llars to the man who
gives me his hand first."

"Well, give me the thousand dollars, and I'll help you out," Mr. Wright
said, facetiously.

"Ah, master dear, won't you take my word for the money, or wait till I
arn it?"

"Just as I always thought," grumbled our host; "an Irishman will promise
any thing in distress, even while he knows that he has no means of
performing his engagements."

"But isn't it better to do so, master dear, than to make no promises and
die?" asked the Irishman, and I rather thought that he had him on that
question.

"Perhaps you are right," our host answered, and extending his hand, he
helped Mike to terra firma, and landed him just as Kala informed us that
the ford was ten or twelve rods down the stream.

Mike recovered his spear, and we once more started, under the guidance
of the natives, and quickly gained the spot that we had spent so much
time in searching for.

The ford had been used but seldom, and resembled the rest of the creek,
with the exception that the bushes and underbrush had been cut from the
banks of the stream, so that horses, and other cattle, after fording,
could gain the plain without trouble.

Kala threw himself upon his hands and knees, and carefully examined, by
the lightning flashes, the various footprints which marked the spot, and
which the heavy rain had failed to wash away.

"Well, Kala," Mr. Wright said, impatiently.

"No come yet," answered the native, quietly.

"Are you sure of that?" our host asked.

"I might have known that, if I had only given the subject a thought,
muttered our host.

"Well, what are we to do?" asked Mr. Brown, gathering his oil-cloth
around his person, and evidently thinking of the punch, and a good
night's rest; "are we to stay here until daylight, and watch for a party
of men who may be upon the summit of Mount Tarrengower at the present
time? I wouldn't object to waiting, but I don't like the idea of sitting
here and doing nothing, while the rain is endeavoring to obtain a nearer
acquaintance with my neck and bosom."

"I don't see any other course," Mr. Wright replied; "it's evident that
the devils have not crossed the creek, and can't to-night, but the
streams of Australia subside rapidly, and the instant the rain ceases to
fall they will attempt to ford. We must stay here and watch for the
scamps. Remember the female prisoners."

"It's all very well to say remember the females, but if I ruin my health
who is to remem