Storyteller.

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 28, 14 October 1893, Page 13

Storyteller.

*THE HILL OF SEVEH TREES. Reginald Horsley in Chambers’s Journal.) Yon know that long blue hill which one can see from Toogong on a clear day ? I mean the one on the top of which grows an irregular circle of six tall iron-barks, with a dead one in the centre. ‘ Cum Tree Hill,’ it is usually ■called for short; but the literal translation of the native name is ‘ The Hill of Seven Trees.’ Well, that hill was the scene of an adventure, which, though it ended agreeably enough, jet began in a fashion which threatened a very different termination ; and indeed, if it had not been for what Foster is fond of calling my phenomenal luck, and the fact that I have apparently as many lives as a cat, I should probably not be here to-day to tell the story. I was out after a gang of desperadoes so ruffianly that their deeds threw all previous bush horrors into the shade. They were known from the name of their leader as ‘ The Flower Boys,’ and as a gang their career had been remarkably succesful, though, individually, of course they suffered from time to time. Eight of them still remained at large, and they kept the country side pretty lively, carrying out their plans in so clever a manner that it was almost impossible to trace them, much less run them to earth. What became of all the money and valuables they secured, or how they got rid of them is hard to say. Ho doubt, many of the small settlers of the baser sort were in their pay, and vast sums must have been expended in keeping shut the mouths of these gentry. Bnt we were certain that, notwithstanding this, a big pile must be stowed somewhere; and at mess, or round the camp fire, we often speculated as to who the lucky man would be to discover the hoard. One blazing hot February the gang came down in force upon a pack of fools who had been lucky at Tambaroora, and, disdaining the services of the escort, started to take their dust down to Sydney on their own account. Things leak out at the diggings, and no doubt some of the ‘ Flower Boys’ were on the prowl for news. At any xate, on the second night of their journey the ‘ lucky five,’ as they were called, were bailed up, and making no resistance, were shot down and all their gold stolen. It was a few days before the matter came to light, and then, with four picked men, I set to work to scour the country for Flower and his gang, for it was pretty certain they were at the bottom of the outrage. We had been out about a week, with never a hint of the men we were after, when one day, as we were riding rather aimlessly over a longflat, Foster, who was on the right, brought up his horse with a sudden jerk and sprang to the ground with a sharp exclamation. ‘ What is it, Tom ?’ I called out. He stooped to pick up something, and then ran towards me. ‘ Look, »Sergeant,’ he said excitedly. ‘ What do you make of this P’ ‘ What ?’ I asked, leaning over my horse’s neck as he came up. Foster held up a small nugget of pure gold. ‘ Nuggets don’t grow on this kind of soil,’ said he. ‘ Ho ; and diggers don’t come this way down to Sydney,’ put in Longmore. ‘ What do you suppose it means, .sergeant ?’ queried Foster. I did not answer him, and the men fell to discussing the matter among themselves. Indeed, I had scarcely heard Foster’s question, for the moment I saw the nugget in his hand an idea had taken hold of me, and 1 sat silently on my horse, working it out, with my eyes fixed upon the distant Hill of Seven Trees. ‘ Boys,’ I said at last, rousing myself from my meditations, ‘ I’ve a notion this bit of gold means a good deal to us. There is nothing to stick up in this direction; so, if Flower and his gang have passed over this

