CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.
NIC HAS SUSPICIONS.
The next day Nic walked over to the spot where he had hung up the bag ofmeal, took plenty of precautions to make sure that he was not observed,and carried it from place to place, halting, resting, and taking a lookround as if he were stalking birds, and finally reaching the proposedspot, where he dropped the bag into a narrow crevice, covered it withgreen, and all the time carried his gun ready as if to aim at a bird.
The precautions, however, appeared to be perfectly unnecessary, and hewas satisfied that he had performed his mission unseen, but it remainedto be proved whether the convict had been earlier and gone awaydisappointed.
Making this an opportunity for looking over some sheep, Nic walked abouta mile out of his way going back, and had just finished his casualinspection when he came upon Brookes, gun on shoulder, who immediatelystood his piece against a bush and began to examine some of the flock,throwing so much energy into the task that Nic felt suspicious, and achill ran through him as he thought it possible that the man was on thewatch.
But Nic felt that the only course open to him was to assume a carelessair; and walking over to where the man had caught a sheep, thrown it,and was examining its fleece, he exclaimed:
"Anything the matter with it, Brookes?"
"My word, Mr Nic, how you made me jump! Why, where did you come from?"
"Over yonder. I was here ten minutes ago, and didn't notice anythingwrong then."
"Oh, you've been a-shepherding, sir, have you? That's right: sheep'sthings you can't be too 'tickler about. No, there's nothing very wrong.I'll come round here with a bucket o' dressing, though, to-morrow."
"Shall I go or stay?" thought Nic, as the man turned over layer afterlayer of the thick wool which opened down the animal's sides as ifdivided by a series of partings like that leading to the crown of ahuman being's head. "If I stay I shall make him suspicious. If I go itmay disarm him."
"Oh," he said aloud, "that doesn't look bad. I shall go on and getSorrel. I'm going to ride round the bullocks. Not coming yet, Isuppose?"
"No, sir; I'll just run my eye round that hundred over yonder with BlackDamper. Haven't counted 'em 'smorning, I s'pose?"
"I haven't been there," said Nic.
"Ah, they'd better be counted. One'd think the blacks could count aflock of sheep, but not they. It's _bulla_ and _kimmeroi_ and_metancoly_, and saying that over and over again. They can eat as manyas you like, but counting beats 'em."
"Yes, they are stupid that way, Brookes," said Nic; and he went straightoff for home, looking perfectly unconcerned, but feeling particularlyuncomfortable as he turned over in his own mind the possibility of theman finding the convict's hiding-place.
For now it seemed such a very simple thing, and he wondered that the menfrom the Wattles and the government police had not gone straight for andmade some efforts to get down to the bottom of the great gorge.
By degrees, though, he grew better satisfied, as he recalled that thisplace bore the reputation of being impossible of access, and even theblacks declared that no man had ever been down.
Then came a horrible thought.
"Suppose Brookes should encounter the convict and use the gun he alwayscarried now! Leather was unarmed, but--"
Nic shuddered as he thought of what a strong, active man would do ifdriven to bay. The gun would only go off once, but a desperate manwould find weapons in sticks and stones.
The boy made an effort to cast off the unpleasant sensation, and hurriedhome, where the calm aspect of everything and the look of content he sawin his mother's and sisters' eyes altered the current of his thoughts;and he hurried himself, saddling Sorrel, and rode off, after promisingthat he would be back in good time to take tea.
He had a long round, found the cattle wanted driving in a bit, and afterperforming this duty by the help of his two dogs, he cantered towardshome, coming round by where Rigar was playing shepherd with anotherflock. But all was right here, save that the collies helped to bringthem half a mile nearer the station to new pastures; after which Nicturned his horse's head homeward, arriving in good time and findingBrookes busily helping old Sam and looking more like himself.
A couple of days elapsed, and on the following morning Nic announcedthat he was going to take a long round, the consequence being that hissatchel was well filled with bread, meal, and cake; and he rode offafter seeing that all was going on right about the place, and in amatter-of-fact sort of way as if he had been used to it for years.
He cantered gently till he was out of sight, and then gave Sorrel hishead and skimmed over the ground till he was compelled to draw rein andwalk the horse in and out among the trees, besides being careful toavoid the blocks of stone which here and there thrust their grey headsout of the slope.
For he was nearing the spot where he had hidden the meal, and he haddetermined to fetch it and carry it over his saddle-bow as nearly as hecould to where he had parted from the convict.
To his delight, on reaching the hiding-place he found that the bag wasgone, and for the moment he was convinced that Leather had fetched it;but Nic's next thought was startling:
"Suppose Brookes had been suspicious--had seen it and taken it away."
The thought was horrible, but he dismissed it, telling himself that hewas too ready to imagine things; and, determined to try and find theconvict again, he mounted and rode along parallel with the edge of thegorge till he was as nearly as he could guess to where the patch of rockhad slipped down.
Here, in a shut-in tract of grassy land, he dismounted, cast his hobbledhorse loose to graze, and shouldering his gun, went in among the treesand tried to find the stone trap in which he had been caught.
He looked around him, and then started off in the direction Leather hadtaken that evening, keeping about fifty yards from the edge so that thisdistance would serve for his guidance back, and kept looking to rightand left for some signs of the convict having passed that way, butfinding none.
Every step he took for quite an hour led him through fresh beauties. Hehad no desire to use his gun; so, as if in consequence, birds ofbrilliant plumage flitted from tree to tree, or rose in flocks to flyshrieking to the coverts. Twice over he saw snakes; lizards seemed tobe wonderfully plentiful wherever the stones lay scorching in thesunshine. Every now and then he saw the Blue Mountains, rising up tierafter tier, across the gorge, and as he peered through the variousopenings he could not help noticing how thoroughly they deserved theirnames.
But he only saw one natural object in his mental view, and that was thegreat deep crack, which he felt sure he would encounter before long,running at right angles across his path, and this he felt equally surewould be the way down into the gorge and to Leather's home.
"And if he can go down it," said Nic to himself, "I can, and what'smore, I will."
But at the end of another hour there was no sign of any rift such as hehad pictured, and beginning to grow hot and weary, he turned to find asheltered spot where he could rest and refresh himself with some of theprovisions that he had intended to share with the convict, when, to hisastonishment, he found himself face to face with him, for Leather stoodwith his back against a stone.