ch the articles we required were
stowed. Those of the dominie contained his medicine chest--not a very
large one, but well suited for the bush, where Morrison's pills are more
in request than drugs in general. We were accompanied by two dogs, one
of which had from my first arrival especially attached himself to me,
and Hector, to whom he belonged, had made me a present of him.

Though anxious about our friend we were all in high spirits at the
prospect of a gallop across the country, which few people in good health
could fail to enjoy. Even the dominie forgot his fears of bushrangers
and mials, or wild blacks.

Our road lay through a lightly timbered country, and here and there
patches of scrub consisting of a sweet-scented wattle. We saw pigeons
in abundance, and at times a kangaroo hopped away before us. The grass,
owing to the heat of the weather, was rather yellow than green, but we
knew that a few showers would soon change its hue. After traversing
this country for several miles, we saw some trees evidently much larger
than those round us. As we drew near, the vegetation below us looked
green, a sign that we were approaching a creek or water-hole. Just then
we caught sight of three kangaroos leisurely cropping the grass.
Before, however, we could unsling our rifles, they winded us and bounded
away at a rate which would have made it hopeless to follow them unless
we had been accompanied by native dogs and were prepared for a long
chase. We accordingly unsaddled at the hole, which was full of
unusually clear water, a luxury not often obtained in the bush. The
grass, also, beneath the trees being shaded was closer and greener than
that elsewhere; they were mostly tea-trees and gum-trees, many of them
growing to a good size. Among the boughs we saw numbers of white
cockatoos, parrots, laughing-jackasses, and many other birds, who
received us, as we prepared to camp for our noon-day meal, with a loud
chorus of varied cries.

Having allowed our horses some time to feed, we again mounted and rode
forward. We camped again at night at another water-hole, and were at an
early hour the next morning once more in our saddles.

We had proceeded some little distance, when I observed that Guy's horse
had gone lame, and presently it made a fearful stumble from which he
could with difficulty recover it.

"I am afraid that I must get off and walk, and give the horse a chance
of recovering himself," said Guy.

We pu