan, who led 
 the van, Morris bringing up the rear. 
 
 The latter had, coiled over his right arm, a long, thick 
 rope. 
 
 Silently they threaded their way through the mazy bush. 
 
 The rain had ceased falling, but the wind was blowing 
 half a gale. 
 
 It made mournful music in the tree-tops. 
 
 In an hour, the main road between Masdon and Harka- 
 wayville was reached. 
 
 Morgan and Morris led their prisoner a few paces down 
 the road. 
 
 They halted close to a tall tree that had been struck by 
 lightning some years before. 
 
 About three feet above their heads was a scathed, 
 barkless bough. 
 
 Though dead wood, it was still strong enough to sus- 
 tain the weight of a man. 
 
 Over this the rope was thrown. 
 
 A noose was made at one end, and there was rope
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 2 59 
 
 enough left to tie round the trunk when the victim was 
 drawn up. 
 
 The slip-knot was placed round Rook's neck. 
 
 His arms were already bound ; as an additional pre- 
 caution, they tied his legs together near the ankles. 
 
 He seemed perfectly unconcerned. 
 
 In reality, however, he was not so. 
 
 The man was thinking deeply about the possibilities 
 of a future life. 
 
 Death was coming to him very suddenly. 
 
 There were passages in his career which he could 
 have wished blotted out. 
 
 Who is there among us who has not one or more regrets 
 for conduct in the past ? 
 
 He was making his peace with the Power that alone 
 could show him compassion. 
 
 "Good-bye," said Morgan. 
 
 Morris took hold of the end of the rope. 
 
 He only awaited the signal from his accomplice to 
 haul away. 
 
 " Farewell," replied Rook, "I die with no ill-feeling or 
 enmity towards any one. You have my forgiveness for 
 the crime you are going to commit." 
 
 "Swing him ! " cried Bob Morgan. 
 
 Morris gave a pull at the rope, and ROOK was taken up 
 at least three feet from the ground. 
 
 The rope was then made fast round the trunk of the 
 blasted tree. 
 
 The victim of the bushrangers' hate did not sustain any 
 fracture of the vertebrae, as is usually the case in death 
 by hanging. 
 
 This was because there was no drop. 
 
 He was doomed to a more painful death namely, one 
 by slow strangulation. 
 
 In a few moments his face became a horrible sight. 
 
 Morgan and Morris, hardened and callous as they 
 were, turned away from it, sick at heart. 
 
 It was more than even they could stand. 
 
 The placard, worded and written by the queen, had 
 been pinned to his vest. 
 
 It set forth that the man had been condemned and 
 executed by order of Susan Morgan, Queen of the Bush- 
 rangers.
 
 260 JA CK HARKWAA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 The conclusion was : "Success to anarchy." 
 
 Rook's face became almost black with the pressure ol 
 blood. 
 
 His tongue lolled out, swollen and discoloured. 
 
 His features were hideously distorted, and his eyes 
 nearly started from his head. 
 
 "Come on," exclaimed Morgan. "We have done the 
 trick. I can't bear that sight " 
 
 "Nor I. It's a thing to dream of and wake up in the 
 night with the horrors," replied Morris. 
 
 The limbs twitched convulsively. 
 
 Rook's eyes seemed to be watching their every move- 
 ment. 
 
 "I wonder how long he will be dying," remarked Bob 
 Morgan. 
 
 "It takes some time to die of strangulation, " replied 
 Morris. "Shall I try it on you ? Let me put my fingers 
 round your throat." 
 
 "No, thank you." 
 
 " I'll leave off before the critical moment comes. You 
 can tell me what you think of hanging as a mode of 
 capital punishment, and whether it hurts much." 
 
 "Don't be a fool." 
 
 Saying this, Morgan grasped his companion's arm and 
 dragged him into the bush. 
 
 They immediately disappeared amidst the trees and 
 scrub. 
 
 The body of Rook was left to swing mournfully in the 
 fresh breeze. 
 
 Scarcely had Morgan and Morris quitted the scene ot 
 their rascality, than a most remarkable thing occurred. 
 
 It seemed like a direct intervention of Providence on 
 behalf of the wretched man. 
 
 Two persons suddenly appeared on the opposite side of 
 the road. 
 
 They had evidently walked across the open grazing 
 ground which intervened between them and the settle- 
 ment. 
 
 One was Jack Harkaway and the other his old friend 
 Harvey. 
 
 Thinking nothing of a long walk, they had started early 
 to go to Masdon, and find out what the sheriff was going 
 to do with the bushrangers.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 26 1 
 
 It was their belief that Rook and Tinker would be 
 entertained by Sheriff Hardrock with proverbial colonial 
 hospitality. 
 
 They could not do less than stay the night at his 
 house, and the best part of the next day. 
 
 Judge of their astonishment when they saw, right in 
 front of their eyes, a body swinging in the air. 
 
 Convulsed as the features were, they could see that the 
 victim was no other than Rook. 
 
 How long he had been hanging they did not know. 
 
 There was no possibility of their finding out. 
 
 "Good Heaven ! look there ! " Harvey exclaimed. 
 
 "It is our friend Rook," Harkaway replied, drawing 
 his large bowie knife. 
 
 "What are you going to do?" 
 
 "Cut him down." 
 
 " He looks too far gone for our help to be of any use to 
 him," said Harvey. 
 
 "Never say die. Nil desperandum ! That has always 
 been my motto," replied Jack. 
 
 " A jolly good one, too. Hurrah for a light heart ! " 
 
 "And a true, honest mind," put in Jack. 
 
 "You're not worth much without it," Harvey an- 
 swered. 
 
 While they were talking, Jack had been hard at work 
 at the rope. 
 
 He speedily cut it through. 
 
 ' ' Stand by ! " he cried. 
 
 Harvey held out his arms and caught the body of Rook 
 as, by the loosening of the rope, it descended to the ground. 
 
 He laid it down on a soft, mossy bank, on which wild 
 flowers and ferns grew. 
 
 Harkaway, knife in hand, was by his side in a moment. 
 
 The rope was removed from his neck, his collar torn 
 open, his arms and legs unbound. 
 
 Rook began to breathe again, and the black blood went 
 from his face. 
 
 Still there was a dangerous look about him. 
 
 " He hasn't been strung up long, poor beggar," said 
 Jack. 
 
 "It is lucky we came along," replied Harvey. 
 
 "The thing's a mystery tome," continued Jack. "The 
 .'angers must have bested him and Tinker in some way."
 
 262 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 "What's this on his vest? " 
 
 Harvey pointed to the placard. 
 
 Up to now it had escaped their notice. 
 
 They read it attentively, and their faces soon expressed 
 the surprise and mortification they felt. 
 
 "A new danger has sprung up for me for all of us," 
 said Harkaway. 
 
 "I have heard of this wife of Morgan's," observed 
 Harvey. ' ' She's a perfect terror. They call her Fighting 
 Sue, the demon of the woods." 
 
 "And now she is Queen of the Bushrangers. It is a 
 bad lookout for us. She will attack the settlement. We 
 can't think of leaving Australian soil yet awhile. " 
 
 "No," replied Harvey; "that's like our luck. We 
 must settle accounts with Mrs. Morgan. " 
 
 "She is after revenge, because I was the cause of hei - 
 husband's death." 
 
 "There can be no doubt of that. I say, will this man 
 recover? I like him too well to think of losing him." 
 
 " He's all right ; I can tell by the strengthening of the 
 respiration. " 
 
 ' ' Glad to hear it. Give him a drop of brandy out of 
 your flask." 
 
 Jack did so, and Rook gazed at them with signs of 
 returning consciousness. 
 
 "When he was able to move, they got him on his feet, 
 and walked him up and down. 
 
 This restored the circulation to its normal condition. 
 
 In about an hour he was himself again. 
 
 He shook hands with his rescuers, thanked them for 
 their services, and related his adventures. 
 
 Harkaway and Harvey saw that there was trouble 
 ahead of them, if this new band of rangers was not 
 speedily stamped out. 
 
 " I rejoice to know that you have been brought back 
 from the grave, as it were," said Jack. "I was going 
 with Harvey to Masdon, but will see you back to the 
 settlement. " 
 
 "Never mind me, sir," replied Rook. " You are too 
 kind. I can get round by myself." 
 
 "Are you sure you are strong enough ? " 
 
 "Quite. There is no danger. The rangers will lie low 
 for a time, and then Fighting Sue will go for you."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 263 
 
 "For me yes." 
 
 "You know it. You feel it as I do. Beware of her. 
 She wants revenge." 
 
 "Right again for her husband's death, of which she 
 thinks me the sole cause." 
 
 "Precisely. And I don't think that woman, Mr. Hark- 
 away, will ever rest contented until you have had her 
 hanged, or she has settled you." 
 
 " That is just my opinion, Rook," said Harkaway ; 
 "and if you will walk back to the settlement, Harvey and 
 I will proceed and acquaint the sheriff with what has 
 happened, tell him of this new pest to Colonial up-country 
 people, and ask him to drop down on it quickly." 
 
 " It is his place to do it." 
 
 "Why does he get his position and pay if not to 
 protect the citizens ? " continued Jack. 
 
 They parted. 
 
 Rook went to the settlement. 
 
 He felt rather dizzy and sore round the throat, but he 
 had not been hanging long enough to hurt much. 
 
 Harkaway and Harvey continued their journey to 
 Masdon, and was fortunate enough to find Sheriff Hard- 
 rock at home. 
 
 This functionary, who thought rather more of himself 
 than other people did, was indulging in an early twelve- 
 o'clock dinner. 
 
 They had met before, so that there was no need of any 
 introduction. 
 
 "Glad to see you," he exclaimed, as the help ushered 
 them in. "Sit down and join me. It's only roast sheep 
 meat. I'd ha' killed a couple of fowls had I known you 
 were coming." 
 
 "Thank you all the same, "replied Jack, "we'll dine 
 later at the inn. Not hungry yet. You peg away, and 
 listen to what we have come to tell you." 
 
 "Wire in," said the sheriff. 
 
 Harkaway clearly and succinctly related all the recent 
 occurrences. 
 
 He wound up with a description of Fighting Sue's 
 position and band, her intentions towards him, and the 
 way in which she had treated Rook. 
 
 "It is a very daring set-out," exclaimed the sheriff 
 "but only what we are accustomed to in these parts."
 
 264 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 " What do you intend to do about it ? " asked Harkaway. 
 
 "Nothing at present." 
 
 " Won't you rid the country of these plagues ? " 
 
 "I have my hands full just now, Mr. Harkaway. For 
 fully a month, or more, I can not attend to Mrs. Morgan's 
 gang," replied Hardrock. 
 
 Jack was astonished and annoyed. 
 
 "How is that, may I inquire? The settlers ought to 
 be protected," he said. 
 
 "I am doing my best for their welfare. I must hunt 
 down and bring to justice some sheep-stealers. " 
 
 "Well, when can we expect you to move in the matter ? " 
 
 "As soon as I can." 
 
 "That is very vague." 
 
 "I can give you nothing more definite.- In addition to 
 the sheep-stealers, I have to look out for a London 
 swindler." 
 
 "Who is that?" 
 
 "The police at Melbourne have wired me that a noto- 
 rious rascal is coming here to work the neighbourhood. 
 Sometimes he calls himself a lord, at others a baronet, or 
 a captain in the army." 
 
 "Never mind him," cried Jack, impatiently. "The 
 rangers have got our boy Tinker. I want him back. 
 They " 
 
 "It's no good, sir," interrupted Hardrock. "I can't 
 help you for a month at least. Please excuse me. I must 
 be off." 
 
 The sheriff rose. 
 
 This was a signal for his visitors to depart. 
 
 They did so, deeply disappointed. 
 
 If anything was to be done with the new Morgan gang, 
 they would have to do it themselves. 
 
 Harkaway and Harvey went to the inn, where they had 
 some dinner. 
 
 Having refreshed themselves, they returned to the set- 
 tlement. 
 
 Jack was unusually grave and serious. 
 
 There was more hard work and danger in store for him. 
 
 He was well aware that young Jack would not leave 
 the up-country station until he had rescued his boy 
 Tinker from the clutches of Fighting Sue, the Queen of the 
 Bushrangers.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 2 65 
 
 Action of some sort must be decided upon. 
 He could expect no help from Hardrock. 
 In his opinion, the rangers were more formidable, more 
 daring and to be dreaded than they ever had been. 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 MR. MOLE MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE OF A NOBLEMAN, AND 
 BRINGS HIM TO HARKAWAYVILLE, ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT 
 ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS. 
 
 As Harkaway had anticipated, young Jack entreated 
 him not to leave the Australian continent without rescuing 
 his boy Tinker from the new band of bushrangers. 
 
 He had taken a great fancy to Tinker. 
 
 It seemed cowardly in the extreme to abandon him to 
 his fate. 
 
 Rook was of the same mind. 
 
 Anxious though he was to return to the Old Country, 
 Harkaway yielded to his son's wishes. 
 
 It was settled that the bushrangers should be attacked, 
 but they were a formidable band. 
 
 Time was required for the organisation of an expedition. 
 
 The people in the settlement did not care about Tinker, 
 and relied, for their defence against Fighting Sue and her 
 men, upon the sheriff of the county. 
 
 Therefore, Harkaway had to depend upon his own par- 
 ticular friends and followers. 
 
 He summoned them all to his house, and everyone 
 obeyed the call, except Mr. Mole; 
 
 These were Harvey, Rook, young Jack, Harry Gird- 
 wood, Monday and Sunday. 
 
 "This is a council of war," exclaimed Harkaway. 
 "The bushrangers have sprung into existence again, and 
 we shall have to do our work a second time." 
 
 "If it was not for Tinker, we could go home, father," 
 replied young Jack. 
 
 "I have promised you that we will rescue him, but \ve 
 are not strong enough to cope with them at present. We 
 must beat up for recruits. The settlers do not care to
 
 2 66 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 fight, although they ought to do so to protect themselves. 
 At any moment they may be raided on and plundered." 
 
 "Offer a sum of money for volunteers, father." 
 
 "I will do so," said Harkaway. " I should think half- 
 a-dozen more will be sufficient to assist us." 
 
 "If they are sturdy, reliable fellows," put in Rook. 
 "Yet I do not think we shall get our volunteers here. 
 They are intent on the business of cultivating land and 
 raising sheep." 
 
 "That is so. They will defend themselves, but fight- 
 ing is not in their line. However, I shall try to raise a 
 small force, and until I can do so, we must wait," re- 
 plied Harkaway. 
 
 The council broke up. 
 
 Young Jack, Harry Girdwood, and Monday walked out 
 together. 
 
 They sat down on a piece of land in front of Mr. Mole's 
 house, which was not far off. 
 
 " This am a bad bit of business about poor Tinker," ex- 
 claimed Monday. " What am we going to do ? " 
 
 "I sha'n't wait for the governor to raise his force," re- 
 plied young Jack. "If you and Harry will join me, I 
 will rescue him in a day or two. " 
 
 " I'm with you," said Harry. 
 
 "Count me in, you bet," cried Monday. "We'll set 
 fire to the bush, and burn the ole woman and her band up. " 
 
 "That's not a bad suggestion ; there's a lot in it," ex- 
 claimed Jack, admiringly. 
 
 "It am a stroke of genius, "replied Monday, with a self- 
 complacent smile. 
 
 " There can be no doubt of that, since you say so. Are 
 you often like it ? " 
 
 "I's taken that way sometimes. My head is not so 
 thick as it looks, sar."' 
 
 "You heard Rook tell us the direction in which we 
 must go to find the rangers' camp ? " continued Jack. 
 
 "Yes, sar. Reach the road to Masdon, and come to 
 the tree scathed by lightning ; then go into the bush by 
 um south-west quarter of um compass." 
 
