CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
A NIGHT'S WORK.
"What shall I do?" said Nic to himself.
Being faint, and feeling half stunned, no answer came; and he lookedround at the beautiful country, which appeared newer and more beautifulthan ever in the orange-gold of approaching evening, while all withinwas black with misery and despair.
He never knew before how much he liked the stern, manly fellow who thatnext morning was to be tied up and flogged; and the more Nic thought ofthe horrible punishment the deeper grew his misery, as he felt what ahelpless boy he was in the matter; and a number of wild plans began toenter his head.
He had no gun with him now, but he could ride back, fetch it, and waittill morning. Then he would ride up to the Wattles just when they weregoing to tie up Leather, take his place beside him, and, with presentedgun, dare any one to touch his father's servant.
Then the weak tears came into the boy's eyes, and he laughed a piteous,contemptuous laugh at himself for harbouring such a silly, romanticnotion.
And all the while Sorrel went on at his steady walk, growing cool andcomfortable, refreshed too by the light feed he had had and the rubdown.
They went slowly on till sunset, when Nic drew rein, and sat gazing atthe large orange ball sinking away beyond the mountains.
"So beautiful!" he said, forced into admiration of the glories of thecoming evening; "and poor Leather lying there handcuffed and waiting tobe flogged."
He leaped from his horse and threw the rein over its head.
"There!" he cried, patting the soft arched neck, "eat away, old chap.You needn't be miserable if I am. I can't go and leave poor Leatherlike this."
He threw himself down on the grass to think--to try and make out someplan, while the birds winged their way overhead back to their roostingplaces, and here and there the kangaroos and their many little relativesbegan to steal out of the woodland shelters they had affected throughthe heat of the day, to lope about like huge hares, look around fordanger, and then begin to browse.
At first the only idea that would come to the boy was that he would waitthere till daybreak, and then ride the three or four miles he had comein his homeward direction back to the Wattles, getting there in goodtime; and when the preparations were being made for punishment he wouldride boldly up and make a final appeal to Mr Dillon to either letLeather off or to defer everything till the doctor returned.
"Poor Leather!" he said to himself: "he'll see that I have not desertedhim."
_Crop_, _crop_, _crop_; the horse went on browsing away upon the richgrass, but keeping close at hand, as if liking its master's company, andraising its head now and then to whinny softly.
The sun had gone down, and the glorious tints were dying out on andbeyond the mountains. Then a great planet began to twinkle in the softgrey of the west, which rapidly grew of a dark purple, lit up again witha warm glow and grew purple once more, with the planet now blazing likea dazzling spot of silver hung high in the heavens.
Soon after, it would have been dark but for the glorious display ofgolden stars which now encircled the vast arch overhead, far morebeautifully in that clear air than Nic ever remembered to have seen athome.
And all this splendour of the heavens made him the more miserable, forit seemed to him as if at such a time everything ought to be dark andstormy.
The night birds were out, and strange cries, wails, and chuckling noisesreached his ears, mingled with the whirr and whizz of crickets and thesoft pipe and croak of frogs in and about a water-hole not far away.
Once or twice, half startled, Nic thought he saw dusky, shadowy figuresstealing along, and his heart beat fast; but he soon told himself thatit was all fancy, for if any one had approached the horse would havebeen alarmed, whereas it was close at hand cropping the grasscontentedly, its loud puff of breath with which it blew away insectsupon the grass sounding regular in its intervals.
It was restful lying there, but Nic's faintness increased, and he wasglad to pick a few leaves and blades of grass to chew and keep down thefamished feeling which troubled him. But that calm night-time wasglorious for thought, and before long he had determined that, come whatmight, he would wait for another hour or two and ride back to theWattles and set Leather free.
