Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1899-09-21

iny on his horse and shaking me 10y the
hand He had taken IL the situation at
a glance I'm mighty sorry for You,
mate, but see you ve made them pay
for it. I rode on before the wagon.
They II be here in half an hour to have
breakfast. When did they attack You
As there women in the party, l sup
pose mate, You won't mind ne Just
hiding that ugly sishtt'
Catching up d tomahawk, he cut one
or two leaty branches and covered up
the dead black fellows They would
not care to see them, You know he
explained Its Mackenzie Of Tara
gong. his daughter and her maid-my
sister-coing through to the Robinson
river. III just pick a camp little way
up the creek and then hurry back. - He
galloped his horse about a couple Of
hundred yards or so up the creek; then,
evidently satisfied with the situation,
cut off through the bush and was lost
to sight.
As soon as he had gone Jack jumped
up. Good morning, Dick he said.
1--WE had good sleepl"
After the usual wash-when there
was water enough TO have one-we had
the never varying breakfast. which was
barely finished when crack. crack! and
with jingle and a rattle up came a
covered in wagon with six horses drag
ging it A couple of men rode along
side, while two black boys, in blue
serges and white slouch hats, came be-
hind, driving some spare horses They
drove off the track and cut away among
the trees, drawing up about a couple Of
hundred yards or so from our camp.
A few hundred yards behind came
the squatter and his daughter. | could
see that the horses which they rode
were vastly superior to those generally
used in the gulf, albeit some of the gulf
horses showed breeding that made the
inquiring mind speculate as to how
they ever came into the hands Of the
men who ostensibly owned them.
The pair halted for a minute or two.
The squatter rode over to Us by himself.
the girl going ON to the camp.
Roderick Mackenzie of Tarragong
was a man who might be a few years
over 50. of middle height, with clearly
cut features, honest gray eyes, grizzled
hair and beard altogether a smart,
kindly looking gentleman. He had been
a long time in the colonies and had
done well He had lately taken up land
i'll the northern territory, sent on stock
ahead and was now on his way out to
fix on site for head station.
He rode up and addressed himself to
Jack Somehow they always had trick
of addressing Jack first.
"Good morning he said gravely
jumping off his horse. Gordon, my
man, told me of the sad affair that oc-
Cured last night If you'll allow me to
assist you, we may be able to give You
terry material assistance. III send over
a couple of my men. All, here comes
Gordon with the necessary article, and
as the soil is sandy l don't think we IL
Lave much difficulty in digging grave
Have you found anything on the body
that will lead to its Identification? Per
haps few notes with his description
might be of use when reporting the
matter to the police. | believe the po-
lice have come to the Macarthur river
which cant be more than 1870 miles
from here at the farthest. " He spoke in
u quiet, unobtrusive, businesslike way
"Perhaps, sir, l said, ''you re J.
P. in Queensland if not in the northern
territory so, if you wouldn't mind as
sisting rs and witnessing the inventory
of the dead mans property, we would
be greatly obliged TO you. My name 1s
Parker, and my mates is Tyndall Per-
haps yon'd better take down our
names.
He had take1z from a light gray khar-
kee coat a notebook and pencil to facili-
tate matters. "As you wish, he re-
piled. my names Mackenzie. Tara
gong is the name Of my station on the
Burdelin.
Then we lifted the blanket from off
the corpse. Perhaps ] never saw a more
peaceful look upon the face of any one
who had died by violence than | saw ON
the face of this man Whatever may
have been his restless passions once
upon q time they had now forsaken the
clay, and there was no expression there
save that Of the pristine innocence of
the child. had seen the same look on
Jacks face when he was asleep. He had
been, as the squatter said, looking sad
ly on his face a. handsome fellow. Then
we examined his possessions
In the small pouch attached to his
belt we found plain silver watch, in
his trousers pocket some silver, and two
e5 notes in an old purse. The squatter
united a small parcel wrapped in oil
cloth and looked at packet of letters;
he read the addresses on one or two of
the envelopes and seemed surprised;
then he examined the correspondence.
His face was study now: the deepest
concern and astonishment were depicted