The Gold Hunters' Adventures Part 44

It was still dark when the stockman aroused us, but a pale light in the eastern heavens showed that day would soon break. Although we were tired with our long journey, yet we did not stand a second call, and in an hour's time after being aroused, we had despatched our hastily cooked breakfast, and were on the road and urging the cattle towards the dark and sombre appearing woods where the gang of Black Darnley had been signally defeated.

It was about eight o'clock when we reached the place where we had entered formerly. Every thing appeared as we had left it. The forest path seemed to have been untrodden since the day when we had made a funeral pile of the remains of the bushrangers, yet there was one peculiarity that struck me as rather odd--the entire absence of parrots, whose croakings used to attract our attention, and whose plumage, gaudy and varied, commanded our admiration.

While Smith unyoked the cattle and chained them to a tree, under which a good supply of gra.s.s was to be had, I took my rifle, and calling to Rover, started towards the bushrangers' camp, or rather where it had stood before we had given it to the flames.

I had not walked ten rods before I thought I saw the figure of a man glide from behind a tree and disappear in a thicket of brush. I stopped, and with rifle on the c.o.c.k, waited for his re-appearance; but as I heard nothing from him, I concluded that I would beat up his quarters before the rest of my party came along.

I examined the thicket, and to my surprise, found that it was composed of a species of brier, with long, needle-like thorns upon every twig, and that the idea of a man's pa.s.sing through it, unless dressed in armor, was impossible, as he would have been punctured in every pore, and would have shed blood at every step. I did not like to think that I had been subjected to an optical delusion, and so I continued on for a short distance, but could find no trail, although I observed that Rover snuffled around in an unusual manner, and appeared uneasy.

"Hullo," cried Fred, who had now entered the woods with the rest of the party, "what are you doing away from the path?"

I returned a trivial answer, and joined them in their walk towards the clearing; yet I felt as though I had not done my duty, and examined the mysterious disappearance of the shadow which I saw, with sufficient attention. A fear of ridicule and a dread of wasting time alone prevented me from speaking.

"The woods are unusually quiet," the stockman said, as we moved along in Indian file. "I never visited here without being provoked at the ceaseless chatter of the parrots, and yet to-day but few are to be heard and none seen. They have become shy, and an explanation would be satisfactory to account for the fact."

As no surmise was made by either of the party, the conversation dropped, and it was not until we were standing over the half charred bones of the bushrangers, which had been pawed around by the fox-like animals of the woods, that we again spoke.

The ashes of the burned hut were still visible, so that its location was defined without trouble, but the great question to be solved was where the treasure lay buried. To determine this we had purchased an excellent pocket compa.s.s in Melbourne, and upon taking the bearings we found that the bushrangers were exactly in a south-west direction from where the hut stood.

"Now," said the old stockman, "repeat the exact words of Gulpin, when telling you of the buried money."

"Ten paces in a south--," I replied, promptly.

"Nothing more?" he demanded.

"Not a syllable."

"Then let us set the compa.s.s and pace off the distance in a south-west line, and begin digging."

The ten paces were gravely gone through with, and I found that the gra.s.s where they terminated bore no indications of having been disturbed. I shook my head and expressed a decided opinion that no ground had been broken there for a year, at the least calculation. Fred was of my opinion, and began to have serious doubts of the truth of the story of Gulpin.

I was still hopeful, and glanced over the opening to see if I could discover signs of the earth having been recently disturbed. While I was thus occupied, Rover was scratching among the bones which were plentifully strewed around, and a sudden thought occurred to me. I consulted the compa.s.s, and was glad to find that my surmises were not contrary to the dying confession of Gulpin.

I paced off ten paces in a south-east direction, and the last step brought me exactly in the midst of the bones and ashes of the bushrangers.

I seized a spade and struck it into the ground, and was about to call my companions' attention to the spot, when a sharp report was heard near at hand, in the bushes, and a musket ball whizzed within two inches of my head.

We were all too much accustomed to life in the bush to remain in open ground when an unseen enemy was disposed to exercise his skill on one of us, so that in less than half a second's time we were under cover, and watching with tolerably sharp eyes for the first movement of the man who had attempted to riddle my carca.s.s with his confounded bullet.

For half an hour we waited, and not a leaf stirred. The dog had ranged through the forest, and once, by his peculiar howl, we thought some mishap had befallen him, but beyond a few spots of blood on his nose, he appeared to be quite unharmed, and seemed anxious to again go in search of our enemy.

Fearful that his life would be endangered, I kept him near me, and for another half hour we waited, motionless, in antic.i.p.ation of an attack, yet none came.

