The Gold Hunters' Adventures Part 45

What caused us so much surprise was the fact that during our absence the cart was visited, our provisions overhauled, a portion carried off, and one or two bottles of claret emptied. It was evident that the thief was in too great a hurry to draw the cork, even if he had had a corkscrew, of which there was some doubt; so he had just broken the necks of the bottles on one of the wheels, and then drank to satiety.

Our visitor was no ghost-like character, who could pa.s.s through a hole and not feel inconvenienced. According to the quant.i.ty of provisions which he had eaten and carried off, he must have possessed a human stomach of remarkable voracity.

It was very evident that we had a thief of extraordinary shrewdness to deal with, and that unless we were a little sharper we should be cheated of our gold and fleeced of our provisions--two reflections not very comforting.

We held a long conference and debated the best way to entrap our opponent, and yet we could reach no conclusion, and were about to provide our dinners, when Rover bounded from the bushes with a piece of cloth in his mouth, which he shook and played with for some time before he would relinquish.

It was the remnant of a blue flannel shirt, and the idea struck me that our visitor had not only taken our provisions, but had stolen a portion of our clothing. I examined the few articles which I had brought and found that my surmise was correct. A pair of pants and a shirt were missing; but I felt glad to think that the exchange had been made, as now I considered that we had our friend on the hip.

I explained to Fred and Smith the manner in which we could track our visitor, and they agreed to a.s.sist me in trying the experiment. I called the hound, and laid the remnant of the shirt before him. Thinking that I meant to have a lark with him, he began to tear the flannel and play as formerly, but I touched him with a small switch and he crouched at my feet, and looked up so reproachful and timid that I was almost sorry to think I was obliged to correct him. I steadily persevered until I impressed upon the mind of the hound that he was to follow the one who had worn the shirt, and if there was not scent enough the thief was not to blame, for the article looked as though it had seen service.

At length the dog comprehended me. He trotted to the cart, walked around it once or twice, with his nose close to the ground, and when he had got track of the thief he uttered a low bay of satisfaction, and looked up into my face as much as to say, "shall I go on?"

We caught up our rifles, and leaving the sleeping stockman to continue his nap, we motioned the dog to start, and followed close at his heels.

He led the way along the path until he came to the spot where I imagined I had seen a man disappear, and after snuffing for a moment, the hound trotted on, sometimes leaping over bushes four feet high, a feat which we found not easy of accomplishment, tired as we were, and the heat up to over a hundred in the shade of a forest.

If the animal got two rods in advance of us, a word was sufficient to check him until we came up, when, receiving our praise with an acknowledgment in the shape of a wag of his tail, he would trot on with renewed watchfulness.

We observed that our course led us towards the spot where we had been digging a few minutes before, and as we neared the clearing our watchfulness increased. Not a tree was pa.s.sed without anxious glances being cast among the branches to see if an enemy lurked there, but nothing in the shape of a man was to be seen.

At length we were within a few steps of the bushes from whence we supposed the gun to have been discharged. Immediately in front of us was a low tree of the balsam species, with branches and leaves so close together that it was impossible to see through the top. The foliage was most dense, and the thought suddenly occurred to me that if a man wished to secrete himself that tree would be the one which he would choose from amongst the thousands within sight. I was not, therefore, greatly surprised when Rover suddenly stopped and exhibited signs of having treed his game.

"The thief is lodged in that tree," shouted Fred, eagerly.

"It is singular that we did not think of examining it before," I remarked, as we sheltered ourselves behind trees, for we had evidence that, whoever he was, he possessed a gun and know how to use it, and therefore we did not wish to needlessly expose our lives to his aim.

Rover acted in a frantic manner. He stood upon his hind legs and sought to get at his enemy, and when finding that he could not, he appealed to us for a.s.sistance; and for fear that he should get injured I called him away,--an order which he obeyed most reluctantly.

"Come down from the tree," shouted Fred, "and we will give you quarter and kind treatment."

There was no answer; we listened, but not a movement was to be heard. An old parrot, that was perched high upon a blasted tree, attempted to imitate our cry, but he got no further than the first word, and that appeared to puzzle him so much that he gave up in despair and remained mute with disgust.

"Do you surrender?" he yelled.

Not a word was heard in reply.

