‘I saw a couple of them eyeing our horses over a short time back,’ said Will Brown, who came up and heard the conversation. ‘Yacka says we had better leave our horses behind when we go beyond the Ranges, and call for them as we return; that is, if they will care to have them here.’
‘You can leave them with pleasure if you wish,’ said Walter Hepburn, ‘and I’ll promise to look after them for you as well as I can. You will certainly not have much use for horses if you are going west after you cross the ranges. It is, so far as we know, very little else but desert between here and West Australia. As I told you before, I am afraid you are undertaking a great risk, and all to very little purpose. You may as well remain here a week or two, and then return south towards Adelaide. You’ll have had enough of it when you reach there, without going farther north.’
‘I’ll consult Yacka, and hear what he has to say,’ said Edgar, and walked towards the black, leaving Will with Walter Hepburn.
Edgar explained what Hepburn had said, and Yacka replied:
‘I will go with you to Adelaide, if you wish; but you will be sorry for it. We have come so far, let us go on. These men know nothing of Enooma’s country. They have been lost in the desert and never found the green land. Come with me, and I will show you much. Yacka has said he will make you rich. Come and see if the son of Enooma speaks true.’
‘You say we had better leave our horses here until we return,’ said Edgar. ‘How far have we to go beyond the ranges?’
‘Long way,’ said Yacka, ‘but fine country. We soon leave the sand behind, and then you will see much better place than Yanda.’
‘I will go with you,’ said Edgar, and Yacka was pleased. ‘We will leave here in a few days.’
During the time they remained at Alice Springs there was plenty of amusement. Local races, and a cricket match filled in the time, and Edgar managed to impress it upon them that he could handle a bat.
Yacka amused himself in various ways. He kept aloof from everyone, and sat looking on at the various games in a contemplative style that amused Edgar.