u no bin speared.
Throat bin cut this way." He poked his finger into his neck at the
side of the gullet and made a cutting movement.

There was only one man in the tribe who would have done the killing in
that way, and Stobart asked: "Doctor-man, eh?"

Yarloo looked again. The drover had never seen the boy look so
startled. Then he pointed to his nose and indicated the decoration of
the native doctor, and to his chest and drew the distinguishing marks
of his calling, and nodded. He did not dare to speak. The man with
the bunch of bones stuck through his nose, the man who had tried his
best to stir up his companions to kill Stobart and had persistently
repulsed all overtures of friendship, this man had tracked up the two
horses in the night and had cut their throats. The white man was his
enemy; he must not be allowed to escape, for he would sooner or later
be put to death. Stobart knew that he had a powerful foe.

The drover had succeeded in making a friend of the man with the
mutilated left hand, but had not been able to overcome the hatred of
the most influential man in the tribe.

The upshot of the adventure was that Boss Stobart was forced to
accompany the tribe of Musgrave warraguls back to their mountain
fastnesses. In the ranges he found fertile valleys watered with
permanent springs, game and birds in abundance, and many indications of
the gold which so many daring prospectors had sought for at the price
of their lives.

CHAPTER XXIV

A Prisoner

The famous drover was a prisoner. He was free to come and go when and
where he liked, but he soon found that he was being closely watched,
and that, until he was quite certain of success, any attempt to escape
would be worse than useless. It would result in his death.

At first Stobart couldn't understand what they wanted to keep him for,
and why they didn't kill him right away, but after a time he found out
that Yarloo had told them so many wonderful things about his "white
boss", that his captors' opinion as to his supernatural powers was
confirmed. In his zeal to save his master's life, the faithful boy had
gone a little too far, for the warragul tribe decided that they must
keep such a marvellous man with them at all costs, and that his
presence would be sure to bring them plenty of the good things of
life--water, tucker, and healthy children.

As soon as possible without arousing suspicion, Stobart sent Yarloo to
Oodnadatta with a note