For he knew whereabouts the convict was imprisoned. The man whoattended to Sorrel had said it was behind the house. Then what could beeasier than to ride round, and, close up, find which was the big shed,and give Leather a signal; and then, with one working outside, the otherin, it would be easy enough. Why, if he could not get the wooden baraway with which these big sheds were mostly fastened, he could guideSorrel alongside, stand on the saddle, and remove some of the bark orshingle roofing.
Nic forgot hunger, misery, and despair in the glow of exultation whichcame over him, and he felt contempt for his readiness to give up andthink that all was over.
"More ways of killing a cat than hanging it," he said, with a littlelaugh, and lying upon his back in a thoroughly restful position he sethimself to watch the stars, till all at once they turned blank, and heleaped to his feet in alarm and went to pat his horse.
"That won't do," he muttered. "Done up, I suppose, and it was the lyingon my back and leaving off thinking. But I couldn't have slept for manyminutes."
For the matter of that the time might have been two or three hours, foraught he could have told; but as it was he had not been asleep a minutewhen he sprang back into wakefulness, and, determined now not to run anymore risks, he stopped with his horse, resting against its flank andthinking of what a great solitary place he was in, and how strange itseemed for that vast country to have so few inhabitants.
His aim was to wait until everybody would be asleep at the Wattles, andthen ride softly up, when he felt that there would be light enough forhis purpose, which ought not to take long.
The time glided away slowly, but at last he felt that he might start,and after seeing that the bridle was all right he proceeded to tightenthe girths. But Sorrel had been pretty busy over that rich grass, andNic found that if he did anything to those girths he ought to let them alittle loose.
"You greedy pig!" he said, patting the horse affectionately, "eatingaway like that and enjoying yourself when your master starves."
The horse whinnied.
"Ah! don't do that," said Nic in alarm. "You would spoil everything."
He mounted and cantered back for a good two miles, finding nodifficulty, for the horse went over the same ground again. Then Nicdrew rein and walked on and on till he thought he must have missed theplace in the dark; but all at once below him he saw a faint light movefor a few moments, and disappear.
Evidently a lantern which some one had carried into the house.
Nic checked his horse for quite a quarter of an hour, and then walked itslowly down the slope, till there, dimly showing up before him, he couldmake out building after building, looming all dim and ghostly-looking,but plain enough to one whose eyes had grown accustomed to the dark.
But there were fences to avoid, and there was an enclosed garden; so theboy felt that the wisest plan would be to take a pretty good circuitround and then go up to the back.
Starting to do this, he was very nearly thrown, for Sorrel suddenly madea tremendous bound and cleared a large tree trunk, which had been felledand lay denuded of all its branches right across his way.
This was a shock; and it had other effects, for at the heavy beat ofhoofs a deep-mouthed dog suddenly set up a tremendous bark, which wastaken up by half a dozen more in chorus, accompanied by the rattling ofchains in and out of kennels.
Nic paused, with his heart beating, but the barking went on, and a voicewas heard to shout faintly:
"Lie down!"
But the dogs still barked, and a window was opened and a loud voice,which Nic recognised, shouted:
"Hullo! What is it, my lads?"
The barking turned to a burst of whimpering and whining, and after a fewsharp commands to lie down Nic heard the window
closed; and the rattlingof the dogs' chains began again, a whimper or two, and then all wassilent once more.
Meanwhile Nic had peered carefully round, and became aware of the factthat there were several pieces of timber lying about, as if a group oftrees had been felled where he stood, and cautiously dismounting andleading his horse, he began to guide it out of the dangerous place.
But he had hardly achieved this when the barking broke out again, makingNic mount and ride slowly off, while the window was once more thrownopen, and the voice the boy had recognised as the magistrate's criedsharply:
"What is it there, boys?" the dogs barking wildly in reply.
Just then a shrill whistle rang out, and directly after a man shouted.
"All right, sir, here!"
"What's the matter with the dogs, Belton?"
"Dunno, sir. Dingo, perhaps."
"Or something else. Here: go and see if that scoundrel's all right."
