the cart and a tree, and after our severe
ordeal of fire, we had found two oxen burned to death, while two more
were missing.

Thinking that, they might have wandered to the corral where the
remainder of the cattle were confined, Smith galloped across the prairie
and was soon out of sight. He did not rejoin us until we reached the
hut, where we found that he had regained his oxen, and was paying
considerably more attention to the old stockman's daughter than to his
own affairs.

There was one thing which he deserved credit for, and it was accorded
him with all our hearts. The supper which he provided was capable of
making us forget our pains and fatigue; for a roasted lamb was smoking
on a table, and three or four gallons of coffee were all ready to be
drank, to restore us to new life.

All the articles which we had left at the hut were found in good order,
and nothing was missing. It may seem strange that a stockman's hovel,
miles away from other habitations, should escape the assaults of
bushrangers; but the latter knew their own interests too well to meddle
with keepers of sheep and cattle.

Many stockmen are in league with escaped convicts, and give them the
earliest information in regard to the pursuit or routes of policemen;
and although such a charge could not be brought against my friend, the
old convict, yet the bushrangers knew that if he was molested or
injured, the owners of the animals under his charge would find it very
hard work to fill his place, and be forced in the end to drive their
herds to other grazing spots. Hence, the supply of provisions which the
bushrangers were in the habit of always considering secure, would have
been cut off, and uncertain means resorted to.

The only instance of attack on my friend's house, on record, was when
Jim Gulpin and his band required the surrender of a number of policemen
sheltered within its walls. The result of that assault is well known to
the readers of these sketches; so I will not review the circumstances.

During our absence the old man's daughter, or, in other words, Mrs.
Becky Lang, had attended to her few household duties, and also watched
our cattle, to prevent their straying from the corral. She had supplied
them with water from the small stream, and in every respect behaved like
a courageous woman, as she was. She had, apparently, recovered from the
deepest of her grief on account of the loss of her husband, and her full
ruddy cheek gave ample