The Gold Hunters' Adventures Part 143

"To the devil with the trail," muttered Mike, hitting one of the prostrate natives with his spear. "Let's find the brook, and then we'll be all right, shan't we? Find the main thing first, and then toiler up the little ones, used to be the advice of me father, G.o.d rest his soul, and keep him well supplied wid whiskey in the nixt world! Ah, what man he was to be sure! You knew him, sir?" continued Mike, addressing Mr.

Wright, who was awaiting the result of the Australians with exemplary patience, considering that the rain was falling in torrents.

"Be quiet," said our host, "or if you must do something go and see how near we are to the creek, and don't make a noise."

"I'll do that same," muttered Mike, "but it's the opinion of a man who knows more than a dozen nagers, that the creek is a mile from here in the udder direction."

He went on his mission, grumbling at the supposition that the creek was near us, when suddenly we heard a loud splash, and Mike's voice raised in supplication.

CHAPTER LXXVI.

MIKE TUMBLES INTO THE RIVER.--ARRIVAL OF THE BUSHRANGERS.

"That d----d Irishman has tumbled into the creek," cried Mr. Wright, endeavoring to suppress a laugh that did find utterance.

"Here's the river, sure!" shouted Mike, "and a cussed mane one it is.

Help me out!"

"Be quiet," said Mr. Wright, "or you'll alarm the bushrangers."

"And do you intend that I shall strangle myself for the purpose of letting the blackguards git kilt?" remonstrated the Hibernian; "I've swallowed a gallon of the dirty water already, and it's cowld on my stomach. Help me out, will ye?"

We reached the scene of the Irishman's disaster, and were compelled to wait for a flash of lightning for the purpose of seeing his situation.

When the flash did reveal his position, we saw that he was clinging to some rocks most tenaciously, while the boiling waters were bubbling over his head, which he made no attempt to raise beyond the reach of danger.

"Crawl up the bank, you loon!" cried Mr. Wright, but the advice was unheeded.

"Save me!" yelled Mike; "I can't swim and I'm filled with the b.l.o.o.d.y dust, that weighs me down like lead. A thousand dollars to the man who gives me his hand first."

"Well, give me the thousand dollars, and I'll help you out," Mr. Wright said, facetiously.

"Ah, master dear, won't you take my word for the money, or wait till I arn it?"

"Just as I always thought," grumbled our host; "an Irishman will promise any thing in distress, even while he knows that he has no means of performing his engagements."

"But isn't it better to do so, master dear, than to make no promises and die?" asked the Irishman, and I rather thought that he had him on that question.

"Perhaps you are right," our host answered, and extending his hand, he helped Mike to terra firma, and landed him just as Kala informed us that the ford was ten or twelve rods down the stream.

Mike recovered his spear, and we once more started, under the guidance of the natives, and quickly gained the spot that we had spent so much time in searching for.

The ford had been used but seldom, and resembled the rest of the creek, with the exception that the bushes and underbrush had been cut from the banks of the stream, so that horses, and other cattle, after fording, could gain the plain without trouble.

Kala threw himself upon his hands and knees, and carefully examined, by the lightning flashes, the various footprints which marked the spot, and which the heavy rain had failed to wash away.

"Well, Kala," Mr. Wright said, impatiently.

"No come yet," answered the native, quietly.

"Are you sure of that?" our host asked.

"I might have known that, if I had only given the subject a thought, muttered our host.

"Well, what are we to do?" asked Mr. Brown, gathering his oil-cloth around his person, and evidently thinking of the punch, and a good night's rest; "are we to stay here until daylight, and watch for a party of men who may be upon the summit of Mount Tarrengower at the present time? I wouldn't object to waiting, but I don't like the idea of sitting here and doing nothing, while the rain is endeavoring to obtain a nearer acquaintance with my neck and bosom."

"I don't see any other course," Mr. Wright replied; "it's evident that the devils have not crossed the creek, and can't to-night, but the streams of Australia subside rapidly, and the instant the rain ceases to fall they will attempt to ford. We must stay here and watch for the scamps. Remember the female prisoners."

"It's all very well to say remember the females, but if I ruin my health who is to remember me, and take care of me?" grumbled Mr. Brown.

"I will," promptly responded our host.

"Then I suppose that I must stay here all night, and make a fool of myself by running my head into danger, as I have done fifty times before, and get no thanks for it--hullo! what was that?"

Before Mr. Brown spoke, Kala had glided to the side of Mr. Wright, and called his attention, in a quiet manner, to a cras.h.i.+ng of brunches that he had heard on the other side of the river. Our host was too busy listening to the ravings of Mr. Brown to pay attention to him at that moment, and the native knew the disposition of his master too well to be imperative, so Kala didn't have the honor of alarming our squad, or calling attention to what was going on on the other side.

In an instant after Mr. Brown's exclamation, there was a breathless silence, and not a man moved to the right or left.

"They come," whispered Kala.

He was correct in his supposition, for in a few minutes we could hear the party we were in pursuit of halt at the edge of the brook, opposite to us, and discuss the prospect of attempting to ford, high as the water was.

We quietly retreated behind trees and bushes, so that the lightning should not reveal our presence to the enemy, but we were no sooner secreted than we were rewarded by getting a view of the four bushrangers, who were holding horses, on which were mounted the two females, whose capture had so excited our sympathy.

"D----n it, Bill," I heard one of the fellows exclaim, for the creek was not more than four yards across, "didn't I tell you that we couldn't ford here to-night with the hosses? If we had come the other way twould been all right."

"Yes, and run our heads flat agin that d----d Wright, who is always on the lookout, with his tribe of cussed Irishmen, ready to fight or drink bad whiskey," grumbled the man whom they had called Bill.

"Do ye hear him reflecting on me country?" whispered Mike, grasping his long spear, as though he would like to encounter the libellers of his countrymen without a moment's delay.

"Be quiet," ordered Mr. Wright, "and let us hear what the villains talk about."

"If it hadn't been for these 'ere wimin, we might have been out of this fix," cried the first speaker, still grumbling.

"Well, what could we do with 'em, 'cept bring 'em along?" asked Bill.

"Do with em?" cried the ruffian, with a bitter oath, "why, draw our knives across their throats, and let 'em run. That's the way to clear out prisoners. Women have no business with the gang. There's always a quarrel about 'em."

"And 'spose there is? ain't it a compliment to the dear creatures? I'd rather fight for 'em, I tell you, than not see their faces after they get good natured, and the cap'n generally brings 'em round in a precious short time."

"Eh, don't he?" grunted the third man, speaking for the first time.

"I tell ye my plan is best, and it's time ye knowed it. We carry half a dozen into camp to eat up the grub, and make the men lazy. There's no getting work out of the coveys while they is alive, and you know it."

"For pity's sake kill us, and end our misery," I heard one of the females say, appealing to the fellow who seemed in favor of killing prisoners, to save the trouble of taking care of them.