The blacks whom we were going to surprise were stationed six miles off, at the upper end of a long plain, and a hundred yards or so from the banks of a creek, which for some miles above their camp was closely bordered on one side by a swamp and on the other by mallee scrub. The miamis were pitched near the lower end of the swamp (which was on the right or station side of the watercourse), and in such a position that the blacks could see all over the plain the approach of danger, and, taking to the reeds, could escape across the creek into the mallee, which there ended, abruptly extending back in a solid wall at right angles with the bank for half a mile. After passing the camp, the creek wound through the centre of a perfectly level open plain, which plain was bounded on one side by a dense wall of scrub, and on the other by a line of open timber; both the mallee and the timber running parallel to the general course of the creek, at a distance of ten or twelve hundred yards, except at a spot one mile down, where a point or promontory of scrub approached the bank much more closely. At that part of the creek there was an out-station hut.
It happened, however, that the lower portion of the swamp, which protected the rear of the blacks from the approach of horsemen, was almost entirely detached from the upper by a bay or indentation of the plain; and guided by young Harris, who also knew the ground well, and favoured by the hour, the darkness, and a high cold wind which had sprung up, accompanied with a drizzling rain, the troops succeeded in passing the blacks and reaching this spot unobserved. Descending into the bed of the stream, which was nearly dry, and ten feet below the surrounding plain, nine of the twelve, with Walters and myself, then silently crept down it, until we came opposite to the fires. A scout sent forward to reconnoitre reported that, entirely unsuspicious that their dreaded enemies were near them, the blacks and their dogs were all lying close, and sheltered from the cold wind and rain beneath their miamis, and apparently all asleep. Walters had planted three sentries in the interval between the two swamps, and across the creek at the edge of the scrub, which terminated just opposite that spot; the lower part of the swamp continuing some two hundred yards farther down the watercourse. If any of the blacks, therefore, escaped into this lower patch of reeds, they would be prevented from passing higher up the creek, or across the intervening two hundred yards of plain, into the mallee scrub.
My feelings were not very pleasant as I stood by my horse's head shivering, and watching over the edge of the bank the showers of sparks which the wind, now increased to a gale, caught up and scattered over the plain. I felt sorry for the miserable destiny of the poor creatures for whom we had prepared so unpleasant an awakening. But I cannot say my sentiments were at all shared by my companions. The rascals were all alive with energy, and waited impatiently for the moment when they were to be let loose on their unfortunate countrymen. Not that they had the slightest desire to avenge the deaths of the white men; they were not so weak; but because, under the guise of duty, they hoped to wreak their vengeance upon those whom they regarded as their hereditary enemies. I had heard their commander tell them to capture, not kill; and very much disgusted they were with the order. I fully appreciated Stevenson's reluctance to let loose such a set on his blacks.
The different colonial governments, well aware of the savage and bloodthirsty character of these same native border police, had often meditated suppressing the force altogether. But they had hitherto found themselves unable to do so. White constables are useless on the borders. It is only the aboriginal, with his keen senses and power of tracking his enemy, who can be depended upon to protect the settlers in those districts where native outrages prevail, or to inflict chastisement upon the perpetrators of them.
With the first faint streak of dawn the cry of the mopoke rang through the foliage above our heads. It was the signal agreed upon, and emerging from the bed of the creek the troopers silently placed themselves in a semicircle between the reeds and the eight or ten miamis which constituted the camp; and, removing the pads which had deadened the sound of their advance, waited until the blacks should become aware of their presence. Like most savages who are given to surprise their enemies, the Australian aboriginal is yet careless in guarding against surprise. It was broad daylight before a shrill cry announced that they were at last aware of their danger. Springing up from their sleep, and taking in the whole situation at a glance, they fled in a body over the plain, the only way left open for them. Guided by Harris and Stevenson, who had remained behind the reeds, but who now rode out and across the course of the fugitives, the troopers galloped after, and soon succeeded in securing the murderers, of whom one only offered any resistance.
CHAPTER VI.
