ound his advice good, for sparks from half-burned trees were
showered upon our heads as we carefully picked our way through stumps
that were black and charred and still aglow. On we went, as swift as
possible, the soles of our shoes getting warmer and warmer each moment,
until we feared that our feet would blister and burn with the exposure.
At length, however, we saw the spot where we had left the team, and with
a wild shout of exultation we rushed for it, each man striving to be
first in the race.

Smith, nimble of foot, and urged by anxiety for the loss of his cattle,
outstripped us all; but the poor fellow's face changed when he saw the
wanton destruction of his property; for the bushrangers, not content
with robbing our cart of every thing which it contained, had
deliberately backed it into the fire, and the "body was completely
burned off. The wheels, however, were good, and so were its axletrees,
and I knew that it would enable us to reach the mines with a little
patching. The most cruel part of the proceedings was the chaining of a
yoke of oxen to huge trees and allowing them to die a lingering,
terrible death. The villains were not prompted to the deed by hunger,
for their bodies remained untouched, burned to a crisp, apparently.

"If I had a bushranger within reach," cried Smith, surveying the bodies
of his favorites with almost tearful eyes, "I think that I should be
tempted to roast him alive, as my poor oxen have been. Why, of all the
mean acts that the devils were ever guilty of, this is the meanest."

"Don't repine, Smith," said Murden; "when you get back to Melbourne I'll
see that you have a yoke of cattle to replace them."

"I don't wish to hurt your feelings, Smith," Fred exclaimed, "but as the
cattle are dead and cannot be brought to life, I think that the best
thing we can do is to satisfy our appetites from their carcasses. I, for
one, am hungry, and think that a pound of steak is almost worth its
weight in gold. Let's strip the skin from one of the brutes, and see
whether the flesh is burned up."

"A good idea, and one that we will adopt," cried Murden, with alacrity.
"Maurice, where is your knife?"

The officer did not wait for a second bidding, for he scraped off the
worst of the burned portions of the hide, and then ripped it off,
leaving about the hind quarters as juicy and wholesome looking meat as
a man could wish for when in a state of hunger. Smith turned away, too
much grieved to tou