CHAPTER XII.

"Friend of the brave! in peril's darkest hour,Intrepid virtue looks to thee for power."Campbell."She only left of all the harmless train,The sad historian of the pensive plain."Goldsmith.Everything went smoothly at Strawberry Hill for two days after the departure of Mr. Rainsfield; but the night of the third was that which was destined to bring with it a scene of horror, which happily has never had its equal in the Australian colonies since the first settler penetrated into its unknown wilds. The blacks had now remained some time dormant; for since their first visit, owing to thewarm reception they had then met with, they had not ventured to repeat it. Towards the evening in question, however, they might have been seen swimming, one by one, the swollen current of the Gibson, until a considerable body had congregated on the bank opposite to their camp.We will not presume to judge their motives, or profess conversance with the impulses that influenced their movements. Possibly their instincts might have taught them that the time for a most successful attack was when the difficulties of approach rendered their coming least expected; or it might have been that they were possessed of the knowledge of their enemy's absence from home, and were determined to wreak their vengeance on those belonging to him when they had not to fear his presence. That Rainsfield was feared by them there was no doubt; his very name struck terror into their souls, and none but the very boldest of them would confront him, even in the consciousness of vastly superior force.It was therefore quite possible they were acquainted with his absence, and intended to take advantage of the occurrence to pay their premeditated visit to the station; or their choice of this period might have been the result of a fortuitous circumstance. Nevertheless be either as it may the flooded river did not prove the barrier Rainsfield had calculated it would, for the blacks crossed it with apparent ease and, as we have said, collected themselves on the bank on the Strawberry Hill side. Their evident intention being to proceed direct to the station when they thought the inmates would have retired to rest.A little before midnight the murderous crew spread themselves over the station; and simultaneously commenced their work of destruction by entering the huts, and butchering all they could surprise in their sleep. The first of their victims was a woman, the wife of a shepherd. Hearing the unusual barking of the dogs she incautiously rose toascertain the cause without disturbing her husband, whose period of sleep she considered valuable. The poor woman appeared at the door of her hut with a child in her arms, too good a mark for the spears of the savages; for in their thirst for blood they had no respect for either sex or age but buried more than one of their weapons in the poor creature's bosom. She fell across the threshold pierced to the heart and in the agonies of death, with merely a sufficiency of the vital spark remaining to utter a faint cry and clasp instinctively her babe to her breast. As the infant's eyes turned in wonder on the ruthless savages one of them seized the little innocent by the legs, tore it from its mother's embrace and dashed out its brains; while his compeers rushed into the interior of the hut, and, almost before the sleeping man could sufficiently collect his senses to comprehend the nature of his position, his spirit had joined those of his wife and child. The other huts were in likewise visited, and those of the inmates whowere not successful in effecting an escape were similarly massacred.These proceedings had been gone about by no means noiselessly, so that the family at the house had become aware of the presence of the savages, though they could not conjecture the extent or the nature of the outrages they had committed. Those of the men who had escaped from the murderous hands of the aborigines deemed it safer to seek shelter in the bush than to venture to the house, or even remain near the station. So that, beyond the painful evidence of her ears, Mrs. Rainsfield could ascertain no knowledge of what was going on. When she first heard the noise that had heralded the visitation she hastily threw on some clothing and emerged from her room; and, speedily becoming alive to the imminence of the danger, she for the first time deplored the absence of her husband. Mrs. Billing had removed with her youngest child to be near her better half while he remained at the house, but the rest of her family she had left at herown cottage; and having also been disturbed by the uproar she wrought herself into a perfect fever of anxiety for their safety. She fancied she heard every moment their dying screams as they were being seized by the ruthless hand of some infernal savage; and in her agony she fancied she could distinguish above the noise of the now unrestrained articulation of the blacks their little voices calling upon her for help, and she entreated to be allowed to rush at once to their rescue.Her husband, however, was more rational, and pointed out to her that that would, in all probability, only incur instant death to herself and afford no relief to her children. He suggested that they should wait, and see what the blacks proposed doing next; and as in all probability it would be to attack the house, he remarked that their suspense would be of short duration. He then bethought him of his fire-arms, which he got in readiness for instant use, while he provided pistols to the females. His next care was to barricade allthe apertures through which the blacks could effect an entrance, while Mrs. Rainsfield crept softly to the bedside of Eleanor to ascertain if she had been disturbed by the noise. By the time these arrangements were completed, and the family assembled in conclave in the sitting-room, the blacks had collected before the house and became clamorous for admittance.Mr. Billing, though not blessed with too great a share of physical courage, had, nevertheless, in the moment of danger, a sufficient perception of the line of conduct necessary for the defence of himself and those under his protection. Notwithstanding that the gun he then held in his hand was in all probability the first that he ever had in his possession with the intent of putting it to use, he handled it as if it were an old and friendly companion, and proposed that he and his two female colleagues should fire simultaneously on the savages, so as to give them the idea that the house was well defended. His suggestion, however, wasoverruled by Mrs. Rainsfield, who at once expressed her disapprobation of such a course; being convinced, as she said, that the blacks could not force the building, and even if they did that they would have no cause to commit any violence to any of the inmates. While if they found that they could not gain admittance they would depart at most, perhaps, with robbing the store. This belief was far from according with Mr. Billing's opinion, but he was constrained to assent to the will of the lady; and they all, with a breathless silence, continued to watch the movements of their assailants.The blacks finding they were unmolested, and seeing no opposition offered to them, and no signs of life about the house, became bolder and attempted to force some of the doors and windows; while the affrighted party sat in a state of fearful anxiety, and, though unseen themselves, they could plainly distinguish the forms of the aborigines trying the window of the room in which they were.Mr. Billing at this moment placed the muzzle of his gun close to the glass of the window, that was left visible through a crevice in the barricade, and had he fired would have assuredly sent one savage to his account in the other world. Would that he had; for in all probability it would have driven the blacks to a distance from the house, and possibly saved us from the task of narrating this fearful tragedy. But his eagerness to fire was restrained by Mrs. Rainsfield, and the moment was lost; for the blacks, finding their efforts to gain an ingress unavailing, gave up the fruitless attempt, and withdrew to some short distance to hold converse on their proceedings.Mrs. Rainsfield at once began to congratulate herself and her friends that they had retired as she had anticipated, leaving them nothing more to fear; and at that moment hearing the faint voice of Eleanor calling to her she hastened to account for the disturbance about the house and appease her alarm.Eleanor was in a state of considerable agitation, having been aroused from her fitful slumbers by the noise of the blacks, and being still very low in strength and spirits, and excessively nervous, her alarm and agitation threatened to bring on fever again. It was only with considerable difficulty that Mrs. Rainsfield could persuade her she had no cause to fear. She told her that the blacks had already taken their departure from the house, and would in all probability by that time have left the station; and she entreated her not to give herself any uneasiness, but to be still for a few minutes, and then she would return to her bedside and sit with her for the remainder of the night.With these assurances, Eleanor was constrained to be pacified, and so Mrs. Rainsfield returned to the sitting-room, where she found Mrs. Billing wringing her hands and crying in an agony of grief. Mr. Billing was more calm, but not less apprehensive of danger or death. He drew the lady of the house to thecrevice of the window to gaze upon the scene without, while she uttered a cry of surprise and terror, as her startled vision took in the tableau there displayed. Before the house stood a group of the assailants in all the hideousness of barbarity, paint, and savage nudity. They had possessed themselves of "fire sticks," which acted as torches, at the same time that they served to exhibit their bodies in all their diabolical repulsiveness; and their intentions were too plainly indicated in their jestures. To say that they looked like a band of incarnate fiends would be to convey but a poor impression of the horrors of their appearance, as the fitful light reflected their hideous forms; exhibiting them in, if possible, a more fearful aspect than their stern realities; and giving them the appearance as the beholders thought (and as was, alas! but too true) of being besmeared with blood. It is not to be wondered at that at such a sight the hearts of two frail women, and even that of a man, should have quailed; and if notbefore despair certainly did then seize upon the spirits of those present.The object of the villains had by this time become perfectly apparent, and though neither of the trio dared to breathe their individual suspicions they were unanimous in the one belief that the lighted torches were intended to fire the premises; and thus either drive them from their shelter or bury them in the ruins. They therefore saw that only two courses were open to them; either to arm themselves and defend the house until the last, or to throw it open to the savages and try and pacify them with anydouceurthe wretches might covet. That there was extreme danger in thus throwing themselves upon the mercy of fiends they were perfectly aware; and any one better acquainted with the black's character would have considered it absolute madness and voluntarily seeking for a death more horrible than that which would await them in a defensive perseverance. But the exercise of calm judgment and reasoncould hardly be expected from two agitated and terrified women, and one man whose nature was made of very little sterner stuff than theirs.Mrs. Rainsfield was the first that broke the painful silence that ensued, and addressing Mr. Billing, said: "I think we had better open the door at once, or they will set fire to the house, and we will be burnt alive. If they determine to kill us we can but meet our death with firmness; while there is a possibility of their sparing us if we satisfy their cupidity by allowing them to plunder the place. Will you open the door, Mr. Billing, and attempt the work of conciliation?"Mr. Billing silently obeyed this behest, and addressed himself to the blacks, who were at this time standing immediately before the house preparing to apply the fire. They instantly desisted from their incendiary work when they saw signs of capitulation, and directed their gaze to the doorway. By the light of their own "fire sticks" they could distinguishMr. Billing, who stood there with the women at his back perfectly unarmed; having left his gun by Mrs. Rainsfield's desire in the room they had vacated so as to give the savages, as she imagined, no cause for offence by appearing to offer any resistance. When the blacks satisfied themselves that they had nothing to fear they burst out into a loud laugh of derision, and crowded towards the defenceless garrison in a menacing and mocking attitude. What were the feelings of the trio