 "That is correct. Now, we must wait in the bush until 
 the wind is blowing towards the rangers, and then set fire 
 to the bush. What do you think of the plan, Harry ? " 
 
 "I call it a thundering good scheme, so far as the
 
 AD VENTURES IN A US TR ALIA . 267 
 
 rangers are concerned ; but you have forgotten one thing," 
 rejoined Girdwood. 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 "If you burn them up or drive them to flight, the same 
 thing will happen to Tinker, who will share the fate of his 
 captors, whatever that may be." 
 
 Jack and Monday looked blankly at one another. 
 
 The circumstance that Girdwood reminded them of was 
 one they had entirely overlooked. 
 
 "Ha, ha!" laughed young Jack. "You're such a 
 deuced clever fellow, aren't you, Monday ? " 
 
 The Prince of Limbi was not at all disconcerted. 
 
 He pointed his finger at young Jack. 
 
 "There's two of us," he retorted. " Yah, yah ! " 
 
 " He's got you there," remarked Harry. 
 
 "I suppose I must admit that I jumped too readily to 
 conclusions," said Jack. 
 
 "If Tinker, as Rook describes it, has a log of wood 
 fastened by a chain to his leg, he can't run very fast. Um 
 fire get him first," observed Monday. 
 
 " So we are as far off rescuing him as ever." 
 
 "That's so, Mast' Jack. " 
 
 "If I wait for father to get a force together, or for the 
 sheriff's posse, I may wait a month," cried Jack, im- 
 patiently. 
 
 " Don't wait act," replied Harry. 
 
 "That's the talk!" exclaimed Monday. "Bravo! 
 Three cheers ! Hurrah ! " 
 
 "Yes," added Jack, "we three will attack Fighting Sue 
 and her men, and give the bushrangers all they require in 
 the way of lead pills." 
 
 A voice behind them was heard. 
 
 "Well said!" it exclaimed. "But you shall not go 
 alone ; there shall be four of us, and they shall hark to the 
 roar of us. We'll give them fits. " 
 
 They turned round, and beheld Mr. Mole. 
 
 By his side was a stout, well-dressed, rather aristocratic- 
 looking stranger. 
 
 His diamond scarf-pin was large, his rings numerous, 
 and his watch-chain massive. 
 
 They had just got out of a dog-cart, in which they had 
 driven from Masdon, to which place the professor had been 
 on a visit for a day or two.
 
 268 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 He had some friends in the town, with whom he did 
 business in gold. 
 
 For some time past, Mr. Mole had been buying up 
 nuggets. 
 
 These he kept in a large box in his house, intending to 
 take them to England. 
 
 In the Old Country he hoped to dispose of them at a 
 profit. 
 
 At the time we are speaking of, he had over a thousand 
 pounds' worth of lumps of virgin gold in his box. 
 
 There was a placid smile on the old gentleman's face. 
 
 It proclaimed almost audibly that he was on excellent 
 terms with himself. 
 
 "Two of my pupils, my lord ! " he exclaimed. "The 
 coloured person is their attendant." 
 
 This remark was addressed to his companion. 
 
 "Ah! indeed. Very glad to make their acquaintance, 
 I'm sure," was the reply. "What names did you say?" 
 
 "I will with your permission, introduce them." 
 
 "Why don't you ask ours?" inquired young Jack. 
 
 "Is it not an honour, my dear boy, to be presented to a 
 lord ? " 
 
 " I don't know so much about that." 
 
 " Hush ! Harkaway and Girdwood Lord Bankside. 
 His lordship and I met on the road between here and 
 Masdon. He was coming to our settlement, to buy land, 
 for he had heard much of the excellent prospects of Hark- 
 awayville as a regular growing, go-ahead, take-the-cake 
 sort of place. Lord Bankside has kindly consented to 
 honour my poor house with his presence for a few 
 days." 
 
 Jack and Harry bowed stiffly. 
 
 Lord Bankside smiled, and said he was glad to know 
 them, adding that, from what he had seen of the settle- 
 ment, he knew he should like it very much. 
 
 "Now, my lord," continued Mole, "I will take you 
 round, and make you acquainted with our principal 
 citizens." 
 
 " I am rather tired," replied his lordship. " Cannot you 
 defer it until to-morrow ? " 
 
 "As you please. We will have a walk instead, and 
 then some refreshment in my house. I have some par- 
 ticularly old brandy, which I can recommend."
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 2 69 
 
 They walked away together, Mole being as proud as a 
 peacock of his new friend. 
 
 A lord had never before been seen so far up country, 
 and was a decided novelty. 
 
 "What do you think of Mole's friend? " asked Jack. 
 
 " I don't like him," replied Harry ; "he does not look 
 like the genuine article." 
 
 "Wouldn't care about meeting him on a dark night in 
 um lonely road," said Monday. 
 
 "You're right. He's got a sort of stand-and-deliver 
 air. I shall steer clear of him," continued Jack. 
 
 " When do you intend to start after Tinker? " inquired 
 Harry. 
 
 "To-morrow morning. Keep it dark." 
 
 " Is the governor to know of it ? " 
 
 ".Certainly not ; he'd crab it. If he told me not to go, 
 I should have to abandon the job, because I never fly in 
 the face of his authority and disobey him ; but if he knows 
 nothing about my intention, I shall be all right," replied 
 Jack. 
 
 ' ' Shall you let Mole come ? " 
 
 " He's no good in the bush with his wooden legs. He 
 can fire a gun, but he'd be more trouble than he's worth." 
 
 " That's what I was thinking," said Harry. 
 
 "Perhaps he'll let out what he has heard, and give us 
 away. " 
 
 " Not he. I can see that he is too full of his nobleman, 
 and, after their walk, Mole will get as tight as a drum. 
 I know him. Suppose we clean our rifles and pistols, 
 and fill our knapsacks with provisions, and our kegs with 
 water ? " 
 
 " That is well thought of." 
 
 They separated to do as Jack suggested, and had only 
 just left the spot, when Mr. Mole and Lord Bankside re- 
 turned to the house. 
 
 Half-a-dozen people whom they met had been made 
 known to his lordship, and the news of his arrival was 
 flashed like wildfire through the settlement. 
 
 " I flatter myself you have created a sensation," re- 
 marked Mole, as he noticed the inhabitants come out of 
 their houses, and look curiously at them. 
 
 ' A man of my rank must expect to be stared at," replied 
 the nobleman. " It was just the same in Melbourne. I
 
 270 JACK HA RKA WAY AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 was feted and invited every where. One night at the 
 Governor-General's, the next with the Mayor, another 
 time at a leading merchant's. I thought the ladies would 
 devour me. My title is a confounded nuisance. I've a 
 good mind to drop it." 
 
 Mr. Mole led the way into the house, conducting his 
 distinguished guest into his private room. Here he pro- 
 duced a bottle of brandy, glasses and mineral waters, as 
 well as cigars. 
 
 After a couple of drinks, he became confidential, and, 
 opening his gold-box, displayed his nuggets. 
 
 "You are a rich man, I suppose?" said the noble- 
 man. 
 
 " No, my lord," replied Mole. " I have a moderate in- 
 come, that is all. " 
 
 "When do you and your party intend to return to 
 England?" 
 
 "Not for some time, I am sorry to say. Our going 
 away is delayed." 
 
 "How is that?" 
 
 "A new band of bushrangers has suddenly sprung into 
 existence. They were totally unexpected. We thought 
 we had destroyed the pests when we killed Morgan ; but 
 his wife has taken to the bush, with, I hear, ten follow- 
 ers. " 
 
 "Not many, yet quite enough to be troublesome," re- 
 marked Lord Bankside. 
 
 "The queen, who is nicknamed Fighting Sue, has 
 vowed vengeance against us, especially our leader, Hark- 
 away," said Mole. 
 
 "Why don't you leave them to be dealt with by the law- 
 ful authorities ?" 
 
 "The sheriff of the county won't move in the matter 
 at present ; he is after sheep-stealers, and some swindler 
 who is expected here from Melbourne." 
 
 His lordship started visibly and turned pale. 
 
 This, however, was not noticed by Mole. 
 
 He was pouring himself out a third tumbler of brandy 
 and water. 
 
 "Do you get many bad characters in these parts?" 
 asked his lordship. 
 
 "A few ; but we soon drive them out," was the reply. 
 
 " What becomes of them ? "
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 271 
 
 " Oh, they either go to jail or join the bushrangers." 
 
 "If I were you or Harkaway, I should leave those 
 gentry alone." 
 
 " We would gladly fold up our tents, as it were, and 
 depart in peace," said Mole; "But, unfortunately, they 
 have captured and hold prisoner a black boy of ours." 
 
 "Only a native? " 
 
 " He is a great favourite of young Jack Harkaway, and 
 so scrupulous is the father's sense of honour, that he will 
 not leave him behind." 
 
 "Then you will have to fight again?" 
 
 "No help for it," Mole answered. "Battered as lam, 
 and deprived of my legs, I rather like it." 
 
 " How did you lose your lower limbs ? " 
 
 "Inaction, my lord," said Mole, proudly. "I have 
 fought savages and pirates, on land and sea. " 
 
 " How brave you must be." 
 
 "Ah ! I shudder sometimes when I think of the number 
 of men I have killed hundreds, my lord." 
 
 "You would have been a general if you had been in 
 the army, and have had medals and crosses." 
 
 "Some day I shall write my life. That will make me 
 famous all over the world." 
 
 " I wish you would dedicate the work to me," exclaimed 
 Lord Bankside. 
 
 "Thanks, my lord; I will do so with pleasure. Your 
 condescension is most gracious," replied Mole. 
 
 He was highly delighted at the compliment. 
 
 The afternoon passed very agreeably in conversation. 
 
 Mole invited Harkaway and Harvey to dinner, and 
 Lord Bankside took great pains to please. 
 
 He was voted a good fellow, all being pleased to have 
 met him. 
 
 The company separated at a late hour. Mole con- 
 ducted his lordship to his room, wished him good-night, 
 and, taking a stiff glass for the last, the worthy professor 
 sought his own bed, being soon in the land of dreams. 
 
 It was nine o'clock when he awoke. 
 
 Hastily dressing himself, he proceeded to his lordship's 
 room to call him to breakfast. 
 
 To his surprise, the door was open. 
 
 This was not very extraordinary, for Lord Bankside 
 scnight have risen early, and gone for a walk.
 
 272 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 But Mole's countenance fell when he noticed that the bed 
 had not been slept in. 
 
 What could it mean ? 
 
 Had he been deceived in the real character of his Eng* 
 lish nobleman ? 
 
 "Perish the thought," he said to himself. 
 
 After making such a fuss over Lord Bankside, he would 
 be the laughing-stock of the town. 
 
 Every body would make fun of him. 
 
 Especially would this be the case with Harkaway. 
 
 He went down stairs in no easy or enviable state of 
 mind. 
 
 At the front door he encountered Harkaway. 
 
 "Good-morning, sir," he exclaimed. "Whose soap 
 have you used ? " 
 
 "The same as usual," replied Mole. "Why do you ask ? " 
 
 "You look rather black." 
 
 " I the fact is, I'm a trifle upset." 
 
 "Indeed! How is the newly-imported, gilt-edged 
 peer, with whom we had the distinguished honour of din- 
 ing last evening, and whose tales of upper-crust society 
 are still ringing in my ears ? " 
 
 "I haven't seen his lordship yet." 
 
 "He lies late quality hours." 
 
 "It isn't that," said Mole, in perplexity. "I saw him 
 to his room last night." 
 
 "Well ? " ejaculated Harkaway. 
 
 "Lo and behold ! this morning he is not there." 
 
 "Gone for a walk, perhaps," 
 
 "The bed has not been slept in." 
 
 Harkaway indulged in a prolonged whistle. 
 
 Whe ew ! 
 
 "That looks dickey," he exclaimed. "There is some 
 thing quizby, as they say, about it. He may have landed 
 you in Queer Street. " 
 
 " Oh, no," Mole answered ; " too much the gentleman. 
 No danger about that." 
 
 "But where is he ?" 
 
 " That is precisely what I want to know." 
 
 "Gone where the woodbine twineth, I'll bet you a 
 dollar. " 
 
 " Oh, he'll be back directly." 
 
 Mole said this, trying to comfort himself.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 273 
 
 "Where did you pick the fellow up ? or, where did he 
 pick you up ? " Harkaway enquired. 
 
 "It was an accidental meeting, between here and Mas- 
 don, on the road. " 
 
 " Who spoke first ? " 
 
 "He did, asking the way to Harkawayville. I was 
 driving and offered him a lift." 
 
 " Rash very rash." 
 
 " He had a flask of Scotch special, you know ; so 
 had I." 
 
 " You always have." 
 
 " We exchanged drinks," continued Mole. 
 
 "And confidences?" 
 
 "Exactly. I told him all about you and myself. He, 
 in return, told me who he was." 
 
 "And you believed him ? " 
 
 "Most implicitly. Wouldn't you have done the same 
 thing ? " asked the puzzled professor. 
 
 "Not much. Have you looked at your money-box, 
 treasure-chest, or whatever you call it. " 
 
 "Not since yesterday, in the afternoon ; I showed his 
 lordship the nuggets." 
 
 Harkaway put his hand on Mole's shoulder. 
 
 He looked intently in his eyes. 
 
 " Isaac Mole," he said, " when were you born ? " 
 
 "Let me think," replied the professor. "In the 
 year " 
 
 "Never mind. Will you ever learn anything?" 
 
 "I can speak five languages." 
 
 "You're a mug," exclaimed Harkaway, "and I tell 
 you so to your face." 
 
 Mr. Mole pushed him away. 
 
 "This language, my dear boy for such you will al- 
 ways be to me is both vulgar and undeserved," he said. 
 
 "Come and look at your money-box," replied Hark- 
 away. 
 
 "By all means ; but to suspect Lord Bankside " 
 
 "Call him Lord Humbug." 
 
 "I will not hear one word against a witty, polished, 
 and accomplished nobleman." 
 
 "You are responsible for him." 
 
 "I fully accept the responsibility. Bankside is a Nor- 
 man title. It was created by the Conqueror." 
 18
 
 274 JACK HAKKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 "Who told you so ? " 
 
 " I had it from his own lips." 
 
 ;' Gospel truth, I expect," said Harkaway. 
 
 "Of course. Who can doubt it? Thirty thousand a 
 year, a castle, two baronial halls " 
 
 "Drop it." 
 
 "My dear fellow, I can only call you an unbelieving 
 pagan," cried Mole, angrily. 
 
 "Keep your temper." 
 
 " I can't ; you are so awfully aggravating." 
 
 "Look at your nuggets." 
 
 Mr. Mole, in high dudgeon, led the way to his private 
 foom. 
 
 The box was unlocked. 
 
 He had closed it on the previous day, but forgotton to 
 i irn the key. 
 
 Kneeling down, he threw up the lid. 
 
 There, to all outward appearance, was the glittering 
 nuggets piled up to the top of the chest. 
 
 With the greediness of a miser, Mole gloated over his 
 treasure. 
 
 His mouth expanded with a satisfied triumphant smile. 
 
 His eyes spoke volumes of contentment. 
 
 "What did I tell you ? " he exclaimed. 
 
 "It looks all right," said Harkaway "but " 
 
 He broke off abruptly. 
 
 " What now, sceptic ? " 
 
 "Look at this." 
 
 Harkaway stooped down and picked up a piece of 
 some shining stuff which was lying on the floor. 
 
 Mr. Mole rose and also looked at it. 
 
 "Why," he cried, 'it looks like yes, it is gold leaf." 
 
 "Exactly; the thing that carvers and gilders use in 
 their trade." 
 
 "The very same. But what of it? Nothing ! You 
 can't make any thing of that." 
 
