elcome to the food the girls gave him."

It might have been better if Peach had been seized at that time, for,
soon after this, several robberies were committed in different parts of
the colony, and always by two men supposed to be Peach and his mate.
Travellers from the gold diggings were attacked; huts were entered, and
even farm-houses, and arms and ammunition and food and any valuables the
thieves could lay hands on were carried off.

Another trying time for sheep and cattle owners as well as farmers, now
arrived. There had been less rain than usual, and as the summer
advanced the heat increased, and the creeks and water-holes dried up.
In many spots where there had been for years a pool of pure water, there
was nothing now but a bed of hard, cracked mud. Some stations were
altogether deserted, and shepherds had often to drive their flocks long
distances to water. Joseph Rudge had lately been made overseer, and it
was his duty to ride round the country in all directions to search for
water-holes. It was sad to watch the water get less and less in a hole,
and to know that in a few days it would dry up and that another must be
found or that the sheep or cattle would die. Before that time Joseph
generally managed by an active search, to secure a fresh water-hole.
While other owners were losing their sheep and cattle by thousands, Mr
Ramsay found that only a few hundreds of his had died owing to being
driven of necessity very fast to fresh water-holes.

One day as Joseph was on his way from a distant station, he saw smoke
rising out of a wood.

While he was looking towards the spot, the smoke grew thicker and
thicker, and presently flames burst out. Now they ran up the trees, now
along the tall lank grass dried by the heat. They darted from tree to
tree--the bush (as the forest is called) was on fire. The flames spread
with fearful quickness.

He galloped on into the open country where there was thinner grass. The
bush reached all the way to his house. As he watched the rapid manner
in which the fire extended, he saw that no time was to be lost. Fast as
his horse galloped, the flames went faster, leaping as it were from tree
to tree with a loud roar and crackle, the thick smoke forming a black
cloud overhead, while kangaroos and other animals rushed out of the bush
to find safety in the open country. Had Joseph been able to venture
through the forest he would soon have reached his hut, but he had to
mak