"He's all right, sir. I've been twice. Just come from there now."
"Humph! That's right, my lad. But they seem very uneasy."
"Well, yes, sir, they do," said the man; "but they often have a fit likethis. Lie down, will yer!"
There was a general rattling of chains at this, while every word hadcome distinctly to Nic's ears in the soft silence.
"Good night."
"Good night, sir."
There was shutting of the window, and then the man said slowly:
"I'll bring a whip round to some on yer directly. Hold yer row!"
One dog barked as if protesting.
"Quiet, will yer!" cried the man. "Think nobody wants to sleep?"
Then silence, an uneasy rattle of a chain, the banging of a door, andNic wiped the perspiration from his brow.
The case seemed hopeless, but he would not give up. Twice over he triedto get round to the back of the house, but the dogs were on the alert;and the last time, just as he drew rein closer than he had been before,the window was opened, two flashes of light cut the darkness, and therecame the double report of a gun, making Sorrel bound and nearly unseathis rider.
"See any one, sir?" cried the man, hurrying out.
"No; but I'm sure there's some one about. Get your gun. I'll be downdirectly, and we'll keep watch."
The window closed, and Nic heard the man growl at the dogs:
"You've done it now. Keep watch, eh? But I'll pay some on yerto-morrow."
The dogs burst out barking again, for Nic was guiding his horse away indespair, feeling that he could not accomplish his task; then he waitedtill he was a few hundred yards distant, and cantered on, feeling thatin all probability some of the dogs would be loosened and come afterhim.
As he rode he listened, and there was the yelping as of a pack, makinghim urge Sorrel into a gallop; but the sounds died out, and at the endof a mile he drew rein, for there was no suggestion of pursuit.
Nic walked his horse beneath one of the great trees, and sat there likea statue, thinking, and trying hard to come to some determination. Toget at the building where Leather was imprisoned was not the easy taskhe had thought. In fact, he felt now, that with all those dogs about,that he had not noticed the previous afternoon, when they were probablyaway with the shepherds, it was impossible.
"What shall I do?" he said to himself again; and he cudgelled his brainin the hope of some idea coming, but all in vain.
And so a good hour passed, when, sick and in despair, he determined tomake one more essay, for he argued, with a bitter smile, "The dogs maybe asleep." At any rate he would try, and if he failed he would ride upin the morning, and they should not flog the poor fellow while he wasthere.
"Yes," he said, "the dogs may be asleep; but suppose Mr Dillon or hismen are keeping watch."
He had put his horse in motion, and was riding out of the black shadow,but drew rein sharply, and Sorrel stopped short, for away in thedistance came the loud yelping and baying of dogs in pursuit ofsomething, just as he had heard them in the Kentish woods at home whenlaid on the scent of a fox, but not with the weird, strange sound heardnow on the night air.
"What does it mean?" thought Nic, as his heart seemed to stand still andthen began to beat with heavy throbs; for the idea came that Leather hadbroken out--was escaping--was coming in his direction; and at thatmoment there was a pause--a silence which jarred the boy's nerves.
Had they got him?
No; for the dogs were in full pursuit once more, probably on thefugitive's scent, and faintly heard there were shouts as of some oneurging the pack on.
How long what followed took Nic never knew, for he was listening,intensely excited, and agitated as to whether he should go or stay, whenthe thought came that perhaps the dogs were on his scent; but he castthat idea away as foolish, for he had been mounted nearly all the time.
Then all at once, as the hounds were evidently coming nearer and theshouts plainer, Nic felt that he must sit out the affair and hear whathad happened; when Sorrel drew a deep breath, there was a heavybreathing, and a man came on at a steady trot straight for the shadow inwhich Nic sat, so that the next moment he was upon him.
"Back, for your life!" came hoarsely, as the man raised his arm.
"Leather!"
"You here!" panted the convict. "But quick--they're after us. Canterright away."