 "Wait a bit." 
 
 " I tell you Lord Bankside is above suspicion. Let us 
 to breakfast. What time is it ? " 
 
 He felt in his pocket for his watch. 
 
 It was a valuable one he had bought in Melbourne. 
 
 That and the chain had cost seventy-five sovereigns. 
 
 The watch and chain were both gone.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 275 
 
 "Jumping Moses!." exclaimed he, "the the clock's 
 gone ! " 
 
 " Did you have it last night ? " asked Jack. 
 
 "Wound it up before I went to bed." 
 
 "Lock your door?" 
 
 "No, left it open, because of the heat." 
 
 "Coat and vest on the back of a chair?" 
 
 " No, on the end of the bed." 
 
 "Humph! Fine fellow, Lord Bankside," said Hark- 
 away, with a chuckle. 
 
 " Don't chaff," replied Mole, testily. "Leave off your 
 infernal fooling." 
 
 "Came in with the Conqueror?" 
 
 "So he did. I defy you to disprove it." 
 
 "I've been looking at a peerage, and there's no such 
 title in it." 
 
 " What!" 
 
 Mr. Mole's face became as long as a farthing kite. 
 
 " Fact You are done brown ! Sold for old junk ! 
 Skinned ! Had for a jay ! " 
 
 " Do-n't tell me that," stammered Mole. 
 
 "It is as plain as a pikestaff, or the sun at noonday." 
 
 "But the nuggets ? " 
 
 "Hold on a bit." 
 
 As he spoke, Harkaway bent down, and, taking up one 
 of the nuggets, rubbed it against his sleeve. 
 
 A lot of gold leaf rolled off. 
 
 The hard surface of a stone a common stone, was 
 revealed. 
 
 He plunged his hand in, lower down, and found noth- 
 ing but stones of various sizes. These were not gilded. 
 
 It was only a few on the surface that had been treated 
 to the luxury of gold leaf, put on with some adhesive 
 substance. 
 
 This was either size or paste. 
 
 Mole threw up his arms. 
 
 "Oh, my nuggets ! " he screamed, in a broken voice. 
 "Swindled, and by a nobleman ! " 
 
 He would stick to it, that his friend was a lord. 
 
 "A common thief," replied Harkaway. 
 
 " Sad that it should be so. I can ill afford it. My gold 
 gone, my watch vanished." 
 
 " He must have mesmerised you."
 
 276 I* CK HARKWAA Y AND HIS SON*S 
 
 "Quite a gentleman, wasn't he? " 
 
 ' ' Spare me. Don't rub it in. " 
 
 " Be generous. 
 
 As he spoke, Mole sank down on the top of the stones, 
 leaning against the lid of the box. 
 
 He was exhausted by grief, vexation, and emotion. 
 
 "Ha, ha!" laughed Harkaway. "It's not a bad 
 joke. " 
 
 "If you don't get out, I'll I'll chuck stones at you," 
 threatened Mole. 
 
 "Nuggets, you mean gilt ones." 
 
 "Be off out of my sight. Do, for Heaven's sake, give 
 me a rest." 
 
 Harkaway walked to the door. 
 
 When he got to the step, he saw young Jack running 
 up, followed by a small crowd of people. 
 
 " I say, dad," he cried, "here's a go." 
 
 " What's up, young one?" Harkaway asked. 
 
 " Miles, the saddler, has had his horse and trap stolen 
 in the night." 
 
 "Any more of it?" 
 
 " The bank's been robbed, and all the cash is gone." 
 
 "Is that the lot?" 
 
 "All I've heard of at present. Folks want to see that 
 English lord of Mole's." 
 
 " They'll have to take it out in wanting." 
 
 "I thought so ; has he " 
 
 "Bolted ? " interrupted Harkaway. "That's it exactly ; 
 collared Mole's watch and his nuggets." 
 
 "Oh, crumbs!" said young Jack, nearly choking. 
 "What price, noblemen?" 
 
 " Quote them at a discount," replied a melancholy voice 
 at his elbow. 
 
 It was Professor Mole. 
 
 He looked like a ghost who had been writing some 
 cheerful sort of literature, such as "Letters from Hades." 
 
 Young Jack roared with laughter. 
 
 A crowd soon collected round the door. 
 
 The matter was explained to them by Harkaway. 
 
 It was clear to all that Mole had been imposed upon by 
 a clever swindler, who had utilised the night for the pur- 
 poses of robbing. 
 
 From the bank he had taken five hundred pounds.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 277 
 
 In the horse and trap he had stolen he had decamped 
 with his spoil to parts unknown. 
 
 Derisive shouts rang in Mole's ears. 
 
 He was the victim of well-deserved ridicule. 
 
 Sadly he turned to Harkaway. 
 
 "Tell me in mournful numbers that life is but an empty 
 dream," he said. 
 
 "And all is not gold that glitters," answered Harkaway, 
 slyly, thinking of the nuggets. 
 
 Mole shut his door and disappeared. 
 
 The crowd dispersed. 
 
 Harkaway and his son walked away together, greatly 
 amused at the adventure. 
 
 It would be a standing joke against the professor as 
 long as he lived. 
 
 What had become of the false lord, nobody could tell. 
 
 A messenger, however, was despatched on a fleet horse 
 to Masdon, to inform Sheriff HardrorJc of what had taken 
 place. 
 
 It was hoped that the plausible villain would be cap- 
 tured. 
 
 But the country was so vast and so sparsely settled that 
 he had a good chance of escape. 
 
 The night passed without any thing occurring. 
 
 Early in the morning, young Jack, Harry Girdwood, 
 and Monday secretly left the settlement. 
 
 Young Jack left a letter for his father, informing him 
 that they intended to plunge into the bush, and rescue 
 Tinker at all hazards. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 WHAT HAPPENED IN THE BUSH LORD BANKSIDE MEETS WITH OLD 
 ACQUAINTANCES. 
 
 WHEN he quitted the flourishing tow of Harkawayville 
 with the booty he had appropriated at the expense of Mr. 
 Mole, the bank, and others, the self-termed LorkBankside 
 drove rapidly away in the staden trap. 
 
 He took the direction of the bush. 
 
 Here he knew he would be safe for a time ; but, in any
 
 2 78 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 inhabited place, his capture would only be a question of 
 time. 
 
 Lord Bankside was an assumed name. 
 
 The fellow who personated the English nobleman, and 
 had deceived many persons, was, in reality, a convict 
 Ted Hammond. 
 
 He was born in London, had been a gentleman's servant, 
 in which capacity he committed a daring robbery upon 
 his employer. 
 
 For this offence he was transported for life, but, manag- 
 ing to escape, he commenced to depredate in Australia. 
 
 Ted Hammond became a notorious criminal, and was 
 known under various aliases. 
 
 Up to the present time he had defied all efforts to cap- 
 ture him. 
 
 Sometimes he would be heard of in Sydney, or some 
 part of New South Wales. 
 
 A few weeks afterwards, he would be operating in Mel- 
 bourne or Adelaide. 
 
 Then he would go up country, and the bold rascal soon 
 bestowed his patronage upon New Zealand. 
 
 Wherever he went, there was a tale to be told of fraud, 
 robbery, and murder. 
 
 Wild as the bush was, he knew how to hide and exist 
 in it for weeks at a time. 
 
 The authorities were straining every nerve to catch him, 
 but Ted Hammond was determined to baffle them if he 
 could. 
 
 When he struck into the main road, which, for some 
 distance, ran alongside the bush region, it was broad 
 daylight. 
 
 A rosy flush, which deepened into bands of gold, 
 streaked the eastern horizon. 
 
 Already he had placed a dozen miles between Hark- 
 awayville and himself. 
 
 The rascal could not help chuckling when he thought 
 of how cleverly and completely he had outwitted and 
 taken in Professor Mole. 
 
 " I bluffed that old rooster, and no mistake ! " he mut- 
 tered. "He got the proper tip from me ha, ha ! " 
 
 He laughed till the adjacent overhanging gum trees 
 echoed with his merriment. 
 
 Suddenly he pulled the reins and stopped short.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 279 
 
 A dark lonely part of the road had been reached. 
 
 It was close to the spot where the attempt by the bush- 
 i^ngers to lynch Rook had been made. 
 
 Ted Hammond, alias Lord Bankside, appeared to be 
 fmiliai with the locality. 
 
 Stepping out of the trap, he took from it a sack which 
 contained the gold and nuggets he had stolen. 
 
 He put this over his shoulder, and staggering under its 
 weight, entered the bush. 
 
 Walking about half-a-mile, he came to a hollow tree, in 
 which he deposited his treasure. 
 
 It fell to the bottom, and was securely hidden from pry- 
 ing eyes. 
 
 Having accomplished this task, he stooped down, and 
 drank from a bubbling spring that came out of the earth at 
 his feet. 
 
 Then, pushing aside some bushes, he disclosed a small 
 hut, built of boughs and dry grass. 
 
 Entering this, he looked around. In a corner were 
 some tins of meat and fish, two bottles of spirits, and a 
 bag of flour, with a plate or two, and a cup. 
 
 "All as 1 lett it," he said. 
 
 It was a hiding-place of his, and had proved a safe 
 refuge when hotly chased. 
 
 He hastened back to the road ; the horse was standing 
 where he had left it. 
 
 Getting in, he drove a couple of miles up the road, 
 stopping at a lonely tavern, which rejoiced in the title of 
 "The Bully Boy."' 
 
 The landlord, by name Garrat, was standing outside, 
 with his hands in his pockets, whistling to some pigeons. 
 
 "Morning, stranger. Come far? " he asked. 
 
 "A tidy distance," replied Hammond, mentioning a 
 place which was a long way off, and in a direction opposite 
 to that from which he had started. 
 
 " What's your business ? " 
 
 "I'm a woolstapler for this season. I have made all 
 the purchases I want, and I'm going to Melbourne, where 
 my warehouse is." 
 
 " You can take the cars at Masdon. I reckon that's 
 your nearest point." 
 
 "So I was told. How far is that from this shanty ? "
 
 28o JA CK HARKA WAY AND HIS SOJV'S 
 
 "I could walk it in an hour and a half," the landlord 
 answered. "Call it five miles." 
 
 " What sort of a town is it ? " inquired Hammond. 
 
 He pretended to be a stranger, though he knew the 
 place well enough. 
 
 " You can't call it A i, first-class, copper-bottomed," 
 was the reply. " There is about as much money as there 
 is enterprise there, and that's devilish little." 
 
 "That's bad to hear." 
 
 " Why so, stranger ? " 
 
 " I had hoped to trade off this horse and trap to some 
 advantage. You see, I am through my work, and have 
 no more use for it. Do you twig? " 
 
 " It don't take me long to tumble. I'll trade with you, 
 if I can," cried Garrat. " Don't open your mouth too 
 wide. I'm a fair judge of a nag. What's your price ? " 
 
 " For the lot, as it stands, harness thrown in, I'll take 
 fifty pounds. " 
 
 Garrat shook his head. 
 
 "That cat won't jump," he said. "It's too much by 
 half." 
 
 "Goon. Man alive, where's your conscience? Why 
 the horse is worth all the money. It's dirt cheap at the 
 price. I'm giving it away, and robbing myself." 
 
 " That's what you say. Take thirty ? " 
 
 " Is that the highest you will offer? " 
 
 "Can't spring a farthing more," replied the landlord. 
 
 "All right ; you set up the drinks, and the turn-out's 
 yours, " said Hammond. 
 
 He got out, and secured the reins to the hitching-post. 
 
 He was about to follow the landlord to the bar (for, in 
 those days, nothing could be done in Australia without a 
 drink to bind the bargain and show good fellowship), 
 when a diversion occurred. 
 
 A man rode clattering up on a powerful chestnut horse, 
 and looked intently at Hammond. 
 
 He took a photograph from his pocket and gazed at that. 
 . Evidently he was comparing the two forms and faces. 
 
 Hammond's hand sought the hip-pocket of his trousers. 
 
 This was a sure sign that his fingers were gripping the 
 handle of a pistol. 
 
 "Take care, my man," cried the new-comer, imitating 
 his example ; "I am the sheriff of this county."
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 281 
 
 It was Hardrock himself. 
 
 "I don't care a bad farthing who you are," replied 
 Hammond. "What right have you to interfere with 
 me?" 
 
 "The right my position as representative of the law 
 gives me." 
 
 "Explain yourself." 
 
 " I know you, Ted Hammond," was the ready rejoinder. 
 "You'll have to come with me." 
 
 "Shall I? " asked the ruffian, with sarcastic emphasis. 
 
 " Hold up your hands ! " 
 
 This would be a token of surrender, indicating that he 
 did not intend to shoot. 
 
 But the convict was not to be caught so easily. 
 
 He would rather have died than be sent to prison 
 again. 
 
 He was a " lifer" or a "corpse," as the prisoners term 
 it, and if relegated to jail, he would be so closely ironed 
 and watched that he would stand no chance of escaping a 
 second time. 
 
 "Surrender, and I'll treat you well," continued Hard- 
 rock. 
 
 "I'm dashed if I do," replied Hammond. "Draw on 
 me, and you're a dead man." 
 
 "My duty is the first thing with me. Garrat, I calf 
 upon you to assist me in carrying out the law." 
 
 The landlord shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 He stood on the threshold of the door, out of the way. 
 
 Well he knew how bullets had a way of straying about, 
 and hitting an innocent person. 
 
 "Leave me out, mister," he exclaimed. "I wasn't 
 born for thief-catching. It's as much as I can do to catch 
 a living out of the few customers that come this way." 
 
 " I'll be a mark on you if you don't help me." 
 
 "It will be my misfortune, and I'll have to put up with 
 it." 
 
 Hammond laughed. 
 
 "You're fairly cornered, sheriff," he said. " If you 
 don't ride off on other business, I'll get the drop on you, 
 before you can move a finger, so help me." 
 
 " I'll not going to be beaten by you." 
 
 " If you want to see who's best man, we'll fight it out," 
 cried Hammond.
 
 282 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 "I'm ready," was the calm reply. 
 
 Quick as lightning the men drew their revolvers. 
 
 Ted Hammond had the advantage of being prepared, 
 and had his weapon in the air three seconds before his 
 opponent. 
 
 Three seconds only ! 
 
 It's a very brief space, but of incalculable value to a 
 man who is fighting a duel to the death. 
 
 There was a sharp report on the crisp morning air. 
 
 It was followed by another. 
 
 Then came a cry of pain from Hardrock and a hollow, 
 sepulchral laugh from Hammond. 
 
 The latter was unhurt, but he had hit the sheriff in the 
 shoulder. 
 
 Each pistol had seven chambers. 
 
 On being discharged, it follows that the men had 
 twelve shots left to fire between them. 
 
 They wasted no time in the deadly game. 
 
 Hardrock fired first this time, and his bullet went so close 
 to the desperado as to graze his ear. 
 
 The next minute Hammond's ball sank into his breast, 
 and with a groan he fell off his horse, striking the ground 
 heavily. 
 
 Thoroughly frightened, the animal rushed madly up 
 the road, and leaping a fence, disappeared across, a 
 meadow. 
 
 Hammond repocketed his pistol. Garrat walked up to 
 the sheriff, and lifted his head. 
 
 "I'm dying!" murmured Hardrock, as the blood 
 trickled from his lips. 
 
 "It's a pity, but I couldn't stop it," exclaimed Garrat. 
 
 Folding his arms, Hammond looked sternly and un- 
 pityingly at his victim. 
 
 "He would have it," he remarked. "Why didn't he 
 leave me alone? If he'd walked on, winking the other 
 eye, do you think I should have touched him ?" 
 