ground—and we will assume they have there is every likelihood that the nugget has been dropped by one of them on the way to their lair, wherever that may be.’ ‘ I wish I knew,’ interrupted Peterson fervently. ‘Well,’ I went on, ‘if we have decent luck, you will know before to-morrow morning.’ ‘ How ?’ Why ?’ ‘ What do jmu mean ?’ cried the men. ‘ Look !’ I answered, pointing to the hill, from the summit of which curled upwards a thin, very thin column of smoke, so faint as to be almost invisible in the shimmering distance. ‘ Bush-fire beginning,’ said Longmore. *lt may be so,’ I acquiesced; ‘but remember, this is an out-of-the-way place, and that smoke may have another origin.’ ,‘ Flower is too good a bushman to light a fire where it could be seen,’ argued Foster. ‘Hope for the best,’ I returned. ‘At all events, it can do no harm to reconnoitre. We are much too far off to have been observed, so we will dismount for the present, hobble the horses, and remain where we are till nightfall, when we will go forward and examine the hill ’ The afternoon wore on, and by five o’clock the column of smoke was no longer to be seen. ‘ What about a bush-fire now ?’ I asked. ‘Well,’ said Foster, ‘ probably it was a “ sundowner’s ” fire. Flower is a bigger fool than I take him to be if he lit it.’ As the sun got behind tl e ranges, w jumped into our saddles again, and in a couple of hours reached the base of the hill, which, as you may know, juts out in a very peculiar fashion from the range of which it forms part, showing a bold precipitous front to the east, and sloping away in a long ridge, or neck, to the hills behind it. ‘lt is useless to attempt to scale that, lads,’ I said, looking up at the rugged face of the cliff that towered above us. ‘We must work round and climb up the neck.—Vincent, you stay here by the horses, and keep your eyes open and your six-shooter handy. The rest of you come with me ’ And with a parting word to him, we plunged into the darkness and made for the ridge on the right side of the hill. Once round the face of the cliff, the ascent was fairly easy over the stone-strewn ridges, and in no very long time we stood upon the summit of the spur, nearly half a mile from the front of the hill. Then I called a whispered halt, and gathered my men around me. ‘ How, lads,’ I said, ‘we must search this hill thoroughly. Go slow, for we have plenty of time before us, and the work must be well done. Spread out in a long line, and examine every inch of the ground. If one of you should discover anything he thinks I ought to know, let him hoot thrice like the mopoke, and I’ll join him. The same cry thrice repeated will be the signal for the rest to come up. If nothing comes of it at all, we’ll rendezvous at this point at sunrise. Be very careful. The moon will soon be up, and then you must take advantage of whatever cover you can find. Above all, don’t hurry. —- To your places.’ We started in an extended line, like skirmishers, Foster on the extreme left, Peterson next, then myself, while Longmore took up his position on the right.

For some time we worked on without result, and not a sound broke the stillness of the night. Then, suddenly .from the left came the mournful notes of the mopoke, thrice repeated. ‘ Confound it !’ I thought. ‘ I wish the signal had come from the other side. One can never trust Tom Foster except in a fight.’ However there was no help for it, and I turned and made my way in the direction of the sound, wondexlng what mare’s-nest Foster had discovered, and grumbling generally, when all at once the ground seemed to glide from under me, and the next moment I felt myself falling, falling, falling, through what seemed in the pitchy

darkness an infinity of space. Instantly the horrifying thought shot through my brain, ‘ I have gone over the edge of the cliffand then I plunged violently into a thick shrub, rolled out of it, and was off again, crashing through bushes and saplings, grasping wildly right and left, and clutching madly at whatever came in my way, till at length my headlong course was arrested by some hard object, against which I came sideways with a fearful thump, which nearly knocked all the remaining breath out of my body. Then, as I felt myself slipping away again, I made a desperate effort to recover myself, and flung my arms round the opportune obstacle which had arrested my fall, while at the same moment a large piece of rock, dislodged by my struggles, went whirling into the air, struck a ledge immediately below, rebounded off, and thundered down the side of the steep, while I hung on to my friendly support with a tenacity born more of terror than of necessity. But there is some excuse for a man w r ho has fallen I don’t how many feet through space, and then rolled many more down a rough mountain side.

