e calculated to create in an imaginative fancy the
existence of a vast catacomb of departed dryads; while it inspired the
mind with awe, at the presence of the dread power that moves the spirit
of the storm. Still, down came the rain; flash followed upon flash; and
the thunder rolled as if the whole heavens were rent by the mighty
convulsions of the elements. The storm by this time had reached the
culminating point; and the volume of water, pouring upon the earth, gave
to the ground the appearance of one vast swamp; while it obliterated,
even to the acute vision of the black, all signs of the track that had
been leading them to their night's destination. Nothing now seemed to
offer them any chance of an alleviation of their discomfort; no sound
could be caught by the quick ear of Joey, that would tend to lead them
to the desired refuge; no abatement of the storm appeared probable; and
in the perfect obscurity of the night, any removal from their present
position would only involve them, in all probability, more in the bush,
and render their extrication more tedious and difficult. To add to their
misery, they were cold and drenched, had no possibility of lighting a
fire, or indulging in that balm for every misfortune, a pipe; and with
their horses almost knocked up, they saw no alternative but to take what
little protection a tree afforded, and wait for the morning.

Their position had attained this climax of wretchedness, when it struck
John Ferguson that Joey might be able to hear or see something from the
top of one the trees, that would lead them to shelter; he therefore
requested the black, as a forlorn hope, to try it. Joey, upon receiving
his command, selected a piece of wild vine sufficiently long to give him
a firm hold in each hand, while it compassed the trunk of a good-sized
tree; then divesting himself of his boots, and choosing one of the
largest stems he could distinguish, he prepared to mount an old blue
gum, whose trunk rose for fully forty feet smooth and straight, and
without an impediment or excrescence. Putting his supple vine-stalk
round the tree, and firmly grasping each end of the cane by his hands,
he placed his feet firmly against the stalwart denizen of the woods, and
rose in bounding starts with a celerity astonishing to the uninitiated.
Upon reaching the fork of the tree, and ascending the highest branch, he
spent some moments gazing around, in the hope of detecting a friendly
light in the sur