Mr. Wigton, recovering from a momentary abstraction into which he had been cast by sorrows of the event, addressed to the sufferers in their own language words of commiseration and comfort. He did not, however, disguise from them their condition; but told them they would not live, for that they had eaten of that which destroyed life, even the white man's life; and that no white man could help them.
"Then why did the white man kill us?" they piteously asked.
"My brothers," replied the messenger of peace, "the white man made the food for the dingos which kill his sheep, and your brothers did steal the food, and did eat it, and will die; but the white man is sorry that you eat it, and is sorry that you die. We would all save you if we could, but we can't; and, my poor brothers, we can only ask the great Spirit in the skies to look down upon you and save you if He will. He is a good and great Spirit and could save you, if you would be His children and His brothers; He loves even the black fellow, if the black fellow will love Him; and He knows all about the black fellow, what the black fellow likes, and does, and thinks. He lived a long time ago down on the ground with us, and told us all these things, and He now lives in the skies, and sees all that the black fellows do. He saw the black fellows last night steal the food, and He was very angry with them; but He would forgive, even as the white man forgives them, if they would be sorry for doing bad things, and would do them no more, but love the great Spirit. But the great Spirit says some of you have been very bad, and that you will not love Him; and so you must die. But if you will love him, He will save some of you, even some of you that have eaten the white man's food."
The wail that followed this petite sermon of Mr. Wigton was the death knell of many; while the preacher himself was so overcome by the horrors of the scene that he had not perceived the approach of a ferocious black, who, leaping over the bodies of the dead and dying, advanced to within a few feet of him. This being confronted him in a menacing attitude almost face to face, and held a spear poised in his uplifted hand ready to bury it in the heart of the clergyman whenever he should so determine.
He was a tall athletic black, of good make, and, for an aboriginal, considerable muscular development; he had a determined and ferocious aspect; his eyes were blood-shot and swollen; his nostrils were dilated, while they exuded a fetid secretion horribly offensive. He foamed at his mouth, and the sinews and muscles of his face contracting spasmodically under the influence of the agonies caused by the poison he had taken, he presented a most hideous spectacle. Instantly upon confronting the clergyman, he accosted him thus:
"You not know me, white man? I am Barwang; brother belonging to Dugingi, and he is dead. The white fellow kill him, and kill plenty of black fellow: but I live. I not die, though very sick. I live to kill all white fellows. You like to see black fellow die: you think black fellow cannot kill white fellow, you shall see." He stretched his arm with the poised weapon to pierce the heart of Mr. Wigton; but just at that moment, when the spear was leaving the fingers of Barwang, it was suddenly snatched from his grasp by a black, who sprang from some covert, and, passing behind his countryman with a bound, deprived him of the offensive weapon; and stood in his turn with it balanced towards the frustrated homicide. At the same moment Tom Rainsfield, who had witnessed the danger of Mr. Wigton, leapt forward to protect him with his person, though the opportune act of the friendly black rendered such unnecessary; while Barwang, thus seeing himself assailed on both sides, made good his retreat.
"Thank you, Jemmy Davies," said Tom, "that was nobly done, and an act I will not forget. I have been looking out for you ever since I have been in the camp, but have never seen you until this moment. At last I began to fear that you had fallen a victim to this dreadful malady, but am pleased to see that you at least have escaped. This has been a fearful business, Jemmy, and it has given me much sorrow; from what I told you last night, and from what you told me, I thought we would have been able to have established a friendship between your tribe and ourselves, and I felt perfectly satisfied that our hostilities were at an end. I did not go home last night, Jemmy (perhaps if I had I might have prevented the robbery, and averted the fate of so many of your tribe); and this morning my brother sent over to tell me that the black fellows had robbed his store, and taken away a sheep that he had poisoned for the native dogs. So you see, Jemmy, your tribe came by their death by persisting in stealing our goods. Many would say that they merit their fate, but I, Jemmy, am very very sorry, and would have given anything I am possessed of to have prevented it."
"I believe you, Mr. Tom," replied the black. "I know you are a good friend to the black fellow, and would not do him any hurt; but Dugingi and his friends behaved bad to us, and to you, and have died, and it is well. They left the camp in the night, after promising me and my friends that they would not steal any more from your brother; and we went to sleep, believing them that they would not go. But they did go, and stole the meat and the flour, and the first that I knew of it was, in the morning, hearing them make a noise as they were roasting it. I saw at once what they had done, and spoke to all the tribe. I told them they would never live in their country if they stole from the white fellow, because the white fellow was strong and would kill them; and that it was better to be friends with the white fellow and live. But the friends of Dugingi would not hear me, and they did eat; but all my friends, that wished to be friends with the white fellow, would not eat it, and I told them they were right, for the food would do them no good. But Dugingi laughed at me, and roasted the meat and made damper with the flour; and he and his brothers and friends eat the meat, and they gave the damper to their gins and piccaninies. They all died, except Barwang and two or three more, who quarrelled over their shares, and had it eaten by the others. So they have not died because they did not get enough to kill them. If they had seen you alone they would have tried to kill you; and it was because I saw Barwang coming to you that I watched him and took his spear. He won't stop with us now, he will be too frightened, and will go with his friends to the tribe in the mountains."
"Did you say," asked Tom, "that the gins and piccaninies only eat the damper? did they not get any of the meat? Surely they did not die by only eating the damper?"
"Yes, Mr. Tom," replied the black, "only damper, and they died too. The damper and meat were both poison together; the black fellows eat the meat and they died, and the gins and piccaninies eat the damper and they died."