Читать книгу Fugitive Anne, A Romance of the Unexplored Bush - Rosa Praed - Страница 8

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THE crackling of burning sticks recalled Anne to the fact that she was hungry, and going outside she saw a heap of dry gum-twigs making a blaze, which the sun robbed of its redness. Kombo was fanning the fire with his hat, and there would soon be a bed of ashes ready for the damper. Now, Kombo attacked a young gum-tree with his tomahawk, and in a minute or two had cut a sheet of fresh bark, on which Anne heaped flour from one of the ration bags. Water was needed for the mixing, and, searching the hut, she found a battered zinc pail under the bunk, which she gave Kombo to carry, and taking herself the billy and pint-pots, they proceeded down the clearing to the water-hole. This was not so easy a matter; for though the big trees had been cut, and lay tilted against others in the scrub on either side, lawyer palms had grown round them and hung their prickly canes over the path where ferns and undergrowth spread also, making progress difficult. How strange it seemed to Anne to be again treading warily for fear of snakes! This little bit of scrub was a delight, for it was more luxuriant than those she knew further south, and had tropical plants unfamiliar to her. She espied a tall tree on which grew a purple fruit like a plum, and Kombo climbed up to gather it, telling her, when he presented it to her, that it was very good. The water-hole they found was one of a series connected by the dry bed of a creek which had not for some time been flooded. It was dark and slimy looking, with muddy banks and rotting vegetation. A dead log lay half in and half out of the pool, and round it, grew a bed of poisonous-looking plants with large fleshy leaves like those of the arum. At the other end, also half in the water, lay a brown object which Anne thought at first was another log, but suddenly it moved, turned over, showing the pale underside of a hideous jaw, and she perceived that it was a crocodile. Kombo pointed to it.

"Mine tell Missa Anne that Yamin sit down like-it water-hole," he said, using the native term for the Saurian. The muddy bank, the slime of weeds, and dread of alligators, made it not pleasant to dip up water from the hole. Kombo poked about among the palms and ferns on the bank, and presently found a wide, shallow trough which had, no doubt, been dug out by the shepherd who had once lived at this sheep-station. From this they filled the bucket and billy, and here, Anne decided, that she would take her bath when the meal was over.

A scanty repast it would have been of new-made damper and tea, had not Kombo, plunging further into the scrub, discovered the mound of a scrub turkey, and brought back from it four of the bird's large eggs, one of which is almost sufficient for a meal. Two were laid on the ashes and baked. One had in it a young chicken that Kombo ate with gusto; the other was fresh, and Anne thought she had never tasted anything so delicious. When they had finished, Kombo put out the fire, covering it with dead leaves lest there should be Blacks near, whose attention might be attracted by the flame. This, however, was hardly likely. The deserted sheep-station was near the little digging township, as Kombo knew, for he had travelled past it with cattle on their way to a station called Kooloola. It was hoped that he might procure at this township a couple of horses, or even one that could be ridden, also provisions to last them through their journey. He knew the way to the diggings, and calculated upon getting there and back before nightfall. Now came a difficulty which had not been solved in Anne's talks with the black boy on the road. Should she accompany Kombo to the township, or would it be best that she should remain hidden in the hut? Anne, who was leader of the expedition, decided without deep pondering that she would remain. She was afraid to trust herself among white men, whose sharp eyes would perhaps pierce her disguise, and who would possibly carry news of her south, that might reach her husband. Strange as it may seem, she was not greatly affrighted at being left alone in the wilderness. She knew that there were no wild beasts in the bush that could possibly harm her, and crocodiles could not crawl up through the scrub to the hut to attack her. The most serious question in her mind was whether she might rely on Kombo. His fidelity she had proved, and could not doubt, but were he persuaded to drink at the grog shanty, there was no knowing when he might return.

Kombo, however, swore that no blandishments should entice him into the bar, or that were he compelled as a matter of business to enter it, no grog should pass his lips. Anne was obliged to be content with his promise. Never yet had she known him break his word when it had been given to her. In relation to other persons, Kombo's sense of honour was by no means binding, but between him and his young mistress there had always been the strangest affinity. It had been a puzzle to Anne herself; it was a puzzle also to the bushmen who knew of it, and who had no experience of so deep an attachment between black boy and white woman.

Anne untied the little bag she wore beneath her tunic, and taking out of it three five-pound notes, bade the boy use them to the best advantage. She had quickly thought the matter out, and now gave Kombo his instructions. He was first to buy food at the chief store in the township, and there to ask where he could best get a couple of horses. He was not to pay more than five pounds apiece for them, and if he could not find two for sale at that price, he was to get one; and also some sort of saddle, if it were possible to pick one up cheap. Supposing, as the chances were, that he could not get the horses that day, he was to come back, and go in again on the morrow, but he was not to say where he had left his mate. His story, if he were questioned, must be that he and his mate--a half-caste boy--were engaged to help muster at Kooloola, Mrs Duncan's station, some hundred miles further north, and that as time pressed, they did not want to do the journey on foot. The notes, he might say, were his wages which had accumulated from his last employer.

Kombo, like all Australian black boys, revelled in playing a part. He proceeded to set forth his views.

"Mine think-it Missa Anne make very good black boy," he said. "I go along and buy shirt and trouser long-a store, same as black boy. My word! Missa Anne bujeri boy!" and Kombo went off in peals of laughter. "But mine think-it no good for ole Missa Duncan to see Missa Anne like-it black boy," he continued, and meditated for a moment. "Never mind, mine make-im all right. We stop close-up lagoon, outside fence at Kooloola, and Missa Anne put on white Mary's skirt. Then ole Missa Duncan no make-it noise first time. By-'m-by, Missa Anne tell ole Missus what for that fellow make-im black. That no matter. Very soon, Missa Anne come altogether white again."