at this moment it would be difficult even to conjecture. With Mrs. Billing, however, those of the mother overcame all personal and selfish considerations, and she darted from the house to ascertain the fate of her children. That action may be said to have decided the doom of the whole party; for though possibly even under other circumstances the blacks might not have spared those whom they had got into their power, and the strong probability is that they would not, yet the sudden movement of Mrs. Billingcost her her life, and gave the savages the stimulus to commence the further shedding of blood.Mrs. Billing had not proceeded many steps before she uttered a loud shriek and fell prostrate to the earth with a spear piercing her back and protruding its point from her breast. Her husband witnessing the deed, eliminated from his bosom all feelings save those of devotion and sympathy for his wife, rushed to clasp her in his arms and met a similar fate. The climax of this fearful tragedy was nearly attained. Mrs. Rainsfield fled from the open doorway, where she had been the spectator of this connubial sacrifice, and sought momentary refuge with her children in her room. Just as the blacks entered the house the servants, who had by this time been aroused to a sense of their danger, opened a door which led from the kitchen into the hall. But perceiving the murderous assailants pouring in they left the door wide open as they had flung it and made a hasty exit by anotherpassage into the obscurity of the night, and beat a precipitate retreat to the bush. In their flight they were followed by a few of the savages who had perceived them; but who shortly tired of a chase in which fear lent wings to the pursued. They returned to aid their colleagues in forcing an entrance into the room of Mrs. Rainsfield and commenced their work there of insatiable cruelty with hideous and diabolical evidences of satisfaction.The atrocities of these fiends were more like the evil machinations of devils than the actions of human beings. But to enumerate all the horrors, and to paint the scene with sufficiently forcible life-like delineation, would be beyond the capabilities of our pen, and would only sicken our readers by the perusal. Therefore we will merely say that they first murdered the children before the eyes of their mother, while they sported with the agonising despair of their victim, and then despatched the lady; brutally mangling her body in their inordinate lust for blood.Eleanor had remained spell-bound during the perpetration of those horrors, which she had animation sufficient to discern were being enacted in the house; but without either enough strength to move, or power of utterance to give vent to the fearful sensations that preyed upon her mind. Alarm we cannot call it: such a feeling sinks into insignificance compared with the mental anguish she then endured; being conscious, from the heart-rending cries that struck her ear, that her dearest earthly friends were meeting with a death too horrible to contemplate, and not knowing how speedily a similar fate awaited herself. She lay thus in a sort of trance, or tremulous expectancy, for some considerable time, while she could hear the work of destruction going on all around; to which work the savages had taken when they had completed their murders. But still they had not visited her, and she continued to lie, the prey to the most fearful mental agonies.Sounds of rapidly approaching horsemenwere then heard, and the blacks began to leave the scene of their bloody desolation for fear of the retribution which they expected from the approaching rescue. To Eleanor, though she was nigher to death than a sublinary existence, the sound was joyous; and she began to entertain hope that the relief would prove opportune for the saving of her friends, as she felt it already was for the rescue of herself. But oh! how unaccountable are the decrees of Providence. At the very moment when she imagined the house was vacated by the murderers the door of her room opened, and a hideous black monster literally besmeared with blood burst in, and with uplifted arm and bloody weapon, rushed to extinguish in her soul the flickering spark of life. The black was followed by another, also with a hand elevated and grasping a tomahawk. But the sight was more than Eleanor's shattered nerves could bear; and starting into a sitting posture on her bed, her tongue was loosened; she gave one piercingshriek, and sank back senseless half leaning over the edge of her couch. The fate, however, she had expected she did not meet with; for, instead of the glancing steel of the second black being imbrued with her blood, it was buried in the brain of the first, who sank to the floor a corpse.The cause of Eleanor's escape we may here explain to the reader. The frame of the door to her room was placed in immediate contiguity to that of the one which opened into the kitchen; and by some strange design of the builder this latter was made to open out into the hall. Thus when the servants opened it, and left it so, the fortuitous circumstance of its irregularity proved Eleanor's preservation; for when thrown back it entirely concealed the entrance to her room, and eluded almost completely the vigilance of the murderers. It was, as we have seen, just as they were retreating from the place that one of the stragglers accidentally discovered it; and, thinking that the spot had not beenvisited by either himself or his compeers, he entered to satisfy his curiosity by a hasty visit; which would assuredly have terminated the existence of Eleanor but for the timely blow dealt him by his fellow.This extraordinary internecine action may also require some elucidation; and we will dispel the mystery by an explanation. Barwang and his party upon their first visit to Strawberry Hill, when they met with their repulse, became convinced that their movements had been betrayed by one of their tribe, and they doubted not but that the betrayal emanated from Jemmy Davies. They therefore kept a watch upon him lest he should again carry information to Mr. Rainsfield, and preserved their own councils from his knowledge; so that, until they had actually started on their expedition, he was quite ignorant of their plans. When an opportunity offered, however, he followed them on their track up to the house; and, though he did not venture into the building, he kept hovering about inthe hope that he might be able to render some assistance to the family. But not until the approaching sounds of horses' feet drew off the masses of the tribe did he deem it safe for his own security to enter. He did so; and, as he passed into the hall, he saw one of his countrymen opening the door of a room and stand for a moment in the aperture gazing fixedly in one direction. The glance of this savage's eye, as his own keen vision caught the momentary flash, told Jemmy Davies that vengeance gleamed from the other's orb, and in an instant he sprang after him, and saved an innocent life by the sacrifice of one worse than worthless and infamous. When he was convinced the house was empty of his countrymen, and being aware that if he were caught in the place by any white man the colour of his skin would be the warrant for his instant death, he took a hasty survey of the fearful scene of blood that was visible even in the partial darkness, and left the house by the back as two horsemen, ridingrapidly up to the front, leapt from their saddles and rushed in. These two, as may be conjectured, were John Ferguson and Joey.Fearful as John had been of the nature of events he believed were transpiring the sight that met his gaze as he entered the dwelling struck him dumb with horror, and perfectly sick at heart, and paralysed at the bloody disclosure. The whole floor of the house was slippery with the gore of the murdered victims as it had been carried about by the feet of the murderers. He hastily struck a light from the materials he had about him; and, with the pulsations of his heart almost audible, made a survey of the habitation. The first things that he noticed were the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Billing, which had been dragged by the savages into the hall, possibly with the intention of consuming the whole in flames after they had finished their work; and then in the sitting-room he saw the signs of the barricade that had been hastily thrown up before the window. Fromthat he hastened to the one which had in life been occupied by the amiable lady that had been mistress of the place, and there he witnessed the mangled remains of herself and her family. As he gazed upon the hardly to be recognised features of that friend who had so often greeted him with the cordial grasp of friendship he could not restrain the tears that in a flood coursed their way down his cheeks. Continuing his melancholy search he next entered the room of Eleanor, and almost stumbled over the carcass of the black who lay in the middle of the floor weltering in his blood. This sight caused him no little surprise; especially, when with a sad foreboding he approached the couch of that being he adored above all mundane objects, to find her pendent form though insensible was scathless. But it was not a moment to indulge in conjectures; he had discovered his idol in the midst of death still living. So placing the unconscious creature on the bed, and enveloping her in the clothes, he snatchedher in his arms; and pressing her to his breast bore off the precious load.With the assistance of his attendant he mounted his horse; and despatching Joey instantly with injunctions to fly, if possible, to Alma for the doctor and bring him to Fern Vale, he turned his own horse's head homewards, and proceeded as fast as the animal with his additional burden could travel.Bright and beautiful the morning dawned as he rode towards his home; but serene as were the sublimities of nature their contemplation had no place in his mind. All his thoughts were centred in the inaminate form encircled by his arms. Thus he rode unconscious to all around, and would have so ridden to the end of his journey had not a faint sigh struck his ear; and he instantly stopped his horse to enable him to enjoy the sight of returning vitality to his much loved Eleanor. He gently removed the covering that he had placed over her face, when her melancholy eyes for a moment rested upon his. It wasonly for a moment, however, for they were instantly secluded from the light by the closing lids; and, considering it better not to agitate her with conversation, and satisfied for the time with the assurance of his hearing and vision, he impressed one rapturous kiss on her fair forehead, again covered her face from the morning air, and proceeded on his way.CHAPTER XII."All those riversThat fed her veins with warm and crimson streamsFrozen and dried up; if these be signs of death,Then is she dead.... But I will be trueE'en to her dust and ashes."Decker.Mr. Rainsfield pursued his way homewards little anticipating the sight that awaited him on his arrival; but, owing to the heavy state of the roads from the saturation of the ground, he was only enabled to travel slowly. Consequently he perceived the flood coming down the Gibson long before he reached the crossing-place of the Wombi; and, knowing that there would be no use attempting a passagethere, since the bridge had been swept away, he at once struck off for the Dingo Plains to get over by the upper crossing-place. By making this detour it was near morning before he approached the station.Upon his reaching home he at once went to the stable and attended to his horse, the first consideration of a bushman, and then bent his steps to the house, feeling an unaccountable sensation of awe, which the pervading solitude and death-like stillness inspired him with. This feeling he was ashamed to indulge in, and tried to banish it from his mind and deceive his conscience by attempting to whistle a lively air, while he submitted his right boot to a playful castigation with his riding-whip. All these stratagems, however, proved futile: a gloom had settled upon him which he could not shake off, and he hastened his steps to his dwelling with his heart in a perturbation that gave place to the most fearful apprehensions as he perceived the house open to free ingress. Thetruth at once burst upon him with overwhelming force, and he rushed like one demented into the room where he had expected to meet the embrace of his wife, but only to witness her mutilated remains surrounded by those of her children. He gazed upon their forms for some minutes in the uncertain light with a sad, though calm and almost stoical cast of countenance; and then, kneeling by the side of his wife's body, he parted her clotted hair from off her brow, which he stooped down and kissed, and, while dashing a scalding tear from his eye, thus apostrophised the fane of the departed spirit:"And was it for this I left you, my