t without a fence or hedge
to guard it against the depredations of animals, although, as far as I
could judge, the grain had not suffered in that respect.

Still, we met with no one connected with the farm; a circumstance that
gave Day some uneasiness, for he was continually urging us to be
cautious how we moved along, and to check our horses the instant a word
was addressed to us.

"It's all very well for you coveys to pretend that you don't care, but
if a few bullets should happen to fly this way and knock you off your
horses, what satisfaction would there be in letting the coveys know that
they had made a mistake. Recollect, you don't look over genteel."

We calmed the shepherd with assurances that we would be extremely
careful, and continued onward, and when we least expected it, a sudden
rounding of the road freed us from the trees which grew upon the banks
of the Loddon, and we emerged upon an open space containing about sixty
acres, and in the middle of the vast square was the farm house belonging
to Mr. Wright. It was quite a respectable building, two stories high,
with flat roof, and constructed entirely of rough logs, yet fitted
together with considerable pretensions to skill and nicety.

On the roof, to keep out the rain, and to prevent the bushrangers or
natives from setting fire with burning arrows, was dirt about a foot
deep, and sodded over with turf. The body of the building, we could see,
was full of loopholes, and commanded every approach, and there was no
tree or outhouse sufficiently near to interfere with this arrangement,
or any unequal ground which a foe could take advantage of.

At some distance to the left of the castle, as Mr. Brown facetiously
called it, were three immense pens, one filled with sheep, and the
others with horses and other animals, and I judged there were as many
dogs on the outside of the pens as there were rams on the inside, for
the instant we appeared in sight we were greeted with such frightfully
discordant yelling and barking that I began to fancy we must indeed
present a woeful spectacle, or we never should be saluted by such
vindictive sounds. Still, not a shadow of a human being did we discover,
and I began to think that the bushrangers had made a descent, murdered
those connected with the farm, and then escaped, when I was suddenly
convinced of my error by hearing the report of a musket, and an ounce
ball whizzed by my head and struck the ground about ten rods in t