Presently, however, I began to collect my scattered senses, and then I saw that I was clinging to the trunk of a sassafras tree, which grew out and made a convenient angle, into which I had fallen, but for which I should doubtless have gone the way of the rock. While my arms clung to the tree, my body lay stretched on a small projecting ledge, so that I soon realised that all danger was over for the time being, and, loosening my grip of the tree, felt myself all over, and stretched out my legs to see if any bones were broken. Ho. I was badly bruised and shaken, but otherwise quite unhurt, and I took a fresh grip of the tree, intending to haul myself up into a more comfortable position, when in an instant I stiffened into immobility, and lay as still as a snake in the sand, my face buried in my arms, lest the sound of my breathing should betray me. And this was the reason. Immediately below me I heard rough voices conversing together in low tones, and evidently not more than a few feet away. For a moment I lay and listened, as from beneath came up a muttered conversation. ‘Wot d’ yer reckon it wuz, Bill P Wallaby ?’ ‘Wallaby be blowed !’ answered Bill. It was a great junk of rock. I see it strike the ledge ’ere and go over. It just missed my head.’ ‘ I wish it had been one of those troopers,’ said a third voice with heartfelt emphasis. A fourth voice added a word or two which I failed to catch, and then the first speaker exclaimed with a fierce oath ; ‘ Well, it’s all right, anyway. Whatever it was, hez gone to the bottom long ago. I’m going to turn in again.’ Then for a moment there was a shuffling of feet, and afterwards silence, profound and enduring. I lay as quiet as a mouse, my eyes fixed upon a silver streak that touched a low bank of clouds somewhere in the sky. The moon was rising, and when once she was up, I should know better what to do. Just then a spasm of dismay seized me. Foster, having given the signal, would naturally be waiting for me. What if, finding I did not join him, he should coo-ee ! He was ass en®ugh to do it; and if he did, good-bye to all chance of coming unawares on my game below. It was scarcely likely my men had not noticed the noise I bad made in falling, Jput I could only hope the same idea nad occurred to them as to the fellows beneath—namely, that arock had been dislodged from its bed. I felt thankful I had not cried out as 1 fell. Profound silence reigned, however, and I concluded that either Foster was showing a most unusual discretion, or that he had fallen in with Longmore or Peterrsen, both of whom knew better than give any indication of their whereabouts. A quarter of an hour passed, and

tie silver tinge on the cloud-hank grew more intensely brilliant, and at last a full-orbed moon sailed ma jestically into the sky, shining with such radiance that one might have supposed it to be day. I gazed about me in astonishment. From the ledge on which I lay I could see that 1 had fallen down one side of a great chasm, a hundred feet wide, which apparently clove the hill of Seven Trees in two.

Having taken a bi-oad survey of my position, I began to examine the immediate vicinity. 1 found that I lay on a narrow out-jutting rock about six feet wide, down the sloping side of which I must inevitably have slidden had I not grasped the tree in time. Immediately below me was a ledge about fourteen feet long, and on this, I at once concluded, had stood the men whose voices I had heard. But where were they now ? That was the puzzle. Just then I heard a curious sound, and craned my neck over the rock as far as I could. But its surface slanted so peculiarly that still I could see nothing but the ledge. A gain the sound was repeated—this time an unmistakeable snore. ‘ Ah, there they are,’ I said to myself ; 4 sleeping the sleep of the just.’ But where ? On the ledge, under the shelter of my rock. Or—ah ! I had it. The truth flashed upon me in a moment. There was a cave or hole in the side of the gully, and they were in it. How could I get down to the ledge ? I leaned over still farther. Yes, it could be done. It was only a drop of six feet or so, the tree grew out over the ledge, and if I swung on to that, my feet would almost touch the rock. At that moment, while my head still hung over the edge of the rock, there was a sudden movement beneath me, and a burly ruffian stepped on to the platform and stood in the clear moonlight, looking about him. I am used to surprises, and I kept quiet, though my heart thumped so violently against my ribs that it seemed to me he could not fail to hear it. - However, he stood still and made no sign. So close was he that I could have knocked off his cap by stretching out mv arm. Had he looked up he must have seen me ; but he d.d not; as I lay breath less, motionless, rigid as the rock upon which 1 was stretched, I heard him soliloquise : " What’s the use of keeping this confounded watch f 1 There's nobody around. I’m going to turn in like the rest of them.’ ’ All the time I was rapidly forming a plan of action, while one hand stole silently to my hip, where my second revolver reposed in its case. My first had gone goodness knows where, when I left the top of the hill behind me. Presently I had the weapon ont, and, extending my arm over the edge of the rock, I held it within a foot of the bushranger’s head. He yawned and turned in his track to go back to the hole, and, turning, looked straight down the gleaming barrel. It was all over in an indescribably short space of time. Astounded at the unexpected sight, and anticipating nothing less than sudden death, the man stepped backwards mechanically. One foot went over the ledge, and then, throwing up his arms, he fell with a shrill shriek upon the gloomy depths below. I had not anticipated so sudden and terrible a result, but I had no time to take in the horror of it ail. The situation was instinct with danger, and I braced myself to face it. So thrusting my revolver into my belt, I grasped the tree, swinging myself silently down, and drawing again, stood prepared for whatever might follow. I stood on the platform about two feet from the mouth of a great hole in the mountain side, into which I could not see for a wail of rock which projected between me and it. Bat as i stood a voice came from within in sleepy tones : 4 ’ What s np, Bill P Another rock P’ I did not answer, and the voice coi - tinued: ‘Bill! I say, Bill 1’ Judging it unsafe to keep silence any longer I answered in a gruff whisper: Wot P’ 4 Did yer call Y'

