The Gold Hunter's Adventures Or, Life In Australia Volume 2 ( Of 2 ) - William H. Thomes (large screen ebook reader txt) 📗

Volume 2 Chapter 66 (The Hunt For The Buried Treasure) Pg 136

"How Do You Feel?" I Asked Of My Companion, Who Was Sitting Where He Had

Fallen The Second Time.

 

"Feel," He Replied, Placing His Hand Upon That Portion Of His Body

Supposed To Be The Sorest, "Why I Could Readily Imagine That I Had

Ridden A Hard Trotting Horse All Day."

 

"Why Didn't You Spring Aside?" I Asked; "You Saw The Animal Measuring

The Distance, And Could Have Got Out Of The Way."

 

"Can A Man Dodge A Streak Of Lightning Or A Thunder Bolt? If He Could,

There Would He Some Use Attempting To Get Beyond The Reach Of That

Crooked Horn Devil When He Starts On A Butting Expedition. I Believe No

Bones Are Broken, For Which, I Suppose, I Must Feel Thankful."

 

My Friend Arose, Shook Himself, And Then Declared That He Felt No

Serious Inconvenience From His Bruises; And While I Started A Fire He

Undertook To Skin The Sheep, And Get A Portion Of His Meat Ready For

Dinner.

 

It Was Near Four O'clock Before We Got Ready To Commence Our

Explorations Of The Island Where We Supposed The Treasure To Be

Concealed. I Suggested Carrying The Shovel, But Mr. Brown, With A Degree

Of Superstition That I Was Not Prepared To Give Him Credit For, Would

Not Listen To The Idea For A Moment, On The Pretence That If We Made Any

Movement For The Treasure, Except During The Night Time, We Should Be

Defeated In Our Purpose.

 

I Laughed At Such A Whim; But It Was In Vain That I Attempted To Change

His Ideas, And Then To Humor Him, So That In Case We Were Not Successful

In Our Search, No Blame Could Be Attached To Me, I Consented To Be

Governed As He Wished, And We Walked Towards The Spot Which Corresponded

With The Directions Of Bill Swinton.

 

We Found The Island, A Rather Small Spot Of Earth, As He Had Stated,

Surrounded By Bogs, With The Exception Of A Narrow Peninsula, Not Over A

Foot In Width, And More Than Forty In Length. It Was A Singular

Formation, Surrounded As It Was On All Sides By Soft Mud, Black And

Bottomless, For I Attempted With The Branch Of A Tree, Some Thirty Feet

Long, To Sound, But The Limb Sunk Slowly Out Of Sight, And The Slime

Quickly Gathered In The Opening, And Hid The Place Where The Pole Went

Down. I Thought If One Of Us Should Lose His Balance And Fall While

Crossing The Natural Bridge, What Little Probability There Would Be Of A

Rescue. The Same Sentiments Disturbed The Mind Of My Friend, For He

Uttered Words Of Caution, And Even Removed A Good Sized Stone That Was

Lying On The Path, For Fear Of Stumbling Over It In The Night Time.

 

We Walked Carefully To The Island--As I Shall Call It--And Then Examined

The Unequal Surface Of The Ground For Indications Of What We Sought. The

Grass Was Dried Up, And Seemed To Be Of Equal Length In Every Gulley And

Every Hole That We Passed Over; Neither Could We Discover Any

Indications That The Earth Had Been Moved For Many Years, But That Was

Not Surprising, For The Winter Rains Would Have Washed Away All

Superfluous Soil, Even If A Man Like Swinton, Who Was Cunning And Up To

All Kinds Of Dodges, Had Not Taken The Precaution To Remove All Traces

Of His Concealed Treasure.

 

"It Is No Use," Mr. Brown Said, Wiping The Perspiration From His Face,

And Seating Himself On A Small Rock, "For Us To Dig At Random. We Should

Get Nothing For Our Labor. We Must Wait Until To-Morrow Night, When The

Moon Fulls, And Precisely At Twelve O'clock A Shadow Will Be Cast Upon

The Spot."