Presently I heard a slight noise behind me, and turning suddenly, with my rifle presented, I found that the muzzle was lodged against the head of the stockman, who had been reconnoitring in the vicinity, and yet so quietly that I was not aware that he had left the bush under which he sought shelter.

"I have examined the bushes carefully, and no signs of a bushranger are to be seen," the old man said, laying the long gun which he was accustomed to use by his side, and brus.h.i.+ng off a few specks of dust which had collected on the barrel.

"It is a mystery to me how he disappeared so soon after discharging his gun," I said.

The old man shook his head, and, laying one finger on my arm, whispered,--"Do you believe in spirits?"

"Do you mean this kind?" I asked, drawing a flask of excellent whiskey from my pocket and offering him a drink.

"No, I didn't mean this kind," the stockman said, slowly raising it to his mouth, and I could hear the liquor coursing down his throat in a stream.

"No," he repeated, removing the bottle from his mouth, and drawing a long breath, "I didn't mean these kinds of spirits, because there's no harm in them, and the more a man gets the better he is off. I meant the kind of spirits which wander about the earth, and play tricks upon living men."

"Ah, a sort of ghost, I suppose you mean," I answered.

"Precisely," replied the stockman, mechanically taking the bottle from my hand and again applying it to his lips; "ghosts are the fellows--they do every thing without being seen; and why should not the spirit of Gulpin hover around this spot, and repel all attempts to get at his money?"

"I know of but two reasons," I replied, gently taking the bottle from my friend's hands, for fear that my share of its contents would be very meagre; "in the first place, ghosts usually don't care about money, as they have no use for it in the country in which they spend a large portion of their time."

"That's true," replied the man, making a dive to get the bottle in his possession, but I prevented this, by applying it to my own lips.

"In the next place," I continued, pausing to take breath, "fire, but not fire-arms is furnished to refractory spirits; and if I am any judge of worldly matters, it was a piece of lead that whizzed past my head half an hour ago."

"Then you don't believe that the sound which we considered the report of a gun was produced by evil spirits, who are set here to guard the treasure of Gulpin?"

"It is more likely a bushranger was secreted in the bushes, or behind the trees, and that when he aimed, he intended to make short work of one of us, in hope of frightening the remainder."

"Then give me another drink, and if the scamp wants a muss he can have one, for I'm not going to remain here, broiling under the hot sun, all day."

The old man s.n.a.t.c.hed the flask from my hand, and before I could stop him, had nearly drained it of its contents. I discovered, for the first time, that day, that the stockman was no longer under self-control when he had tasted liquor, and from that period until our acquaintance ceased I never again offered it to him.

I sought to restrain him, but in vain; with a fanatical yell he plunged into the clearing, and waving his long gun over his head, he dared spirit, ghost, or bushranger to meet him on even ground.

There was no response to his challenge, and considering that it was cowardly to let him remain there alone, the rest of us quickly gathered around, and requested him to lie down for a short time.

He repelled us with scorn, at the imputation that he was drunk; and finding that it was impossible to reason with him, we left him digging away as though for life, and throwing the dirt in the form of a parapet.

We separated and scoured the woods within a radius of half a mile, but not a sign of a bushranger could we detect, and somewhat rea.s.sured by our search, we returned to the stockman, who was working most industriously, and leaving Smith to remain concealed, and give us warning of the approach of danger, we joined labor with the old man, although not in the same place in which he was at work.

I had reasoned on the subject, and came to the conclusion that if Gulpin had buried his money, he would like to destroy all evidence of its concealment. He and his gang were on friendly terms with Darnley, and the former had piled up the dead bodies, with the evident intention of consuming them with fire, as we had afterwards done, on our second visit.

Now, it struck me as being likely that the spot where the gold was buried would be chosen by a man who was inclined to be superst.i.tious, for the finale of the grand tragedy, and perhaps impressed with the thought that the dead men would guard his treasure securely.

With this conviction, Fred and myself broke ground amidst a heap of ashes, without a thought or care of the invisible guard, and in a few minutes we had excavated a moderate sized hole, and would have continued working, had not Smith interrupted us by pointing to the sun, and advising a respite, owing to the danger of a sun-stroke.

As our hands were somewhat blistered, and we had as yet not discovered the first sign of gold, we readily took his advice, and upon repairing to the spot where the stockman was supposed to be at work, we found that the bottle had proved too much for him. He was lying on his back in the place which he had excavated, with his face exposed to the sun, the shovel clasped tightly in his arms, and his snoring sounded like distant thunder.

It was with some difficulty that we at length aroused him, and got him to the cart, where he was allowed to rest and sleep as long as he pleased, and while he was thus employed, we made another discovery, which set us to wondering.

CHAPTER XXIV.

ROBBERY OF THE CART.--CAPTURE OF STEEL SPRING.