darling Mary, to seek for you protection, and obtain assistance to drive the disturbers of our happiness from the land? Oh! that I could but have foreseen this, to have either preserved you and our poor little innocents, or perished while I shielded your heart with my breast. Curses on my cruel fate, and the blinding fancies of security which led me away fromyour side. Oh, Mary, Mary! more dear to me than life, to have lost you thus, butchered! by a set of ruthless savages, consumes my very heart. But you shall be revenged. By heaven! you shall." And, springing to his feet with clenched fists, and gazing into space as the whole expression of his countenance changed, he continued:"What is life to me now, deprived of all the ties that bound me to this earth? It shall be devoted to the cause of vengeance; and here, Mary! in the presence of your spirit, and in the sight of my Maker, I swear to be revenged upon all the blacks in this country; never shall one cross my path alive. I'll spare neither their old nor their young. I'll hunt them from their dens, like the vermin that they are. They shall be made to bite the dust. Their bodies shall rot, and their bones bleach in the sun. Never shall they rest until they are wholly exterminated, or my strength and life fail me; and I swear that so long as one black remains of all theirrace my vengeance shall not be satisfied. Hear me, Mary! while I pray to God for the strength of Hercules, and the age of Methuselah, that I may be a terror to their species, and they may learn to curse the day when first they tasted the blood of mine. And oh, Mary! if thou seest me from the portals of that abode where the eternal dwell, look down upon me and commend my work, help my weak arm; encourage my drooping spirit; be a light to beacon my path in the remainder of my gloomy passage through this world; and let not the cup of vengeance be removed from the lips of thy foul murderers until they have tasted of the very dregs. So now, my angel wife! my once fond and loving but now lost wife! sacrificed through thy husband's folly and neglect, if vengeance is sweet to thee thy spirit shall be appeased; for henceforth my name shall be one to strike dismay into the souls of blacks throughout the land. So help me God!"Having uttered this fearful oath, and callingdown the aid of his Maker to assist him in its performance, Rainsfield left the room and the house a broken-hearted man; re-saddled his horse, which he mounted, and went he knew not whither. His state was truly piteous; his better and softer nature was in perpetual warfare with his fiendish feelings, which prompted nothing but a thirst for vengeance. The memory of his wife, and the sudden shock occasioned by her loss and fearful death, had at first subdued the evil passions of the mortal; and he had gazed upon the placid features of the corpse with a calm and settled grief. But as he awoke to a plainer perception of the horrors of the event, and what must have been the sufferings of his defenceless family, with the brutality of their hellish assailants, all softer feelings evanished before the sterner one revenge; which in the one moment of decision he determined should be the sole object of his future life. In this frame of mind he left his home, that had so lately been smiling and happy but now gloomy,bloody, and to be shunned; for he felt to dwell under that roof again was impossible. His home for the future would be under the canopy of heaven, and his life that of the avenger. Thus he left the house, misfortune having so overcome his reason that he had no idea of further inspection of the building, possibly believing that all had met with the same fate, not even to glance into the room of Eleanor; and he wandered forth absorbed in grief, without any definite notion of where he was to go, or how he was to dispose of the bodies.Towards noon of the following day he entered the township of Alma, and his horse stopping instinctively before the door of the "Woolpack" inn, he alighted; and allowed the animal to be taken from him while he mechanically entered the house. The news of the massacre had already spread through the country, while the thousand tongues of mercurial gossip had imparted to the original tragedy as many phases of horror as imaginationcould possibly invent. The fearful occurrence had arrested the attention, and absorbed all the interest of the residents of Alma; and they were in several knots in deep and earnest conclave, discussing the bloody event, as they saw the chief sufferer approaching their town.The loudest declamation, and the deepest uttered anathemas against the natives, were in an instant checked. The earnestly asseverated opinion, that the lives of the settlers would be perpetually in danger, unless the blacks were speedily exterminated,—the noisy declaration of some bold patriot, as he expressed his determination to declare eternal warfare against the savages, and even to enter upon the crusade single-handed if no one would lend him aid; with the faint voice of some more philanthropic polemic, who attempted to check the stream of exuberant passion, by palliating without defending (on the plea of retribution) the horrible murder,—were all hushed, and gave place to a heartfeltthough silent sympathy as Mr. Rainsfield rode into the town. And even after he was lost to their vision, by ensconsure in the "Woolpack," their conversations were resumed in a lower cadence, lest (even at a distance at which their most stentorian utterances could hardly have been distinguishable) the nature of their conversation should strike his ear and recall the subject of his grief.The news had reached them that morning by Joey when he arrived post-haste for the doctor. He had been fortunate in finding the resident son of Galen at home; and, obeying the injunctions of his master, had delivered his message, and returned with him immediately. Short as had been his stay it was quite long enough to enable the inhabitants to elicit from him the facts of which the reader is acquainted. They learnt with some degree of satisfaction that one of the family still retained life, and would possibly be able, at some time, to recount the circumstances of the massacre. Thus, in the presence of somuch to engender the feeling of compassion, a morbid curiosity to learn all the details of horror seized upon the minds of the good people of Alma. But such is the nature of man; selfishness reigns supreme, and shines forth in all his motions and actions.When Joey returned with the doctor he deviated from the beaten track, to cross the Wombi by the upper fords; thinking that his companion might object to the more dangerous one of the lower. Rainsfield, on the contrary, in his journey, never dreaming of dangers or difficulties, had taken the lower; hence the parties had missed one another. This caused the gossips of Alma to wonder greatly what had brought him away from his house; especially as they had heard that he had been absent at the time of the outrage, and must have since visited the scene, and met the doctor and messenger on the road. But they were unacquainted with the circumstance that had prevented the meeting, and they were destined, at least at that time, toremain in ignorance; for the landlord of the inn to whom they had recourse, rough and unfeeling as he appeared, had too much respect for the grief of his visitor to attempt obtaining any information from him.The landlord, without enquiring from him if he would take any meal, prepared the table for a repast, and placed on it some edibles, with a bottle of brandy and some water. Then, without uttering a syllable, he left the room and the sorrow-stricken man to an uninterrupted solitude. Rainsfield sat for some time gazing fixedly on the viands before him without attempting or desiring to partake of them; retaining an unaltered position on each occasion that he was surveyed by the sympathising host through the key-hole of the door. In this state he might have remained, until exhausted nature had induced a return to consciousness, had not his attention been attracted by the arrival of an extensive cavalcade at the door of the inn. Glancing his eye languidly over the features of the ridersas they were dismounting he instantly recognised amongst the group the person and voice of Bob Smithers; and the object of the party was at once made apparent.New life was at once infused into his veins; the blood once more mantled his cheek, and fire was imparted to his eye, as he, with compressed lip and determined visage, leapt from his seat and strode to the doorway."Show those gentlemen in here, landlord," he said, addressing that individual, as he was ushering the newly-arrived travellers into a separate room."I thought, sir, you would prefer to be alone," replied the landlord, "so I was going to let you have the parlour to yourself.""Never mind, let them come in here," replied Rainsfield.The party by this time had entered the room they were shown to, so the landlord turned to them, and said:"If you would like to step into the other room, gents, you will find it more comfortable;there is only one other gent there, perhaps you know him," he continued in an under tone, "it is Mr. Rainsfield."A low murmur ran through the party at the mention of the name, though it was unheard by Rainsfield himself, he having turned again into the parlour. The name of Rainsfield was repeated by them all in a tone of voice that unmistakeably indicated a sorrowful compassion. They were all squatters in the district and friends of Smithers, who had collected them to go to the assistance of their neighbour for his protection against the aborigines. They had heard as they came along the fearful news of the massacre, and had accelerated their speed to arrive on the scene of action as soon as possible, in the hope of finding some of the family living, or being in time to afford some assistance, either in the preservation of their lives, the protection of their property, or the chastisement of their murderers.Smithers instantly proposed to join Mr.Rainsfield, and at once adjourned to the other room, followed by his companions; and, as he entered and advanced with extended hand, but without venturing to speak, Rainsfield grasped the proffered token of friendship, while he said: "Too late, Smithers! too late! except for revenge, and that is all I hope to live for.""And in which we can now only serve you," replied his companion. "But we will organize some plan of operation; we count fifteen now, and are sufficient to be irresistible to the whole tribe of blacks. In the meantime let the landlord prepare dinner, and then we will discuss matters quietly. I think you know all our friends here?"The form of introduction being gone through where the parties were not acquainted, and the shaking of hands where they were, the necessary instructions were given to the landlord to prepare something for the company, and they fell into a desultory conversation previous to entering upontheir plans. It is not our intention to weary the reader with a verbose report of the initiatory proceedings of the party, and will therefore merely state that they formed themselves into a mutual protection society, with the professed object of combining to repel the encroachments of the blacks, though in reality to hunt them down like dogs. For the furtherance of this scheme they bound themselves by stringent oaths to let none escape them, but to kill all they should come across. Each individual swore to take active part in the process of destruction so as to make all equally implicated. They vowed, by the most solemn obligations, never to make any disclosure that would criminate any of the society; while, before any neophyte could be admitted within the periphery of their mysterious bonds, it was determined he should be subjected to an ordeal that would protect the members from the possibility of any disclosure that would cause their amenability to the law.In the course of conversation with the landlord Smithers learnt that one of the family (which his informant could not tell him) was still living, and that a messenger, supposed from Fern Vale, had come over that morning for the doctor. Smithers communicated this to Rainsfield, who then remembered for the first time that he had not visited the room of Eleanor, and therefore inferred that it must be she, he having had too clear a demonstration of the total absence of life in the bodies of his wife and children. This he mentioned to Smithers, and they both agreed that Eleanor must have been discovered by some of the Fergusons, who had removed her to their own house, and sent for the doctor. They therefore determined to adhere to their original plan of starting early on the following morning, after taking a night's rest where they were, it being needed by most of the party as well as by their horses.On the following morning they were early on the road, so that few saw them leave