E. B. Kennedy

“ Dromoora and his wife willingly consented to this plan, as they were much frightened at the enormous tracks of the strange beast which Mat had pointed out.
Whilst it was still light, Mat spied the camp of the white men, situated near a lagoon. What first met his eye was a tent, a solitary figure, and smoke proceeding from a good-sized fire near it.
The sensation was new to him—the first white men, the first signs of civilized life, that he had seen for many a year—and as he gazed he shook in every limb as he considered how best to approach the camp. ”

“ Then turning to the brothers, “Go, lads, and make a brave fight; he who remains has no hope.”
Drifting along as they were, on the ship’s poop, their chance of ever being able to swim ashore seemed small indeed, and the prospect of casting themselves into such a stormy, raging sea, was enough to awe the spirits of even such stout-hearted lads as our forest twins; but it was their only hope of escape, and slender as it seemed, they did not hesitate, at the captain’s suggestion, to make that last effort for dear life. ”

“ He soon filled his buckets, and was by Annie’s side, in her garden, waiting for orders.
She pointed out those shrubs and flowers which were specially thirsty subjects, and told him the names of many of the plants.
“These many-coloured flowers are Balsams; that great bush, with its deep red flowers, is a Bouganvillia; and the creeper joining it, over the summer-house, with its bunches of waxy flowers, is called Stephanotis; it scents the whole garden at night.”
“I know the smell of that,” said Mat, “if I do not know the name, for you had a nosegay of it when I saw you in Sydney.” ”

“ The black was in the act of raising his club again to give him a finishing blow on the head when a yellow form seemed to spring out of the long grass, hurl itself on to the native’s back, and by sheer weight bear him to the earth, and there fix its teeth firmly in his throat. Mat, having been a witness of this act, rushed to the spot, and shouting, “Cheer up, Tim, I’ll put this brute out of his misery,” finished the Tingura by a blow on the head, which, seeing that Jumper had torn the savage’s throat open, was the most humane act to perform. ”

“ Amidst a quantity of overturned furniture and medicine-bottles, lit up by the feeble glimmer of an expiring night-light, lay a man as white as death, enveloped in a mosquito-net, struggling for breath, which came in convulsive gasps from his foam-bedewed lips, whilst his face appeared to be smeared over with a brown liquid: near him, and supported by the legs of the bedstead, lay Mrs. Bell in a kind of stupor. Remembering how water had brought him to in the great fight with the Tingura, our chief, casting his eyes around, to his great joy espied a large bath full of water ”

“ At last, his heart thumping so that he was afraid it would be heard, silently and gently he drew himself so close behind the bushranger that he could hear him breathe; his hand was upon the gun, lifting it gently, when the man made a movement as though he would get up.
Mat’s other hand stole to his pistol, but Magan had only reached forward to get a bottle, and whilst applying it to his lips, our forester took the opportunity to slip back behind a slight ridge in the sand, Magan’s gun in his hand. This he securely hid as soon as he could do so with safety. ”

“ So Mat replied,—
“You, oh, noble chief, and your brave tribe, have saved our lives from the beginning, ever since we landed on your coast. We were able to fight and kill in this battle because we knew things that the Tingura did not, and because we possessed the Teegoora ‘stick.’ We have also a favour to ask. You shall have a ‘thunder-stick,’ and be taught the secret; you shall have iron tomahawks, and many other beautiful things, if you will take us to where we can meet the white man.”
“That cannot be,” answered Dromoora, “the strange white men might kill me.” ”

“ The emigrant-ship has no battles to recount, no running down of slavers, in fact no life of the tar pure and simple, further made interesting by his adventures and exploits ashore. The emigrant-ship, though just as useful in her line, runs the same humdrum voyage year after year, unrelieved by any adventure, save the inevitable meeting with shark or whale, the capture of albatross or Cape pigeons, varied with such innocent amusements as a little dancing, and a very fair amount of interesting scandal. In fact a little world, of no interest scarcely to any one excepting those on board. ”

“ Before Mat made his start after the bushranger, he had buckled on a brace of pistols, loaded his gun with a heavy charge of slugs, and put some matches in his leather pouch. Trusting entirely to his powers of tracking, he went on foot, knowing that he could approach his quarry in this manner, and no other. Food he did not stop for, either to eat or to burden himself with, that he could procure whenever he wished it. One thing that puzzled him was, what had become of Dromoora; the chief had disappeared directly the white men had dismounted after their ride from the out-station. ”

“ Mat and his brother, who was on his legs again, had never heard or read of anything to resemble this last effort for victory.
The blacks, both friends and foes, seemed literally to increase in stature as they sprang from side to side to avoid each other’s blows, whilst the countenances of the combatants were positively fiendish.
At this period of the battle it was evident that the Tingura were doing their utmost to kill Dromoora, and in their efforts to accomplish this did not now attack the brothers to the extent that these latter had anticipated. ”

“ As soon as the big mountain was sighted the chief and his wife broke into a corroboree of joy, and Mat was as delighted as his two friends at seeing the termination of their journey within sight, for this mountain was situated in the Waigonda country. It was long before this range of hills, which had appeared comparatively near, was reached; but when they at length found themselves in their own country, Mat and his two friends went forward, the others forming a camp and guarding the horses, for our natives knew that they could never approach their tribe on these terrible-looking animals. ”

“ Had the native been brought up in the same school as our forester, the issue would have been doubtful as to which would have come off the victor; for two finer proportioned men it would have been difficult to find.
Although the battle was raging before and behind them, again were the two combatants left to themselves for the time being. Mat had seized his man by the wrist in disarming him, but at once found that the black could twist this wrist round and round like an eel, no matter how firmly he grasped it; the thin muscular arm was too slippery to hold still. ”

