struck by the
electric fluid, and that his death must have been instantaneous, and
must have immediately followed the attempt on his life. To bury the
body of the wretched man was impossible. All he could do was to drag
the heavier boughs of the trees torn off by the storm over it and leave
it thus entombed, and then to escape from the scene. The rising sun
showed him the direction he should pursue, and in half an hour he was
out of the wood, and had regained the track with which he was
acquainted. He reached a station in time for breakfast, when he
narrated to the occupant what had occurred, and learned from him that
Basham had more than once been there asking for food.

A rest of a few hours restored James's strength; but instead of camping
out as he had intended, he was glad to take shelter that night in
another squatter's hut. It was thus that the traveller in those days
was able to traverse the province from one end to the other, with the
certainty of finding food and shelter, and a welcome at any hut where he
might call. He was most cordially received at Prentiss Town, where he
arrived late in the evening; but he went to a house of mourning. Old
Mr Prentiss, under the belief that his losses were far greater than was
the case, and that the whole country was about to be ruined, had sunk
broken-hearted into the grave. He had trusted in riches, and they had
failed him. An apathetic indifference to everything around him had
seized his eldest son, who had the same belief in the ruin impending
over the colony.

Notwithstanding this, there was sunlight in the dwelling: there could
not fail to be so, James thought, where Fanny and Emily Prentiss were to
be found. They received him as an old and valued friend, and expressed
their sorrow that his brother could not have accompanied him. He
naturally expected that they would complain of the dulness of the life
they must now lead in the country, and regret all the gaieties and
amusements they had left behind in Sydney; but, on the contrary, they
seemed much pleased at having escaped from its unsatisfactory
frivolities. Everything in the country delighted them, and they had no
fear of no having ample occupation. They proposed to study the natural
history of the district--the trees and flowers, the birds and insects,
and the wild animals, of which there were not a few; then the farm would
of itself afford ample occupation, along with the improvements in the
house,