 "I know thundering well you wouldn't. He's at his 
 last gasp. What'll I do ? " 
 
 "Draw him up against the wall, and put a log under 
 his head for a pillow. You can't do more." 
 
 " It's bad to leave him like this, till it's all over," said 
 the landlord of the "Bully Boy," in a deprecating tone. 
 
 "You are a soft," replied Hammond, with a cold-
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 283 
 
 blooded smile. "I sha'n't waste any sympathy over 
 him. He would have shot me if he could have aimed 
 straight enough. Let's liquor up." 
 
 Garrat made no further remonstrance, nor did he 
 hesitate. 
 
 Drawing the sheriff up against the wall of his house, 
 he put a clump of wood under his head. 
 
 With a curt "Wish you luck, old son," he followed the 
 convict, who marched behind the bar, and coolly helped 
 himself to his favourite brand of whisky. 
 
 "Join me? " the latter asked. 
 
 "I'm not taking any," replied Garrat. "It's made 
 me feel queer." 
 
 "Good-day. I'm off," said Hammond. "You can 
 tell the folks that I've gone to the Parramatta River, and 
 sha'n't be seen in these parts again for some time. " 
 
 "All right. Did you know Sue Morgan? Fighting 
 Sue, they call her." 
 
 "What ! the bushranger's wife ? " 
 
 "That's the one. Morgan's dead, you know, but Sue's 
 up in the bush close by with Morgan's brother Bob, and 
 a gang of nine." 
 
 "You don't say it !" 
 
 As he spoke, astonishment was plainly visible on his 
 face. 
 
 "I don't blame you, sonny, for fighting for your liberty. 
 Hardrock would have shown you no mercy. Take 
 another drink," continued Garrat. 
 
 They both helped themselves. 
 
 "I knew Morgan, his wife, and several of his men," 
 remarked the convict, "and I fancy I've seen your face 
 somewhere. " 
 
 " Yours is familiar to me. Where have we met ? " 
 
 "I've been in trouble." 
 
 "You?" 
 
 "Yes. I was put away for horse-stealing. I did time 
 before I came out here." 
 
 " That's it. We must have met in chokey. " 
 
 "I don't mind telling you. It was a five stretch. Oh, 
 yes, I've had the steel. The key's been turned on me." 
 
 " So you can feel for a chap when he's hard pressed? " 
 
 "You bet," replied Garrat. "I wasn't going to lend 
 Hardrock a helping hand to lag a pal."
 
 284 JACK. HA RKA WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "Thank you." 
 
 "There will be a devil of a stir about this affair.' 
 
 44 1 know there will, worse luck." 
 
 4 'If you take my tip, you'll make for the bush, 
 join the rangers for a time. " 
 
 "Where are they?" 
 
 ' ' Their camp is about ten miles due south from here. 
 They are customers of mine. Bob Morgan was here last 
 night, with Cross-eyed Mike. Ever met him ? " 
 
 "Well, I should smile. He helped me to escape, just 
 before his time was up." 
 
 "What may your name be ? " asked Garrat. 
 
 "Ted Hammond." 
 
 "By thunder! is that so? Why, you've the biggest 
 record in the Colony." 
 
 "What do you think?" replied Hammond, smiling 
 again. 
 
 As is the case with great criminals, his moral sense 
 was blunted, and he was proud of his offences. 
 
 The villain had broken every law in the Decalogue, and 
 gloried in it. 
 
 After a third drink his capacity for whisky was un- 
 limited he separated from Garrat, and, retracing his 
 steps, entered the bush, his intention being to join the 
 rangers, and seek shelter with them. 
 
 There is a communion amongst criminals, and he was 
 confident that Mrs. Morgan and her men would receive 
 him with open arms. 
 
 Being in want of sleep, he went to his hiding-place, 
 where he had hidden his booty in the hollow tree, and, 
 reaching his hut, made a breakfast and laid down. 
 
 In a few minutes, he was in a sound slumber. The 
 murder of Hardrock did not appear to disturb his mind in 
 the slightest degree.
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 285 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 THE RESCUE PARTY AND THE SEARCH FOR TINKER. 
 
 TED HAMMOND had not been asleep in his hut more than 
 a couple of hours, before young- Jack, Harry Girdwood, 
 and Monday walked into the bush at the same point that 
 he did. 
 
 They looked well and fit in fact, they were in form to 
 do any thing, and go any where. 
 
 Their knapsacks were well filled with food, and their 
 canteens with fresh water. 
 
 Each had a cartridge belt, containing thirty rounds for 
 their breech-loading rifles. Their revolvers and knives 
 were stuck in their belts. 
 
 Monday soon began to hunt about like a dog. 
 
 His back was bent, his head lowered, and he carefully 
 scrutinised the grass, and the twigs on the bushes. 
 
 " What's he up to ? " asked Harry. 
 
 "Don't you see? he's hunting. That's his way 
 looking for tracks, you know," Jack answered. 
 
 "Oh, that's his game ! Will he find any thing?" 
 
 " Leave him alone for that." 
 
 Suddenly Monday sat down on the ground, and burst 
 out laughing. 
 
 "What's the matter with you, old Ivory?" inquired 
 Jack. 
 
 "Yah ! yah ! " replied Monday. 
 
 "You've gone off that onion of yours, haven't you?" 
 
 "Not muchly, Mast' Jack. Um think um in Limbi 
 again. " 
 
 " Have you found the scent ? " 
 
 "For certain. The pusson I's following don't know 
 how to cover up um tracks. " 
 
 " Is there only one ? " 
 
 "Ain't that nuff to begin with? P'raps lead to the 
 whole shoot of the rangers. " 
 
 " That's very likely. Are the tracks fresh ? " 
 
 "All in the morning dew. Hold um rifles tight. This 
 child will go first. "
 
 286 JA CK HARKA WAY AND HIS SON'S 
 
 ' ' As you are experienced, we will leave the manage 
 ment of the campaign to you," said young Jack. 
 
 "Your father open urn eyes when we bag the lot, am', 
 get that boy Tinker. " 
 
 "I should like to have the credit of it." 
 
 "So you shall, sar. Say you did it all. Old Ebon} 
 do nothing." 
 
 "Oh, I won't be so mean as that." 
 
 "Come on, sar. Quick march. I's got um now." 
 
 So saying, Monday started on the trail he had dis 
 covered, at a rapid pace. 
 
 That is to say, it was rapid, taking into consideration 
 the difficulties of the ground that had to be encountered, 
 and the necessity for faithfully, and unerringly pursuing 
 the track. 
 
 But this seemed as easy as child's-play to the Limbian, 
 when he had once struck it. 
 
 Young Jack and Harry followed in his footsteps. 
 
 For an hour they worked their weary way through the 
 apparently interminable bush. Then Monday halted, 
 and held up his hand. 
 
 "Here we have the old fox," he whispered. "This 
 um den." 
 
 "Can we help ? " asked Jack. 
 
 "No. Stand by to fire, if necessary. You pretty good 
 shots. Don't hit um Monday." 
 
 "If we do, we'll hit you in a soft place, where it won't 
 hurt much." 
 
 " You nice little joker. What price you ? " 
 
 " More than you can afford.'' 
 
 "Shut up um mouth, the show going to begin. You 
 hear music by the band soon." 
 
 Monday, as he spoke, opened his capacious mouth, 
 and grinned. 
 
 The boys presented their rifles at nothing in particular. 
 
 At present they could not see any thing. 
 
 Nevertheless, it was an exciting moment. 
 
 Monday had fallen on his hands and knees. 
 
 He was slowly crawling towards a roughly-made hut, 
 consisting of boughs, stakes, and grass. 
 
 Pausing at the entrance, which was little more than a 
 hole, he peered in. 
 
 He had laid his rifle down, as it would have been of
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRALIA. 2 %y 
 
 no use to him at close quarters. But he was amply pro- 
 tected. 
 
 Between his teeth was his sharp, Malay creese, which 
 he had always retained. 
 
 In his belt was his pistol, which he could seize in an 
 instant. 
 
 Suddenly he darted forward. 
 
 There was a sleeping man stretched on the mossy 
 sward inside the hut. 
 
 Throwing himself upon him, Monday grasped him by 
 the throat, and pointed his knife at his heart. 
 
 " You move, and you's a dead 'un," said Monday. 
 
 The man stared at him, but did not attempt to resist 
 
 "Come on, Mast' Jack," cried Monday. "You's got 
 bit ob cord in your pocket." 
 
 Jack was quickly by his side. 
 
 He comprehended the situation in a moment. 
 
 Producing a piece of hobbling cord, he secured the 
 man's arms at the wrists. 
 
 Monday first disarmed, and then dragged him out of the 
 dark hut into the glaring sunshine. 
 
 Directly his face was visible, a cry of astonishment 
 broke from the three. 
 
 " Golly ! it am Lord Bankside," said Monday. 
 
 He was right. 
 
 They had captured the infamous Ted Hammond. 
 
 Little did he think that he would be so soon tracked 
 and trapped. 
 
 It was extremely mortifying. 
 
 He had not had time to fire a shot in self-defence. 
 
 Naturally, he supposed that his captors had heard ot 
 the murder of the sheriff. 
 
 If not, they would hold him for the robbery he had done 
 at Harkawayville. 
 
 "Your lordship left us rather unceremoniously," re- 
 marked young Jack. 
 
 "The game's up," replied Hammond. "Don't chaff/ 
 
 "What are you doing here? " 
 
 " 111 make a clean breast of it. My intention was \f 
 join the rangers." 
 
 "Where are Mr. Mole's nuggets and the money yo 
 took from the bank ? " continued young Jack. 
 
 " If I tell you, will you let me go free ? "
 
 288 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 There was a supplicating look on the murderer's face. 
 
 As yet, it must be recollected that young Jack and his 
 companions knew nothing of the murder of the sheriff. 
 
 If they had done so, they would not have been likely 
 to make any terms with him. 
 
 " Look here ! " exclaimed Jack. "Do you know where 
 the bushrangers are ? " 
 
 "I can find them," was the answer. 
 
 " How long will it take you to do so ? " 
 
 "About two hours." 
 
 " If you will conduct us to their camp at evening, leave 
 us in ambush, and, when they are asleep, steal their rifles 
 and pistols, and bring them to us, you shall be at liberty 
 to go where you like, and nothing shall be said." 
 
 Hammond looked grave. 
 
 " That's a large order, mister," he observed. 
 
 "It's a generous offer take it or leave it," said Jack. 
 
 Some hesitation was apparent in Hammond's manner. 
 
 First of all, it was an act of treachery to old friends. 
 
 There is a rough kind of honour among thieves. 
 
 Secondly, to rob nine or ten men of their arms, even 
 when they are sleeping, was a dangerous task. 
 
 But his liberty his life was at stake. 
 
 " I'll do it ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 The bushrangers and their queen were to be betrayed. 
 
 Young Jack could scarcely conceal his satisfaction. 
 
 He was on the high-road to the rescue of Tinker. 
 
 For the best part of the day they remained where they 
 were, comforting themselves with Hammond's stores and 
 whisky. 
 
 Towards nightfall they started to hunt up the bush- 
 rangers. 
 
 It was an adventure full of peril. 
 
 On that very account young Jack delighted to engage 
 in it
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 289 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 THE BUSHRANGERS ARE BETRAYED. 
 
 WHEN night fell, and the sky was studded with stars, 
 prominent among which was the Southern Cross, young 
 Jack thought it was time to be moving. 
 
 He roused Monday and Harry, who were dozing. 
 
 " Time's up," he said. 
 
 They immediately sprang to their feet, and brought 
 Ted Hammond out of the hut. 
 
 The rope that bound his arms was cut. 
 
 "I'm ready, master," he exclaimed. 
 
 "You know what you have to do ? " said young Jack. 
 
 " Perfectly well. The price of my life and liberty is to 
 betray the bushrangers. I'll do it." 
 
 " If you try to play me false, I will shoot you like a 
 dog. " 
 
 "There's no necessity for that, squire. I'll keep to my 
 bargain." 
 
 " Do so, and all will be well," replied Jack. 
 
 The convict started in the direction pointed out by 
 Garrat, the landlord of the "Bully Boy." 
 
 This was the only clew he had to the camp of the 
 rangers. 
 
 At length they came to a path, that was pretty well 
 defined by constant use. 
 
 "Here we are, boys," said Hammond. "I knew I 
 should strike it." 
 
 "What you talking about? " asked Monday. 
 
 "Isn't this a regular trail? That's what I want to 
 know." 
 
 "You can't most always generally tell," replied Mon- 
 day. 
 
 "Get your hair cut," said Hammond. "I'm no 
 slouch. " 
 
 "Where does the path lead to ? " 
 
 ' ' Up to the rangers' camp, sonny. " 
 
 Ted Hammond spoke at random. 
 
 As we have said, he had no positive and accurate 
 
 '9
 
 290 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 knowledge of the locality in which Fighting Sue and her 
 band of desperadoes were established. Yet the path 
 looked as if it was used by them. 
 
 No sooner had he seen it, than he determined to follow 
 it up. 
 
 "Stand on one side ! " said Monday. "I know more 
 about this thing than you ever learnt" 
 
 " What's wrong now ? " Hammond asked. 
 
 " It's a path," replied Monday, "and some body has 
 been along it quite fresh." 
 
 They both looked down, and peered at the grass. 
 
 Feet had trodden it down within an hour or two. 
 
 "There's indication of that," observed Hammond. 
 
 "Can you make anything pertickler out of um marks?" 
 inquired Monday. 
 
 Ted Hammond looked carefully. He puzzled his 
 brains ; but could find out nothing. 
 
 "Mast' Jack," cried Monday, "this chap's an awful 
 duffer ; he not know any thing." 
 
 "Have you discovered any thing important ?" asked 
 Jack. 
 
 " Suppose um camp up there in um woods ? " 
 
 He pointed to the heart of the bush. 
 
 "Yes, I understand." 
 
 "Well, two people's just come from camp, going to- 
 wards the road, and they not come back again yet. " 
 
 "Ah! "said Jack. "Two of the rangers may have 
 gone to get supplies." 
 
 " May be hiding," Monday answered. "Look out you 
 not get a bullet in um back." 
 
 " If I do, it can't be helped. Follow up the track. 
 Quick march ! " 
 ' " I'm on ! What do you think ? " 
 
 Monday followed Hammond closely. 
 
 He held his knife in his hand, resolved to stab him to 
 the heart if he attempted any treachery. 
 
 Behind, with rifles, ready for use at a moment's notice, 
 came young Jack and Harry. 
 
 The march continued for about an hour. 
 
 Suddenly Ted Hammond halted, and held up his 
 hand. 
 
 ^ A crescent moon had appeared in the heavens, and its 
 light, added to that of the stars, made caution necessary.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 291 
 
 The three behind him looked through the bush. 
 
 This was what they saw. 
 
 The bushrangers, who numbered nearly a dozen, were 
 seated on the grass, or stretched out at full length. 
 
 Some were playing cards for money, others smoking 
 and chatting. 
 
 A demijohn of whisky, flanked by a jar of pure spring 
 water, was placed on a flat stone, which did duty as a table. 
 
 Daggersberg was perched, like a bird, on the stump of 
 a tree, which had been broken off by the wind ; he was 
 playing a lively tune on an old violin. 
 
 Close by, a large wood fire was burning. 
 
 This was really wanted, as the nights were chilly, al- 
 though the days were warm. 
 
 It was noticable that neither Fighting Sue nor Tinker 
 were to be seen. 
 
 At a sign from Ted Hammond the rescue party sank 
 down on their knees. 
 
 Their rifles were pressed to their shoulders, ready for 
 instant use. 
 
 The convict saw that each one was presented at him. 
 
 This indicated that if he did not keep his part of the 
 compact, his life would be forfeited. 
 
