The Dickinson press., 1891-04-18

piled Immediately, Don't put off anything
till to morrow, Jem; fetch the mould and
get the bullets run at once; then go to the
watcr-hole and bring as many buckets
full as you can stow away in the hut"
Even as lie spoke, Peter and his flocks
arrived, the animals feeding quietly all
the way along. "Good-evening, sir,"said
Long Peter quietly to his master. "I've
had etrouble with the beasts to-day;
three are missing. l found the body of
one of them. 1t had been speared.
MIR. Ashby looked full at the man, con-
slernation clearly written in his face.
Are they SO near us as that, Peter 2" he
said. 81 must get home to, might; l only
came to warn you and Jem."
81 don't think that you can possibly go,
sir" responded the shepherd, coolly filling
a %pannlkin of tea; "they are too close to
us"
We looked at the mar %lnquiringly; his
face was pale but reSolute- looking, and his
voice sank to Il whisper as he added: After
seeing the Speal-wOund in the sheep l
looked about me pretty sharp, you may be
sure, but l saw nothing till l was just
clear ofthe timber, then l sighted one OF
the blacks wriggling through the grass
like snake. L would have fired at him,
thought it best to return and warn Jem.
They did not guess that l had seen them,
or | would have had a spear through my
back. AS it is, l expect they will attack
us tonight"
Scarcely were the words out of his
mouth when a spear whizzed through the
open doorway and quivered in the wooden
slabs behind. Had my two companions
been as inexperienced as l was, all would
now ave been confusion and dismay, but
bOththe master and Long Peter were old
colonists, and had had more than one
brush with the natives. They were both as
cool as possible.
Bar the door, Jem," said the shepherd,
"a7d hand me the powder flask and bull
lets. Here, Bouncer, keep to heel, good
dog
With a feeling more akin to agony than
| had ever known before l handed the
powdcr-tlask to my fellow-servant, at the
same time telling him that l had forgotten
all about the bullets and that only a half a
dozen remained on hand.
He Just gave me one glance, partly i'll
%dignalion, partly pity. "'Tlen we are all
up atree," he said; "liowever, let us do our
best; two bullets to each of us, Jem, and
We'll stand by each other.'
The good old fellow! | saw by his face
that he felt for me in the agony of remorse
| was enduring and did not mean to make
it worse for me by lis reproaches. Yet
Long Peter had a wife at home am Ong the
heather mountains. and a daughter, a curl
of whose golden hair | had often seen in
his pocketbook. All, Long Peter could
not afford to die yet!
Meanwhile, Mr.. Ashby was coolly recon-
NOTHING through the loop-holes; he had
let down the window, and was preparing
foractlon as calmly as the shepherd. We
had handed him two bullets, but he push
ed them back; he had a few of his own.
you will need them ALL" And truly we
did. BY this time the moon had risen, its
light gradually growing on the landscape
till we could see the outlines of the trees,
and the long grass waving white in the
ghostly shadows; but all was silent-noth-
ing but the hoarse cry of some night. bird
broke on the stiffness around. Oh, how
long was it to last, this dreadful silence
and inaction? For myself l confess that
every pulse III my body was beating like a
Sledge-l,ammer, every nerve quivering till
[ could scarcely hold my rifle. But the
master and Peter knelt as quietly as
though no danger were to be %apprehend.
ed, their barrels pointed through the loop
holes, while they closely watched for any
movement outside.
But there was none. The sheep were
camping quietl! round the hurdles, the
night Wind swept with mournful sound
through the dark trees, causing the spec.
trail tracery Of the branches to dance in the
moonlight on the grass; but that was all
still the terrible silence. But sudden
ly there was a change; three or four of the
sheep rose, looked around, stamped with
their feet, and huddled close together.
Something had alarmed them, some sight
or sound as yet unrevealed to our blunter
faculties. Bouncer rose to his feet, too,
whining uneasily.
"Down, dog, downw whispered Peter,
breaking the silence for the first time; and
the docile animal once more sank to the
ground.
The next moment q loud report rang
out into a thousand echoes. Peter had
fired the first shot, a shrill death-scream
following it, while we could dimly see
the dark figure of a man who leaped from
his ambush and fell like a clOd to the
ground.
"Now, master" cried Long Peter, while
rapidly reloading his gun, ''fire away but
aim to the right, sir, aim to the right. l
can see the cursed creatures gathering
there in numbers"
Mr.. Ashby obeyed the directions given
him by his servant, for in truth Long
Peter had a fuller view than any ofus of
what was going on outside.
"There, you are all right!w he added ex-
ultantly, as both Mr.. Ashby's gun and
mine were fired at the same moment
You have each fixed your man II they
are drawing off for a little. But mark my
words, sir" re added, Though they are
mortally afraid of our guns, they'll find
out soon enough that our ammunition is
running short, then they will fire the hut,
and we are done for! Sir, l mean to get
BOuncer to help u.s."
"The do" asked Mr.. Ashby, inquiring-