"He is like the flying Dutchman," cried Smith, a slight superst.i.tious feeling beginning to creep over him.

"Give him a shot, then, and see if he cannot be brought down," Fred said.

I saw that Smith had no particular relish for the duty, but for fear that we should laugh at him he raised his gun and discharged one barrel.

The leaves flew as though the tree had been struck by a whirlwind. A small branch was cut off by the bullet and fell to the ground; but no sign of an enemy was manifest.

"It's no use," cried Smith, with a lengthened visage. "We might waste all our ammunition and the result would still be the same. It's no human being in that tree."

"We'll see," replied Fred, briefly, and he aimed his rifle near the top of the tree, and fired.

Not near as many leaves fell as at Smith's discharge, but the effect was more astonishing. The tree swayed back and forth as though some one was moving in its centre, and from amidst the dense foliage a voice exclaimed,--

"Blast yer hies, vot is yer doing?"

"Here, Smith," cried Fred, "there is a c.o.c.kney countryman of yours up there."

"Come down," we roared.

"See ye hanged first, and then I von't," repeated the voice in the tree.

"Then we shall have to send another bullet into the tree to start you."

"If ye don't cut hout of these diggins, yer'll wish that ye had,"

replied our defiant acquaintance.

"Once for all, will you surrender?" was demanded.

"See ye blasted fust," was returned, in a dogmatical manner.

Fred let fly another bullet into the tree, and this time with remarkable success; for suddenly a singular-looking genius, with wonderful long legs, and those dressed in untanned skins of the kangaroo, hair side out, tumbled from the tree, feet foremost, and with bounds which I thought no human being capable of, sprang over the bushes and attempted to escape, which he no doubt would have done, as we were too much surprised to think of checking his career with a bullet, had not the hound, with a yell of satisfaction, followed in pursuit.

We started as fast as possible for the purpose of preventing the dog from killing the man outright, as we feared he would, but our alarm was groundless; for after a smart run of a quarter of a mile, we found the hound standing over his victim, and exhibiting a wicked set of grinders at every motion which his prisoner made to escape.

"Vot is the meanin' of this 'ere kind of a go?" demanded our prisoner, as we gravely took seats upon fallen trees, and regarded him with great interest.

The fellow was a curiosity, and I have often laughed at the ridiculous appearance which he made upon our first meeting in the woods of Australia.

His long legs and feet were encased in the skins of kangaroos, which accounted for the ease with which he pa.s.sed through the bushes and left no scent but of the animal, for Rover to follow, and as I had often punished him for chasing kangaroos without permission, it sufficiently explained why the poor dog was so puzzled.

The skins of the animals appeared to have been fitted to the legs and feet of our prisoner while green, and by drying them on his limbs he was then unable to remove them without an hour's washing in water; a process which, by the looks of the fellow, he seemed to have no relish for; the dirt was glued upon his face as though it was warranted to wash, although it's doubtful if he ever tried the experiment; and I may as well observe here that water was his abhorrence, and he never drank it unless he couldn't get something stronger. Upon the back of the scamp was a new blue flannel shirt, which he had stolen from the wagon, leaving his old one in exchange, and by the means of which we had traced him to his resting-place. Around his neck was a silk handkerchief belonging to Smith, and on his head was a skin cap, with a long tail which hung over his shoulders and resembled the brush of a fox.

"Will ye call hoff the hanimal, and let me up?" cried our new acquaintance, casting rueful looks towards us.

"Where did you come from?" asked Fred.

"Vy, didn't you see? I dropped down from the tree."

"Yes, we are aware of that; but how came you in this part of the country alone?"

"How does you know I'se 'lone?" asked the fellow, with such a significant leer that we involuntarily glanced over our shoulders as though expecting a gang of ferocious bushrangers to be within gunshot.

"Answer me," cried Fred, with pretended sternness, placing the muzzle of the rifle against the fellow's heart. "Tell me where you came from, and what you wish in the neighborhood?"

"Vell, I vill, if ye von't hinger my feelings with the cold iron. Take away the gun and I'll do the right thing. 'Pon the 'onor of a gentleman, I will."

We laughed at his last remark, and the fellow joined in with us good naturedly, as though he did not expect to be believed.

"Very well, sit up and tell your story," we said; and calling off the dog, who manifested a great reluctance to obey, we permitted him to take an easier position.