 A fringe of bush completely hid young Jack and his 
 companions from the rangers. 
 
 Daggersberg finished the tune he was playing, and his 
 performance, somewhat crude though it was, received a 
 hearty burst of applause. 
 
 A couple of mugs, made out of cows' horns, did duty 
 for glasses, and were filled and emptied by the rangers, 
 who, after walking to the jars to quench their thirst, re- 
 sumed their former positions. 
 
 All at once, Ted Hammond stepped forward. 
 
 "Hullo ! boys. What cheer?" he exclaimed. 
 
 The rangers sprang to their feet, rifle in hand, glaring 
 fiercely at the intruder. 
 
 No one fired, however, because their leader, Bob Mor- 
 gan, had not given them the order to do so. 
 
 The ruddy light of the fire flashed upon the convict's 
 face, throwing its rugged outline into bold relief. 
 . Morgan had been in close conversation with Morris ; 
 their countenances were at once illumined with a smile 
 when they noticed Hammond.
 
 292 JACK HARKAWAY AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 They recognised him in a moment as an old friend and 
 a desperado on whom they thought they could rely. 
 
 " It's Ted Hammond ! " said Morgan. "I didn't know 
 you were out." 
 
 "They couldn't keep me," was the reply. 
 
 " Bravo ! You're too good a man to be under lock and 
 key, wasting your blooming life in a prison." 
 
 "Am I welcome? " 
 
 "As the flowers in May, old pal. Sit down, and take 
 a drink. " 
 
 "Right! I want to change my breath. I'll have a 
 smile with you, boys." 
 
 So saying, Hammond shook hands all round, and 
 seated himself. 
 
 There was a sacrificial, hypocritical, Judas-like leer 
 upon his face. 
 
 The bushrangers did not notice it, however. 
 
 They had not the slightest idea that they were in dan- 
 ger. 
 
 Ted Hammond was the last man in the world they 
 would have suspected of plotting their betrayal. 
 
 ' ' How did you hear of our camp and find us out ? " asked 
 Morris. 
 
 "Through little Joe Garrat, of the 'Bully Boy.' The 
 old bounder and I have been acquainted for years." 
 
 " It's a wonder you didn't meet the queen and a native 
 we've got as a servant ? " 
 
 "Ain't seen nobody." 
 
 "They've gone to the 'Boy ' to get some lush. Fight- 
 ing Sue would go herself. She's got a will of her own, 
 and likes prowling by night." 
 
 "^Well, here's to the lady's health," said Hammond, 
 raising the horn to his lips, and draining it dry. 
 
 Young Jack listened attentively to this conversation. 
 
 He learnt from it that the queen had gone on a foraging 
 expedition, and taken the boy Tinker with her. 
 
 After he had disposed of the bushrangers, it would be 
 necessary to look out for her and the boy. 
 
 She was sure to come back to the camp in a short time. 
 
 All had gone well so far. 
 
 He hoped to be back in Harkawayville before daylight 
 with Tinker, and tell his father and the citizens in the set- 
 tlement that he had destroyed the last of the bushrangers.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 293 
 
 It would be an exploit to boast of. 
 
 Gradually the tobacco and whisky, of which they were 
 partaking so freely, had their usual effect on the men. 
 
 They got drowsy, and fell off to sleep, one by one. 
 
 All except Ted Hammond. 
 
 He was on the alert, although he pretended to be as 
 somnolent as the rest. 
 
 Daggersberg had put by the fiddle ; the last song had 
 been sung ; whisky and the weed had lost their charms. 
 
 The solemn hush of the bush was only disturbed by the 
 loud snoring of the drunken men. 
 
 All this time, young Jack, Harry, and Monday were 
 kneeling behind the undergrowth and shrub. 
 
 It was a tiring and anxious period for them. 
 
 They kept their rifles pointed at Ted Hammond, and 
 well he knew it. 
 
 The fire was burning low. 
 
 All the men were in a profound slumber. 
 
 He rose softly, and prepared for action. 
 
 There was no time to be lost. 
 
 Fighting Sue might return with Tinker at any moment, 
 and it was best that the band should be dealt with before 
 she arrived from her expedition to the "Bully Boy." 
 
 He went to the sleeping bushrangers, one by one, and 
 without disturbing them, deprived them of their arms. 
 
 First he took the rifles, then the pistols, and finally the 
 knives. 
 
 This rendered them as harmless as a four-thousand- 
 year-old Egyptian mummy. 
 
 They were incapable of making any defence. 
 
 The convict conveyed the arms to young Jack. 
 
 "I've done the job, boss," he said, "same as I under- 
 took to do." 
 
 "Are you sure you have not skipped one?" asked 
 Jack. 
 
 "Certain sure, boss." 
 
 "Then your life is spared, but I warn you that it will 
 be good for your health to get out of this locality. " 
 
 " I mean to do so. The place is too poor for me." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " There's no large money about. I want to make a big 
 strike, and go to Europe." 
 
 "Will that benefit you?"
 
 294 J A CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "There's money in the old countries, " said the convict ; 
 "and, after all, civilisation is better than bush life." 
 
 "You like to sleep in a bed, with your boots off," Jack 
 remarked. 
 
 " You bet. I'm sorry these chaps have got to go home, 
 but it ain't my fault. Good-night, squire. " 
 
 "Be off with you," replied Jack. "I'm only sorry that 
 I can't include you in the death list." 
 
 " Don't say that, governor." 
 
 "I do, and I can't help it ; for a more thorough-paced, 
 dastardly, despicable rascal I never met. " 
 
 Ted Hammond retreated a few steps. 
 
 Suddenly he stooped down. 
 
 The arms he had so artfully stolen from the bushrangers 
 were at his feet. 
 
 He bent down and snatched up a pistol. 
 
 " I'll pay you for that remark," he cried. 
 
 Before he could fire, Jack had his rifle levelled at him. 
 
 He pulled the trigger sharply. 
 
 There was a loud report, which raised a dozen echoes 
 amongst the trees. 
 
 Ted Hammond uttered a groan, and fell forward on his 
 face, mortally wounded. 
 
 The wretch had received his deserts at last. 
 
 No longer would he prey on the community, plundering 
 and murdering. 
 
 The sound of the gun's explosion, as a matter of course, 
 woke up the rangers. 
 
 They sprang to their feet in a hurry. 
 
 It was a night alarm. 
 
 Every one thought that the sheriff and his posse were 
 upon them. 
 
 Dismay and fright were on each one's face. 
 
 The stars, the new moon, and the flickering embers of 
 the dying fire enabled them to see one another. 
 
 Their enemies, however, were most effectually concealed 
 from view. 
 
 "Quick!" exclaimed young Jack, who was perfectly 
 cool and collected ; " mow them down." 
 
 "This child's on the job," replied Monday. 
 
 "I'll give them tarara-boom-de-ay, " said Harry. 
 
 Two rifles were discharged, and two rangers fell
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 2 95 
 
 Jack slipped a cartridge into the breech, and dropped 
 another. 
 
 In vain the rangers looked for their weapons. 
 
 They could find nothing-. 
 
 Shots came from the bushes in quick succession. 
 
 One by one the bushrangers fell. 
 
 Young Jack, Harry Girdwood, and Monday were dead 
 shots. 
 
 They never missed their aim. 
 
 It was a wholesale slaughter. 
 
 All fell in agony, except Bob Morgan, who received a 
 bullet in the arm, and fled into the bush. 
 
 "That's the lot," said young Jack, getting up. 
 
 "We've done the trick nicely," observed Harry. 
 
 "The skunk who betrayed them, and tried to shoot me, 
 has also joined the majority," replied Jack. 
 
 " He lost his temper, which was the worst thing he 
 could do, under the circumstances. 
 
 "Fellows like that are sure to come to grief, sooner or 
 later. " 
 
 "Honesty the best policy, sar," said Monday. 
 
 "That's so, old Ivory." 
 
 " Now we haven't got Tinker," exclaimed Jack. 
 
 "Keep a good lookout for him." 
 
 " Fighting Sue's at large, but she'll come along pres- 
 ently with Tinker. " 
 
 "Have to shoot her, too, sar." 
 
 "She's as great a criminal as the men, and though she 
 is a woman, I don't see why we should show her any more 
 mercy than we have the men. " 
 
 Saying this, young Jack led the way to the camp. 
 
 He passed over the body of Ted Hammond, the escaped 
 convict. 
 
 The scoundrel was as dead as a stone. 
 
 Jack's bullet had pierced his heart. 
 
 The camp presented a gory scene, the ground being 
 flooded with blood, and the betrayed rangers were either 
 dead or dying. 
 
 It had been an easy victory. 
 
 Jack counted the victims ; they amounted to ten. 
 
 " It has been a massacre," he said. "I don't think 
 one has escaped. " 
 
 He knew nothing about the flight of Bob Morgan.
 
 .296 J A CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 }t We give um toko, Mast' Jack," replied Monday. 
 
 " Now we must look out for the queen and Tinker." 
 
 "You and Mast' Harry get a little bit of sleep." 
 
 "Will you do sentry go ? " 
 
 "That's what I mean, sar. This child wide awake 
 enough. " 
 
 "All right. Wake me when you are tired. Keep a 
 good lookout." 
 
 "What do you take me for? I'm all there," replied 
 Monday. 
 
 He sat down, with his rifle in his arms ; and young 
 Jack and Harry laid on the ground, like old campaigners, 
 and were soon fast asleep. 
 
 They had triumphed, and their minds were satisfied. 
 
 From Morgan's widow they did not expect much trouble. 
 
 Before daylight they hoped to shake Tinker by the 
 hand. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 FIGHTING SUE'S REVENGE. 
 
 WHEN Bob Morgan made his escape he went as fast as 
 he was able in the direction of the road that led to the 
 "Bully Boy." As we know, the path was pretty well 
 marked out and defined by the use the bushrangers had 
 made of it. 
 
 The light shed by the stars and the moon rendered 
 walking comparatively easy. 
 
 His wound in the arm was bleeding freely. 
 
 When he had gone a certain distance, and thought him- 
 self out of danger, he halted. 
 
 Tearing the sleeve off his shirt, he bound it round the 
 wound as well as he was able to do. 
 
 He imagined that the sheriff had attacked the camp. 
 
 It was also his opinion that Ted Hammond had been 
 employed by the authorities to betray him and his friends. 
 
 Bitterly he blamed himself for putting trust in him. 
 
 Deep were his curses on the traitor. 
 
 If he could have got hold of him, this man would have 
 .strangled him.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA, 
 
 297 
 
 Morgan hoped to meet his sister-in-law on her way back. 
 
 Nor was he disappointed. 
 
 Scarcely had he finished binding up his wounded arm, 
 then she appeared with Tinker. 
 
 The boy was labouring along with a large bottle of 
 spirits, and the Queen of the Bushrangers carried a basket 
 of provisions. 
 
 "You here ! " exclaimed Mrs. Morgan. 
 
 Her countenance expressed the surprise she felt. 
 
 "As you see," he replied. 
 
 "We did not want you to come and meet us," she 
 continued. "The boy knows his way about, and I 
 wasn't brought up in the woods to be scared by an owl. " 
 
 "I could not help myself." 
 
 "How is that?" 
 
 "We have been attacked. I don't know exactly how it 
 was done, but a fellow named Ted Hammond gave us 
 away. " 
 
 "I know him. An escaped convict!" cried Mrs. 
 Morgan. 
 
 "That's the boy. He always was a wrong 'un." 
 
 "As a rule, dog doesn't eat dog. What did he want to 
 spoil us for ? " 
 
 "That's a mystery. He came to the camp ; we made 
 him welcome as the flowers in May ; we drank, we sang, 
 and fell asleep. He stole our arms. Then came the at- 
 tack." 
 
 "By whom?" 
 
 "I don't know. The enemy were concealed in the 
 bush. " 
 
 " Was it the sheriff or Harkaway ? " asked Mrs. Morgan, 
 biting her lips with vexation till the blood came. 
 
 " Don't I say I can't tell you ? " replied Bob Morgan. 
 
 "I wish you wouldn't be so irritable." 
 
 " You would be, if you had a bullet in your arm." 
 
 "Are you wounded?" 
 
 Bob showed her his arm. 
 
 "Excuse me," she exclaimed, "I didn't know. Who 
 is hurt beside you ? " 
 
 "They are all dead." 
 
 "The whole band?" 
 
 "'Every man Jack of them, except me, and I escaped 
 by the skin of my teeth."
 
 298 JACK HAKKA WA Y AND HIS SOJV'S 
 
 "Why didn't you fight ? " 
 
 "Heaven bless you! How could we? Talk sense. 
 That infernal scoundrel, Ted Hammond, had robbed us 
 of our weapons while we slept ; we hadn't even a knife 
 left." 
 
 "Drunk, as usual, I expect." 
 
 " Drop going on at me ! " cried Bob. " We didn't look 
 for any surprise. " 
 
 "You should have kept a watch. It wouldn't have 
 happened if I had been there. " 
 
 "What could you have done? " 
 
 "I'd have put a stop to the carnage," said Fighting Sue. 
 "You men want a woman about you, with her head 
 screwed on right." 
 
 "Give us a rest ! " 
 
 "It's a pity they didn't give you one, you thick-headed 
 fool ! " 
 
 "Bullying me won't bring the boys back to life." 
 
 Sue set her arms akimbo, and looked at him, shrew- 
 ishly. 
 
 ' What do you propose to do now ? " she quivered. 
 ' Skip," he replied. 
 ' Where to ? " 
 
 ' I don't know. This place is too red-hot for us." 
 'You coward ! " she hissed. 
 'We're alone, and we've got to go." 
 ' And you're the brother of the great bushranger my 
 late husband ! You haven't got the pluck of a kangaroo, 
 nor yet a cockatoo." 
 
 " I don't want my neck stretched." 
 
 "You ought to have it extended," said Mrs. Morgan, 
 bitterly. "Go, if you want to. Leave me to fight it out 
 alone. " 
 
 "What's the good of stopping ? " 
 
 " I mean to have it out with Jack Harkaway. It's him 
 or me. He was the cause of my husband's death." 
 
 "This is madness ! " 
 
 "Call it what you like, I mean what I say. Some- 
 times I believe that I am mad. My poor husband loved 
 me, and I loved him. It is an awful loss. My head 
 burns like fire when I think of it." 
 
 " I sympathise with you, Sue." 
 
 "Hang your sympathy! I want your help," she
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 299 
 
 rejoined. "You know very well that I left my home, 
 came out here, and risked every thing to be revenged on 
 Harkaway. " 
 
 "Well, my good woman," replied Bob, "the game's 
 up. What can we do after this set out ? " 
 
 "I'll stick it." 
 
 "It will be the death of both of us." 
 
 " I don't care. You, nor anyone else, won't make me 
 budge from this bush." 
 
 "You're insane. Let us get away. You have money 
 in the bank. My brother left you well off." 
 
 "What of that?" 
 
 "Change the name and go to New Zealand. Start 
 farming or apple-growing." 
 
 "Not if I know it. I'm a desperate woman." 
 
 "Sit down, "said Bob, "and let us talk this matter 
 over reason it out." 
 
 "You're white-livered, and haven't got any go in you. 
 Why, your brother was fifty times a better man than you 
 are." 
 
 "I can't help what my brother was." 
 
 "Never mind. I tell you, mad or not mad, I won't 
 leave these parts, until I have settled accounts with the 
 Harkaways father and son." 
 
 " If that is so, I shall have to stay by you, Sue, though 
 losing all our men is a sad pullback," said Bob Morgan. 
 
 " You can sneak away, if you like." 
 
 "No, no." 
 
 ' ' I can fight it out alone. I'll haunt the town Harkaway 
 and his party live in. I'll shoot in the dark, like a 
 phantom. Ha, ha! there's an idea for you." 
 
