ait until to-morrow morning
before starting, our chance of coming up would have been very slight. As
it is, we shall be up with them in three or four hours. The sheep cannot
go really fast more than twelve or fifteen miles, especially with their
heavy fleeces on.'

Half an hour's riding took them to the scene of the attack. As they
neared it, they saw two figures lying upon the grass. There was no
occasion to go near: the stiff and distorted attitudes were sufficient
to show that they were dead.

Mr. Hardy purposely avoided riding close to them, knowing that the
shocking sight of men who have met with a violent death is apt to shake
the nerves of any one unaccustomed to such a sight, however brave he may
be.

'They are evidently dead, poor fellows!' he said. 'It is no use our
stopping.'

Charley looked at the bodies with a fierce frown upon his face, and
muttered to himself, 'We'll pay them out for you, the cowardly
scoundrels.'

Hubert did not even glance towards them. He was a tender-hearted boy,
and he felt his face grow pale, and a strange feeling of sickness come
over him, even at the momentary glance which he had at first taken at
the rigid figures.

'I suppose you do not mean to attack them until night, papa?' Charley
asked.

'Well, boys, I have been thinking the matter over, and I have come to
the conclusion that it will be better to do so directly we get up to
them.'

'And do you think, papa, that we three will be able to thrash the lot of
them? They must be a poor, miserable set of cowards.'

'No, Charley; I do not think that we shall be able to thrash the lot, as
you say; but, with our weapons, we shall be able to give them a terrible
lesson. If we attack at night they will soon find out how few are our
numbers, and having no particular dread of our weapons, may rush at us,
and overpower us in spite of them. Another thing, boys, is, I want to
give them a lesson. They must know that they shan't come and murder and
steal on our place with impunity.'

Scarcely another word was exchanged for the next hour. At a long, steady
gallop they swept along. There was no difficulty in following the track,
for the long grass was trampled in a wide swathe. Several times, too,
exclamations of rage burst from the boys as they came across a dead
sheep, evidently speared by the savages because he could not keep up
with the others. After passing several of them, Mr. Hardy called to the
boys to halt, while he leapt