Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1892-12-16

personal examination OF the long line OF
pack wagons, her eyes rested upon n
seaman's chest. bearing upon one end
the words. Capt John Allaire" She
turned with parted lips and fearful eyes
inquiringly toward Zach
AN outfit for Capt john" said Zach,
in a low tone of voice.
Molly could make no reply. but she
reached out and took the sailors hard,
rough hand tenderly within hers.
Mrs. Allaire." said Marks, 80 long
as we follow the government roads the
country will furnish us with all the
forage we need for our cattle but when
we enter the wilderness it will be neces-
sary to abandon our horses and oxen
and replace them by pack and saddle
camels; these we have already sent on
ahead The wells in these vast arid
tracts are often days apart and it would
be impossible for US to make our way
from one station to another except by
the use Of camels."
II have complete confidence in your
skill and experience as pathfinder,
Col. Marks" replied Molly II under
stand that we are to exchange our
horses and oxen for a camel train at
Alice Springs station"
Precisely. madam, answered Marks,
"and the moment you have sufficiently
recovered from the fatigue of your long
railway ride, you may give us the sig
nal to break away, for everything is in
readiness, even to the motto painted
upon our pack wagons-'No Step Back
ward"
faint smile spread over Molly's face
as she bent her shapely head in ac-
Acknowledgement of this thoughtful bit
of sentiment.
'Move at once, then, Col Marks"
she cried out, cheerily; IF too late to-
day, let it be at sunrise tomorrow"
Tom Marks bowed in acquiescence,
and springing lightly on his horse rode
away to give the necessary orders
Farina Town was one of those viii
lagos which spring up mushroom-lil1e
in a single night along the route of an
Australian or American railway, and in
a few short months arrogate to them
selves all the dignity of a city century
old. The cunning of the surveyor and
land agent is visible from the very
start, and the incongruous legend City
lots for sale" makes its appearance the
day after the town is located Nothing
is left to chance or individual taste for
settlement, but streets, boulevards and
squares are laid out with geometrical
and mathematical regularity which, as
the town is built up. gives it a monot-
ony that is as depressing as it is valu-
able, commercially speaking. The
whole population of Farina Town as
sembled at sunrise on the following day
TO witness the departure of the brave
lady and her band of intrepid search
ers About one-half of the men were
white, the others being half breeds or
semi-civilized natives, well acquainted
with the language, customs and habits
of the wild people who were supposed
to hold Capt. John a close prisoner.
The progress of the expedition was,
on account of the thick forests and the
rugged nature of the country, neces-
sarily slow. The whites were well
mounted, the negroes followed on foot.
From Farina Town to Alice Springs
station it was a good three hundred and
fifty miles, and several weeks were spent
in covering this distance. But, al
though the advance was slow, the men,
bers of the expedition, thanks to the adj
mirable precautions which had been
taken by Col. Tom Marks, continued in
the best of health and spirits. Early
and late in her saddle, sharing the fa-
tigues of the march without a murmur,
cheering and inspiring everyone by her
indomitable courage and inexhaustible
confidence in her own ability to accom-
plish the mighty work which she had
set herself, Molly lowered around and
about the little band like an angel of
light and sweetness, like a guiding
spirit deputed by Heaven to sustain,
direct and preserve.
Next to her it was Godfrey who knew
how to work himself into the rugged
but honest hearts of the members of the
band The skill with which he rode,
the accuracy of his aim as rifeman,
and the readiness and ease with which
he took to his life in the Australian
bush were soon all powerful enough to
chase away the last frown from Zach
French's face.
"A wonderful resemblance" he NUT
tered to himself "If / had not buried
little Walt myself, I'd believe that lad
was Capt. Johns own boy"
But If Godfrey's success in making
friends with the white members of the
expedition was such as to carry Joy to
Molly's heart, she, as well as Col.
Marks and Zach, was astounded at the
devotion shown to the Lad by the half
breeds and Indian guides. To them
this wonderful boy was n constant
source of surprise and delight. His
courage, his surprising strength and
agility, his horsemanship, his marks
manship, his kindness and gentleness
charmed and fascinated them. The
daintiest tidbits of game and the ripest
fruits were laid at the door of Godfrey's
tent. And, to add still further to the
long list of the boys accomplishments,
it was discovered that since he had been
in service on the Australian coast he
had picked up quite a vocabulary of the
native dialects, so that he now had ex-
perienced no difficulty in understanding
the jargon spoken by the native guides.
II might not be out Of place to state
here that this was far from being the
first camel train that had been sent out
into the Australian wilderness. 1t was
in 1888 that Mr.. Elder imported from
India a large number of camels. togeth-
er with their Afghan drivers These
animals have done well in Australia,
and beyond all doubt 1t was due TO the
fact that Col Warburton made use of
these ships of the desert that he was
enabled to accomplish his daring ride
from Alice Springs station to Rock
bourne, Nichol Bay on the coast of De
Witt Land
If David Lindsay, at later date, sue
ceeded in crossing the continent from
north to south with the aid of pack
horses only, it was because be kept
close TO the government roads and tele-
graph lines and did not risk himself in
the wilderness which would have been
powerless to sustain the life of his
train.
The expedition reached Alice Springs
station in good form. Here a halt was
made in order to transfer the baggage
and supplies to the backs of the pack
camels. Col Marks took this occasion
to make most searching examination
of each member of his band, in order to
weed out any who showed signs of
breaking down. A week was thus con-
ly, the camel train moved slowly and