thetownship. But though nothing had been said by any of the Society respecting the object of their journey it was pretty shrewdly guessed at, if not positively known, by most of the inhabitants; and it was evident to them no body of men, armed with rifles and revolvers, could be travelling to the scene of a murderous outrage with any peaceable intent. The sympathies, however, of most went with them; and even though some of their number had been disposed in simple argument to feel for the blacks, none dared to incur public opprobrium by making any representations of the supposed hostilities to official quarters. The Society itself proceeded on its way very quietly, its members being mostly absorbed in sketching out, mentally, plans of the campaign on which they were entering, so that the journey was almost entirely performed in silence.When they reached the station its appearance was quite desolate; no signs of life were perceptible, and the stillness of deathspread around its influence, which was sensibly felt by all. The house was closed to all ingress, and on the door was nailed a card bearing the words: "Let Mr. Rainsfield proceed to Fern Vale the instant on his arrival." Rainsfield read the sentence, and at once guessed the import; he perceived that when the murder had been discovered by the Fergusons they had removed the bodies thither, if possible, to await his arrival before interment; and he determined to go on at once, though, before departing, he desired once more to gaze upon the rooms through which the steps of his wife and the merry voices of his children had so lately resounded, but which were now tenantless, desolate, and bloody. An entrance was effected by a back window, and the party admitted; when great was the surprise of Mr. Rainsfield to find no sign or vestige of the fearful crime that had there so lately been committed. He read in all this the kind hand of his neighbours, and his heart smote him in the midstof his grief for the manner in which he had behaved to young Ferguson. To his friends he pointed out with a melancholy precision the spots where he had found the various bodies, described their position and their mutilated condition, and then wandered through the rooms with an abstracted air conjuring in his imagination the scenes that were passed, never more to return, and peopling them in his fancy with those loved forms whose spirits had fled to the source from whence they sprang.His friends did not attempt to interrupt the gratification of this melancholy pleasure, but allowed him to be the first to propose a retreat, which, when he did, they were ready to agree to. The whole party then left the house to proceed to Fern Vale; and while they are on the road we will precede them and take a momentary glance at the doings there, both at the exact period of our narrative and also retrospectively for a few hours.John Ferguson, when he bore the all but lifeless body of Eleanor into his own house, arrested the volatile reception of his sister with an expression of countenance that betokened deep sorrow. To the poor girl the look was unaccountable; she had only risen the instant her brother had arrived, and had heard nothing of his approach; consequently she was a little surprised at his presence. But when she was about to rush into his embrace his manner appalled her, while she was equally surprised at the singular burden he carried in his arms, for in the manner in which he had enveloped the body of Eleanor the form was undefinable. John, however, saved his sister the necessity of any questioning, by saying:"Don't ask me any questions at present that will require any explanation of the cause of my unexpected appearance with this almost lifeless form. Lead the way to your room, Kate, for I must place it under your charge; and I can assure you it requiresyour tenderest care. I have already sent for a doctor, and expect him here in the course of the day."The astonished girl preceded her brother to her room, and, as John laid his burden gently on his sister's bed, he uncovered the face and disclosed to the vision of Kate the pallid features of the unconscious Eleanor."Oh, John! dear John! tell me what is the meaning of this! what fearful thing has happened?" Kate passionately exclaimed."A dreadful event, Kate, as you may imagine," replied her brother, "by my bearing that dear creature in such a state, and bringing her here to be ministered to by you. She is now destitute of friends; but I cannot tell you more at present, your nerves could not sustain the recital of the horrors of the tale. I know that I need not ask you to bestow upon Eleanor your utmost attention and most affectionate sympathy; but I must caution you, should she return to consciousness, to make no allusion to the circumstancesof her misfortune; nor do you attempt to elicit anything from her; rather try to soothe and calm her troubled spirit.""Oh, poor dear Eleanor! what cruel fate has put you in this awful predicament?" cried Kate, when she burst into tears and buried her face in the clothes by the side of her friend.In the meantime John left the room, and, proceeding to the kitchen, he requested their female servant to go to the assistance of her mistress. Here he found the servants who had escaped from the massacre at Strawberry Hill relating to the astonished and horrified listeners as much of the fearful outrage as they had witnessed, and what they imagined to be the conclusion. But their narrative, though dreadful, was not a tithe of the reality. He next sought his brother, to whom he related the sad events, and commissioned him to break the tale to Kate in as mild a way as possible. Then he informed him that he had left the sheep at the Wombi and suggestedthat he and some of the men should go over and assist the fellows that were with them, as they would necessarily be short-handed, especially for the portion of the flock that had not crossed the river. He then hastily partook of some refreshment, and taking a few of his own men, and the servants and those who had escaped from Strawberry Hill, he returned to that station to remove, if possible, the signs of the outrage, and bring the bodies of the victims to his own place; so that if Rainsfield should have heard of the circumstance before his arrival he would not be maddened by a sight of the murderous destruction.The house was speedily cleansed of all vestiges of blood. Similar stains were removed from the corpses. The house was arranged in order, and closed up, and the party left it as John affixed to the door the card we have already noticed. The cavalcade moved slowly from the deserted mansion, and, as it proceeded on its way with its load of inertmortality, it was overtaken by the doctor and Joey from Alma. To the latter, in a few words, he gave directions, and left him to follow with the bodies, while he and the doctor pushed on.In the meantime Eleanor had at frequent intervals opened her eyes and gazed vacantly on all the objects around her, including even the face of her friend, whom she never for an instant appeared to recognise. To Kate's tender soothing attempts she took no heed; but on each occasion, with a faint sigh and shudder, relapsed into her former torpor. This state continued until the arrival of the doctor, who, though he did not express his fears, entertained serious apprehensions for her life; and afterwards communicated to John his alarm, that, though her corporeal system might recover, the shock to her nerves had been so great that he feared her mind might give way and either become impaired or totally demented. He recommended her room to be kept dark, and as cool and asquiet as possible; and during her waking intervals, her mind to be as much diverted as could be. He then prescribed certain medicines, amongst them powerful soporifics, and Joey was instantly despatched, upon his arrival, to Alma to get them compounded, while the doctor remained by the patient to watch her malady.On the following day Rainsfield presented himself at Fern Vale. Smithers could not be persuaded to approach the house; therefore he and his friends encamped themselves on the creek to wait until their companion's return. As Rainsfield approached the house he was met at the door by John Ferguson; and, as he felt the warm pressure of the young man's hand, it was only with an effort he prevented the tears from oozing from his eyes. John led him to the room where lay his family; and, leaving him for a few moments to his own silent meditations over their lifeless forms, walked out on the verandah, from whence he saw the party that had accompanied thebereaved man. He was for a minute wondering who they could be, and why they did not come up to the house, when he felt the touch of Mr. Rainsfield on his arm, who said to him:"How much I owe you for this kindness my heart is too full to explain even if my words could utter it. But believe me so long as I live it shall be gratefully remembered. I had seen them a few hours before in all the horrors of their death. It was a sight to dry up the fountains of a kindly nature in any heart, and made me swear to live a life of perpetual vengeance.""Ah, my dear sir," exclaimed John, "it is ever difficult to meet with resignation the chastisements of an all-wise Providence; but we should learn to look upon all His dispensations as tending to a beneficial end.""I'll not pretend to argue with you," replied the other; "but my nature and feelings will not admit the embrace of such an immaculate creed. I must be avenged!"John, in the then state of his companion's mind, did not attempt to impress the precept as he believed the thirst for vengeance would slacken as the poignancy of his grief wore off."And Eleanor," said Rainsfield; "what is her fate?"A shade came over John's brow as he replied: "It is not yet decided. She is in a most dangerous state, and the doctor is now here attending her. He considers her case so precarious that he is remaining for some days to be constantly near in his watch for the turning-point which shall decide between life and death. I will ascertain if she can be seen;" and John left the spot.Upon his return he led the way to her room; and, as Rainsfield followed him, he asked, "Why didn't you bring your friends up with you to the house?""They preferred stopping at a distance and awaiting my return," he replied."But you are not going to leave us immediately," exclaimed John; "and theycannot think of camping out there while we can make some sort of a shake-down here.""I fear the presence of some of them at least would be objectionable to you," replied Rainsfield; "and I have no doubt they would prefer to remain where they are.""Nonsense," cried John; "I could not think of permitting such a thing. May I ask who are those who would not accept of what hospitality I can offer them?""Smithers, Graham, and Brown," replied Rainsfield.John ushered Rainsfield into the room where Eleanor lay still and motionless in a bed, at the side of which sat her watchful friend and nurse, who rose and left her seat as Rainsfield approached. He stood silently looking on the placid features of his cousin, which, but for the gentle heaving of the snowy linen that covered her breast, would have appeared as if inexorable death had already left the impress of his hand.In the meantime John walked down towhere the party of gentlemen lay stretched on the ground; and, addressing those whom he knew in a manner as if nothing had ever happened to mar the good feeling and fellowship that should have existed between them, invited the party up to the house. He prevented any refusal from Smithers (who could not dissemble his shame and mortification) by taking him cordially by the hand, and requesting that he would not give him the pain of a refusal, and of seeing him encamped with his friends within sight of his windows. He stated the accommodation he could afford them was not very commodious, but he would consider it unsocial if they did not accept it. The consequence of this appeal was that within a few minutes their horses were running in an adjoining paddock and they were all walking up together to the Fergusons' domicile.The next day was devoted to the interment of the earthly remains of the victims of the Strawberry Hill massacre; and, as that beautifullysublime and solemn ritual of the Anglican Church was read by one of the party over the bodies they were lowering respectively in their rough and hastily-constructed encasements into that lodgment where the grim tyrant retains his grasp until the last trumpet shall summon the dead from the caverns of the earth; and, as the heavy clod resounded with a hollow dullness on the lids of the coffins, more than one eye was moistened, and more than one tear rolled its course down the cheek of some of the strongest minded of the manly group. The grave was speedily filled in, and the party returned to the house to partake of a repast; after which they took their departure.CHAPTER XIII.