 "The phantom shot," repeated Bob. 
 
 "Yes. They shall fall, one by one." 
 
 "Good. And not know where the sudden death comes 
 from ? " 
 
 "They can guess, and that's all. I'll hide, but I'll strike ; 
 so you can go, Bob Morgan, as soon as you please." 
 
 "Not me, Sue. I'll not desert a woman, especially one 
 such as you are." 
 
 "Don't waste your breath in complimenting me." 
 
 "You've got grit in you, right up to your finger-tips." 
 
 "Yes. I mean to show it, too," replied the Queen of 
 the Bushrangers.
 
 300 JA CK HA RKA WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 She held out her hand. 
 
 " Put it there, Bob," she added, " I'm real glad you're 
 going to stand by me ; but, so help me ! I'd have stood 
 my ground alone." 
 
 "I'll bet you would, Sue. Don't I know you?" 
 
 " Being your brother's wife, you ought to. I say, Bob, 
 I'm afraid I'm not quite right in my head." 
 
 "You've had a shock, my girl." 
 
 " A great one. Nobody knows how I loved that man." 
 
 "Morgan wasn't a bad sort of chap," said Bob. 
 
 " He was a prince. What do you think he was always 
 saying to me when he came home? " 
 
 " Give it up." 
 
 " I'll tell you," added Mrs. Morgan. "His one idea 
 when he had made enough money was to go and live 
 with me on one of the South Sea Islands." 
 
 " I've heard him speak of it. " 
 
 " He wasn't a bloodthirsty man, really. I always 
 found him nice and gentle. Ah ! I've met with a loss ; 
 
 but, mark me, Bob " 
 
 ' Well ? " 
 
 ' I'm solid on revenge. " 
 
 ' Who can blame you ? " 
 
 'Those interfering Harkaways shall suffer." 
 ' Death to the whole blooming kit, I say ! " Bob re- 
 joined. 
 
 " Right you are. I mean to start on this coloured boy 
 first," exclaimed Fighting Sue. 
 
 She pointed to Tinker. 
 
 He was close by, with the case bottle of spirits in his 
 arms. 
 
 There was a merry twinkle in his eye. 
 
 He had heard the conversation that had passed between 
 Fighting Sue and Bob Morgan. 
 
 The band of brigands was destroyed. 
 
 By whom ? 
 
 That was the question he asked himself. 
 
 Tinker answered it in the right way. 
 
 "My young master come after me ; very good biz," he 
 muttered. " Kill all rangers, 'cept one. Wish he kill old 
 Sue ; she bad egg." 
 
 " What's the boy done ? " inquired Bob. 
 
 "Nothing," replied Sue.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 301 
 
 " If he's been uncivil, I'll leather him." 
 
 "'Taint that. The boy's right enough, and makes a 
 first-class servant." 
 
 " Then what fault do you find with him ? " 
 
 "None at all. I ain't finding fault." 
 
 "But you said you meant to kill him." 
 
 "Sol do." 
 
 "It's no use killing for nothing," Bob remonstrated, 
 "Not that niggers are worth much." 
 
 " He's one of the crowd." 
 
 "Oh, I see what you mean now. He belongs to 
 Harkaway's crew ? " 
 
 "Certainly. He has told me that young Jack Hark- 
 away is very much attached to him." 
 
 Tinker stepped forward. 
 
 "Scuse me, ma'am," he said, "that quite true. When 
 you talk of killing me, you make me feel bad. My young 
 master pay you well to let me go back to Harkawayville." 
 
 "Not if I know it, young lampblack. You'll go to 
 kingdom come before you go to the other shop," rejoined 
 Fighting Sue. 
 
 "Don't be hard on a poor chap," pleaded Tinker. 
 
 " You've got to die. " 
 
 " I's too young for that. Ease up on me a bit, lady." 
 
 "Can't be done at the price, you lump of animated 
 stove-polish. " 
 
 " Golly ! You call me some funny names." 
 
 " I'll make an example of you, which will strike terror 
 into the hearts of the Harkaways." 
 
 Tinker set down the bottle. 
 
 He folded his arms in just the same defiant manner 
 that the queen had done. 
 
 "What's that you say?" he demanded 
 
 "Keep your ears open," she replied. 
 
 " If you think any thing you can do can frighten Jack 
 Harkaway or keep him off your track when he's once 
 started, you make heap big mistake. " 
 
 "Shut up your mouth," cried Fighting Sue. "You're 
 too saucy for me." 
 
 " Kill me next minute, but I'll speak first," Tinker an- 
 swered, boldly. 
 
 " I sha'n't do any thing to you till morning, but I'll put 
 the chain on, and fasten you to a tree."
 
 302 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 "Needn't think I'd run." 
 
 "Oh, no, you wouldn't, " laughed Mrs. Morgan. "You 
 don't know nothing, do you ? Lor' bless your pretty 
 innocent young soul, you wouldn't bolt. Oh, dear, no 1 
 Only when you got the chance." 
 
 " I like the pleasure of your society, ma'am, too much 
 to leave you without giving notice." 
 
 "Crumbs," said Fighting Sue, " you're a cheeky young 
 nig. If I hadn't a grudge against your friends and pro- 
 tectors, the Harkaways, I'd let you go loose." 
 
 " It would be all the better for you, ma'am." 
 
 "That's what you say." 
 
 With this remark, she opened the basket she had been 
 carrying, and took out a small, but strong steel chain. 
 
 Putting it round his leg, just above the ankle, she fast- 
 ened him to the trunk of a tree by means of a padlock, of 
 which she retained the key. 
 
 He was thus thoroughly secured. 
 
 It was impossible for him to run away. 
 
 The cruellest part of the business was, he was chained 
 up so tightly, that he was unable to lie down on the ground. 
 
 He had been walking a long way. 
 
 The boy was thoroughly exhausted and wanted a rest, 
 wnich he could only obtain by leaning against the tree. 
 
 This he did. 
 
 His eyes were closed, but his ears were open. 
 
 "Now, Bob," she exclaimed, " we'll camp out here, in 
 the open, and have a bit of grub and a drink." 
 
 "With all the pleasure in life, Suey," replied Bob Mor- 
 gan. 
 
 She produced some provisions. 
 
 They both ate heartily, and drank some spirits and 
 water ; after this, Bob produced his pipe, pouch of to- 
 bacco, and box of matches. 
 
 Strange to relate, Fighting Sue did the same. 
 
 She acted in every way just as a man would. 
 
 In fact, there was more of the masculine than the femi- 
 nine gender about her. 
 
 "Light up, Sue," said Bob Morgan. 
 
 "You bet," she replied; " that's what I'm on for, and 
 then a doss down on the ground." 
 
 " I wish we had a blanket," remarked Bob. " It's turn- 
 ing kind of chilly."
 
 ADVENTURES IN A USTRAUA. 303 
 
 "You will have to put up with that, my man, until we 
 have wiped out these detested Harkaways ; then I will 
 take you with me to Fiji." 
 
 " I'd dearly love to go." 
 
 " It's a bargain. Let me have my revenge, and I'm 
 off. Be good to me, Bob, for your dead brother's sake." 
 
 "I will, Sue, believe me." 
 
 ; ' You ought. He was always kind to both of us." 
 
 "Don't 1 know it, girl? Take a rest," said Bob. 
 " What are you going to do with the boy ? " 
 
 " Roast him," replied she, with a vixenish look, " and 
 serve him up half done." 
 
 ' ' What do you mean ? " 
 
 She laughed maniacally. 
 
 Her eyes glared in the most fearful manner. 
 
 There could be no doubt whatever that she was half 
 mad, if not entirely so. 
 
 Recent events had affected her mind in a most deplor- 
 able manner. 
 
 Bob Morgan began to feel afraid of his sister-in-law. 
 
 The whisky she was drinking, and the strong tobacco 
 she smoked, did not improve her temper. 
 
 "You know where they hanged Rook," said Fighting 
 Sue. 
 
 "Yes ; it was on the road leading to the ' Bully Boy,' ' 
 Bob answered. 
 
 ' ' Some of the Harkaway party came up and cut him 
 down. He's alive and well, I've heard." 
 
 " That's more luck than some men meet with." 
 
 "Perhaps he'll have worse before long, if I can get on 
 his track." 
 
 "I've marked the spotwhere they strung him up. It was 
 a tree that had been struck by lightning." 
 
 ' ' That's it. I intend to take this boy Tinker there to- 
 morrow morning, chain him to the tree, light some green 
 wood under him, and suffocate him to death." 
 
 "That's a wild idea." 
 
 " Just suits my frame of mind. He has told me that 
 he is young Jack Harkaway's pet boy, and it will be a 
 blow to the party. What do you think ? " 
 
 "A regular bo'dy blow, and a facer, too," replied Bob. 
 
 "That's number one. I'll be on to the rest soon. 
 People going up and down the road will soon see the
 
 304 J A CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 body of the boy. Ha, ha ! they didn't kill my poor hus- 
 band for nothing." 
 
 " You're a fair scorcher, Sue." 
 
 "Never mind what I am. All I live for is revenge," 
 she rejoined. 
 
 In a few minutes, the pipe she was smoking dropped 
 from her hand ; she sank back on the ground and went to 
 sleep. 
 
 It was not long before Bob Morgan followed her ex- 
 ample. 
 
 When the day broke they were still asleep. 
 
 Tinker was in a most uncomfortable state. 
 
 He was hungry, thirsty, and stiff from the position he 
 had been compelled to maintain. 
 
 "Hi, hi ! " he cried, "there's nothinggolumpshus'bout 
 this. If you are going to roast me, it's time to begin." 
 
 Mrs. Morgan and Bob woke up. 
 
 They made a breakfast as well as they could, and gave 
 the boy something. 
 
 His cravings were satisfied ; he was unchained, and the 
 three made a start for the road. 
 
 Not a word was spoken during the journey. 
 
 When the blasted tree was reached, the boy was chained 
 to it. 
 
 Fighting Sue and Bob collected wood and threw it round 
 his lower limbs. 
 
 Some dry grass was then piled against it. 
 
 Tinker looked anxiously up and down the road. No- 
 body was to be seen. 
 
 A terrible death awaited him. 
 
 Sue's mouth was hard set ; there was no mercy to be 
 expected from such a mad woman. 
 
 "Now, a match," she said. 
 
 Bob Morgan gave her one. 
 
 "Lord help me," muttered Tinker. "I never see 
 young master again." 
 
 It indeed looked as if his fate was sealed. Only a m*r- 
 acle could save him.
 
 AX/ ^. W TURES IN A US TKALIA. 3 05 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 A REMARKABLE DREAM. 
 
 SUDDENLY young Jack woke up with a start 
 
 He sprang to his feet. 
 
 It was still dark, but the stars were shining brightly. 
 
 Monday was on guard, alert and vigilant. 
 
 If there was any danger, or work to be done, he de- 
 spised the idea of sleep. 
 
 But when all was over, he could slumber for twenty- 
 four hours at a stretch. 
 
 "You woke up, Mast' Jack," he exclaimed. . 
 
 "Yes," replied Jack. " I had a bad dream." 
 
 " What that 'bout, sar? " 
 
 ' ' My boy Tinker. I thought he told me he was in 
 great danger from fire." 
 
 "That very funny thing, Mast' Jack," said Monday. 
 *' What a little chap like him doing with fire ? " 
 
 "I can't tell," continued Jack ; " but I am positive the 
 boy is in danger. I saw him distinctly, and there was a 
 piteous, appealing look on his face, as if he was crying, 
 ' Do help me ! " 
 
 " My people always pay great 'tention to dream faces, 
 jar," remarked Monday. 
 
 " I have heard father say they are highly superstitious." 
 
 "All the same. Golly! white man no better than 
 
 ' ' What do you mean ? " 
 
 "Try for good luck and believe in omens," Monday 
 Answered. ' ' Spill salt ; that bad. See new moon through 
 ^lass ; that bad, too. No luck all month. " 
 
 "You are right. Human nature is the same all the 
 world over." 
 
 "We drop that subject, sar. What is to be done for 
 poor little Tinker boy ? " 
 
 " I shouldn't like to lose him." 
 
 "Certainly not. Wouldn't do at all, Mast' Jack." 
 
 " I think as much of Tinker, whom I discovered here 
 in Australia, as my father did of you, when he invented 
 and patented you in the island of Limbi " 
 20
 
 306 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 "Ah, he always call me Old Reliable, because he could 
 always depend on me." 
 
 "You've got something in that old numskull of yours. 
 Advise me what to do." 
 
 " I's got a theorem of my own." 
 
 "Theory, you mean," corrected Jack. 
 
 "That's the bird. You cotched him that time, captain. 
 Now jes' you listen to me. It doesn't take anyone all 
 night to go to the ' Bully Boy' and back." 
 
 " No. I should call it a coupte of hours, each way." 
 
 "And you'd be pretty near the mark." 
 
 "Well, go on." 
 
 "Fighting Sue has been stopped on the way," Monday 
 said, in a significant tone. 
 
 " Who by ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " I reckon one perhaps two of the rangers escaped 
 our fire. We not know 'xactly how many there was. " 
 
 "Quite correct. One may have got off wounded, and 
 we did not see him in the smoke and hurry." 
 
 "Very good. You follow me so far, Mast' Jack. I see 
 I shall make you understand presently. Some people 
 got thick heads." 
 
 ' ' Do you mean me ? " 
 
 "Didn't mention no names. Too perlite too mucl 
 the gentleman for that, sar. " 
 
 "If you were as cheeky twenty years ago as you are 
 now, I wonder my father didn't make his bootmaker 
 acquainted with your tailor. " 
 
 "You mean, he kick me ? " 
 
 "That's about the size of what I intended to convey." 
 
 " Your father very brave man, Mast' Jack, but it was 
 always more than he dare do to lay so much as his little 
 finger on me. " 
 
 Monday said this so very gravely that young Jack burst 
 out laughing right in his face. 
 
 " What for you make that guffaw?" asked the Prince 
 of Limbi. 
 
 " You confounded old liar," cried Jack. "I can't call 
 you any thing else." 
 
 "Something the matter with you, now, eh ? " 
 
 "Why, I've seen my governor sling you around the 
 room, wipe the floor and sit on you, when you've annoys ' 
 him and he's been in a bad temper. Deny that, if you <u-
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 307 
 
 " He do it all in fun," replied Monday. 
 
 " I shouldn't have called it fun, by a long way." 
 
 " Ah ! Bah ! " exclaimed Monday. "I let your fathel 
 have his own way, perhaps, a little too much." 
 
 "Because you couldn't help yourself." 
 
 "He very playful, and I liked him. All he knows I 
 taught him." 
 
 "Shut up ! I'm tired of listening to you. If you can't 
 lie and brag, nobody can." 
 
 "My trumpeter dead, sar, so obliged to blow um 
 trumpet umself," replied Monday. "Yah, yah ! " 
 
 "Good joke, isn't it ? '' 
 
 "Fust-class. I's all right when you know me." 
 
 " Go on with your theory," said Jack. 
 
 " I's coming to it. Don't you hurry my cattle." 
 
 "You're so jolly long-winded." 
 
 " It's your pleasant company, Mast' Jack. I like to 
 enjoy it." 
 
 "Aren't you a flattering old humbug? Do you want 
 to borrow a fiver?" Jack inquired. 
 
 "I could do with a score," Monday answered. " I lost 
 lot of money lately playing euchre in Harkawayville, 
 sar. " 
 
 "More fool you." 
 
 " Thank you for nothing. I didn't expect much sym- 
 pathy from you, but now I get none, I leave you to find 
 that boy Tinker yourself," said Monday, indignantly. 
 
 "Don't be cross, old fellow." 
 
