I begin to think we were wrong in coming so far out into the bush, but I was tempted by what Hawkins told me of the place, which he had come across when exploring the country. It seemed everything that could be desired: plenty of water, timber for all purposes, and fine grazing; and I admit that it is all that he said. The blacks were quiet enough then, and, though it was a good bit beyond the nearest station, I thought, when I came and had a look at the place, that it was well worth risking. We have not done badly here. The sheep and cattle have pretty well doubled their number each year; the wool has paid all our expenses. Everything has been comfortable enough, except the difficulty we have had in bringing up groceries and flour. In another ten years, if all had gone well, I should have been a really prosperous man, with a[Pg 172] big flock of sheep and a fine herd of cattle, to say nothing of horses; but now the blacks have got nasty I begin to think that I have made a great mistake. "Have you heard any more bad news, William?" his wife asked anxiously.
"Yes; Harry Read rode up half an hour ago, and said that he and his brother were going to drive their animals in, and take them to the station of a friend of his forty miles nearer Sydney, till things settled down a bit, for he had heard that two or three stations had been attacked by the blacks and every soul murdered. What do you think, wife? Shall we do the same?"
Mrs. Roberts was a courageous woman. "I don't know what to say," she replied. "We are getting on very well here. As you said, of course, we always knew that there was some risk. We could not have got a big station like this down-country without paying a large sum for it, far more than we could have afforded. I think it would be a pity to give it up at present. After all, we may not be attacked. You see, you have three men now, and we only had one when we came here. You built the house specially for defence, with squared logs, and even logs for the roof, so that it could not be set on fire. We could get the shingles off in an hour and, as it is the dry season, I think it would be as well[Pg 173] to do that at once. I can shoot fairly well, and so can Effie, and with six rifles we ought to be able to keep off a mob of natives."
"But how about the animals?" her husband said.
"Well, I should say that the best plan would be to send the greater part of them away for a bit. Talbot has nothing like enough stock on his place, and I have no doubt he would be glad to graze them for a bit at a very small rent. Of course, if you think it best, I am quite ready to give the place up, though in my opinion it would be a pity. After all, the chances of the blacks coming here are not great. There are dozens of other stations as exposed as we are. We have had two or three alarms before, but nothing has ever come of them."
"I am glad that that is your opinion, wife, mine is exactly the same. Certainly, for my own sake I would a great deal rather stay here and take my chances. It was of you and Effie that I was thinking. Well, then, we will consider it settled. I will ride down to Talbot's at once and arrange with him. I shall get back late this evening. To-morrow morning we will take a lot of the stock over there. Thompson shall go with me to help to drive them down, but I shall bring him back, as it is as well to keep as strong a garrison here as possible. I can arrange with Talbot that one of his men shall be specially told off to look after our animals. I[Pg 174] will pick out three hundred of the best ewes and a few rams, a hundred cattle, and half a dozen of the best horses. I need not take more horses than that. They are all shy of a blackfellow, and there is not much fear of their being caught; so we need not bother about them, especially as, if they were taken away to new ground, they would give a lot more trouble than the sheep and cattle."
Mr. Roberts had been a small landed proprietor in the old country, farming his own land. Times had been bad, and the failure of a bank, in which he had a few shares, had swept away not only all his ready money, but had brought upon him heavy calls which he was unable to meet. He had a brother who, some years before, had emigrated to New South Wales, and he had given so favourable an account of the country that Mr. Roberts decided to sell his land and emigrate there with his wife and two children, a boy and a girl. After meeting all claims, and paying their passages out, he had arrived at Sydney with the sum of ￡3000. He had wisely determined not to risk more than a third of this, and, placing ￡2000 in a bank, he had invested a thousand in sheep, cattle, and horses, and had taken up some land on the extreme border of the settlement. He had now been there four years, and had been well contented with his choice. The site was an exceptionally pleasant one. A small[Pg 175] stream ran through the property, which was better wooded than most of the land in that part. His stock had increased fourfold, and although there had been occasional reports of trouble with the blacks, they had hitherto met with no molestation whatever. Natives had come and gone, and had always been hospitably received, and he certainly had no reason to believe that there was anything but good feeling between them and the inmates of the Springs, as the station was called, from a spring that rose some hundred and fifty yards away from the house and was situated some feet above the floor level, the water bubbling up into a barrel which was sunk in the ground. A pipe whose end was inserted in the barrel was buried underground, and through this the water flowed, giving a constant supply to the house. Another pipe conveyed the water to a trough, which had been erected for the use of the animals kept at the station. The other animals watered at the stream.
The boy, who was now fifteen, had been for the past two years at Sydney, living at his uncle's and attending school. In another year he was to return to the station. He had gone most reluctantly, but his father had said: "I can quite understand your liking this life, Ned, but I don't wish you to grow up simply a bush farmer. The colony is increasing fast, and there will be plenty[Pg 176] of openings for a young fellow of intelligence and a fair education. I hope that by the time you grow up I shall be able to settle you on a farm like mine, and stock it well for you, if you decide upon following this sort of life, or to start you in any line that you may like to adopt in Sydney. You have had two years of running wild, and if you remain here you will speedily forget what little you have learned; but in any case, three years at school will be a great advantage to you."
Effie, the daughter, was now fourteen, a strong healthy girl who could ride any horse on the station, had been taught to use both pistol and rifle, and was as bold and fearless as a boy.
It was late that night before Mr. Roberts returned, and the next day he and Thompson drove the stock down to Talbot's station, leaving strict injunctions that the other men were not to go far from the house, and were to keep the cattle and sheep in the stock-yard. He returned the following day, and for the next fortnight things went on as usual. Late one night, however, in the third week, Effie knocked at her father's door.