"Friend of the brave! in peril's darkest hour,Intrepid virtue looks to thee for power."Campbell."She only left of all the harmless train,The sad historian of the pensive plain."Goldsmith.

"Friend of the brave! in peril's darkest hour,Intrepid virtue looks to thee for power."Campbell."She only left of all the harmless train,The sad historian of the pensive plain."Goldsmith.

Everything went smoothly at Strawberry Hill for two days after the departure of Mr. Rainsfield; but the night of the third was that which was destined to bring with it a scene of horror, which happily has never had its equal in the Australian colonies since the first settler penetrated into its unknown wilds. The blacks had now remained some time dormant; for since their first visit, owing to thewarm reception they had then met with, they had not ventured to repeat it. Towards the evening in question, however, they might have been seen swimming, one by one, the swollen current of the Gibson, until a considerable body had congregated on the bank opposite to their camp.

We will not presume to judge their motives, or profess conversance with the impulses that influenced their movements. Possibly their instincts might have taught them that the time for a most successful attack was when the difficulties of approach rendered their coming least expected; or it might have been that they were possessed of the knowledge of their enemy's absence from home, and were determined to wreak their vengeance on those belonging to him when they had not to fear his presence. That Rainsfield was feared by them there was no doubt; his very name struck terror into their souls, and none but the very boldest of them would confront him, even in the consciousness of vastly superior force.It was therefore quite possible they were acquainted with his absence, and intended to take advantage of the occurrence to pay their premeditated visit to the station; or their choice of this period might have been the result of a fortuitous circumstance. Nevertheless be either as it may the flooded river did not prove the barrier Rainsfield had calculated it would, for the blacks crossed it with apparent ease and, as we have said, collected themselves on the bank on the Strawberry Hill side. Their evident intention being to proceed direct to the station when they thought the inmates would have retired to rest.

A little before midnight the murderous crew spread themselves over the station; and simultaneously commenced their work of destruction by entering the huts, and butchering all they could surprise in their sleep. The first of their victims was a woman, the wife of a shepherd. Hearing the unusual barking of the dogs she incautiously rose toascertain the cause without disturbing her husband, whose period of sleep she considered valuable. The poor woman appeared at the door of her hut with a child in her arms, too good a mark for the spears of the savages; for in their thirst for blood they had no respect for either sex or age but buried more than one of their weapons in the poor creature's bosom. She fell across the threshold pierced to the heart and in the agonies of death, with merely a sufficiency of the vital spark remaining to utter a faint cry and clasp instinctively her babe to her breast. As the infant's eyes turned in wonder on the ruthless savages one of them seized the little innocent by the legs, tore it from its mother's embrace and dashed out its brains; while his compeers rushed into the interior of the hut, and, almost before the sleeping man could sufficiently collect his senses to comprehend the nature of his position, his spirit had joined those of his wife and child. The other huts were in likewise visited, and those of the inmates whowere not successful in effecting an escape were similarly massacred.

These proceedings had been gone about by no means noiselessly, so that the family at the house had become aware of the presence of the savages, though they could not conjecture the extent or the nature of the outrages they had committed. Those of the men who had escaped from the murderous hands of the aborigines deemed it safer to seek shelter in the bush than to venture to the house, or even remain near the station. So that, beyond the painful evidence of her ears, Mrs. Rainsfield could ascertain no knowledge of what was going on. When she first heard the noise that had heralded the visitation she hastily threw on some clothing and emerged from her room; and, speedily becoming alive to the imminence of the danger, she for the first time deplored the absence of her husband. Mrs. Billing had removed with her youngest child to be near her better half while he remained at the house, but the rest of her family she had left at herown cottage; and having also been disturbed by the uproar she wrought herself into a perfect fever of anxiety for their safety. She fancied she heard every moment their dying screams as they were being seized by the ruthless hand of some infernal savage; and in her agony she fancied she could distinguish above the noise of the now unrestrained articulation of the blacks their little voices calling upon her for help, and she entreated to be allowed to rush at once to their rescue.

Her husband, however, was more rational, and pointed out to her that that would, in all probability, only incur instant death to herself and afford no relief to her children. He suggested that they should wait, and see what the blacks proposed doing next; and as in all probability it would be to attack the house, he remarked that their suspense would be of short duration. He then bethought him of his fire-arms, which he got in readiness for instant use, while he provided pistols to the females. His next care was to barricade allthe apertures through which the blacks could effect an entrance, while Mrs. Rainsfield crept softly to the bedside of Eleanor to ascertain if she had been disturbed by the noise. By the time these arrangements were completed, and the family assembled in conclave in the sitting-room, the blacks had collected before the house and became clamorous for admittance.

Mr. Billing, though not blessed with too great a share of physical courage, had, nevertheless, in the moment of danger, a sufficient perception of the line of conduct necessary for the defence of himself and those under his protection. Notwithstanding that the gun he then held in his hand was in all probability the first that he ever had in his possession with the intent of putting it to use, he handled it as if it were an old and friendly companion, and proposed that he and his two female colleagues should fire simultaneously on the savages, so as to give them the idea that the house was well defended. His suggestion, however, wasoverruled by Mrs. Rainsfield, who at once expressed her disapprobation of such a course; being convinced, as she said, that the blacks could not force the building, and even if they did that they would have no cause to commit any violence to any of the inmates. While if they found that they could not gain admittance they would depart at most, perhaps, with robbing the store. This belief was far from according with Mr. Billing's opinion, but he was constrained to assent to the will of the lady; and they all, with a breathless silence, continued to watch the movements of their assailants.

The blacks finding they were unmolested, and seeing no opposition offered to them, and no signs of life about the house, became bolder and attempted to force some of the doors and windows; while the affrighted party sat in a state of fearful anxiety, and, though unseen themselves, they could plainly distinguish the forms of the aborigines trying the window of the room in which they were.Mr. Billing at this moment placed the muzzle of his gun close to the glass of the window, that was left visible through a crevice in the barricade, and had he fired would have assuredly sent one savage to his account in the other world. Would that he had; for in all probability it would have driven the blacks to a distance from the house, and possibly saved us from the task of narrating this fearful tragedy. But his eagerness to fire was restrained by Mrs. Rainsfield, and the moment was lost; for the blacks, finding their efforts to gain an ingress unavailing, gave up the fruitless attempt, and withdrew to some short distance to hold converse on their proceedings.

Mrs. Rainsfield at once began to congratulate herself and her friends that they had retired as she had anticipated, leaving them nothing more to fear; and at that moment hearing the faint voice of Eleanor calling to her she hastened to account for the disturbance about the house and appease her alarm.Eleanor was in a state of considerable agitation, having been aroused from her fitful slumbers by the noise of the blacks, and being still very low in strength and spirits, and excessively nervous, her alarm and agitation threatened to bring on fever again. It was only with considerable difficulty that Mrs. Rainsfield could persuade her she had no cause to fear. She told her that the blacks had already taken their departure from the house, and would in all probability by that time have left the station; and she entreated her not to give herself any uneasiness, but to be still for a few minutes, and then she would return to her bedside and sit with her for the remainder of the night.

With these assurances, Eleanor was constrained to be pacified, and so Mrs. Rainsfield returned to the sitting-room, where she found Mrs. Billing wringing her hands and crying in an agony of grief. Mr. Billing was more calm, but not less apprehensive of danger or death. He drew the lady of the house to thecrevice of the window to gaze upon the scene without, while she uttered a cry of surprise and terror, as her startled vision took in the tableau there displayed. Before the house stood a group of the assailants in all the hideousness of barbarity, paint, and savage nudity. They had possessed themselves of "fire sticks," which acted as torches, at the same time that they served to exhibit their bodies in all their diabolical repulsiveness; and their intentions were too plainly indicated in their jestures. To say that they looked like a band of incarnate fiends would be to convey but a poor impression of the horrors of their appearance, as the fitful light reflected their hideous forms; exhibiting them in, if possible, a more fearful aspect than their stern realities; and giving them the appearance as the beholders thought (and as was, alas! but too true) of being besmeared with blood. It is not to be wondered at that at such a sight the hearts of two frail women, and even that of a man, should have quailed; and if notbefore despair certainly did then seize upon the spirits of those present.

The object of the villains had by this time become perfectly apparent, and though neither of the trio dared to breathe their individual suspicions they were unanimous in the one belief that the lighted torches were intended to fire the premises; and thus either drive them from their shelter or bury them in the ruins. They therefore saw that only two courses were open to them; either to arm themselves and defend the house until the last, or to throw it open to the savages and try and pacify them with anydouceurthe wretches might covet. That there was extreme danger in thus throwing themselves upon the mercy of fiends they were perfectly aware; and any one better acquainted with the black's character would have considered it absolute madness and voluntarily seeking for a death more horrible than that which would await them in a defensive perseverance. But the exercise of calm judgment and reasoncould hardly be expected from two agitated and terrified women, and one man whose nature was made of very little sterner stuff than theirs.

Mrs. Rainsfield was the first that broke the painful silence that ensued, and addressing Mr. Billing, said: "I think we had better open the door at once, or they will set fire to the house, and we will be burnt alive. If they determine to kill us we can but meet our death with firmness; while there is a possibility of their sparing us if we satisfy their cupidity by allowing them to plunder the place. Will you open the door, Mr. Billing, and attempt the work of conciliation?"

Mr. Billing silently obeyed this behest, and addressed himself to the blacks, who were at this time standing immediately before the house preparing to apply the fire. They instantly desisted from their incendiary work when they saw signs of capitulation, and directed their gaze to the doorway. By the light of their own "fire sticks" they could distinguishMr. Billing, who stood there with the women at his back perfectly unarmed; having left his gun by Mrs. Rainsfield's desire in the room they had vacated so as to give the savages, as she imagined, no cause for offence by appearing to offer any resistance. When the blacks satisfied themselves that they had nothing to fear they burst out into a loud laugh of derision, and crowded towards the defenceless garrison in a menacing and mocking attitude. What were the feelings of the trio at this moment it would be difficult even to conjecture. With Mrs. Billing, however, those of the mother overcame all personal and selfish considerations, and she darted from the house to ascertain the fate of her children. That action may be said to have decided the doom of the whole party; for though possibly even under other circumstances the blacks might not have spared those whom they had got into their power, and the strong probability is that they would not, yet the sudden movement of Mrs. Billingcost her her life, and gave the savages the stimulus to commence the further shedding of blood.

