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

A Stout

Brute, For Day To Take Charge Of. Every Thing That We Had Packed Upon

His Back We Had Left On The Island, And The Only Articles That We

Carried On Our Own Persons Were Revolvers. Even Our Powder Flasks We

Emptied For Fear Of An Explosion, As The Air Was Full Of Cinders Blown

In All Directions By Light Breezes Which Began To Spring Up With The

Morning Sun.

 

"Which Direction Shall We Take, Day?" I Asked, Thinking That It Was

About Time We Started, As The Fire Was Creeping Towards Us At A Rapid

Volume 2 Chapter 72 (The Escape From The Fire.) Pg 177

Rate.

 

"'Pon My Word, I Don't Know," He Replied, With A Puzzled Expression Upon

His Face. "You See That The Woods On Our Right Are On Fire, And So Are

Those On Our Left Lending To The Banks Of The Loddon. 'Tisn't The Trees

That I Care So Much About As The Grass. If I Only Knew Whether The Grass

Was On Fire Beyond The Woods On Our Right I'd Give Half Of The Gold I've

Got In My Pockets, And Think Myself Fortunate."

 

"If Our Situation Is So Desperate It Won't Do To Stand Here And Talk

About It. Let Us Make A Bold Push And Reach The River If Possible,

Unless You Think The Bushrangers Have Retreated In That Direction," I

Remarked.

 

"Them Coveys Are Safe Enough," Replied Day, Pointing To The Mountain,

From Which We Were Separated By A Wall Of Fire That Almost Blistered Our

Faces Where We Stood. "They Have Gone Up There Like So Many Kangaroos,

And No Doubt Are Laughing At The Sight, And Thinking How Surprised The

Ghost Will Be When He Appears To-Night. Them Coveys Hain't Got Much

Respects For Beings Of This World Or 'Tother, I Should Judge By Their

Treatment Of The Best Specimen Of A Goblin Ever Got Up In Any Country."

 

"D----N Your Long Yarns, Let's Get Out Of This Confounded Furnace Before

We Stop To Talk," Was The Response Of Mr. Brown, Who Began To Grow

Impatient Under The Fiery Ordeal.

 

Day Looked As Though He Would Like To Discuss The Matter, But He Altered

His Mind When He Found That The Fire Was Within Ten Feet Of Where We

Stood.

 

"For God's Sake, Are You Going To Keep Us Here Till We Are Smothered?"

Yelled My Friend; And There Was Some Danger Of It, For The Smoke Swept

Towards Us In Clouds, And Made Us Gasp For Breath And Long For A Drink

Of The Sweet Water Of The Loddon.

 

Thus Urged, Day Made Another Hasty Survey Of The Smoking Plain, And

Then, Striking His Sharp, Bony Heels Into The Sides Of His Horse, Led

The Way Over The Burning Grass At A Tremendous Pace, Closely Followed By

Mr. Brown And Myself.

 

The Animals, As Though Aware That Their Lives And Our Own Depended Upon

Their Good Behavior, Galloped Over The Plain That Separated Us From The

Woods Without Once Balking, Although I Feared And Expected It Every

Moment. After We Reached The Trees Where The Fire Was Raging Severely,

And Where It Was Impossible To Discover The Path Which We Had Followed

When We Were On Our Way To The Treasure, I Was Fearful That We Should Be

Obliged To Dismount And Trust To Our Legs For An Escape, For To Have

Checked Our Animals Even For A Moment Would Have So Bewildered Them That

We Should Have Lost All Control Over Them. Our Good Genius, Day,

However, By Some Peculiar Landmark, Knew The Trail In Spite Of The

Smoke, And Did Not Hesitate For A Moment.

 

"Keep Close To Me," He Shouted, Looking Back For A Moment, And Then,

With A Wild Yell, He Gave His Horse Free Rein, And On We Dashed Close To

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His Heels.

 

On Each Side Of Us The Flames Were Roaring And Surging Like The Breaking

Of A Heavy Surf Upon The Seashore, And Every Moment The Fire Was

Extending By The Aid Of The Grass And Dead Branches Of Trees, Which Were

Like Tinder, No Rain Having Fallen In That Part Of The Country For Three

Months.

 

We Could See But A Short Distance Ahead Of Us Owing To The Smoke, And

For A While We Were In A State Of Great Uncertainty Whether There Was An

Outlet In The Direction Which We Were Pursuing. Our Retreat Was Cut Off,

For The Fire Had Rolled Across Our Track, Consuming Every Blade Of Grass

In Its Course, And Our Only Hope Of Safety Was To Continue Onward And

Endeavor To Outstrip Our Enemy.

 

Suddenly Day Checked His Horse, And Waited For Us To Gain His Side.

 

"We Can't Get To The River This Way," He Said, Hurriedly, "For The Grass

Is All On Fire In Front Of Us, And Is Burning Like A Furnace. Our

Animals Would Drop Before They Got Twenty Rods, And Then Where Should We

Be?"