4 No; it was a curlew.’ And fortunately the wierd wailing scream o that bird rang out on the air as I spoke. 4 That’s all right, then,’ growled the voice, and silence fell once more. I allowed a minute or two to elapse and then wormed my way round the rock and looked upon a strange scene. In front of me was a vast hole, one of those natural excavations so common in the mountains, a place altogether about the size of an ordinary room, with a wide floor, and a root sloping away to a narrow angle at the back. On the floor was a fire of logs, which had recently been replenished, and no doubt the smoke issuing from this hole, unobserved by the ruffians, had been that seen by us in the afternoon. Two. men lay on the ground, sleeping heavily and snoring loudly; while a third sat warming his hands over the blaze, his back turned to the entrance, and evidently quite unsuspicious. I made np my mind at once, and strode into the cave without any attempt at concealment, for I felt that I had the game in my hands now. The fellow heard me coming, of course. 4 Hullo, Bill !’ he grunted, without looking round. 4 Had enough watching ? I told you there was nothing up. Hev a sup of this and turn in.’ And he stretched out his hand to a bottle, to which he had evidently been pa} 7 ing close attention. ‘ Take a sup afore yer lie down,’ he reiterated; and then, as he turned his head and saw me : 44 Why, whot the? Here wake up, Ned ! Wake up, Chicken !’ he cried, and springing to his feet he plucked his revolver from his belt. 4 Throw up your hands !’ I shouted, covering him. For answer he rushed at mo, firing as he came. His bullet grazed my, : cheek, and I felt a sharp stinging pain, as if a red-hot wire had been drawn across it. In another moment we would have been in grips, when 1 pulled the trigger The ball took him squarely between the eyes, and befell in a heap at my feet. Not a second elapsed before I had my pistol pointed at the others. 4 Throw up your hands !’ I cried. ‘ Throw ’em np !’ I repeated savagely, as one fellow’s hand stole to his belt. ‘ Up with ’em, or I fire.’ They dared not resist, for I had the drop on them and they knew it. 4 New, throw your barkers on the ground and stand up.’ They did so. 4 Now your knives. Right. Kick them over here.’ And at last they stood there, as hangdog a couple of ruffians as you would wish to see, but defenceless. 4 We re done this time, Chicken, said Ned, with an oath. 4 Yes,’ I said, ‘ you are, so 3*oll had best be quiet. Are there any more of you about p’ 4 No,’ growled the Chicken. 4 Where is Flower, then P’ I asked. 4 Where you won’t find him,’ said Ned. 4 You keep a civil tongue in }*our leid’ —I retorted. ‘Ned, you pick up that piece of rope and tie the Chicken’s hands behind his back, and if 3 r ou don’t get it done before I count ten, I’ll blow your ugly head iff. — Quick now !’ With a savage snarl, Ned obeyed and as he tied the last knot I slipped a pah of handcuffs over his wrists before he had time to realise what I was about, whipped a turn in the rOpe around his waist ; and then, as the two of them broke into a torrent of fearful curses, 1 searched the cave thoroughly without finding anything for my pains. 4 Shut up !’ I said, taking in the slack end of the rope in my hand, keep your breath lid ytm get to S) dne} 7 , You II want it ait then. And now, march.’ 4 Where to ?’ growled the front fellow. Down the gull}*. You lead me to the face of the hill.—And mark me, ii you attempt to play any tricks, 3’ou’ll get a mighty short shrift. On }'OU go-’ T iey started in sullen silence, and once on the ledge outside, walked to Ihe left, where, hidden in the shadow