Mrs. Billing had not proceeded many steps before she uttered a loud shriek and fell prostrate to the earth with a spear piercing her back and protruding its point from her breast. Her husband witnessing the deed, eliminated from his bosom all feelings save those of devotion and sympathy for his wife, rushed to clasp her in his arms and met a similar fate. The climax of this fearful tragedy was nearly attained. Mrs. Rainsfield fled from the open doorway, where she had been the spectator of this connubial sacrifice, and sought momentary refuge with her children in her room. Just as the blacks entered the house the servants, who had by this time been aroused to a sense of their danger, opened a door which led from the kitchen into the hall. But perceiving the murderous assailants pouring in they left the door wide open as they had flung it and made a hasty exit by anotherpassage into the obscurity of the night, and beat a precipitate retreat to the bush. In their flight they were followed by a few of the savages who had perceived them; but who shortly tired of a chase in which fear lent wings to the pursued. They returned to aid their colleagues in forcing an entrance into the room of Mrs. Rainsfield and commenced their work there of insatiable cruelty with hideous and diabolical evidences of satisfaction.

The atrocities of these fiends were more like the evil machinations of devils than the actions of human beings. But to enumerate all the horrors, and to paint the scene with sufficiently forcible life-like delineation, would be beyond the capabilities of our pen, and would only sicken our readers by the perusal. Therefore we will merely say that they first murdered the children before the eyes of their mother, while they sported with the agonising despair of their victim, and then despatched the lady; brutally mangling her body in their inordinate lust for blood.

Eleanor had remained spell-bound during the perpetration of those horrors, which she had animation sufficient to discern were being enacted in the house; but without either enough strength to move, or power of utterance to give vent to the fearful sensations that preyed upon her mind. Alarm we cannot call it: such a feeling sinks into insignificance compared with the mental anguish she then endured; being conscious, from the heart-rending cries that struck her ear, that her dearest earthly friends were meeting with a death too horrible to contemplate, and not knowing how speedily a similar fate awaited herself. She lay thus in a sort of trance, or tremulous expectancy, for some considerable time, while she could hear the work of destruction going on all around; to which work the savages had taken when they had completed their murders. But still they had not visited her, and she continued to lie, the prey to the most fearful mental agonies.

Sounds of rapidly approaching horsemenwere then heard, and the blacks began to leave the scene of their bloody desolation for fear of the retribution which they expected from the approaching rescue. To Eleanor, though she was nigher to death than a sublinary existence, the sound was joyous; and she began to entertain hope that the relief would prove opportune for the saving of her friends, as she felt it already was for the rescue of herself. But oh! how unaccountable are the decrees of Providence. At the very moment when she imagined the house was vacated by the murderers the door of her room opened, and a hideous black monster literally besmeared with blood burst in, and with uplifted arm and bloody weapon, rushed to extinguish in her soul the flickering spark of life. The black was followed by another, also with a hand elevated and grasping a tomahawk. But the sight was more than Eleanor's shattered nerves could bear; and starting into a sitting posture on her bed, her tongue was loosened; she gave one piercingshriek, and sank back senseless half leaning over the edge of her couch. The fate, however, she had expected she did not meet with; for, instead of the glancing steel of the second black being imbrued with her blood, it was buried in the brain of the first, who sank to the floor a corpse.

The cause of Eleanor's escape we may here explain to the reader. The frame of the door to her room was placed in immediate contiguity to that of the one which opened into the kitchen; and by some strange design of the builder this latter was made to open out into the hall. Thus when the servants opened it, and left it so, the fortuitous circumstance of its irregularity proved Eleanor's preservation; for when thrown back it entirely concealed the entrance to her room, and eluded almost completely the vigilance of the murderers. It was, as we have seen, just as they were retreating from the place that one of the stragglers accidentally discovered it; and, thinking that the spot had not beenvisited by either himself or his compeers, he entered to satisfy his curiosity by a hasty visit; which would assuredly have terminated the existence of Eleanor but for the timely blow dealt him by his fellow.

This extraordinary internecine action may also require some elucidation; and we will dispel the mystery by an explanation. Barwang and his party upon their first visit to Strawberry Hill, when they met with their repulse, became convinced that their movements had been betrayed by one of their tribe, and they doubted not but that the betrayal emanated from Jemmy Davies. They therefore kept a watch upon him lest he should again carry information to Mr. Rainsfield, and preserved their own councils from his knowledge; so that, until they had actually started on their expedition, he was quite ignorant of their plans. When an opportunity offered, however, he followed them on their track up to the house; and, though he did not venture into the building, he kept hovering about inthe hope that he might be able to render some assistance to the family. But not until the approaching sounds of horses' feet drew off the masses of the tribe did he deem it safe for his own security to enter. He did so; and, as he passed into the hall, he saw one of his countrymen opening the door of a room and stand for a moment in the aperture gazing fixedly in one direction. The glance of this savage's eye, as his own keen vision caught the momentary flash, told Jemmy Davies that vengeance gleamed from the other's orb, and in an instant he sprang after him, and saved an innocent life by the sacrifice of one worse than worthless and infamous. When he was convinced the house was empty of his countrymen, and being aware that if he were caught in the place by any white man the colour of his skin would be the warrant for his instant death, he took a hasty survey of the fearful scene of blood that was visible even in the partial darkness, and left the house by the back as two horsemen, ridingrapidly up to the front, leapt from their saddles and rushed in. These two, as may be conjectured, were John Ferguson and Joey.

Fearful as John had been of the nature of events he believed were transpiring the sight that met his gaze as he entered the dwelling struck him dumb with horror, and perfectly sick at heart, and paralysed at the bloody disclosure. The whole floor of the house was slippery with the gore of the murdered victims as it had been carried about by the feet of the murderers. He hastily struck a light from the materials he had about him; and, with the pulsations of his heart almost audible, made a survey of the habitation. The first things that he noticed were the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Billing, which had been dragged by the savages into the hall, possibly with the intention of consuming the whole in flames after they had finished their work; and then in the sitting-room he saw the signs of the barricade that had been hastily thrown up before the window. Fromthat he hastened to the one which had in life been occupied by the amiable lady that had been mistress of the place, and there he witnessed the mangled remains of herself and her family. As he gazed upon the hardly to be recognised features of that friend who had so often greeted him with the cordial grasp of friendship he could not restrain the tears that in a flood coursed their way down his cheeks. Continuing his melancholy search he next entered the room of Eleanor, and almost stumbled over the carcass of the black who lay in the middle of the floor weltering in his blood. This sight caused him no little surprise; especially, when with a sad foreboding he approached the couch of that being he adored above all mundane objects, to find her pendent form though insensible was scathless. But it was not a moment to indulge in conjectures; he had discovered his idol in the midst of death still living. So placing the unconscious creature on the bed, and enveloping her in the clothes, he snatchedher in his arms; and pressing her to his breast bore off the precious load.

With the assistance of his attendant he mounted his horse; and despatching Joey instantly with injunctions to fly, if possible, to Alma for the doctor and bring him to Fern Vale, he turned his own horse's head homewards, and proceeded as fast as the animal with his additional burden could travel.

Bright and beautiful the morning dawned as he rode towards his home; but serene as were the sublimities of nature their contemplation had no place in his mind. All his thoughts were centred in the inaminate form encircled by his arms. Thus he rode unconscious to all around, and would have so ridden to the end of his journey had not a faint sigh struck his ear; and he instantly stopped his horse to enable him to enjoy the sight of returning vitality to his much loved Eleanor. He gently removed the covering that he had placed over her face, when her melancholy eyes for a moment rested upon his. It wasonly for a moment, however, for they were instantly secluded from the light by the closing lids; and, considering it better not to agitate her with conversation, and satisfied for the time with the assurance of his hearing and vision, he impressed one rapturous kiss on her fair forehead, again covered her face from the morning air, and proceeded on his way.

"All those riversThat fed her veins with warm and crimson streamsFrozen and dried up; if these be signs of death,Then is she dead.... But I will be trueE'en to her dust and ashes."Decker.

"All those riversThat fed her veins with warm and crimson streamsFrozen and dried up; if these be signs of death,Then is she dead.... But I will be trueE'en to her dust and ashes."Decker.

Mr. Rainsfield pursued his way homewards little anticipating the sight that awaited him on his arrival; but, owing to the heavy state of the roads from the saturation of the ground, he was only enabled to travel slowly. Consequently he perceived the flood coming down the Gibson long before he reached the crossing-place of the Wombi; and, knowing that there would be no use attempting a passagethere, since the bridge had been swept away, he at once struck off for the Dingo Plains to get over by the upper crossing-place. By making this detour it was near morning before he approached the station.

