They had reached the bank of the river, and were about entering the water to cross, when they were stopped by hearing a voice in their rear calling upon Tom Rainsfield. He instantly turned towards the new comer, whose appearance greatly surprised him, and anxiously demanded of him the nature of his message. This was given in as few words as Mr. Billing's habitual sinuosity of expression could devise utterance; and hastily desiring the storekeeper to remain where he was with the cart until his (Tom's) return from the camp, he joined his friends and rode through the ford.
"What is the matter with you, Tom?" said William as they passed through the water, "you seem quite nervous and agitated? Has Billing brought you any news that has annoyed you?"
"He has indeed, my dear fellow," replied Tom, "brought me news that overwhelms me. How my brother will be able to reconcile the act to his conscience I do not know; when I, who, as God knows, had no participation in it, feel the weight of murder on my soul."
"Murder!" exclaimed his friends. "What on earth do you mean Tom? you're surely raving! How murder? explain yourself," said John.
"I wish to God I was raving," replied he; "that my fears were only a fantasy of the mind; or that that prating idiot Billing had merely dreamed the story he has just now told me. But it seems too substantial; all the circumstances that have transpired, and those that are at this very time transpiring, lead to prove it. There! hear you that wail? that is the death-cry of scores of those wretched blacks. Hark! there it is again; does not that cry rise up to heaven? and will not our family there be judged for this? If I could but think it were accidental I would be satisfied; though I fear, I fear, oh, horrid thought! murdered by my brother."
"Calm yourself, my dear sir," said the minister, who had with deep sorrow been witnessing the outpourings of his companion's grief. "Though you have not mentioned to us the nature of the communication received through the messenger from your home, we would infer from your remarks that some dreadful calamity has come upon this tribe through the agency of your brother; whom, God forbid that you should condemn, without being thoroughly convinced of his guilt. It affords us consolation to hear you express only a fear that your brother has not acted up to the precepts of his Maker, and the dictates of his conscience. I sincerely trust, as I believe, that your fears are groundless, and that you over-estimate the criminality, if any criminality exist. I pray you dispel any such belief from your mind, until at least you have indubitable proof of your brother's crime; and, in the meantime, be charitably disposed towards him, for you may be doing him an injustice by your harsh suspicions. It is true we are unacquainted with the circumstances which arouse them, but we sincerely trust you will find you have been deceived."
"I would readily, oh! I long to believe," exclaimed Tom Rainsfield, "that it was unintentional; but my heart tells me there has been duplicity. I feel a portion of the mental load, consequent on crime, attached to me; for only the night before I pledged my word to those who may be now in the convulsive agonies of death that I would befriend them and bring about a reconciliation with my brother. I know his nature well; he is hasty and impetuous; and, though kind-hearted and generous, he is severe and even cruel where his passions are aroused; so I fear the worst. But I will tell you the cause of these people's wails. It appears that my brother, after I had left the station yesterday, poisoned a sheep for the purpose, he said, of destroying the native dogs on the station. That sheep was left in the store during the night, when it was stolen by the blacks, who have, no doubt ere this, feasted on it, and are meeting their fate in a violent death. Now, the circumstances which I am surprised at, and deprecate, are these:—Leaving the poisoned meat in a place above all others where, if the blacks intended to visit us, they would go first; sending Billing clandestinely into Alma for the poison; and having all the stores removed into the house during his absence, leaving nothing in it but the poisoned meat, and a bag of flour, in the full expectation, I am afraid, that the blacks were going to rob us. But the most extraordinary part of my brother's conduct is, that he kept me in entire ignorance of Billing's journey, which in itself was unusual, for he never before left the station on any pretence; and the next incongruity was this crusade against the dingos, which have given us no annoyance for some time past. Many smaller events now flash across my mind, which tend to stimulate my fears; however, as you kindly remark, I ought not to judge too harshly of my brother; and I will try, until I see more definite cause for my alarms, to believe him innocent of any intentional murder. But listen to those poor wretches; are not their cries piteous?"
Truly they were; and as the shrieks and howls of the victims pierced the ears of the quartette, as they crossed the river and entered the scrub, all their feelings of compassion were aroused; and they accelerated their speed, hoping to be of assistance, where no human efforts could avail.
The picture that presented itself to their astonished vision, as they emerged from the mazy labyrinths of the scrub into the area of the camp, was fearfully sickening and revolting. Scattered on the ground, in indescribable postures and contortions, were writhing bodies of men women and children, giving vent to cries that would have melted a heart of stone; anon starting from their recumbent position, to stand erect in the freshness of the morning breeze, only to enjoy a momentary respite; and then flinging their arms wildly in the air with an agonizing shout, to fall again prostrate to the earth, and yield, with a convulsive shudder, their spirits to their Maker.
Our party had gazed upon this scene for some minutes ere the miserable objects before them noticed their presence; the extent of their sufferings absorbing all their faculties, and our friends remained unnoticed or unheeded spectators of the dire destruction working around them. However, they were at last perceived; and, before they could devise the meaning, many of the suffering objects crawled to their feet, and with imploring looks and gestures, sought relief from that death which they imagined was the result of some mysterious agency caused by the will of the white man. The malady had reached its exacerbation; and the miserable sufferers, as they prostrated themselves at the feet of their white-skinned brethren, sank in groups to rise no more. The picture was more than affecting (even if such existed) to natures possessed of no spark of human feeling; while to Tom its contemplation was fearful, and he turned from the spot to conceal his emotion.