The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-09-09


the wilderness, guide there was none; and,
like many others, she might toll on, till she
fell exhausted to perish of inanition. To a
dweIler in England the idea of being lost
in the bush seems absurd; but out in the
great Australian wilds, where everything is
on so grand-so apparently illimitable-a
scale, strong and ardent men have been
before now known to wander from the
beatean track to where pathway there was
none through the untrodden wild, and to
wander on and on till death put an end to
their sufferings.
But had Mary wandered away IN dread,
fleeing for safety through the thorny wastei
They could not answer the question; and.
in spite of making an Overwhelming circle
to try and discover the trail, all seemed
vain. Samson would have pushed off by
the track taken by the savages, but for the
persuasion OF Anderson; and though so far
disappointment had attended his efforts,
Teddy seemed pleased at the trust reposed
in him, and often, down upon hands and
knees, he examined every blade of grass
and leaf.
The traces left by the marauding party
extended round the hut, and for some dis.
tance back into. the wild in every direction;
and it was beyond that circle that the prin-
cfpal efforts of the seekers were directed;
but days wore on without any success, the
difficulty growing greater each hour, in a
land where vegetation is rapid and grass
would soon spring up where the foot had
pressed, as was very apparent; for on the
eighth morning, when they again started
upon their apparently hopeless task, the
tracks of the savages were IN many places
hardly to be seen. ALI dread of their ene-
mics seemed lost in this great trouble, and
they wandered on, hour after hour, needless
of danger, till on this last day they were at a
spot many miles from home, where was an
opening in the dense scrub-the rough head
ofrock and huge boulder being thrust here
and there through the sod to form a desc
late Wilderness, far as the eye could reach
mile after mile of rugged stony undulation,
upon which the sun beat down with a heat
that was all but unbearable.
For days past Teddy had been taciturn
and moody, hunting on still, and apparent
ly examining every inch of ground; but he
hardly answered when spoken TO, sppar-
emily under the impression that Samson
and Anderson were disappointed in his
track.
Evening was fast approaching when it
made some discovery, for he was pressing
on in one particular direction, though when
shouted to, he took no heed. Tired and
worn, however, and sick at heart with
many disappointments, father and lover
sat down to rest, when at the end of about
an hour they heard the well-knOwn "cooey"
of the black, reiterated again and again.
So, desponding, they rose and proceeded
in the direction of the sound, to meet the
black at last looking eager and yet start
led-apparently afraid to communicate his
intelligence to Samson-and turning in his
track to retrace his steps for a couple of
miles, when, just as night was falling, he
halted, stepped aside, and pointed on
wards to where there was little eminence
visible in front of the father.
"For Heavens sake push on" cried An
derson huskily; but Samson grasped at his
arm, and would have stayed him had he
not thrust him aside and dashed forward,
to be out of sight in a few moments
amongst the bushes which here grow
thickly.
Five minutes passed and he did moi re.
turn, when staggering like drunken man,
Samson followed in his steps, with eyes
bent upon the ground, and brain apparent
was about to be revealed to him, but only
in numb, helpless way. The black came
close behind, watching him intently, till,
parting the bushes, he came in sight OF
Anderson, kneeling by the figure they had
so long sought; for, lying, as if peacefully
sleeping, beneath the scanty shade of q
stunted bush, through whose thin sharp
leaves the evening breeze sighed mourn
ELL L. 81 Il
garments, lacerated feet, and arm bent be-
meath her head, showed that she had in
deed fled from the approach of the savages
and wandered on and on hopelessly till
she had laid down, as she imagined, to
sleep her last, long sleep. The hand which
Anderson grasped was tightly clutched ;but
in spite of its coldness, the thip, blue lips,
sunken ewes, and the unnatural pallor OF
the face, it was evident that she lived. The
father, though, knew it not, neither did
Anderson; for, weeping like children, they
knelt on either side, dreading to move
her, for she seemed now doubly sacred IN
their eyes.
"Better than that we should never have
found her." said Samson in broken voice.
Teddy sure find her some day. Now
fetch water, and give her drink" ex-
claimed the black; and taking up what
neither of the others had noticed-the
milking pail that the poor girl must have
carried from day to day in her many
wanderings-he went off and soon returned
with water.
"Keep back, fool" exclaimed Anderson,
as the black pushed up Mary's head, and
scooping up some water in the hollow OF
his hand, he made as if to pour it over the
reclining form.
'cNo dead" exclaimed Teddy; ''give hel
drink. Dahl he calculated; for at that
moment Anderson gave cry of joy on see.
ing slight quivering In one eyelid, while
the thin blue lips parted to emit sigh,
Iaint as that of the wind above their heads.
They had reached the poor girl il
time; but so near had she been to her last
breath that weeks elapsed, during which
she lay almost insensible upon the borders
fthat unknown land to which she had sc
nearly travelled before she could be said tc
beout of danger.
Hers was a simple story-one that she
often told in after years to Anderson's s chill
dren, as, a happy wife, she sat beneath his
prosperous roof-a story of how she had fin
ished milking COW, and was carrying hel
pail to the next, when the gliding form of 6
blackin his war paint attracted her atten
ton. Her first idea was to flee to the hut
but that she soon saw was utterly impossi
BILE, for figure after figure appeared be,
tween her and safety, and all she could
do was to go back quietly into the scrut
and then, with the pail she carried catch
ing in the bushes, SO that the white mill
splashed out from time to time, she fec
on hastily-always with the impression
that she was being tracked.
How it was she clung to the pail, seem
ed to her a mystery; but it was her saliva
ton, for, utterly worn out at last, she ha'
fallen on her knees in the dense wood a
darkness came on, dreading to move, anC
now for the first time she remembered tn
milk, and drank eagerly of the remaining
but sadly diminished supply. The mex
day she wandered on and on, helplessl.
lost, ever changing her course, and heeinl
in dread from the blacks she felt assures
we're on her trail The milk gave her lif
and strength that day and the next, as sh
husbanded and eked out the failing drop
with water, till the time came when al
seemed a feverish dream, wherein she wa
struggling on through thorny wastes, will
the hot sun pouring its feryid beams upol
| her head.
She knew no more, for her next recolleC
ton was waking in her own old bed at tn
hut, as from long and troubled dream, I'll
a glance at her wasted hands, and an at
tempt to rise, told her that the dream wa
true.
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