Upon his reaching home he at once went to the stable and attended to his horse, the first consideration of a bushman, and then bent his steps to the house, feeling an unaccountable sensation of awe, which the pervading solitude and death-like stillness inspired him with. This feeling he was ashamed to indulge in, and tried to banish it from his mind and deceive his conscience by attempting to whistle a lively air, while he submitted his right boot to a playful castigation with his riding-whip. All these stratagems, however, proved futile: a gloom had settled upon him which he could not shake off, and he hastened his steps to his dwelling with his heart in a perturbation that gave place to the most fearful apprehensions as he perceived the house open to free ingress. Thetruth at once burst upon him with overwhelming force, and he rushed like one demented into the room where he had expected to meet the embrace of his wife, but only to witness her mutilated remains surrounded by those of her children. He gazed upon their forms for some minutes in the uncertain light with a sad, though calm and almost stoical cast of countenance; and then, kneeling by the side of his wife's body, he parted her clotted hair from off her brow, which he stooped down and kissed, and, while dashing a scalding tear from his eye, thus apostrophised the fane of the departed spirit:

"And was it for this I left you, my darling Mary, to seek for you protection, and obtain assistance to drive the disturbers of our happiness from the land? Oh! that I could but have foreseen this, to have either preserved you and our poor little innocents, or perished while I shielded your heart with my breast. Curses on my cruel fate, and the blinding fancies of security which led me away fromyour side. Oh, Mary, Mary! more dear to me than life, to have lost you thus, butchered! by a set of ruthless savages, consumes my very heart. But you shall be revenged. By heaven! you shall." And, springing to his feet with clenched fists, and gazing into space as the whole expression of his countenance changed, he continued:

"What is life to me now, deprived of all the ties that bound me to this earth? It shall be devoted to the cause of vengeance; and here, Mary! in the presence of your spirit, and in the sight of my Maker, I swear to be revenged upon all the blacks in this country; never shall one cross my path alive. I'll spare neither their old nor their young. I'll hunt them from their dens, like the vermin that they are. They shall be made to bite the dust. Their bodies shall rot, and their bones bleach in the sun. Never shall they rest until they are wholly exterminated, or my strength and life fail me; and I swear that so long as one black remains of all theirrace my vengeance shall not be satisfied. Hear me, Mary! while I pray to God for the strength of Hercules, and the age of Methuselah, that I may be a terror to their species, and they may learn to curse the day when first they tasted the blood of mine. And oh, Mary! if thou seest me from the portals of that abode where the eternal dwell, look down upon me and commend my work, help my weak arm; encourage my drooping spirit; be a light to beacon my path in the remainder of my gloomy passage through this world; and let not the cup of vengeance be removed from the lips of thy foul murderers until they have tasted of the very dregs. So now, my angel wife! my once fond and loving but now lost wife! sacrificed through thy husband's folly and neglect, if vengeance is sweet to thee thy spirit shall be appeased; for henceforth my name shall be one to strike dismay into the souls of blacks throughout the land. So help me God!"

Having uttered this fearful oath, and callingdown the aid of his Maker to assist him in its performance, Rainsfield left the room and the house a broken-hearted man; re-saddled his horse, which he mounted, and went he knew not whither. His state was truly piteous; his better and softer nature was in perpetual warfare with his fiendish feelings, which prompted nothing but a thirst for vengeance. The memory of his wife, and the sudden shock occasioned by her loss and fearful death, had at first subdued the evil passions of the mortal; and he had gazed upon the placid features of the corpse with a calm and settled grief. But as he awoke to a plainer perception of the horrors of the event, and what must have been the sufferings of his defenceless family, with the brutality of their hellish assailants, all softer feelings evanished before the sterner one revenge; which in the one moment of decision he determined should be the sole object of his future life. In this frame of mind he left his home, that had so lately been smiling and happy but now gloomy,bloody, and to be shunned; for he felt to dwell under that roof again was impossible. His home for the future would be under the canopy of heaven, and his life that of the avenger. Thus he left the house, misfortune having so overcome his reason that he had no idea of further inspection of the building, possibly believing that all had met with the same fate, not even to glance into the room of Eleanor; and he wandered forth absorbed in grief, without any definite notion of where he was to go, or how he was to dispose of the bodies.

Towards noon of the following day he entered the township of Alma, and his horse stopping instinctively before the door of the "Woolpack" inn, he alighted; and allowed the animal to be taken from him while he mechanically entered the house. The news of the massacre had already spread through the country, while the thousand tongues of mercurial gossip had imparted to the original tragedy as many phases of horror as imaginationcould possibly invent. The fearful occurrence had arrested the attention, and absorbed all the interest of the residents of Alma; and they were in several knots in deep and earnest conclave, discussing the bloody event, as they saw the chief sufferer approaching their town.

The loudest declamation, and the deepest uttered anathemas against the natives, were in an instant checked. The earnestly asseverated opinion, that the lives of the settlers would be perpetually in danger, unless the blacks were speedily exterminated,—the noisy declaration of some bold patriot, as he expressed his determination to declare eternal warfare against the savages, and even to enter upon the crusade single-handed if no one would lend him aid; with the faint voice of some more philanthropic polemic, who attempted to check the stream of exuberant passion, by palliating without defending (on the plea of retribution) the horrible murder,—were all hushed, and gave place to a heartfeltthough silent sympathy as Mr. Rainsfield rode into the town. And even after he was lost to their vision, by ensconsure in the "Woolpack," their conversations were resumed in a lower cadence, lest (even at a distance at which their most stentorian utterances could hardly have been distinguishable) the nature of their conversation should strike his ear and recall the subject of his grief.

The news had reached them that morning by Joey when he arrived post-haste for the doctor. He had been fortunate in finding the resident son of Galen at home; and, obeying the injunctions of his master, had delivered his message, and returned with him immediately. Short as had been his stay it was quite long enough to enable the inhabitants to elicit from him the facts of which the reader is acquainted. They learnt with some degree of satisfaction that one of the family still retained life, and would possibly be able, at some time, to recount the circumstances of the massacre. Thus, in the presence of somuch to engender the feeling of compassion, a morbid curiosity to learn all the details of horror seized upon the minds of the good people of Alma. But such is the nature of man; selfishness reigns supreme, and shines forth in all his motions and actions.

When Joey returned with the doctor he deviated from the beaten track, to cross the Wombi by the upper fords; thinking that his companion might object to the more dangerous one of the lower. Rainsfield, on the contrary, in his journey, never dreaming of dangers or difficulties, had taken the lower; hence the parties had missed one another. This caused the gossips of Alma to wonder greatly what had brought him away from his house; especially as they had heard that he had been absent at the time of the outrage, and must have since visited the scene, and met the doctor and messenger on the road. But they were unacquainted with the circumstance that had prevented the meeting, and they were destined, at least at that time, toremain in ignorance; for the landlord of the inn to whom they had recourse, rough and unfeeling as he appeared, had too much respect for the grief of his visitor to attempt obtaining any information from him.

The landlord, without enquiring from him if he would take any meal, prepared the table for a repast, and placed on it some edibles, with a bottle of brandy and some water. Then, without uttering a syllable, he left the room and the sorrow-stricken man to an uninterrupted solitude. Rainsfield sat for some time gazing fixedly on the viands before him without attempting or desiring to partake of them; retaining an unaltered position on each occasion that he was surveyed by the sympathising host through the key-hole of the door. In this state he might have remained, until exhausted nature had induced a return to consciousness, had not his attention been attracted by the arrival of an extensive cavalcade at the door of the inn. Glancing his eye languidly over the features of the ridersas they were dismounting he instantly recognised amongst the group the person and voice of Bob Smithers; and the object of the party was at once made apparent.

New life was at once infused into his veins; the blood once more mantled his cheek, and fire was imparted to his eye, as he, with compressed lip and determined visage, leapt from his seat and strode to the doorway.

"Show those gentlemen in here, landlord," he said, addressing that individual, as he was ushering the newly-arrived travellers into a separate room.

"I thought, sir, you would prefer to be alone," replied the landlord, "so I was going to let you have the parlour to yourself."

"Never mind, let them come in here," replied Rainsfield.

The party by this time had entered the room they were shown to, so the landlord turned to them, and said:

"If you would like to step into the other room, gents, you will find it more comfortable;there is only one other gent there, perhaps you know him," he continued in an under tone, "it is Mr. Rainsfield."

A low murmur ran through the party at the mention of the name, though it was unheard by Rainsfield himself, he having turned again into the parlour. The name of Rainsfield was repeated by them all in a tone of voice that unmistakeably indicated a sorrowful compassion. They were all squatters in the district and friends of Smithers, who had collected them to go to the assistance of their neighbour for his protection against the aborigines. They had heard as they came along the fearful news of the massacre, and had accelerated their speed to arrive on the scene of action as soon as possible, in the hope of finding some of the family living, or being in time to afford some assistance, either in the preservation of their lives, the protection of their property, or the chastisement of their murderers.

Smithers instantly proposed to join Mr.Rainsfield, and at once adjourned to the other room, followed by his companions; and, as he entered and advanced with extended hand, but without venturing to speak, Rainsfield grasped the proffered token of friendship, while he said: "Too late, Smithers! too late! except for revenge, and that is all I hope to live for."

"And in which we can now only serve you," replied his companion. "But we will organize some plan of operation; we count fifteen now, and are sufficient to be irresistible to the whole tribe of blacks. In the meantime let the landlord prepare dinner, and then we will discuss matters quietly. I think you know all our friends here?"

The form of introduction being gone through where the parties were not acquainted, and the shaking of hands where they were, the necessary instructions were given to the landlord to prepare something for the company, and they fell into a desultory conversation previous to entering upontheir plans. It is not our intention to weary the reader with a verbose report of the initiatory proceedings of the party, and will therefore merely state that they formed themselves into a mutual protection society, with the professed object of combining to repel the encroachments of the blacks, though in reality to hunt them down like dogs. For the furtherance of this scheme they bound themselves by stringent oaths to let none escape them, but to kill all they should come across. Each individual swore to take active part in the process of destruction so as to make all equally implicated. They vowed, by the most solemn obligations, never to make any disclosure that would criminate any of the society; while, before any neophyte could be admitted within the periphery of their mysterious bonds, it was determined he should be subjected to an ordeal that would protect the members from the possibility of any disclosure that would cause their amenability to the law.

In the course of conversation with the landlord Smithers learnt that one of the family (which his informant could not tell him) was still living, and that a messenger, supposed from Fern Vale, had come over that morning for the doctor. Smithers communicated this to Rainsfield, who then remembered for the first time that he had not visited the room of Eleanor, and therefore inferred that it must be she, he having had too clear a demonstration of the total absence of life in the bodies of his wife and children. This he mentioned to Smithers, and they both agreed that Eleanor must have been discovered by some of the Fergusons, who had removed her to their own house, and sent for the doctor. They therefore determined to adhere to their original plan of starting early on the following morning, after taking a night's rest where they were, it being needed by most of the party as well as by their horses.

