“Indeed I do,” answered his brother; “but such things cannot be—are not—at all events.”
Sam Green had hitherto been engaged with the horses; he now came up to the point where the hideous spectacle was visible, and no sooner did his eyes rest on it than he exclaimed, “Run, squires, run! If it was mortal foes I’d stick by ye; but that’s more than any mortal man can dare to face. Oh! this is a terrible country, where the people cannot lie quiet in graves, but must needs go skipping about without any flesh on their bones.”
“The hoighth of ondacency!” cried out Larry, in a voice which showed very little, if any, alarm. “Murra, go and tell your ugly countrymen that they are frightening the horses, and that they must turn their other sides to us till we have passed.”
This order was given to the guide, who ran fearlessly up to the spot where the skeleton dance was proceeding, and no sooner did he reach it than the whole vanished like magic.
“It’s only some black fellows dancing a Corroborry,” said the Irishman, laughing; “you needn’t be in such a mighty tremble, Sam. We haven’t the shred of a ghost out here; there may be some in the old country, but they’re not fond of the salt sea, and couldn’t cross it, not if they were paid for it, except they came out at the expense of the Government, like some other honest gintlemen I’ve heard spake of.”
The horses, however, were still very unwilling to proceed, and it was some time before they could be coaxed past the suspicious spot; they then set off at increased speed to get away from the object of their dread. The party pulled up for the black, who came running up. “No good people,” he said, in a low voice; “come here, do bad.”
The Gilpins, hearing his remarks, endeavoured to discover the reason of his supposing that the party of natives they had just passed were badly disposed, but could elicit no further information from him. It was more than an hour after this that a glimmering light appeared ahead, which Murra, the guide, assured them must proceed from the station. It appeared to be somewhat above them on the hillside, and they soon afterwards found themselves ascending slightly towards it. They had not got far, however, before several large dogs flew out, barking furiously, towards them. They and Larry shouted loudly to the hut-keeper to call the animals off, but no one appeared, and, the dogs contenting themselves with barking, they proceeded on to the hut, from the window of which the light gleamed out. The dogs, still loudly barking, at length roused up a couple of rough-looking men, who staggered out of the door, and, one of them holding a lamp, stared stupidly at the travellers, at the same time that, with loud oaths, he shouted to the dogs to be quiet.
“Oh! you are strangers,” said the least tipsy; “well, you shall have a stranger’s welcome in the bush; and so you may just go and turn out your horses, and then come and get what you can inside.”
“We’ve come to take charge of the station,” said James, rather nettled; “so, my men, I rather think that it is your duty to see and make yourselves useful to us.”
“Ho! ho! Pretty sort of masters you’d make over us!” cried the man, holding up the light in their faces. “To my mind, you’d better go back to them that sent you.”