By a flash of lightning we could see three of the bushrangers examining the banks of the creek, for the purpose of judging whether it could be forded by the horses or not.
They seemed to decide against its feasibility, for we heard them grumbling at the idea of stopping there all night, and getting sighted by "d——d old Wright" in the morning.
Our host listened to the complimentary remarks about himself with great glee, for it showed that he was a power that was respected by the robbing fraternity, and that they took good care to visit his range of land as little us possible.
"Are we to stay here in the wet all night?" grumbled Mr. Brown.
"I don't see how we are to avoid it," Mr. Wright replied.
"Let us cross the creek, and take those fellows in the rear," I whispered; "in half an hour we can have every one of them prisoners, or else hors du combat."
Mr. Wright didn't like the project, as he thought that it was running too great a risk. Mr. Brown meditated on the undertaking, while the ghost was pleased with the idea, and vowed that he could accomplish the project alone. As for Mike, he was in ecstasies at the plan, only he couldn't swim, which somewhat damped his ardor.
"Ask Kala if there is a place where we can cross, where the water is not over our heads?" I inquired of Mr. Wright.
He put the question, and the native replied that a few rods down the stream, at a bend, we could cross on a bar, where the water would not be more than up to our armpits.
Mr. Wright no longer hesitated, but gave the order to move down the stream to the place proposed, and as the rain had nearly ceased, and the moon was high in the heavens, we had no difficulty in finding the spot which Kala indicated.