tol, and I heard the
bullet whiz close by. I expect that it was only to frighten me into
stopping; but in a second or two he fired again, and the shot just
grazed my shoulder, so he was in earnest that time.

"I bent low on my saddle, got a pistol out of my belt, and
prepared. There was another shot, the horse gave a spring and I
knew he was hit, but for a time he went faster than ever; still,
the last shot wasn't from more than twenty yards behind; and I
expected, every minute, to see his horse's head coming up beside
me. Then I heard a curse and a sudden fall and, looking round, saw
his horse was down.

"Cockeye was on his feet in a moment, and drew another pistol from
his holster; so I concluded to keep on as hard as I could go,
without waiting to make inquiries. I guessed pretty well what had
happened. The shot I had heard my father fire, as he started after
me, had hit the horse; and the poor brute had kept on until he
dropped. I understood the fellow's firing, now. He felt his horse
was failing under him, and his only chance was to stop me.

"I kept on till I got safe to the station. The three men there
started in different directions, to fetch assistance, and by the
evening we had a score of men assembled there, and started back to
our station. We heard a cooey when we were within a mile of the
place, and guessed it was a fellow on the watch. By the time we got
there they had all cleared off, but it was a close thing.

"My mother was a courageous woman, and had defended the back of the
house, and my father the front. The blacks had made several
attempts to burn the place down; but the roof, like the walls, was
made of solid timber; which is the only safe way to build a house,
when you are exposed to attacks of the blacks.

"As long as daylight lasted the old people had done very well, and
had kept the blacks at a distance; and we saw, by the marks of
blood in the morning, that they must have killed or wounded eight
or ten of them; but if we hadn't come up before the blacks had
darkness to cover them, it would have gone hard with them. Of
course we knew that, and calculated so as to get there before
nightfall."

"What became of the bush ranger?" Reuben asked.

"Well, curiously enough, that was the last time he ever troubled
the settlements. We never knew exactly what became of him, but it
was said that the blacks killed and eat him. I know that was very
often the end of those fellows. As long as all went