“ I soon found out how impossible it would be for any one to harm the bushranger, for once he took off a lot of armour when resting and eating, for he had a bag of provisions, and then I remembered reading somewhere about a man who defied every one, and shot all who tried to take him, and they supposed he wore a breastplate of iron, because no one could ever hurt him; and, Mat, how agonizing were my feelings when I found I had no means of scrawling this fact on a bit of paper to let you know, for I knew you would come. ”

“ If we speak a homeward-bound ship, we may have a chance of sending a letter home before long—that’s all”—and the skipper waved the two lads out of the cabin.
Comforted by these words, soon perceiving that this gruff, hard-featured captain was a good-hearted man, Mat and Tim congratulated themselves now with having had the luck to ship under him.
It is not our business, nor indeed our wish, to go into the many details of a long sea voyage, tedious alike to either passengers or readers: voyages which have been described in many hundred volumes, in many thousands of private letters. ”

“ Mat had seen the signal coming, and, thundering out a loud British “Hurrah!” to call off the attention of the attacking party, in one bound he was up to the combatants, and, holding “old Joe” out at arm’s length, he simply blew off the head of one of his chief’s assailants, and with the remaining barrel scattered the entrails of the other, as he stooped from the shock of the explosion. This happened in the very nick of time, for Dromoora at the same instant fainted from wounds and exhaustion, thus making it appear to all excepting the brothers that all three men had been shot. ”

“ Perceiving that Jumper was held, an old black fellow, 59 armed with club, spear, and shield, walked boldly up to Mat, jabbering loudly the whole time, with chin in the air, and after feeling him all over, was about to do the same to Tim; but this Jumper would not stand, and Tim, by signs, implored the native to keep back.
The old man understood, and called to the other blacks, who immediately flocked up, and, hearing the white men talk, were evidently relieved to find that they were human beings like themselves, and thereupon made signs to know from whence they came. ”

“ Mat made them a feeling speech on the morning of his departure. When the whole tribe were assembled once more, he said,—
“Oh Chief, and Terebare, and men of the Waigondas, you saved my brother’s life and mine; you cherished us as brothers for many years. The white man does not forget; the white man learns from a book of the Great Spirit that he should try to do unto others as he is done by. If you ever foresee troubles with strange men, send a messenger to me, Dromoora knows the quickest way; and if ever the white man threatens to take your country, show him this paper if you can. ”

“ No one knew better than he the haunts of the deer and blackgame, and he alone of all the Forest youths could climb the gigantic beeches of “Vinney Ridge” to rob the herons’ nests.
Mat could also hold his own very fairly at both boxing and wrestling with far bigger lads than himself.
Besides these achievements he made small sums now and again by breaking-in forest colts, and otherwise helping the squatters with their cattle. By nature he was always ready to help any one, who through misfortune or physical cause was not able to help himself ”

“ The next day, after breakfast, the squire said,—
“Come along, Mat, let’s go towards the stockyard; I want to have a chat with you. You will have to hang your hat up here. I will show you a room I have for you in the bachelors’ quarters presently.”
“You are very kind,” answered our forester, who had noticed the little preparations made for him, and had been thinking it all over; “but I would rather join Tom at the out-station.”
“Bless my soul! Why, you have had enough of a lonely life, surely, my boy. Tom is out all day, and there are only blacks there, besides a stockman.” ”

“ When Mat proposed to lose no time in commencing his work at the out-station, Bell replied that he wished him to wait at Bulinda until a “new chum” arrived from England, who was expected daily.
“Fact is,” he said. “I thought I had done with ‘new chums,’ but a letter I received some time ago reminded me of a promise I once made to an old friend at home, that I would take his son on my station. He says it’s his only son, who will enter into no profession, loves horses, and can ‘rough it’ to any extent. I know what that means by experience,” growled Bell. ”

“ As he said,—
“Mat doesn’t speak the best English, but he doesn’t mind my teaching him, and it’s a real pleasure; he’s so quick at picking anything up.”
And Mat found that his tasks were to his liking. What pleased him most was the fact that he could give a return, in many little ways, for the kindness shown him. One of his chief delights was teaching Master Tom, the squire’s son, how to ride, and also to shoot,—tramping through the forest, and beating up the game for him. ”

“ The island—The gigantic cockle-shell—Amongst the blacks—The Corroboree.
After getting out of the water, Mat and Tim remained stretched on the sand without moving a limb, enjoying the sense of perfect security from the sea; but at length they felt that they must commence to look for water, their thirst was so great after all the salt water that they had swallowed. On trying to rise, they found they could scarcely stand, so numbed and weary were their limbs ”

“ The time had now dragged along until they were aware that they had been more than five years amongst the blacks, and still they saw no chance of release from their somewhat degrading life. One great comfort which supported them amidst their hardships was that they could keep up their spirits in each other’s society—in their own language, with their own books. Had there been only one white man, he must have almost forgotten his own language by this time. ”

“ On the way south, our party conversed with each other concerning their late acquaintances.
“I only saw the third white man once, the first morning, and then only for a second,” remarked Mat.
“But I saw him again,” said Dromoora. “One evening I was lying very still, and he crawled to the opening of his tent to get a better light from the fire, so that he might look at some of those yellow stones, like yours. I suppose all white men have them?”
“Did he?” asked Tim in a startled tone, “Let’s count the nuggets.” ”

“ Upon starting for the coast our young adventurers found that the natives were conducting them step by step over the very route which they had traversed from the island.
“They’re terrible good trackers,” said Mat, who had been watching them; “I thought I knew something about it, but I’d often have lost the trail here. Why, their eyes are everywhere, staring into the trees, and looking into the tops of them too. Whatever can they be after?” ”