 

"If The Sky Is Filled With Clouds What Are We To Do?" I Asked.

 

That Was Something That Mr. Brown Had Not Thought Of. He Mopped His Face

With Renewed Energy, And Looked Puzzled.

 

"Can't We Make A Calculation If Such A Thing Should Happen?" My

Companion Inquired.

 

I Didn't Know But That We Might, And Relieved The Heart Of Mr. Brown Of

A Great Weight By The Admission.

 

It Was Useless For Us To Sit There And Speculate; So After Another Hasty

Glance Over The Island, With No Bettor Luck Than Before, We Returned To

Our Camp, And Got Ready For Passing The Night, Which Was Fast

Approaching.

 

As Soon As It Was Dark, However, And While Mr. Brown Was Getting Ready

His Blankets, I Suggested, Much To His Astonishment, A Change In Our

Camp, And Recommended Retreating To The Banks Of The Lodden, Where We

Could Find Water For Our Animals, And Good Quarters For Ourselves.

 

"In The Name Of Humanity, Haven't We Travelled Enough For One Day?" My

Friend Demanded. "The Horses Will Not Suffer For Water, Because A Heavy

Dew Is Falling. We Have A Keg Full For Our Own Use, And What More Do You

Desire?"

 

"I Have A Great Reluctance To Waking Up And Finding A Knife Held At My

Throat," I Replied, "By Some Gentleman Who Has More Courage Than Money.

We Have A Pretty Establishment Here, And Many A Bushranger Would Be Glad

To Relieve Us Of Our Property Without Asking Permission."

 

"Pooh! There's No Danger Of Their Finding Us Under These Trees. Go To

Sleep, And Get A Good Night's Rest, And To-Morrow We Will Have Another

Search For The Treasure."

 

"Listen A Moment, And Then Judge Whether My Advice Is Needless. We Have

Been Seen, And Our Footsteps Dogged To-Day, By Some Person Not Desirous

Of Our Acquaintance. Do You Suppose That He Lost Sight Of Us For A

Moment, From The Time We Passed The Gum Trees Until We Went Into Ambush

To Watch His Movements? Don't You Think That If The Stranger Is Disposed

To Bring A Flock Of Devils On Our Track, He Could Find Us Here While

Sleeping? Whereas, If We Quietly Move Our Animals To The River, We Shall

Throw Him Off The Scent And Rest Secure. What Do You Think Of The Idea?"

 

"I Like The Plan, And Wonder That I Never Thought Of It," Replied Mr.

Brown, Starting Up And Hastily Securing His Blanket. "Let Us Lose No

Time In Getting Back To The River."

 

We Carried Our Pack A Short Distance From The Trees And Concealed It In

A Clump Of Bushes, And Then Mounting Our Horses We Quietly Walked Them

The Whole Distance To The Lodden, Where We Found A Secure Place For

Camping, And With Confidence In Our Scheme We Went To Sleep, And Rested

Undisturbed Until Morning.

 

At Daybreak We Were On Our Way Back To The Island, And Found Our Pack

Where We Had Left It, But Mr. Brown's Quick Eye Detected A Change In Its

Appearance.

 

"Some One Has Overhauled Our Stores During The Night," He Said, "And

Hang Me If The Scamp Has Not Drank All My Liquor."

 

He Held Up His Flask To Confirm His Words. It Was Empty, But I Pretended

That He Must Have Drank It Himself By Mistake.

 

"Don't Tell Me That I Don't Know When Good Liquor Is Running Down My

Throat, And That I Used All I Brought In One Day. Haven't I Been

Unusually Careful, And Drank From Your Flask Two Or Three Times, So That

Mine Would Hold Out For The Trip? Whoever The Thief Is, And I Hope To

See Him Some Day, He Deserves A Halter."

