ection.

"As the moon is about to rise, we shall soon be able to see our way,"
said Oliver; "but what can have happened to Hector?"

No one was able to answer that question. As we went on we shouted out
his name, but no reply came, and I began to feel very uneasy. I thought
that I had seen him certainly close to the point we had now reached.

I twice fired off my rifle, but listened in vain for the report of his.
I now began to regret that we had not brought Toby with us, for he would
have been far more likely to find him than we were.

His brothers were almost in despair.

"We had better go back and get Toby," exclaimed Oliver.

"Something dreadful must have happened. Perhaps he has been bitten by a
poisonous snake, or kicked by an emu," said Ralph.

"Unless a mob of blacks have been hiding in the scrub and tracked us," I
remarked.

"But then I don't see how they could have overtaken him without our
seeing them," said Oliver.

At last it became so dark that we found it impossible to proceed, and it
was proposed to halt until the moon should rise, when we should better
be able to find our way.

We accordingly sat down on the ground to wait until the pale luminary of
night could give us her light.

She rose even sooner than we had expected.

"Hurrah!" cried Oliver, "it will soon be almost as light as day, and
unless Hector has fallen asleep, we shall find him."

We accordingly went on, shouting out as before. Presently my foot
slipped into a hole, and I very nearly dislocated my ankle.

"What could have made that hole?" I exclaimed.

"Wombats, I've a notion," answered Oliver. "Look, there's one of the
creatures!" As he spoke we saw an animal like a small bear waddling
along over the ground. Presently we caught sight of another and
another. We had evidently got into a colony of the creatures.

"I wonder we did not come across these when we were running after the
emu," I observed. "I am afraid that we have got out of our way."

"We must have been close on one side or the other, for I'm certain that
we were at no great distance from this," answered Oliver.

"Hector, Hector!" he shouted.

"Listen!" cried Ralph: "I heard a voice. It came from the right--it's
not far off there!"

Again we shouted, when listening attentively we all three heard a reply
and felt sure that we were not mistaken as to the direction from which
it came.

On making our way towards the spot we caught sight of a dozen