hy they should not do so, should they discover
that I had no means of defending myself. A snake or scorpion might bite
me, and mosquitoes or other stinging insects were sure to find me out
and annoy me; while I had the prospect of remaining without water or
food for hours, or perhaps days to come, when I might at last perish
from hunger and thirst. Such and other gloomy thoughts passed through
my mind. I had not from the first struggled, for I felt sure that I
should thus tighten the thongs which bound me. Now, however, I set to
work calmly to try and release myself, by drawing up one of my hands,
hoping that if I could but get my head low enough to reach the thong
round my arm, I might in time gnaw it through; but after making a
variety of efforts I found that the attempt was vain, and giving it up,
I resigned myself to my fate, whatever that might be.

Still it must be understood that I did not altogether lose hope. There
was the possible chance of the dominie having escaped, and that some
traveller might be coming by and release me, as Guy and I had released
Bracewell. Still many hours might pass before then, and I was already
suffering from thirst, though I was not troubled by hunger. Being out
of the path, I could only hope to attract attention from passers-by by
shouting as I heard the sound of their horses' footsteps. This I could
do as long as I retained my senses, but I might, I feared, drop off into
a state of stupor, and those who might have released me might be close
at hand without my knowing it.

Suddenly I thought I would make one more attempt to ascertain if the
dominie was within hearing. I shouted as loud as I could bawl, and then
gave a cooey, which would reach further than any other sound. I
listened; a faint cry came from a distance. It was the dominie's voice,
I thought, but could not make out what he said. The tones were
melancholy in the extreme. It might be some consolation to him, poor
fellow, to know that I was alive, and I no longer doubted that the
bushrangers had treated him in the same manner that they had me, though
I suspected that he had been either stunned or so frightened that he had
not before heard my shouts or been able to reply. I intended every now
and then to give him a hail, when it occurred to me that our voices
might attract any blacks passing at a distance, and that we should thus
increase the risk of being killed by them.

I could scare sly tell how the hour