Anne laughed too. She had forgotten she was brown. Her first idea had been that she would put on her grey riding-suit as soon as the black boy had departed. Second thoughts now showed her the prudence of Kombo's suggestion. She knew the Blacks' language well enough to find no difficulty in passing as a half-caste boy; and should they meet diggers or stock-men by the way, she would certainly be thus less likely to arouse suspicion. Besides, she could more easily ride in man's dress, for it was not likely that Kombo would be able to buy a side-saddle at the diggings. That in itself would cause remark. Often in the bush, she had ridden on men's saddles, and even bare-back, and had therefore no qualms on that account. So they settled that a Crimean shirt and trousers of the smallest size procurable, were, in the first instance, with rations, to be got out of the fifteen pounds. As to horses and saddles, it was doubtful whether the money would run to all these requirements. She had another five-pound note, but this she had resolved to keep in case of emergency; and it was a relief to her when Kombo proudly brought forth two other notes, describing how he had made Mr Bedo pay him at Thursday Island, and how he had there cashed his master's cheque. Kombo said he would buy his own horse out of his own money, and hinted darkly that if horses were not for sale at the diggings, he might be able to steal one.

Soon the black boy had disappeared among the gum-trees along the belt of scrub. He had only to follow the river bed to arrive in due time at the township; and, alone and unburdened, he could go much faster than when the heavy pack had impeded him, and Anne had been dragging more slowly behind.

Anne was alone. This she did not mind in the least; indeed, there was joy in the thought. She had always as a child loved wandering by herself in the bush. Once she had got lost, and had been out all night, finding her way back the next day according to the methods of the Blacks. She knew exactly how to trace down a gully, or follow a river from its heads, and how to steer herself by the lay of the country, and by the sun and stars. Many a time, too, had she chopped a 'possum out of a log, and unearthed a bandicoot from its hole at the foot of a tree. She wished now that she could find a bandicoot, or if she dared use her little revolver, to shoot some bird by the water-hole.

She had kept her possession of a revolver a secret, and had not shown it to Kombo. It was a tiny pistol which she concealed beneath her sarong--a toy that her husband had given her. He knew what a good shot she was, and she had asked for the pretty little weapon lying on the counter in its open case, which she had noticed when Mr Bedo was buying a gun to take out to Australia.

She had had scruples about carrying off this present of his, but some instinct had told her that it would be well for her to possess it; well also, that she should not make Kombo aware of her possession of it. Brave and lighthearted as she was, Anne Bedo knew well enough to what dangers a woman might be exposed in the Bush. So she had hidden the pistol and cartridges belonging to it about her person, before that early dawn, when Kombo had fetched her from her cabin to the locker in the stewards' quarters where he had hidden her, and where the search party had never dreamed of looking. Anne had then thought vaguely, that were they to discover her, she would shoot herself rather than go back to her husband.

Thinking over that eventful night and day, she wondered whether it had been found out that she had left the cabin door locked on the outside, and whether they had missed the revolver case, which she had thrown into the sea. She thought, too, of the letter she had left behind, speculating as to the impression it had made on her husband, and those who had read it. When she had begun to write, her intention was merely to finish it and give it to Kombo for the post. But in writing the last paragraph, she had suddenly reflected that by wording it in a particular way and leaving the letter unfinished, it might lead to the conclusion that she had, in a fit of mental aberration, thrown herself into the sea.

Anne put the revolver and cartridges away again, and went down the clearing to the dug-out pool in which she had thought of bathing. She peered carefully round to make sure that there was no horrible Ymain lying in wait for her. The only crocodiles with which she had as yet been acquainted were the "bimbies," as the Blacks called them, which are a smaller kind, and comparatively harmless; but even those had filled her with terror, though she had eaten their eggs in the Blacks' camp. She seemed safe, however, from spectators, either human or animal, except, maybe, a stray wallabi or a `possum in a hollow log; and the birds which, now that that mid-day had past, were beginning to find voice. The strange "miawing" note of the cat-bird, the shrill call of the bower-bird, the plaintive coo of the scrub pigeon fell upon her ear, and another note that she had never heard--a very nightingale-roulade--which, under her breath, she tried to give back again. In old days, she had known how to reproduce the note of every Bush bird, and the temptation was too keen to be resisted. After one or two attempts she got the cry right, for the bird answered her back. Her courage rose; the rich voice swelled louder and fuller. The birds who at first had piped in response, held affrighted silence: they fancied that a strange, invisible songster had risen among them.

The girl laughed in almost elfish merriment. It seemed to her that, after long and weary banishment, she had once more found her home in her native forests, and felt herself akin even with the wild things which inhabited them. In truth, as she had herself said, Anne was a Bush girl to the very bones of her, and now was no more afraid in her own wild woods, than might have been Daphne before Apollo pursued her.

A very nymph she appeared as her garments fell, revealing her small form in all the grace of its early womanhood. She had not taken so much pains in staining herself where her clothes covered her, and below her breasts, to her knees, the colour of her skin was merely pale olive. Her face, shoulders, arms, and ankles were much darker, and she was almost afraid to wash them lest the dye should be removed. But Kombo had been right in his assurance of its efficacy. She might have been just a little fairer when she came out of the pool, but that was all.

As she dressed, the roaring of an alligator frightened her, and she went quickly back to the hut. Now that the excitement and strain of her flight were relaxed, she felt extremely weary, and her eyelids drooped heavily, for she had not slept much for many nights past. She spread her blankets on the slabs of the bunk, and, making a pillow for her head with her grey skirt, fell into a deep sleep which lasted for hours.