 

The Question Was Too Pertinent To Be Answered Readily, Even If We Had

The Time.

 

"I Think That We Had Better Take To The Woods On Our Right And Endeavor

To Gain The Mountain, Or The Foot Of It At Least. The Fire Does Not

Spread So Fast In The Vicinity Of The Trees, Although There Is More

Smoke Than On The Open Land."

 

"There Is Danger Of Our Getting Confused, And Rushing Into The Fire,

Instead Of Out Of It," Replied Mr. Brown, In Answer To My Suggestion.

 

"Not If Day Knows The Ground," I Replied.

 

"I Know Every Rod Of It Between Here And The Loddon," He Answered,

Promptly.

 

"Then Lead The Way, And The Risk Be On My Head," I Said, Turning My

Horse's Head In The Direction Of The Woods.

 

The Shepherd Hesitated For A Moment, And While He Was Considering The

Matter, A Huge Kangaroo Bounded From The Woods On Our Left, Passed

Within Ten Feet Of Us, And Disappeared In The Smoke That Was Rising From

The Trees On Our Right. A Second Afterwards My Horse Suddenly Started,

And With Difficulty Could I Control Him. I Thought That The Fire Had Got

Under His Feet, But A Glance To The Ground Convinced Me That Such Was

Not The Case, And That The Animal Was Frightened At Something More

Dreadful Than The Flames, For Creeping Across The Trail, With Head Erect

And Flashing Eyes, Was A Huge Diamond Snake, Nearly Fifteen Feet Long

And About Fourteen Inches In Diameter. The Serpent Was Too Eager To Make

His Escape, And Was Too Much Frightened To Think Of Molesting Us, But I

Was Not Sorry To Lose Sight Of Him, Although At Any Other Time I Would

Have Given Him The Contents Of My Revolver.

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"That Kangaroo Knows The Best Route For Getting Clear Of The Danger.

Let's Follow Him."

 

Day's Idea Of Following The Animal Was Good, But It Was Exceedingly

Probable That The Brute Was Half A Mile From Us Before We Made Up Our

Minds Which Direction To Take. Kangaroos Get Over The Ground With More

Than Railroad Speed, Each Bound Which They Make Averaging From Fifteen

To Twenty-Five Feet In Length.

 

We Turned Our Horses' Heads And Urged Them Through The Smoke, Avoiding

The Fire As Well As Possible, So That Our Animals Would Not Become

Alarmed And Refuse To Move, Except In The Direction Of Danger. By This

Means We Made Some Progress, And Soon Hoped To Get Clear Of The Trees;

But Before We Had Advanced A Quarter Of A Mile A Long Wall Of Fire

Headed Us Off, And Again Brought Us To A Stand Still. To Retreat Was

Impossible, For The Fire Was Surging After Us, And Feeding Upon The Long

Grass With A Fierceness That Told Us We Could Not Cross The Line And

Hope To Live, While If We Advanced A Like Result Was Certain. On Every

Side Of Us We Could Hear The Trees Crack, And Sway To And Fro, And Then

Fall With A Heavy Crash That Showed How Rapidly The Flames Had Spread,

And With What Intensity The Fire Was Burning. Our Fate Began To Look

Doubtful, And I Had Almost A Mind To Throw Away The Gold Which Loaded

Down My Pockets, And To Possess Which I Had Encountered So Many Dangers.

 

"What Shall We Do Now?" Demanded Mr. Brown, His Voice As Firm And

Apparently As Composed As When In Ballarat, Surrounded By His Policemen.

 

Day Was Evidently At The End Of His Expedients, For He Sat On His Horse

And Only Stared At Us In Reply, Not Offering A Word.

 

"In Which Direction Is Mount Tarrengower?" I Asked.

 

The Stockman Pointed With His Hand To The Right Of Us.

 

"Are You Sure?" I Demanded.

 

"Positive," He Answered.

 

"Then Follow Me!" And With A Word I Encouraged My Horse, And Started At

As Rapid A Pace As Possible In The Direction Indicated.

 

Mr. Brown And Day Followed As Close As Possible, And For A Few Minutes

We Were Kept Hard At Work Dodging The Branches Of Trees, And Guiding Our

Blindfolded Horses Through The Labyrinths For The Purpose Of Avoiding

The Fire As Much As Possible. Sometimes We Were Compelled To Halt Until

A Cloud Of Black Smoke, Impregnated With The Juice Of Gum Trees And

Stately Palms, Had Passed Over Us And Revealed The Course Which It Was

Necessary For Us To Pursue To Find Safety. Amidst All This It Was A

Consolation To Know That We Were Not Getting Into Hotter Localities, And

That The Flames Were Raging More Extensively In The Quarter Which We Had

Left But A Minute Before, For We Could See Fire Rolling Over The Very

Spot We Had Stopped At When Day Had Relinquished The Head Of The Party.

 

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