of them,
till at last they came into country which Boss Stobart did not know.
The mountains sent out spurs far into the plains, and when the drover,
who was riding a mile or two ahead of the cattle, came upon a rocky
water-hole in a valley tolerably covered with low bushes, he decided to
camp there for a day or two and explore the surrounding district to
find the best route to take with the cattle.

It was early in the afternoon when the lowing mob came up to the water;
so when they had had a drink, Stobart gave directions to his black-boys
and rode off, leaving Pat Dorrity to look after the camp. He took with
him a boy named Yarloo. This boy was a Musgrave black whom Stobart had
picked up on one of his droving trips years before and had kept ever
since. The native was devoted to the white man, and Stobart had
responded to this faithfulness in such a way that Yarloo would have
willingly given his life for his hero. The boy's services at this time
were invaluable, for the party had now reached the country in which he
had been born. Before many days his services were to prove more
valuable still, and his devotion was to be put to a very great test.

The two men rode up the gully to the top, crossed over the spur, dipped
down into a larger gully, and struck out south-west for a plain
stretching towards Oodnadatta which Yarloo remembered, where there were
one or two good water-holes and plenty of cattle-feed for many days.
Darkness came on before they had completed their investigations, and as
there was no need to get back to camp that night, they hobbled their
horses on a patch of dry grass and lay down, each man pillowing his
head on his upturned saddle.

Next morning they reached the plain, found it to be all that could be
expected considering the drought-stricken state of the country, and
then turned their horses' heads towards camp.

They had not gone more than half-way when they saw that something was
wrong, for they came across one or two of the cattle which they had
been driving. The animals had evidently been badly scared, for they
galloped away as soon as they caught sight of the two horsemen. It
took some time to round them up, and by that time others were in sight
and others still. Boss Stobart always selected good black stockmen and
trusted them, and he knew that something quite out of the ordinary had
happened to scatter the cattle in this way, and that it was not due to
any carelessness on the boy