The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-05-15

i slung TO my saddle, Just Favored with
something from my flask, and we
| logged on together. OF course, we
began to talk about the bush-rang-
ers. The sergeant told me that they
had taken man who they were toleraby
sure had been mate of Thunderbolt's on
/ the occasion of the bank robbery; he was
in possession of stolen horses, and had
/ suspicious number of sovereigns about
| him; but as to Thunderbolt himself, they
were at fault. The small tree solicitors
and farmers would not, or dared not, give
any information; the bush telegraph was
actively at work. Thunderbot and his
! boy were in all probability comfortably
hidden somewhere In the ranges, certain
of timely information should the police
get upon his track. told him that three
/ of our best horses had mysteriously dis
appeared; one of them, the Doctor, win
ner of certain stockmans purses, and
! hack races in particular, was well-known
| to him, and to most people in the district,
and we bad little doubt as to who had
taken them. The Doctor was a sashing
chestnut, with great staring white face,
like Blair Athol, an animal to be recog-
nized mile off amid a thousand others.
So we rode on, EARNING mile after mile,
under the hot sun, intending, when we
got off the stony tracks on to the plain,
where the going was good, to canter on,
so as to get home about the setting OF the
sun. We rode over a little stony rise
and down on to a grassy flat, on which
was feeding a little scrubby flock of sheep,
| belonging to one Peter White, who kept
a bush public house and store little fur
ther down the road. Here, on the dusty
track, we very soon noticed, the sergeant
and /, the hoof-marks of three horses,
one OF them shod and quite fresh;
they had evidently just come on to
the road, or else we should have
noticed them sooner. The sergeant
rode over to the boy who was minding
the sheep, but the cOnvict-bred young
cub, with the Unborn dislike of his
race to policemen, was sulby, and said that
he had seen no one. This was a lie, for
the horse tracks were on top of the tracks
of the sheep where they had crossed the
road, on their way to water at the creek
which ran down the middle of the fiat
So we pushed on bit, thinking to hear,
at Whites, a mile ahead OF US, who the
travellers might happen to be. We rode
across a shallow ford, startling great mob
of white cockatoos. which were drinking
and bathing in the clear water, and as we
rose the opposite bank came in sight, a
quarter of a mile from US, of the little
clump of bush buildings which made up
Peter Whites Establishments long, low,
verandaed slab-house, its iron roof shining
in the westering sun, and few bark and
shingied huts, kitchen, store and stable
behind it, all lying snugly at the foot of
the forest-coyered hills, Just where they
touched the plain.
As we cantered up TO the place every
thing about it seemed silent and deserted,
save that, at the middle stand in front of
the public house veranda, stood three
horses, one carrying pack-saddle, on to
which fair-haired boy was busy in strap
ping swag. And one of the horses was
the Doctor.
Instantly the scene changed As sang
out, 'By the Lord Harry, that's my horse!"
and the sergeant stuck his spurs into his
big brown mare, we heard the boy scream
or shout some alarm, tall man rushed
out of the door brsndishing something
bright in his hand, sprang on the old Doc
tor, and dashed away, closely followed by
the boy, and leaving the pack-horse tied
to the rail-
A shout from the sergeant, Come on,
sir, in the queens name" and away we
three went after them, laundering down
the road, round the corner of the paddock
fence, over the steep bank of the creek,
into the thick scrub on its far bank, crash
ing through it, and up the rough side of
the hill beyond. As the two raced over
the bald ridge we saw the man, against
the sky line, throw out his hand, and the
boy swerved off to the right; we never
saw him again that day.
And then began a furious chase-a race
for life and death. Hard riders we all
were in those days, hard riders after wild
scrub cattle and wilder horses, through
oh hfau n hrr irrl,t
and by moonlight; but never such a ride
rode l as that afternoon after a man. 1
seemed to feel the frantic passion with
which a horse will gallop until he drops
in pursuit OF his fellow-horses.
We well knew that our horses could not
keep up the pace at which We were going;
We knew that the man we were hunting
was familiar with every yard OF the wild
country we were riding over; we knew
that he was flying for his life and would
fight for it; but we rode as the huntsman
oil old may have ridden after savage
beast his prey. Scramblino up hills
Gathering down declivities at reckless
pace-for we were following the best
stockman on that country side-our
horses laundering over stones and boys,
my leader still ahead OF me; over ridge
and down gully we galloped, the SER
PednL never losing sight OF the DuSn-
ranger, and | keeping well up.
Once we came down a slide made by
the timber-getters to send down their logs
from the top of the range to the saw pits
in the gully below, our horses fairly sit
ting on their launches and laundering
down amid a shower of stones Then the
race wenton through thick acacia scrub,
the yellow flowers powdering us as we
crashed through with gold-colored dust,
and up a stony ridge thick with quaint,
feathery-topped "blackboy" trees we
struggled with beaten horses, the bush
ranger 800 yards ahead, and l could see
the trooper striving to release his pistol
from the holster in which it seemed en-
tangled.
AS the two disappeared over the ridge,
my blown horse came down, giving me a
nasty fall among the stones and getting
away from me IN the scramble. But, as L
picked myself up. l heard that which
made me forget my bruises-a pistol-shot
sounded quite close to me, and as | ran
over the ridge | saw sight not easily to
be forgotten. The low hill fell steeply
down to q little chain of water holes a
hundred yards below me. In one of these
across which tree had fallen-up TO
his waist in water, stood Thunderbolt, his
hat hanging by the chin-strap on the back
OF his neck, watching intently, pistol in