ers and a shepherd, and had carried off
large numbers of sheep. Without natives to track them it would be
impossible to come upon their camp so as to capture their leaders. The
punishment they had received from us might perhaps, we thought, prevent
them from committing further depredations in the neighbourhood; and the
sergeant's business for the present was to hunt down the bushrangers,
which was more in his way. He, as soon as he had seen us safely on our
road, must continue his course in the direction he had been informed
they had taken.

At length we began to get drowsy, and one after the other we lay down
with our horse-cloths for bedding and our saddles for pillows.

The sergeant undertook that one of his men should keep watch, though it
was very improbable that the blacks would venture to attack us during
the night.

I was awakened just before dawn by the "settler's clock," as the
laughing-jackass is frequently called; and lifting my head, by the light
of the still burning embers of our fire saw the dominie rubbing his
eyes, but no one else was moving. I suspected from this that the last
man on guard had gone to sleep. No sticks had been thrown on for a
considerable time, and on counting heads I discovered that the sergeant
and his troopers were all snoring loudly, and sound asleep. I bethought
me that we would play them a trick; so quickly arousing Guy and
Bracewell, I proposed that we should unite our voices and give a
terrific shriek as if a whole mob of black fellows were about to break
into the camp. They agreed.

We did shriek with a vengeance, the echo resounding through the forest.
The effect was electrical. Up jumped the sergeant and his men and
seizing their arms prepared to receive their expected foes.

"Whereabouts are they?" exclaimed the sergeant. "Reserve your fire,
until you see them," he added--a caution I should not have considered
necessary. "Did any of you gentlemen catch sight of them?" he asked.
Our loud laugh told him the trick we had played. "Which of you lads was
keeping guard?" he enquired.

"I was," answered one, who had been among the loudest of the snorers,
and we found that the speaker had in reality the middle watch, but
having dropped off, had not called his relief.

We thought it best to say as little as possible about the matter, for
according to strict military discipline, the man who goes to sleep on
guard in the face of an enemy, becomes liable to the punish