, and then told the black boy
that he was going to have a bathe before supper.

"No, no, boss!" cried Tommy, energetically, "baal you bogey longa that
waterhole. Plenty fellow blue water snake sit down there--plenty. One
bite you little bit, you go bung quick. Plenty fellow myall go bung
longa baigan."{*}

* "Do not bathe in that waterhole. Many blue water-snakes
live in it. If one bit you, even a little, you would die
quickly. Many wild blacks have been killed by the baigan"

Gerrard could not repress a shudder. He had often seen the dreaded
"baigan"--a bright blue snake which frequented waterholes and lagoons,
and whose venom equalled that of the deadly fer-de-lance of Martinique
and St Vincent. Years before he had seen a cattle dog swimming in a
lagoon attacked by a "baigan," which bit it on the lip, and, although a
stockman, as soon as the animal was out of the water, cut out a circular
piece of the lip, it died in a few minutes.

"Very well, Tommy. I'll wait till after supper and have a bogey in the
rain."

As he spoke, the low rumble of thunder sounded, and deepened and
deepened until it culminated in a mighty clap that seemed to shake the
foundations of the earth, then followed peal after peal, and soon the
rain descended in torrents, beating the waters of the pools into froth,
and making a noise as of surf surging upon a pebbly beach.

For twenty minutes the downpour held; then it ceased suddenly, and, like
magic, a few stars appeared. The fire was now blazing merrily in the
cave. Tommy had made the two quart pots of tea, and Gerrard was taking
the beef and damper out of his saddle-bag when the black boy started.

"What is it, Tommy?"

"Horse neigh!"

Gerrard listened. The boy was right, for he, too, heard a second neigh,
and their own horses, which they could see standing quietly under a big
Leichhardt tree, undisturbed by the storm, pricked up their ears and
raised their heads.

"Quick, take your rifle, Tommy!" and Gerrard seized his own, then taking
up the two quart pots of tea, he threw the contents over the fire, and
partly extinguished it--not a moment too soon, for almost at the same
moment a volley rang out, and he knew he was hit; and Tommy also cried
out that he was shot in the face. Seizing him by the hand, Gerrard
dragged him outside, stooping low, and bullet after bullet struck the
wall of the cave. As he and the black boy threw themselves flat on the
ground a few yard