of a great boulder, was a narrow track. ‘ There ain’t no way clown as I knows on,’ said the Chicken looking back. ‘ Then lead up to the top,’ I answered, and we’ll get down by the neck.’ They went on, forcing their way through the shrubs and undergrowth, and clambering over rock and fallen tree with a good deal of difficulty in their helpless condition, while I fol-lowed-behind like a slave-driver, only with something much more convincing than a whip in my hand. Just as we got to the top of the gully there was a sudden loud coo-ee close by. ‘ Foster at last,’ I thought. Coo-ee, I shouted in return, and then, ‘ Hurry up, boys, I’ve got them.’ There was a cry of astonishment, and my men came rushing up together, all pressing round to shake me by the hand. ‘Well, I’m Mowed!’ said Foster. ‘ How did you manage it? We had given you up for lost, as, after w 7 e struck the edge of the gully, we all agreed you must have fallen over.’ ‘ Well, and so I did,’ I answered cheerfully; ‘ and that’s the way I managed it.’ And I told them my story. ‘By gum !’ said Foster again when I had finished, ‘if your luck isn’t phenomenal !’ ‘ But, Tom,’ I interrupted, ‘ what made you give the signal ?’ ‘ I heard something,’ he replied ; ‘ but it was only a rock wallaby on the go.’ ‘ Ah! I thought as much,’ said I laug’hing. ‘ Well, I forgive you any way, for unless you had hooted, I might never have had that lucky tumble into the gully.’ ‘But did you find anything ?’ asked Longmore. ‘ FTothing-,’ I answered. ‘ I expect the hoard is somewhere else, and Flower and the others are alongside it. Isn’t that so, Chicken ?’ But the Chicken preserved a disdainful silence. As we were talking, we were standing within the circle of trees which gives the hill its name, and Petersen was leaning against the dead tree, standing on one of its giant roots. As he was filling his pipe, he dropped his pouch, and uttered an exclamation of surprise as he stooped to pick it up. ‘ What’s wrong p’ we all inquired. ‘ Why, here’s another of them,’ he answered, and held up a small nugget between his finger and thumb. ‘ Aha !’ I said ; ‘we are on a hot scent, boys. Seai-ch among the roots.’ They did so without any result, while to all interrogation the two prisoners remained obstinately silent. ‘ The tree is hollow,’ said Longmore at last; “ but there is no opening at the bass. Perhaps higher up ’ — ‘By Jove ! you’ve struck it, .Jack,’ I cried. ‘ I wondered all along what they wanted with all that rope. However, put the bracelets on the Chicken, and let us have the line here.’ Foster very soon accomplished this, and with the rope in my hand I turned to Petersen. ‘ You are the lightest, Frank. Take a cast over the first fork and shin up.’ After a few unsuccessful attempts we got the rope over the branch, and a slip-knot having been made, the loop was drawn taut. Petersen then took off his boots and swarmed up the rope, occasionally resting his feet against the tree, in the native fashion, and presently he was in the fork. ‘ Here you are, sergeant,’ he cried. ‘ There’s no mistake about it this time. He was tugging- awy at something with all his might, and at last, from a wide hole in the straight trunk above his head, he Avrencheel out what looked like a bundle of old rags. ‘ Stand from under!’ he shouted, and cast the thing at our feet, swinging himself to the ground a moment later. It was an old flannel shirt, tightly rolled up, and Avith the sleeves knotted round it for security. 1 untied them, and as the the ends fell apart, the moonbeams poured a

flood of radiance upon a great heap of nuggets and gold-dust.

‘ Hurrah ! shouted nay men ; while Peterson exclaimed : That’s good, enough for one haul, I should think.’

‘Rather,’ I said. ‘ There must be about a hundred ounces here. But this can,t be all: the “lucky five”' had more than that by a good deal. 5 ' ‘ It’s all 3-ou’ll get’ put in Red with an oath. ‘ The rest of the swag is. where 3*oll will never touch it.’ ‘ We’ll not take your word for that,, my man,’ I replied. Ror did we; but all the same, the most thorough search by daylight discovered nothing more ; and at last we gave it up, and jogged oif with our prisoners, well, content with the result of our expedition so far as it went. Red and the Chicken stood their trial, and went to their deaths without openiug their lips about their fellows ; and it was many a long daybefore we ran down Flower, though we got him at last.