ax?" he
asked.

Stobart pointed north into the darkness. Overhead, and nearly to the
horizon, the sky was a mass of stars, but just on the northern horizon
was a patch where no stars were to be seen. As their eyes became
accustomed to the night, they saw that this patch looked as if it was
alive with flashing, coiling, darting red things. It was like a mass
of snakes squirming in agony, and now and again a clear white jet of
light came out of the darkness, as if one of them was spitting venom at
the sky. In reality, the boys were looking at one of those terrible
electric storms which tear across Central Australia after a severe
drought, and the lurid colours were caused by lightning flashing inside
a very thick cloud.

But no interest was strong enough to overcome the healthy weariness of
the boys, and they went to bed soon afterwards and fell asleep almost
at once.

Saxon Stobart was the son of a famous drover who took huge mobs of
cattle across the centre of the continent, and who was noted for his
pluck and endurance, and for his skill as a bushman, which enabled him
to travel through parts of the country where very few white men have
ever been. His son had many of the qualities of mind and body which
had made his father such a fine man. He was tall and thin, but was as
active as a cat and stronger than most boys of his size and age. His
friend Vaughan was a different-looking boy altogether. He was short
and thick-set. Although Vaughan was not fat, he was so solidly built
that his nickname "Boof" suited him very well indeed. His father used
to own Langdale Station, a big sheep run in the Western District, but a
series of bad droughts had forced him to sell the place.

The two boys had been great friends at school, and when Drover Stobart
wrote to his son: "Come on up to Oodnadatta for a bit of a holiday
before settling down, and bring your mate along with you", they both
accepted the invitation with enthusiasm.

* * * * *

The boys were suddenly roused from sound sleep about three o'clock next
morning by someone in the room shouting at them; "Hi, there! Hi! Get
up, it's coming. Get up quick."

The next instant the bedclothes were jerked back and a man was pulling
them roughly to their feet. It was all so sudden and unexpected that
each boy thought that he was dreaming; but as the man shook and punched
them into activity, they became aware of a terrifying noise coming a