tired to seek the rest
they respectively stood in need of. On the following morning Tom
returned to Strawberry Hill; while John, upon busying himself on the
station, learnt that the black boy Billy had disappeared in the night;
and that Jemmy, his companion, professed to know nothing about him.
Calling in the aid of Joey he was enabled to trace the track of the
fugitive to the river; from which circumstance he conjectured that Billy
had waited for the dawn of morning; when he had taken his departure with
the intention of joining his tribe. Upon making this discovery he felt
considerable annoyance, as the black had began to be useful, and would
in all probability be followed by his companion. He could not help
feeling disgusted at the treatment the poor fellow had received; and so
far as he was personally concerned, he felt himself justified in
resenting the conduct of his neighbour; which he determined to take the
earliest opportunity of stigmatizing, and condemning in the strongest
possible terms. As he had anticipated, the other black soon followed his
fellow, and he was consequently put to considerable inconvenience by the
deprivation of their labour.

Nearly a week had elapsed after this, and Tom Rainsfield had ridden over
to Fern Vale to spend a little spare time with his friend, and cheer him
in his solitude. "My brother," said he, "has been again annoyed by the
blacks. They have paid him another visit, and seem determined to
cultivate his acquaintance more closely than hitherto. I expect that
fellow of yours has given his relatives a feeling account of his
reception at our place, and also as to the exact position of the store.
In their late visit, they were in considerable numbers (I presume to
protect themselves against a general flogging), and they have vented
their displeasure in a manner most conducive to their happiness, by
appropriating what of our stores they could conveniently remove. I
believe my brother meditates some desperate onslaught; for he is
swearing to exterminate the whole tribe if they continue their
depredations much longer."

"I think," replied John Ferguson, "that he is suicidal to his own
interests by perpetuating his quarrel with the blacks. An unceasing
warfare with them will only be conducive of misfortune, loss, and
uneasiness to both himself and his neighbours; for the blacks will not
have the sense to discriminate between those that are friendly disposed
towards them, and those tha