On the following morning they were early on the road, so that few saw them leave thetownship. But though nothing had been said by any of the Society respecting the object of their journey it was pretty shrewdly guessed at, if not positively known, by most of the inhabitants; and it was evident to them no body of men, armed with rifles and revolvers, could be travelling to the scene of a murderous outrage with any peaceable intent. The sympathies, however, of most went with them; and even though some of their number had been disposed in simple argument to feel for the blacks, none dared to incur public opprobrium by making any representations of the supposed hostilities to official quarters. The Society itself proceeded on its way very quietly, its members being mostly absorbed in sketching out, mentally, plans of the campaign on which they were entering, so that the journey was almost entirely performed in silence.

When they reached the station its appearance was quite desolate; no signs of life were perceptible, and the stillness of deathspread around its influence, which was sensibly felt by all. The house was closed to all ingress, and on the door was nailed a card bearing the words: "Let Mr. Rainsfield proceed to Fern Vale the instant on his arrival." Rainsfield read the sentence, and at once guessed the import; he perceived that when the murder had been discovered by the Fergusons they had removed the bodies thither, if possible, to await his arrival before interment; and he determined to go on at once, though, before departing, he desired once more to gaze upon the rooms through which the steps of his wife and the merry voices of his children had so lately resounded, but which were now tenantless, desolate, and bloody. An entrance was effected by a back window, and the party admitted; when great was the surprise of Mr. Rainsfield to find no sign or vestige of the fearful crime that had there so lately been committed. He read in all this the kind hand of his neighbours, and his heart smote him in the midstof his grief for the manner in which he had behaved to young Ferguson. To his friends he pointed out with a melancholy precision the spots where he had found the various bodies, described their position and their mutilated condition, and then wandered through the rooms with an abstracted air conjuring in his imagination the scenes that were passed, never more to return, and peopling them in his fancy with those loved forms whose spirits had fled to the source from whence they sprang.

His friends did not attempt to interrupt the gratification of this melancholy pleasure, but allowed him to be the first to propose a retreat, which, when he did, they were ready to agree to. The whole party then left the house to proceed to Fern Vale; and while they are on the road we will precede them and take a momentary glance at the doings there, both at the exact period of our narrative and also retrospectively for a few hours.

John Ferguson, when he bore the all but lifeless body of Eleanor into his own house, arrested the volatile reception of his sister with an expression of countenance that betokened deep sorrow. To the poor girl the look was unaccountable; she had only risen the instant her brother had arrived, and had heard nothing of his approach; consequently she was a little surprised at his presence. But when she was about to rush into his embrace his manner appalled her, while she was equally surprised at the singular burden he carried in his arms, for in the manner in which he had enveloped the body of Eleanor the form was undefinable. John, however, saved his sister the necessity of any questioning, by saying:

"Don't ask me any questions at present that will require any explanation of the cause of my unexpected appearance with this almost lifeless form. Lead the way to your room, Kate, for I must place it under your charge; and I can assure you it requiresyour tenderest care. I have already sent for a doctor, and expect him here in the course of the day."

The astonished girl preceded her brother to her room, and, as John laid his burden gently on his sister's bed, he uncovered the face and disclosed to the vision of Kate the pallid features of the unconscious Eleanor.

"Oh, John! dear John! tell me what is the meaning of this! what fearful thing has happened?" Kate passionately exclaimed.

"A dreadful event, Kate, as you may imagine," replied her brother, "by my bearing that dear creature in such a state, and bringing her here to be ministered to by you. She is now destitute of friends; but I cannot tell you more at present, your nerves could not sustain the recital of the horrors of the tale. I know that I need not ask you to bestow upon Eleanor your utmost attention and most affectionate sympathy; but I must caution you, should she return to consciousness, to make no allusion to the circumstancesof her misfortune; nor do you attempt to elicit anything from her; rather try to soothe and calm her troubled spirit."

"Oh, poor dear Eleanor! what cruel fate has put you in this awful predicament?" cried Kate, when she burst into tears and buried her face in the clothes by the side of her friend.

In the meantime John left the room, and, proceeding to the kitchen, he requested their female servant to go to the assistance of her mistress. Here he found the servants who had escaped from the massacre at Strawberry Hill relating to the astonished and horrified listeners as much of the fearful outrage as they had witnessed, and what they imagined to be the conclusion. But their narrative, though dreadful, was not a tithe of the reality. He next sought his brother, to whom he related the sad events, and commissioned him to break the tale to Kate in as mild a way as possible. Then he informed him that he had left the sheep at the Wombi and suggestedthat he and some of the men should go over and assist the fellows that were with them, as they would necessarily be short-handed, especially for the portion of the flock that had not crossed the river. He then hastily partook of some refreshment, and taking a few of his own men, and the servants and those who had escaped from Strawberry Hill, he returned to that station to remove, if possible, the signs of the outrage, and bring the bodies of the victims to his own place; so that if Rainsfield should have heard of the circumstance before his arrival he would not be maddened by a sight of the murderous destruction.

The house was speedily cleansed of all vestiges of blood. Similar stains were removed from the corpses. The house was arranged in order, and closed up, and the party left it as John affixed to the door the card we have already noticed. The cavalcade moved slowly from the deserted mansion, and, as it proceeded on its way with its load of inertmortality, it was overtaken by the doctor and Joey from Alma. To the latter, in a few words, he gave directions, and left him to follow with the bodies, while he and the doctor pushed on.

In the meantime Eleanor had at frequent intervals opened her eyes and gazed vacantly on all the objects around her, including even the face of her friend, whom she never for an instant appeared to recognise. To Kate's tender soothing attempts she took no heed; but on each occasion, with a faint sigh and shudder, relapsed into her former torpor. This state continued until the arrival of the doctor, who, though he did not express his fears, entertained serious apprehensions for her life; and afterwards communicated to John his alarm, that, though her corporeal system might recover, the shock to her nerves had been so great that he feared her mind might give way and either become impaired or totally demented. He recommended her room to be kept dark, and as cool and asquiet as possible; and during her waking intervals, her mind to be as much diverted as could be. He then prescribed certain medicines, amongst them powerful soporifics, and Joey was instantly despatched, upon his arrival, to Alma to get them compounded, while the doctor remained by the patient to watch her malady.

On the following day Rainsfield presented himself at Fern Vale. Smithers could not be persuaded to approach the house; therefore he and his friends encamped themselves on the creek to wait until their companion's return. As Rainsfield approached the house he was met at the door by John Ferguson; and, as he felt the warm pressure of the young man's hand, it was only with an effort he prevented the tears from oozing from his eyes. John led him to the room where lay his family; and, leaving him for a few moments to his own silent meditations over their lifeless forms, walked out on the verandah, from whence he saw the party that had accompanied thebereaved man. He was for a minute wondering who they could be, and why they did not come up to the house, when he felt the touch of Mr. Rainsfield on his arm, who said to him:

"How much I owe you for this kindness my heart is too full to explain even if my words could utter it. But believe me so long as I live it shall be gratefully remembered. I had seen them a few hours before in all the horrors of their death. It was a sight to dry up the fountains of a kindly nature in any heart, and made me swear to live a life of perpetual vengeance."

"Ah, my dear sir," exclaimed John, "it is ever difficult to meet with resignation the chastisements of an all-wise Providence; but we should learn to look upon all His dispensations as tending to a beneficial end."

"I'll not pretend to argue with you," replied the other; "but my nature and feelings will not admit the embrace of such an immaculate creed. I must be avenged!"

John, in the then state of his companion's mind, did not attempt to impress the precept as he believed the thirst for vengeance would slacken as the poignancy of his grief wore off.

"And Eleanor," said Rainsfield; "what is her fate?"

A shade came over John's brow as he replied: "It is not yet decided. She is in a most dangerous state, and the doctor is now here attending her. He considers her case so precarious that he is remaining for some days to be constantly near in his watch for the turning-point which shall decide between life and death. I will ascertain if she can be seen;" and John left the spot.

Upon his return he led the way to her room; and, as Rainsfield followed him, he asked, "Why didn't you bring your friends up with you to the house?"

"They preferred stopping at a distance and awaiting my return," he replied.

"But you are not going to leave us immediately," exclaimed John; "and theycannot think of camping out there while we can make some sort of a shake-down here."

"I fear the presence of some of them at least would be objectionable to you," replied Rainsfield; "and I have no doubt they would prefer to remain where they are."

"Nonsense," cried John; "I could not think of permitting such a thing. May I ask who are those who would not accept of what hospitality I can offer them?"

"Smithers, Graham, and Brown," replied Rainsfield.

John ushered Rainsfield into the room where Eleanor lay still and motionless in a bed, at the side of which sat her watchful friend and nurse, who rose and left her seat as Rainsfield approached. He stood silently looking on the placid features of his cousin, which, but for the gentle heaving of the snowy linen that covered her breast, would have appeared as if inexorable death had already left the impress of his hand.

In the meantime John walked down towhere the party of gentlemen lay stretched on the ground; and, addressing those whom he knew in a manner as if nothing had ever happened to mar the good feeling and fellowship that should have existed between them, invited the party up to the house. He prevented any refusal from Smithers (who could not dissemble his shame and mortification) by taking him cordially by the hand, and requesting that he would not give him the pain of a refusal, and of seeing him encamped with his friends within sight of his windows. He stated the accommodation he could afford them was not very commodious, but he would consider it unsocial if they did not accept it. The consequence of this appeal was that within a few minutes their horses were running in an adjoining paddock and they were all walking up together to the Fergusons' domicile.

The next day was devoted to the interment of the earthly remains of the victims of the Strawberry Hill massacre; and, as that beautifullysublime and solemn ritual of the Anglican Church was read by one of the party over the bodies they were lowering respectively in their rough and hastily-constructed encasements into that lodgment where the grim tyrant retains his grasp until the last trumpet shall summon the dead from the caverns of the earth; and, as the heavy clod resounded with a hollow dullness on the lids of the coffins, more than one eye was moistened, and more than one tear rolled its course down the cheek of some of the strongest minded of the manly group. The grave was speedily filled in, and the party returned to the house to partake of a repast; after which they took their departure.

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