"I think there is something the matter, father," she called. "The animals are all uneasy in the yard. I don't know what has disturbed them, but they are evidently alarmed." In half a minute Mr. Roberts appeared at the door, and followed the girl [Pg 177]to her room, which was at the back of the house, overlooking the stock-yard.
"There is certainly something wrong, Effie," he said, after listening for a moment. "The horses and cattle are both uneasy."
He went downstairs to the room where the men slept. "Get up at once," he said; "there is something the matter. The horses and cattle are uneasy; I am afraid it is the blacks. Throw on your clothes and take your guns. We will go out at once and take down all the bars, so that if it is really the blacks the animals will have a chance of escaping. It is pitch dark, and even if there are some of them in the yard they are not likely to see us."
Two minutes later the door was very cautiously opened and the four men went out. Effie barred it behind them, and then joined her mother, who had hastily dressed. Both took their guns and went to Effie's window, which was already open.
"We shall not be able to see where to fire, mother."
"No, dear; but if the blacks do attack, we shall hear by their yelling whereabouts they are, and can fire in that direction. We may not hit any of them, but it will confuse and alarm them. However, remember, when we hear any stir, the first thing for you to do is to run down to the door in readiness to open it when your father and the men return."
[Pg 178]
"The sheep are moving about now; they were quiet before, mother."
"It is likely the blacks will begin there," Mrs. Roberts said. "No doubt they are hungry, and it is always sheep that they make for first. They will very likely kill some and have a feast before attacking. I trust, however, that they may not attack at all. They must know that the house is a strong one, and may not care to risk their lives, but have only come to drive off the stock. Still, I am afraid they will try and attack, hoping we may be asleep and that they may gain entrance before we have time to get our rifles."
Four or five minutes later a low whistle was heard outside. Effie ran down and opened the door, when her father and the men at once entered and the door was bolted behind them.
"Well," Mr. Roberts said, "I fear there is no doubt that there are blacks about, and from the uneasiness of the animals I should say there are a good number of them. However, we are warned, and I think that the surprise will be on their side and not on ours. We removed all the bars, so the animals can get away if they like. Also, I have locked the door of the stable. Except for the uneasiness of the animals we saw no signs of the enemy at all. Now, the first thing to do is to get the shutters closed." This was at once done. Mr. Roberts had always been[Pg 179] a little nervous of trouble with the blacks, so in addition to building his house of solid logs he had had strong loopholed shutters arranged on all the windows of the lower story, which when closed were held in their position by massive cross-bars.
They discussed the best position for each to take in case of attack, and having arranged this, one of the men went up to keep a look-out from the upper windows, while the rest of the party remained chatting in the sitting-room. "I wish there was a moon," Mr. Roberts said; "it is so dark that we shall be firing quite at random."
"Could we not make some sort of a torch," Effie suggested, "that would light up the place outside?"
"That is a first-rate idea, Effie; but how are we to manage it?"
The party sat silent for some minutes, then Effie said: "There is plenty of wool. How would it be to make a bundle of it about as big as my head, wind it round with wire, then soak it in paraffin. When the natives come we have only to put a match to it and throw it outside."
"Very good indeed, Effie," her father said; "let us try to carry out the idea at once, and as all the materials are to hand it will not take us long." In half an hour six of the balls were finished. Each had a short length of wire by which it could be thrown through the window. Fortunately there[Pg 180] was plenty of paraffin, and a bucket being filled with it, the balls were soaked one after another, and were then carried upstairs each in a separate basin. "We shall have to be very careful how we throw them," Mr. Roberts said, "or else we shall be setting ourselves on fire. Thompson, you are, I think, the worst shot of the lot, as you are rather short-sighted. I will therefore trust this business to you. Have an old blanket ready to beat out any of the burning oil that may drop on the floor. Be careful also to keep as much in shelter as possible, some of the blacks are sure to have bows ready."
"All right, boss! you need not fear, I will look out. Now, as I am to be on duty upstairs, I might as well go up at once and send James down. I think, boss, you had better take post at the loopholes now, you may catch sight of one of the varmints against the sky-line. I will throw a ball as soon as I hear the first shot."
All was quiet for a quarter of an hour, then Effie suddenly fired. The shot was followed by a wild yell outside, and dozens of dark figures leaped to their feet and bounded towards the door, and strove to break it in with their waddies and axes. The defenders were all hard at work, and an occasional yell of pain showed that their bullets were taking effect. Suddenly there was an even wilder yell as a brilliant ball of fire fell twenty yards from the[Pg 181] house, lighting up the front of it almost as if it were day. Every shot told now, and in a minute the natives fled with wild bounds outside the circle of light, but losing heavily before they vanished into the darkness.
"Well, I do not think they will try that game again," Mr. Roberts said when the firing ceased, and after shaking hands wildly all round they sat down. "I did not expect them to attack so boldly. It is quite contrary to their usual habits, and if it had not been for the fire-ball I do not know how things would have gone. That was a splendid idea, Effie. Why, you ought to set up as an inventor!"
There was no further attack, but two hours later one of the men on watch thought he heard a movement in the neighbourhood of the spring, but on firing a shot in that direction all was quiet, and there was no further disturbance till day broke.
Soon after daylight all the party except the man on watch sat down to breakfast and discussed the events of the night.
"What do you think they will do next, father?" Effie asked.
"I do not know whether they will hunt down the cattle and horses, and drive them off, or whether they will hang round here for a time; it is difficult to say. At any rate I don't think we have any cause for uneasiness, except so far as touches one's[Pg 182] pockets. It is lucky, indeed, that we shifted more than half our animals to Talbot's. Henceforth we must divide into two parties, a............