‘Yes,’ assented Yacka, ‘dangers, but we shall not die. The White Spirit will watch over us when she knows we are coming towards her. Enooma rests and waits for us. Speak no words to them,’ he added, and pointed towards the homestead.
‘All you have told me I promise to hold sacred,’ said Edgar.
‘It is good,’ said Yacka, and calmly commenced to carve a snake on one of the boomerangs, which he picked up from the ground where he had thrown them.
Edgar Foster felt he was about to embark upon strange adventures. He knew Yacka was no ordinary black, and Ben Brody had said he believed Yacka had white blood in his veins. Who could this White Spirit Enooma be, whom Yacka called his mother? Could it be possible a white woman had penetrated to the unknown parts of the Northern Territory? If so, how had she reached there? and how could it be that Yacka the black was her son? Probably it was some superstition Yacka had inherited from his tribe.
Edgar pondered over the story of riches Yacka had related. Gold was dug out of the earth in most unlikely places. Barren wastes had been found to teem with the precious metal. The possibilities of the country Edgar felt were not yet known, and in a new and unexplored part of the vast land he was now in what might not happen? He knew he could trust Yacka, but he would have preferred to take a mate with him. Will Brown would be just the one, and if he could persuade Yacka to take Will along with them it would be glorious. He thought over the excuses he could make to Captain Fife and Ben Brody for leaving Yanda. If he stated he was prompted by a love of adventure they would believe him, and it would be the truth. There would be no difficulty in getting away, and no time for returning need be named.
Eagerly Edgar awaited the arrival of Will Brown in order to give Yacka a chance of making friends with him.
CHAPTER XII.
IN SEARCH OF ADVENTURES.
In due course Will Brown arrived at Yanda, and he was only too glad to have the opportunity of meeting his chum, Edgar Foster, in the new country to which he had come. As for Edgar, it was with unbounded delight he welcomed Will Brown. They had much to talk about, and it was a source of much joy to Edgar that he could listen to one who had so recently seen those dear to him in the home he loved so well, on the banks of the Thames.
When Edgar made known to Ben Brody his intention of leaving Yanda for a time in search of adventures, the manager evinced no surprise.
‘I didn’t expect you would be here long,’ he said. ‘Young ‘uns like to roam, and I don’t blame you. I’ve had enough wandering about to last me a lifetime, and I’m settled for good here, so long as they will have me. I shall be sorry to lose you, and I wish you had chosen to remain. You have picked a good guide in Yacka. What that black chap knows is beyond credit. He’s never said where he came from, but if I’m a judge it is somewhere in the region of the MacDonnell Ranges. There are some powerful savage tribes over there, and I’d advise you to steer clear of them, that is, if you get so far; but you are a precious long way from there, you bet.’