 "Then you jes' behave yourself, Mast' Jack. I'll do 
 what I can for Tinker, but you mustn't place no Tinkers 
 before me." 
 
 ' ' Jealous, are you ? " 
 
 "I's been in the family longer than Tinker. Your 
 father set great store by me." 
 
 "Be happy and contented. I really had no idea of 
 casting you in the background, only I am so anxious 
 about, the boy." 
 
 " Orright. If want to find him, better march." 
 
 "Whereto?" 
 
 "Find tracks of Fighting Sue. I telling you that Mrs. 
 Morgan, the Queen of the Bushrangers, has met someone 
 who escaped from our fire. Me stopped" and turned her 
 back. If not, sheM have boen here before now."
 
 308 JA CK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON >S 
 
 1 ' That's what I think. " 
 
 "Then this man, whoever he is, tell her about how we 
 slaughter, kill, and massacre them." 
 
 " Of course he would do that." 
 
 "The queen say, in great rage, 'That's this Harkaway 
 or his son doing this. Tinker's the son's boy. I'll have 
 my revenge out on him." 
 
 Jack clapped his hands together. 
 
 "By Jove, old son, I think you've struck the right nail 
 on the head this time." 
 
 ' ' Certain sure I have, sar. " 
 
 "Poor Tinker is perhaps to be tortured in some horrible 
 way by fire. " 
 
 "This child wouldn't wonder, Mast' Jack." 
 
 "I'll wake Harry up." 
 
 "Urn ready to start at a moment's notice." 
 
 "Good. We'll soon see what you are made of, "replied 
 young Jack. 
 
 He stepped over the corpses of the bushrangers, and 
 going up to Harry Girdwood, roused him, in his rough- 
 and-ready campaigning fashion, by giving him a slight 
 kick in the ribs. 
 
 Harry rose at once. 
 
 Being told about the dream, he willingly joined them 
 in the search for Tinker. 
 
 It was broad daylight when young Jack, Harry Gird- 
 wood, and the ever faithful Monday reached the high 
 road, which led from the town of Masdon to Harkaway- 
 ville. 
 
 They had not proceeded far before they heard cries for 
 help. A thick smoke arose from the trunk of a tree by 
 the roadside. No one was to be seen. 
 
 The road was entirely deserted. 
 
 " By heaven ! " cried Jack, "some foul work is going on." 
 
 " Hurry up," said Harry. 
 
 Monday drew his knife, and ran up the road with the 
 fleetness of a hare. 
 
 In a few minutes he was seen by Jack and Harry, who 
 followed more leisurely, to be throwing some burning 
 \vood on one side. 
 
 r hey then saw the form of a boy, tied to the tree. 
 
 II:s head was hanging down, as if the smoke had as- 
 phyxiated him to some extent
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 39 
 
 Monday cut him down and laid him on the grass. 
 
 "It's Tinker," said Jack. " I hope he isn't dead." 
 
 " We're just in time, I guess," replied Harry. 
 
 "Wasn't mine a remarkable dream ? " 
 
 "Rather; there is more in dreams than most people 
 think. Poor Tinker! he's been badly treated." 
 
 They now reached the spot where Monday was bend- 
 ing over the boy. 
 
 They were not mistaken in their conjecture. 
 
 It was Tinker, and they had arrived just in time to save 
 his life. 
 
 Fighting Sue and Bob Morgan had set fire to the dry 
 wood they had placed around the body of the helpless 
 Tinker. 
 
 When they were satisfied that it was thoroughly alight, 
 they beat a retreat. 
 
 This was only a few seconds before Monday ran up. 
 
 They saw Monday, and also Jack and Harry. 
 
 A large gum-tree was close by. 
 
 It did not take them a moment to dart behind it. 
 
 This afforded them shelter, and at the same time en- 
 abled them to hide. 
 
 They wanted to see what was about to take place. 
 
 Their plan had been confounded at the eleventh hour. 
 
 Tinker, their hapless victim, was not to die this time. 
 
 The boy was reviving. 
 
 Plenty of fresh air inflated his lungs ; he heaved a deep 
 sigh, and opened his eyes. 
 
 " That you, master ? "he said, in a weak tone. " How 
 you find me out ? " 
 
 " I had a dream," replied Jack. " I thank heaven vou 
 are all right" 
 
 " Pretty near done for." 
 
 "Who did it?" 
 
 "Fighting Sue. All her men killed, 'cept Bob Morgan. 
 They been attacked in the dark." 
 
 '* Did they try to burn you ? " 
 
 "That was the racket," Tinker answered " It mighty 
 hard, cruel bit of business." 
 
 "So I should think." 
 
 "Sue say that I your boy, and have revenge by tying 
 me to tree, putting sticks round my legs, and setting them 
 alierht. "
 
 310 JACK HARK A WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "Where are they?" 
 
 "I dunno. Bob Morgan strike a match, smoke come 
 up, and my head go dizzy." 
 
 "Can you walk? " 
 
 "Reckon so. Give me a hand up, master." 
 
 Young Jack assisted him to rise. 
 
 He was a little shaky on his legs, but the fire had not 
 burnt him. 
 
 It was only the smoke that had affected him. 
 
 Jack had a flask of brandy in his pocket. 
 
 He gave him a little. 
 
 The dram seemed to put new life into him. 
 
 "This am golopshus," he exclaimed. " I feel good as 
 gold after that. " 
 
 "You're grinning like a monkey," 
 
 "Can't help myself. You saved my life, and I never 
 forget you," said Tinker. 
 
 He seized Jack's hand, and, raising it to his lips, kissed 
 it with every demonstnation of affection. 
 
 It showed that he was of a loving disposition. 
 
 "Fr'aps,"he added, with his eyes full of tears, "I have 
 the chance of saving you some day." 
 
 " I'm sure you would if you could." 
 
 " I'd die for you, master." 
 
 " Better live for me. I should much prefer it," replied 
 Jack, laughing. 
 
 "You very kind to poor, ignorant, native bush-boy, 
 but my heart good." 
 
 "I know that, and wherever I go you shall accompany 
 me." 
 
 "That make me happy." 
 
 ' ' You'll learn a lot as you grow older. At the same 
 time, it isn't a classical education that makes the man. 
 Universities can't do everything. " 
 
 " I serve you well, master," answered Tinker. 
 
 Monday touched him on the shoulder. 
 
 "You say nothing to me," he exclaimed. "Didn't I 
 come up first, and kick um sticks away, put out the fire, 
 and cut um down ? " 
 
 "Yes, Mister Monday. You very good fellow," re- 
 Joined Tinker. 
 
 "It +ook you a long time to find that out"
 
 ADVENTURES Ifr AUSTRALIA. 
 
 311 
 
 "I thank you very much, and Mister Harry, too. Poor 
 Tinker been burnt to a cinder, but for you." 
 
 "Mind you behave yourself in future, young man," 
 said Monday. 
 
 " Me always do that." 
 
 "Um have um doubts about it." 
 
 "That will do," exclaimed young Jack. "We have 
 rescued the boy, who isn't half a bad sort, and the ques- 
 tion that arises is, what are we to do next? " 
 
 "Let us hold a council of war," said Harry. 
 
 "Agreed. I'll be the general in command. Let me 
 hear the views of all of you, but don't all speak at once." 
 
 " I'll start first," replied Harry. 
 
 "Go ahead, then ; sail in." 
 
 "We can see how horribly savage and vindictive Mrs. 
 Morgan, or Fighting Sue as they call her, is." 
 
 "No discount on that," said Jack. 
 
 "Not a ha'p'orth. I believe the woman is mad, or she 
 would not dream of burning a boy at the stake." 
 
 " Perhaps the death of her husband and the destruction 
 of the two bands, hers and his, has driven her crazy." 
 
 "It must be so." 
 
 "And Bob Morgan is as bad, or he would not aid and 
 abet her." 
 
 "I quite agree with you," answered Harry. "Now, 
 we've got to face a hard fact, and facts are stubborn 
 things. " 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 "Fighting Sue is dead against your father, you, and all 
 of us. " 
 
 "We need not care for her, because we shall go back 
 to England now we have recovered Tinker," remarked 
 young Jack. 
 
 " Don't take the matter so easy as that." 
 
 "What is there to fear? " 
 
 "The woman and the man have escaped." 
 
 " But they are only two." 
 
 "At the same time, my dear Jack, they are powerful 
 for evil. Two determined persons can do a lot of harm, 
 and I'll bet you that they will do some harm to some of 
 us before we can quit Harkawayville and get to the 
 nearest railway-station, which, as you know, is a long 
 way off. "
 
 312 JA CK HA RKA WA Y AND I/JS SON 1 5 
 
 *' What do you advise ? " 
 
 "They must be hunted down and captured." 
 
 "That is a large order." 
 
 Jack turned to Monday. 
 
 ''What is your opinion, old ebony ? " he asked. 
 
 "Um of the same mind as Mast' Girdwood, boss, that's 
 me," answered Monday. 
 
 " Hunt them down. Look upon them as wild beasts 
 or poisonous snakes, that ought to be exterminated, "said 
 Harry. 
 
 "Now, Tinker, let us hear from you," continued Jack. 
 
 "I have no wisdom like you folks," replied Tinker, 
 "but I'd like to speak what I think." 
 
 "Certainly; speak freely. Kids like you often talk 
 sense. " 
 
 "My advice, master," said Tinker, "is to go home, 
 and ask your father what to do. " 
 
 Jack ST^led. 
 
 "That* not a bad idea," he replied. 
 
 " Yo'v father very clever man, sir; been all over the 
 worl^ and know a trick or two." 
 
 " Sv* he does." 
 
 "Very brave. Got good head on him." 
 
 "What he doesn't know, isn't worth knowing," said 
 Jack, who was proud of his father. 
 
 "One of the cleverest men on the face of the earth, 
 that's my opinion," added Tinker. 
 
 "Yes ; he forgot, ten years ago, what most men know 
 at seventy." 
 
 " You come back home, master, and he settle this ques- 
 tion better than you." 
 
 "I will be guided by you," answered young Jack. 
 
 "That um best way,' remarked Monday. 
 
 ''Couldn't do better," observed Harry. "But how 
 about grub ? I have internal rumblings ; in fact, I'm as 
 empty as a drum. I could eat a raw turnip." 
 
 "We're not far from the 'Bully Boy.' I dare say old 
 Garrat will provide us a good feed." 
 
 " Hurrah ! a splendid suggestion." 
 
 "Might have had a bit of me," said Tinker, "on'y I 
 didn't have time to roast" 
 
 bals 
 
 "Go on," replied Jack; "<Io you think we're camai- 
 1s ? "
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 "What you call them?" 
 
 " If ever you are wrecked in the South Seas, you'll find 
 out, my lad." 
 
 "Come on," cried Harry; "I'll be satisfied with a 
 mutton chop and a damper." 
 
 They wasted no more time in conversation, but walked 
 at a quick pace up the road. 
 
 Although they knew it not, they passed by Fighting 
 Sue and Bob Morgan. 
 
 The capacious trunk of the tree effectually concealed 
 them. 
 
 Neither of the four had the remotest idea that their 
 enemies were so close to them. 
 
 In a short time they arrived at the roadside tavern, and 
 were cordially received by Garrat, who knew them well. 
 
 He told them of the death of the sheriff, and was, ap- 
 parently, glad to hear that the band of bushrangers had 
 been almost exterminated. 
 
 In his heart he felt sorry for it. 
 
 The rangers had always been good customers of his, 
 and he really regretted their loss. 
 
 His sympathy was with the lawless desperadoes. 
 
 But he had to put on a fair face with Jack, and make 
 out that he hated them. 
 
 A breakfast of meat, vjggs, coffee, and damper, as the 
 unleavened bread is called, with the addition of some 
 kangaroo-tail soup considered a delicacy was rapidly 
 provided. 
 
 The hungry party sat down to enjoy it 
 
 Monday kept on getting up from the table and looking 
 out of the window, which commanded a view of the road. 
 ' What's your little game ? " enquired young Jack. 
 'Got to wink the other eye, sar," replied Monday. 
 
 1 I don't understand you." 
 
 'Keep a look-out for Fighting Sue. She not far off." 
 
 ' You're right," said Jack. 
 
 He put his revolver on the table by his plate. 
 
 It was as well to be prepared for all emergencies. 
 
 There was no foretelling what might happen. 
 
 A certain amount of anxiety was depicted on every face. 
 
 But that did not take the edge off their appetites, " for 
 they eat like horses, when you hear them eat," as Tenny- 
 son says.
 
 3*4 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 CHAPTER XLVTII. 
 
 A DESPERATE RESOLVE. 
 
 WHEN young Jack and his party passed the tree be 
 hind which the Queen of the Bushrangers was hiding, 
 with her brother-in-law, Bob Morgan, she was wild with 
 vexation. 
 
 In the height of her temper, she raised her revolver. 
 
 Her intention was to shoot young Jack and Tinker, if 
 she could not kill Harry and Monday. 
 
 She would have risked it, had not Bob stopped her. 
 
 He grasped her wrist firmly. 
 
 Her hand was lowered, and the pistol directed towards 
 the ground. 
 
 "Are you mad?" asked Bob. 
 
 "Yes," she replied, in a despondent tone, "I am as 
 crazy as any Bess of Bedlam." 
 
 " Have sense enough not to draw their fire." 
 
 "What do I care what becomes of me?" 
 
 "That's all very well from your point of view," pro- 
 tested Bob; "but I have a decided objection to being 
 shot, or my carcase otherwise perforated. " 
 
 " I shall never be the same woman again," continued 
 Fighting Sue. " All I live for now is revenge ! When 1 
 have killed Jack Harkaway and his son, I shall be con- 
 tent to die, and join my beloved husband, I hope, in an- 
 other world." 
 
 "What good is revenge? " asked Bob. 
 
 Fighting Sue clasped her hands ecstatically together. 
 
 "Oh ! it is sweet sweet ! " she cried, rapturously. 
 
 "Don't talk like a blooming idiot," replied Bob, 
 coarsely and angrily. 
 
 "I mean it from my heart." 
 
 "You women always indulge in some sentimental rot. 
 Now, I'll tell you what is ever so much better than re- 
 venge. " 
 
 "Name it," said Mrs. Morgan. 
 
 " Gold money. You and I might make a stake out 
 here by robbing some bank, and nip off to New South 
 Wales without anyone being a bit the wiser."
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 35 
 
 "No, nor " Sue replied, shaking her head in a melan- 
 choly manner. 
 
 "Cheer up ; don't be downhearted." 
 
 "I am in an abyss of despair, from which nothing can 
 extricate me. Money, home, everything has lost its 
 charms. for me, except revenge." 
 
 "You're a crank, a regular crackpot, on the subject," 
 said Morgan, crossly. 
 
 "Call me what you like. The Harkaways, father and 
 son, shall die by my hand. When their bodies are moul- 
 dering in the cold hard ground, as is that of my poor dear 
 husband, I shall be satisfied, not before." 
 
 "You and I can't travel together, Sue! '' 
 
 " 1 did not expect you to support me, after the band 
 was destroyed." 
 
 " It is too much to expect." 
 
 * You are too selfish, my dear fellow," exclaimed Fight- 
 ing Sue. "I know you better than you know yourself." 
 
 "I shall be off South. Our paths diverge right here. 
 The Harkaways are tough nuts to crack, and I'm not 
 going to try the game on." 
 
 " So be it. Go your way, and I'll go mine." 
 
 "It is a desperate resolve, my girl. I hope you wilt 
 pull through, but I don't think you will." 
 
 " Coward ! my star has not yet set." 
 
 As she spoke she drew herself up proudly. Her eyes 
 flashed defiance, and her bosom heaved with emotion. 
 
 Bob Morgan knew her moods well, and fell back, fear- 
 ing to utter anything to irritate her. 
 