 

An Examination Showed That Every Article That Was In The Pack Had Been

Taken Out And Then Replaced Carefully, But We Missed The Largest Portion

Of Our Coffee And Sugar, And Over Two Thirds Of Our Tobacco. If The

Robber Had Been A Malicious One He Could Easily Have Carried Off All

That We Possessed, But As He Did Not I Was Disposed To Pardon Him. Not

So With Mr. Brown, However. He Vowed Vengeance, And Was Only Appeased

When I Gave Him A Drink From My Flask, Which I Luckily Had Carried With

Me The Night Before, To Be Used In Case Of Snake Bite.

 

I Had But Little Doubt That The Mysterious Robber Was The Same Person

Whom We Had Seen The Day Before, And I Could Readily Believe That He Was

Laughing At Our Dismay, At No Great Distance, And Watching Our Movements

With Some Curiosity. I Regretted That I Had Not Brought Rover With Me,

For He Would Have Been Worth A Dozen Sentinels In The Night Time, But

Owing To Fred's Strong Solicitations I Had Left Him At The Store In

Ballarat. There Was No Help For Us Now, And We Determined To Put As Good

A Face On The Matter As Possible, To Husband Our Resources, And Go On A

Short Allowance Of The Two Great Staples In A Campaign--Rum And Tobacco.

 

We Passed The Day By Visiting The Island And Sleeping By Turns. Towards

Night We Carried Our Tools To The Place Where We Expected To Dig For The

Gold, And Starting Before Sundown Rode Our Animals To The River And

Watered Them, So That They Would Not Break Away From Their Stakes During

The Night For The Purpose Of Slaking Their Thirst. Then We Waited

Impatiently For Darkness For The Purpose Of Once More Changing Our

Camping Ground, And This Time We Left Nothing Behind. Our Quarters Were

Fixed At A Short Distance From The Island, So That When The Moon Was Up

We Could Keep Our Eyes On The Horses, Yet Not Be Seen On The Main Land.

 

At Eleven O'clock The First Rays Of The Full Moon Became Visible From

Behind Mount Tarrengower. The Night Was Awful Quiet, And Not A Living

Thing Had Approached Us, And Not A Sound Had We Heard, Except An

Occasional Bleat Of A Lamb, Off Towards The Stock-House On Our Left.

 

"Let Us Be Moving For The Island," Mr. Brown Said, Almost In A Whisper,

For The Solemnity Of The Scene Was Bringing Back All His Superstitions

And Fears.

 

I Readily Consented, And, Lighting Our Pipes, We Walked Slowly Towards

The Peninsula, Crossed It, And Then Waited Calmly For The Shadow Which

The Mountain Was To Throw Upon The Spot Of Earth Where The Robber's

Treasure Was Buried. Our Pickaxe And Shovel Remained Where We Had Left

Them, Although I Could Not Help Fancying That They Had Been Handled

Since I Had Thrown Them Down. I Said Nothing To My Friend On The

Subject, However, For He Was Too Full Of Imaginative Fancies To Be

Consulted And Listened To.

 

Time Passed Slowly While We Sat And Watched The Shadow Which Was

Creeping Over The Bogs, As The Moon Rose Behind The Mountain. I

Consulted My Watch And Found That It Was Nearly Twelve, But Just At That

Moment A White Cloud Passed Over The Moon, And Our Hopes Seemed Dashed.

The Shadow Was No Longer To Be Seen; We Watched That White Cloud As

Though Our Lives Depended Upon Its Disappearing, But Still It Lingered,

Like A Veil Covering The Face Of A Coquette--Anxious, To Reveal The

Beauty Which Was Concealed, Yet Taking Pleasure In Exciting Expectation.

 

"What Time Is It?" Whispered Mr. Brown.

 

I Held My Watch Before Him, While I Again Scanned The Heavens.

 

"It Is Just Twelve O'clock," My Companion Whispered.

 

Hardly Had The Words Escaped His Lips, Before The Cloud Disappeared, And

Volume 2 Chapter 66 (The Hunt For The Buried Treasure) Pg 137

The Moon Looked