As he spoke he took a firm grip of the nag's mane, and as it sprang offran easily by its side, the docile beast making straight for home.
For some minutes they went on like this, with the sounds growingfainter; and then the convict broke the silence.
"Master Nic," he whispered, "I am innocent, my lad. I did not use theaxe. That ruffian struck me with the fork handle till my manhoodrevolted against it, and I knocked him down with my fist, boy--my fist."
"Yes, I know: Sam told me," said Nic hoarsely. "I came to try and getyou away."
"God bless you, my lad! I couldn't bear to stay there and be disgracedmore than I have. It was too hard."
"How did you escape?"
"Broke the handcuffs apart, climbed to the rafters, pulled open the barkthatching and let myself down; but the dogs gave the alarm."
"Well, they shan't have you now," cried Nic, pulling up. "Jump on andride home. I'll run beside you. They can't take you away again."
The convict laughed bitterly.
"You foolish boy," he said gently, "the law is on their side. No.Good-bye, lad. Don't forget me. You know the truth, but you must notbe mixed up with my escape. You have done nothing yet. Off with you--home!"
"But you, Leather, what are you going to do?" said Nic huskily.
"Escape if I can, and I think I shall."
"But where--what to do? Wait till father comes home?"
"No. What can he do? Dillon will send me to the chain gang as adangerous man; and I am now, boy--I am, for it shall only be my deadbody they shall take."
"Leather!"
"No, Nic. Frank Mayne, an honest man. Home with you, boy!"
"But you?"
"I? There's room enough yonder. To begin a new life of freedom--asavage among the blacks."
There was a smart blow of the open hand delivered on the horse's neck,and the startled beast sprang forward into a wild gallop, which the boycould not for the moment check. When he did, and looked round, therewas the darkness of the night, the cry of some wild bird; the baying ofthe dogs had ceased, and he was quite alone.
"He can't be far," thought the boy, and he whistled softly again andagain, but there was no reply. He tried to pierce the darkness, but itwas very black now, and he noticed that the stars had been blotted out,and directly after there came _pat_; _pat_, _pat_--the sound of greatdrops of rain, the advance-guard of a storm.
It would have been useless to try and follow the convict, and at lastNic let his impatient horse move on at a walk, then it cantered, andthen galloped straight for the Bluff, as if trying to escape from thepelting rain, while it quivered at every flash and bounded on as thelightning was followed by a
deafening roar.
"There'll be no trail to follow," cried Nic exultantly; "it will all bewashed away, and he'll shelter himself under some tree. But hurrah! Ishall see him again. Let old Dillon flog the whipping-post, or, if he'sdisappointed, let him have old Brookes."
For a peculiar feeling of exultation had come upon the boy, and thestorm, instead of being startling, seemed grand, till he rode into theenclosure, seeing that lights were in three of the windows, and a trioof voices cried:
"Nic, is that you?"
"Yes, all right," he shouted. "So hungry. In as soon as I've seen tomy horse."
Five minutes after he ran in dripping wet, and had hard work to keepMrs Braydon from embracing him.
"Not till I've changed, mother," he cried.
"But where have you been?"
"Over to Dillon's, to get him not to punish Leather, and let him comeaway."
"Yes, Nic?" cried Janet excitedly.
"He wouldn't let him come."
Janet heaved a piteous sigh and sank back in her chair, while Nichurried to his room to get rid of his soaking garments.
When he came out to go to the room where the meal had been kept waitingall those many hours for his return, he met Janet.
"You coward!" she whispered: "you have not tried."
"I did my best," whispered Nic. "But, I say, Jan, can you keep asecret?"
"Yes: what?" she cried excitedly.
"Old Dillon must be as mad as mad. Leather has escaped, and has madefor the myall scrub."
Janet uttered a peculiar sound: it was caused by her pressing her handsto her lips to suppress a cry, as she ran to her own room.
"Poor chap!" said Nic to himself. "I'm glad she likes him too."