d
supple, made of plaited kangaroo-hide, and ended in a well-rounded
lash. He drew it once or twice through his fingers and then cracked it
in the air. The sound was like the sudden banging together of two flat
wooden boards. Mick stood back from the prostrate native and measured
the distance with his eye.

"Don't like to be branded, don't yer?" he asked. "Well, I'll take it
off for yer."

He drew back the whip and swung it forward. There was a yell of pain
from Eagle. The lash had bitten right in the middle of the brand. The
whip fell again and again, each time unerringly.

Sax sprang forward. He acted on the spur of the moment. With clenched
fists and blazing eyes he stood between the drover and the bound man.
For a moment there was silence except for the moaning of the tortured
man. Mick looked at Sax and said, with a cruel smile: "Well, and who
told you to interfere?"

"But, Mick," gasped the lad, surprised at his own audacity, but
determined to see the matter through--"but, Mick, you can't do it.
He's tied up."

"Can't do it, indeed!" shouted Mick. "Can't do it! That nigger wanted
to kill me, he did. Look out. I'm going to chop that brand out of his
side with this whip."

The thong whistled through the air over the drover's head and came
forward. But Sax stood his ground. The falling whip coiled round his
legs and jerked him off his feet, sending him backwards over the body
of the bound native. Mick laughed and raised the whip again; but
before it came down, the lad was on his feet and had cleared Eagle's
body at a bound. The lash caught Sax's right leg. It slashed through
the thin cloth of the trousers and left a bleeding cut from ankle to
knee. The boy did not cry out. He grabbed at the whip and missed it,
but before it could be raised again, Vaughan rushed forward and caught
it. He twisted the plaited hide round his wrist and hung on. Sax
joined him immediately, but they tried in vain to wrench the handle out
of the infuriated man's hand. The unequal tussle was soon over. Mick
was a big heavy man, and the lads were light and were not used to
matching their strength against the endurance of a man. First one and
then the other was thrown back. They came on again, however, till,
with a sudden jerk, Mick flung the whip away from him, and faced them
with his bare hands.

Sax and his friend were breathless. They stood panting beside the
native on the ground, and looked at the drov