errard struck a match, and held it to the dead man's face; it was
purple, and hideous to look upon.

"Boigan," said Tommy placidly, as he re-lit his pipe.

CHAPTER XXXI

Three days passed before Gerrard and the black boy were able to leave
the Rocky Waterholes. The bodies of their treacherous assailants they
interred in the soft, sandy soil at the foot of one of the granite
pillars, and then Gerrard took their valises containing their gold,
together with their arms and saddle pouches, and rolled them in a
blanket, which he strapped on one of the gang's horses, which was
to serve as a pack. He intended to hand everything over to the Gold
Commissioner, whom he expected to see at Ochos Rios in a few weeks,
and who having judicial powers, would, he expected, hold the official
inquiry into the deaths 'of the men at the station itself.

Tommy made but little of his wound, and only grinned when Gerrard said
he was lucky not to have had his jaw smashed by the bullet. He doctored
it in the usual aboriginal manner: first powdering it with wood ashes,
and then plastering the whole side of his face with wattle gum.

"My word, Tommy," observed his master gravely, "you got him handsome
fellow face now--all the same as me. Plenty fellow lubra want catch you
now for benjamin."{*}

* "Plenty of women will want to get you now for a husband."

Gerrard's own wound, although painful, did not prevent him from either
walking or riding. The soft wattle gum was a splendid styptic, and
two whole days and nights of complete rest did much to accelerate his
recovery; and game being plentiful at and about the waterholes, he and
Tommy made themselves as contented as possible, for there was still a
clear week before the pearling lugger was due at the mouth of the Coen.
He had changed his mind about letting Tommy go back alone along the
beach, and decided to take him with him in the vessel. The boy's bravery
had impressed him greatly, and although he knew his resourcefulness and
abilities as a bushman, he thought it would not be fair--for the sake
of two horses--to let him run the risk of being cut off by the coastal
blacks, while on his way to the station. As for the horses, they would
find their way home safely in all likelihood, unless they came across
poison bush. The blacks did not often succeed in spearing loose horses,
the slower-moving cattle being their favoured victims.

They left the Rocky Waterholes as the strength of th