ON THE TRAIL.
When the troopers passed through the camp, each man gave a sharp look at the miamis, to see that no blacks remained. These were merely sheets of bark, or boughs set up on end, so as to form a sloping wall between the fires and the wind, so that they could not conceal anybody. Owing to the haste, apparently, with which the blacks had sprung up, one of these miamis had got knocked down, and the boughs had fallen on the fire in front, where the leaves, damp with the rain which had fallen, were smouldering. Beneath these fallen boughs, and running the risk of being burned to death, lay hidden the black Walters so much wished to capture. He had had the presence of mind, on the alarm being given, to roll himself close to the fire, and, lying flat under his blanket, to knock away the prop which supported the bark and boughs of his miami; and as I rode up to the camp from the creek, for I had remained behind the troop, having no desire to be other than a mere spectator, Bobby Peel, dressed once more in cotton shirt, jacket, and trousers, was just rolling himself from beneath them.
My first impulse was to detain him, but he gave me such an appealing, eloquent look, that I hesitated. I remembered what Stevenson had told me as to the infamous treatment endured by this man's tribe; how Peel's first experience of white men was being fired on when awaiting the approach of a party of overlanders who came near, making signs of friendship until within range, when they delivered a volley which killed his father and two brothers. Old Toby had often shown me the patch of reeds he and Peel, then a lad, took shelter in on that occasion. I had warned Stevenson I would not in any way aid in the capture, even if I saw them escaping. In the short time I had been on the run, I had mingled much with them, had taken long shooting and botanical excursions with two of these very murderers, and been of service to them professionally; for European disease was rife amongst their miamis, and that they were grateful to me I could easily see by the gleam of pleasure which lightened up their visages when 'doc, doc,' as they called me, appeared amongst them. Moreover, as I looked round, there seemed no possibility of escape for Peel. The mallee and swamp were guarded, and across the plain he could not move unseen. Was it for me to hasten the miserable creature's doom by a few minutes? I could not do it; and when the black, raising himself on his elbow, after a keen look at the troop, at that moment in full career after his countrymen, pushed the wet boughs farther on to the fire, so as to raise a dense smoke, which the high wind blowing carried along the ground, and ran unobserved under its shelter to the reeds, I did not interfere to prevent him.
A very short time, however, elapsed before Walters was on his track. Not finding him with the rest, and suspecting what had actually occurred, he galloped down to the camp, and his men soon found the foot-marks of the fugitive in the wet grass. But upon following these through the swamp, the bird was flown. Peel had crept to the margin of the creek, and there seeing the sentry by the mallee, instantly suspected that the upper swamp also was guarded, for he knew well the number of the troop. His only resource, then, was to enter the bed of the creek and run down it until near enough to the point where the scrub approached its banks, to afford him a chance of reaching it before being overtaken. This was, as I said above, only a thousand yards or so away in a straight line, but by the creek bed, owing to its great winding, the distance was nearly doubled. To succeed, he required a far longer start than Walters' vigilance had left him, for not many minutes had elapsed from the time he had disappeared in the reeds, before the lieutenant had sent troopers down to guard the bed of the watercourse and the plain on both sides; after which he put three expert trackers on the trail. Then, riding to where Stevenson and I were patching up two or three wounded blacks,—for, in spite of all his injunctions and efforts, some of his men would use their weapons,—and hastily ordering the prisoners to be taken to the head station, whither Harris also went, to bring the spring cart for one of the wounded men who had bled very much, he invited me to join him in the hunt; for I had in the course of conversation the previous night expressed a wish to witness a specimen of the tracking powers of his men. I eagerly consented, not only because I was desirous of seeing exercised some of those keen faculties which the savage possesses in such perfection, but because I somehow felt a great interest in the fate of the miserable fugitive, and wished to be present to witness the result of the chase, whatever it might be, whether escape or capture. I could not help secretly hoping, as I noted the eager and ardent way in which his own countrymen set to work to hunt him down, that the poor wretch might escape. But there was, to all appearance, but small hope of that.