he greater part of the day had been
exceedingly sultry; which, with the heavy appearance of the sky, was a
portentous indication of storm. In order to escape this, and reach the
shelter of the station before the rending of the heavens, the young men
urged their weary horses to an accelerated speed. They rode on; still
without coming upon any track that would guide them to the station they
knew could not be far distant; when an occasional low rumbling noise of
distant thunder announced the approach of the warring elements; and with
the gradual extinction of the sun's rays, made them feel the
unpleasantness of their situation, and a desire to be well housed. The
instinct of the black here made its value apparent; for, where nothing
was visible even to the practised eye of either John or William, he
suddenly discerned the tracks of sheep; and naturally inferring that
they must either be directed towards, or from, the head station; and
also detecting the track of the shepherd, who must have accompanied the
flock, easily deciding which must have been the homeward course, he took
the lead of the party, and piloted them with his eyes fixed upon the
ground; travelling as speedily as their horses could proceed.

Very little distance, however, had been accomplished; and the increasing
gloom lent its darkness to the shades of night already setting in; when
a few heavy drops of moisture, accompanied by a flash of vivid light,
that made the horses start and tremble; and followed by a peal of
thunder that seemed to shake the very earth; announced to the travellers
that they were in for an unpleasant experience, in all probability, of a
miserable night. The trio, however, still held on their way; the black
boy, during the momentary illuminations caused by the repeated flashes
of lightning, continued to discern the, but to him, evanescent path; and
with spasmodic starts; and intervals of salient progression, proceeded
in his guiding course.

The appearance of the forest was fearfully sublime; the tall bare trunks
of the gigantic gum-trees, with their surfaces of immaculately smooth
bark of a pale bluish hue, appearing as if they had by some
unaccountable agency been stripped of their natural skin, contrasted
strangely with the surrounding gloom. When the momentary flashes of
light lit up the darkness of the woods, and revealed the naked stems,
like argenteous columns supporting the black canopy of eternal shades,
they displayed a scen