 All at once they heard the clattering of a horse's 
 hoofs. 
 
 The animal was coming towards them, from an easterly 
 direction. 
 
 On its back was a stout, middle-aged man, of the farmer 
 class. 
 
 Presumably a sheep farmer, who had been to Masdon 
 on business. 
 
 Slung over the pommel of his saddle, were two bags 
 or holsters. 
 
 This indicated that he lived at some distance, and had 
 to go a long journey. 
 
 The bags, no doubt, contained provisions, clothing, 
 and perhaps cash.
 
 3 1 6 JACK HARK A WAY AND HIS SON'S 
 
 The traveller did not see the Queen of the Bushrangers 
 nor Bob Morgan. 
 
 He jogged on his way, happily and contentedly enough. 
 
 A satisfied smile sat on his rubicund countenance, 
 whichseemed to indicate that he hadmadeagood bargain. 
 
 No suspicion of danger crossed his mind. 
 
 It was to him, as if bushrangers did not exist. 
 
 " Hush ! " whispered Fighting Sue. "Mine ! " 
 
 ''All right ! If you want a horse, have it. I can foot 
 it where I am going. It's nothing new to me to pad the 
 hoof. " 
 
 He put his back against the tree, and watched his 
 sister-in-law. 
 
 Fighting Sue stepped out boldly into the road. 
 
 She stood in front of the traveller, pistol in hand. 
 
 "Halt ! " she cried. 
 
 The man turned pale at the sight of this armed Amazon 
 in his path. 
 
 It portended danger, perhaps death. 
 
 He drew rein in an instant, but did not attempt to de- 
 fend either himself or his property. 
 
 "Take all I have ! " he whined ; "but spare my life." 
 
 "Get down from that horse," replied Sue. 
 
 The traveller did so. 
 
 "Throw your shooting-iron upon the road," she con- 
 tinued. 
 
 ' ' I haven't got one. I'm Titus West, the Quaker ; 
 fighting's against my religion," was the answer. 
 
 " What have you got in your saddle-bags ? " 
 
 " Only clothes, good woman, and a bag of biscuits to 
 sustain me on my journey. Let me have them, I pray 
 you." 
 
 "No, they are mine. I don't believe they hold what 
 you say." 
 
 "Yea, verily." 
 
 " I shall keep the horse and the bags. You can make 
 tracks." 
 
 "My steed is valuable. Who art thou, woman of 
 wrath and violence ? " 
 
 "Fighting Sue Morgan, wife of the bushranger. Cut 
 it, quick," she answered. 
 
 "Art thou not afraid of punishment here, and of more 
 in the dread hereafter ? " -
 
 AD VENTURES IN A USTRAUA. 3 1 7 
 
 " I fear nothing never did. I wasn't made that way. " 
 
 "This is cruel of thee, sister. Many miles shall I have 
 to trudge down this lonely road, ere I rejoin my wife and 
 children." 
 
 "Bob ! " cried Mrs. Morgan. 
 
 The bushranger emerged from his place of conceal- 
 ment. 
 
 " What do you want? " he demanded. 
 
 "Just oblige me by booting this chap, and helping 
 him on his way," said Sue. 
 
 " Right you are, my beauty." 
 
 He made a rush for the Quaker, Titus West, and caught 
 him as he darted into some scrub growing by the road- 
 side. 
 
 He gave him a blow on the head with his clenched 
 fast, which partially stunned him. 
 
 Returning to Sue, he said, " I've settled the Quaker. 
 Let us see what the saddle-bags contain." 
 
 They untied them. 
 
 In one they found an abundant supply of cold fowl, 
 ham, roast mutton, and damper, some whisky, bottled 
 beer, and wine. 
 
 In the other was a bundle of clothing, and a hundred 
 and fifty sovereigns in a canvas bag. 
 
 "Halves!" cried Bob Morgan, as he counted the 
 money and filled his pockets. 
 
 ' ' Take the dross I I shall not need it, " replied Fight- 
 ing Sue. 
 
 " All of it, do you mean ? " 
 
 "Every pound." 
 
 ' ' By George ! Sue, you're a trump ! I wish you would 
 come with me." 
 
 " No. My task must be worked out here, I tell you." 
 
 " Have your way, though I'm sorry for you." 
 
 "I don't want your pity. My life is done, for all 
 practical purposes. I am dead already." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " When I have destroyed those who destroyed mine, I 
 will die with pleasure, by my own hand," Sue replied, 
 determinedly. 
 
 " I can't help it. A man might as well talk to a bricfa 
 wall, as argue with an obstinate woman. " 
 
 "Death to the Harkaways ' "
 
 3 18 JACK HA RKA WA Y AND HIS SON 'S 
 
 "By all means; kill the whole party if you like, root 
 tnd branch," said Bob. 
 
 "If I don't " 
 
 "Let the matter drop, and have some refreshment. 
 The Quaker didn't mean to starve on his journey," inter- 
 rupted Bob. 
 
 Taking out his knife, the bushranger helped himself to 
 fowl and ham, and a bottle of beer. 
 
 Fighting Sue looked on in sullen silence. 
 
 "Aren't you going to join in ? " he enquired. 
 
 "I can't eat. My brain is over-excited. Where do 
 you think they have led the bush-boy to ? " she replied. 
 
 "Up the road to the ' Bully Boy,' I expect, to get some 
 breakfast. " 
 
 "I'll ride there." 
 
 Fighting Sue sprang upon the horse's back. 
 
 She was an excellent rider, and could sit in the saddle 
 all day long, with a man's endurance. 
 
 He saw that it was no use to try to persuade her to 
 accompany him. 
 
 As far as he was concerned, his brother, the notorious 
 bushranger, was dead, and there was an end of the matter. 
 
 Morgan the elder had made the Australian continent 
 ring with his name. 
 
 But, after what had recently happened, Bob had no 
 desire to take his place. 
 
 He held out his hand. 
 
 "Good-bye, Sue ! " he said. " I suppose it is useless 
 for me to say, ' Heaven bless you ! ' but you know what 
 I mean." 
 
 " Heaven has not blessed me living, it will not do so 
 dead, " she replied, coldly. 
 
 "It's a hard world, Sue." 
 
 " To some ; not to all." 
 
 "I suppose it's what we make it. For my part, I've a 
 mind to work for an honest living." 
 
 "You?" she cried, scornfully. "You couldn't do it. 
 Farewell ! we shall never meet again. " 
 
 Her words were prophetic.
 
 AD FAA 7 URES IN A USTRAUA. 3 1 9 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 ONE BY HERSELF. 
 
 THEY shook hands, Bob being between her and the bush. 
 
 This action saved her life, but lost him his own. 
 
 The Quaker whom they had robbed had been forgotten 
 by them. 
 
 He had recovered from the knockdown blow he had 
 received. 
 
 When he had stated that he was not armed, he told a 
 falsehood. 
 
 In his pocket he had a pistol. 
 
 Enraged at being robbed and assaulted, he determined 
 to try and get back his own. 
 
 Stepping into the road, he presented his pistol, and fired 
 at Fighting Sue. 
 
 His aim was a good one. 
 
 He had not been shooting kangaroo, rabbits, and wal- 
 laby all his life for nothing. 
 
 The bullet sped on its way. 
 
 It was at this very juncture that Bob Morgan shook 
 hands with his sister-in law. 
 
 He stepped straight in a line with the ball. 
 
 It struck him in the back, and went direct to his heart 
 
 With a hollow, sepulchral groan, the bushranger fell 
 heavily to the ground. 
 
 Fighting Sue knew in a moment where to find her re- 
 volver. 
 
 There was no hesitation about her movements. 
 
 Before the Quaker could shoot again, she fired. 
 
 The bullet struck him in the forehead. 
 
 It was buried in his brain. 
 
 Throwing up his arms wildly, he sank down in a con- 
 vulsed heap. 
 
 Whipping up her horse it was hers by capture now 
 Fighting Sue galloped up the road. 
 
 "I am one by myself! " she muttered. "That is what 
 I thought it would come to ; but I have lived alone and 
 worked alone before- -and can do it again. " 
 
 She sat the horse like a man.
 
 320 JACK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 The inn kept by Garrat, and called the "Bully Boy,** 
 was, as we know, only a few miles up the road. 
 
 Young Jack and his companions did not know her. 
 
 On the landlord she thought she could rely for assist- 
 ance and shelter. 
 
 He had been a staunch friend of her late husband's. 
 
 The bushrangers had spent a large portion of their ill- 
 gotten gains in his tavern. 
 
 He had known most of them intimately, and had re- 
 ceived stolen goods from them. 
 
 Why should she not rely upon such a man as this ? 
 
 But she did not thoroughly understand the character of 
 Garrat. 
 
 There were two sides of it, as she had yet to find out. 
 
 He loved himself first, and everyone else afterwards. 
 
 Riding into the stable yard, she hitched the horse to 
 a post, and looked around her. 
 
 The landlord of the "Bully Boy" was standing at his 
 back door. 
 
 She advanced, and greeted him warmly. 
 
 "Who have you here ? " she asked. 
 
 "Young Jack Harkaway, and three friends," replied 
 Garrat. " They are breakfasting ; and a very jolly party 
 they are." 
 
 " I will soon put a stop to their jollity ! " 
 
 "What do you intend to do? " 
 
 "Never mind you will see presently. Have they 
 spoken about me ? " 
 
 "A good deal. They destroyed your band last night, 
 and this morning saved the bushboy, Tinker, when you 
 had started to burn him." 
 
 " Quite true. Curses on them ! " 
 
 "Are all the men gone?" asked Garrat, leading her 
 into a small room. 
 
 "Every one of them," answered Fighting Sue. 
 
 " That's bad. What are you going to do?' enquired 
 Garrat. 
 
 " Have my revenge on the two Harkaways, and then 
 put an ounce of lead in my brain." 
 
 "Better go home, and make the best of it." 
 
 "Not I. Do you think I want to live? Let me stay 
 here till the party start for Harkawayville, and I'll givo 
 them four chambers out of my revolver, " said Fighting Sue.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 321 
 
 "Certainly. You are welcome. Can I gee you any 
 thing ? " 
 
 "No. I require neither meat nor drink at present 
 Leave me. Tell me when they are about to start." 
 
 " I will not fail to do so, "rejoined Garrat 
 
 "If you deceive me, beware ! " 
 
 "Is it likely I should do so? Depend on me. I am 
 you true friend as I was your husband, Mr. Morgan's " 
 
 " Thanks. I believe you ! " she replied. 
 
 The room was a private parlour like all the apartments 
 on the ground-floor of the inn. The windows were heav- 
 ily barred. 
 
 No one could get in or out that way. 
 
 This was a precaution taken against tramps, and bad 
 characters generally. 
 
 The key of the door was on the outside. 
 
 As Garrat closed the door, he softly turned the key. 
 
 The door was effectually locked. 
 
 Fighting Sue was a prisoner, although she had not the 
 least inkling of the plot. 
 
 Going into the apartment where young Jack and the rest 
 had been breakfasting, Garrat found them ready to depart. 
 
 "Bill, landlord ! What's the damage how much do 
 I owe you ? " cried young Jack. 
 
 "Nothing, Mr. Harkaway," answered Garrat 
 
 "Oh ! that won't do." 
 
 "I shall make no charge." 
 
 "But I like to pay my way, wherever I go, and not lay 
 myself under an obligation or favour to anybody." 
 
 " Your company and patronage is an honour that over- 
 pays me." 
 
 ' ' Lay it on thick. What are you driving at ? " demanded 
 Jack. 
 
 " Would you give any reward for the capture of Mrs. 
 Morgan, alias Fighting Sue ? " asked Garrat. 
 
 "Yes. I'll guarantee you a hundred pounds." 
 
 " \Vho from? " 
 
 " My father will pay it," replied young Jack. 
 
 " Good enough I You can have her." 
 
 " In the bush, I suppose. But we've got to catch her 
 first." 
 
 "Not at all ! She's one by herself now, and she's 
 securely confined in this house." 
 
 31
 
 322 JA CK HARKA WA Y AND HIS SON'S 
 
 "You don't mean it !" 
 
 "I do ; true as gospel ! " 
 
 All looked at him in amazement. 
 
 They were scarcely able to believe the evidence of their 
 senses. 
 
 Garrat briefly explained how Fighting Sue had come to 
 him for shelter, with the ultimate intention of killkig Jack 
 Harkaway and his son, and how he had trapped her. 
 
 " Bravo ! " exclaimed Jack. " That is splendid. Keep 
 her under lock and key. Stop here, Harry, Monday, and 
 Tinker. Gire me a horse ; I'll ride over to Masdon, and 
 get a couple of constables." 
 
 ' No occasion for that," said Garrat. 
 'Why not?" 
 
 ' You know Sheriff Hardrock was murdered here yes- 
 terday. " 
 
 ' Yes, " answered Jack. 
 
 ' I have sent for the police. They will be here directly. " 
 
 ' Excellent ! " 
 
 Suddenly there was a great noise at the end of the 
 passage. 
 
 Some one was banging and knocking against a door. 
 
 Loud, fearful, and frenzied shrieks arose. 
 
 It was a paroxysm of passion and frenzy. 
 
 This lasted for a few minutes. 
 
 Then there was the sound of a pistol shot. 
 
 Garrat ran forward, and unlocked the door of the room 
 in which he had confined Mrs. Morgan. 
 
 As he had expected, he found her lying in a pool of 
 blood, stone dead. 
 
 She had tried to get out, and could not. 
 
 Finding she was betrayed, rather than fall into the hands 
 of the police, she had taken her own life. 
 
 Fighting Sue's troubles were all over. 
 
 The mad Queen of the Bushrangers was no more. 
 * ***** 
 
 Young Jack and his companions returned at once to 
 Harkawayville. 
 
 They were cordially congratulated by all upon what they 
 had so pluckily accomplished. 
 
 All their troubles were over.
 
 ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 :HAPTER THE LAST. 
 
 323 
 
 ENGLAND ONCE MORE TINKER'S GRANDEUR AND HIS MYSTERY ! 
 
 FUTURE PROSPECTS AND PROMISES FAREWELL. 
 
 " I AM heart-sick of this place," said Harkaway. " But 
 I haven't come across a spot that I like more than the 
 
 " ' Land that bears a well-known name,' 
 
 as the song says, and back I go." 
 
 "To England?" 
 
 "What else?" 
 
 " And what about Harkawayville ? " demanded Harvey. 
 
 " Leave it where it is. Pick out the most intelligent of 
 the settlers for the high places give Rook a chance of 
 doing better things now that he is convalescent and 
 hurrah for Old England ! The associations of the place 
 are too sad, now. Poor Hunston's sad fate I can never 
 forget if I remain here. His grave shall be well cared for, 
 by the best man I can find, for I shall remember that he 
 was once my playmate and schoolfellow." 
 
 So it was agreed that they should return at an early 
 date. 
 
 'My boy, Tinker, must go with us, dad." 
 'Of course," said Harkaway. 
 
 ' I couldn't do without my boy Tinker," said youngjack. 
 'Of course not." 
 
 ' Why, what with Mike and Nero and Tinker," said Mr. 
 Mole, "you'll have quite a menagerie." 
 
 The preparations for the return of our friends to England 
 were necessarily rather lengthy. 
 
 But at length the day arrived, and the whole settlement 
 trooped down in a body to the seaport to see the em- 
 barkation of the party. 
 
 Cheers, hurrahs, and sighs of regret were sent after them. 
 
 But not one of the settlers from Harkawayville but 
 wished them all God speed. 
 
 And now that Harkaway and his son have completed 
 their journeys together, we and they make our respective 
 bows to the courteous readers who have so long borne us 
 company. 
 
 THE END.
 
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