<h2><SPAN name="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI. <br/><span class="cheaderfont">AN EXCITING CHASE.</span></SPAN></h2>
<p>It proved an exciting chase they had commenced.
The thief knew he need expect no mercy if caught,
and rode desperately. He knew the country better
than Edgar and Will, which gave him a decided
advantage; moreover, he had a good horse, probably
stolen, and knew how to ride.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[196]</span></p>
<p>‘He is gaining on us,’ said Edgar. ‘I am afraid
we shall lose him. There is no chance of hitting
either man or horse from this distance.’</p>
<p>Mile after mile was traversed, and still the chase
went on. The riderless horse stuck close to his
companion, but when he began to flag the man took
hold of the bridle and urged him on. Edgar took
no heed where they were going, nor did Will. They
were too excited to take much notice of the country
they passed through. At last the fugitive turned his
horse to the left, and plunged into a much more
difficult country to travel. The undergrowth became
denser and tangled, and it was with difficulty the
horses could be forced to go through it. It was not
long before they lost sight of the man they were in
pursuit of.</p>
<p>‘Where can he have got to?’ said Will. ‘He
would never hide here with two of us after him.’</p>
<p>‘We must ride on,’ replied Edgar. ‘It is easy to
miss a man and come across his track again in a very
short time.’</p>
<p>They rode on at a slow pace, and presently came
to a narrow opening in the scrub. Here they
halted and found recent tracks of horses, so they
determined to follow in this direction. The tracks
led them in a roundabout way, and presently they
came to the conclusion the man had doubled
back.</p>
<p>‘He must be heading for our camp again,’ said
Edgar. ‘Strange he should do this unless he fancies<span class="pagenum">[197]</span>
we are put off the scent, and he is riding back to
rescue his mate.’</p>
<p>‘If that is his game,’ said Will, ‘we must follow
him hard. He might shoot Yacka before we arrive.’</p>
<p>It was, however, difficult for them to find their
way. They were not experienced bushmen, and had
failed to notice certain signs by which they would
know they were on the right track. They saw no
signs of the man, nor could they now observe in
which direction the horses had gone. To ride on
and trust to chance was their only hope. It was
quite light now, and this aided them. As time
passed they became anxious, and wondered what
would become of Yacka if they did not arrive on the
scene in time, for they had not the least doubt now
that their man was heading for the camp to rescue
his mate.</p>
<p>‘This chase he has led us has been a blind,’ said
Edgar. ‘If we had taken ordinary precautions we
ought to have found out he was doubling back.’</p>
<p>‘Only a bushman would have found that out,’ said
Will. ‘I do not see how we can blame ourselves.’</p>
<p>‘We have had enough experience the last few
months to have found that out,’ said Edgar. ‘By
Jove! there he is, I believe.’</p>
<p>There was a horseman in front of them, but they
could not see the second horse. They rode on faster
now, but did not gain much ground. A rise in the
land hid the man from view, and soon after he disappeared
they heard a shot. This made them ride<span class="pagenum">[198]</span>
all the faster, and they quickly reached the top of
the rise, and had a good view of the plain beyond.</p>
<p>‘He fired that shot to warn his mate,’ said Will.
‘We cannot be far from the camp now.’</p>
<p>‘I’ll fire,’ said Edgar; ‘and if Yacka hears the
two shots he will probably divine we are in
pursuit.’</p>
<p>He fired a shot from his revolver as they rode on.</p>
<p>‘There’s the place we camped at,’ said Edgar,
pointing to two or three tall trees: ‘but I see nothing
of Yacka or the other men.’</p>
<p>They rode up to the place, and found the camp
deserted. There was blood upon the ground and
signs of a struggle, but they imagined this must
have been caused by Yacka dragging the wounded
man along. Edgar called out ‘Yacka!’ and gave
a loud ‘cooee,’ and after waiting a few moments they
heard a faint response. They rode in the direction
of the sound, and, rounding a clump of trees on a
mound, came upon a strange sight.</p>
<p>Stretched on the ground was one of the robbers,
the man they supposed they had left with Yacka.
This man had been strangled, and was dead. Near
him sat Yacka with a strange expression on his face.
When the black saw them he gave a faint moan, and
pressed his hand to his side.</p>
<p>‘Good God! he’s shot!’ said Edgar, dismounting
and running to the black. He found blood streaming
from a deep wound in his side evidently inflicted
with a knife. ‘How did this happen?’ asked Edgar,<span class="pagenum">[199]</span>
as he endeavoured to stanch the flow of blood with
a neckerchief he had rapidly pulled off.</p>
<p>Yacka pointed to the dead man, and Will, who
had come up, exclaimed:</p>
<p>‘This is not the fellow we left with Yacka. It is
the man we have been chasing all this time.’</p>
<p>‘Where is the other man?’ asked Edgar, who could
hardly believe his eyes.</p>
<p>‘I killed him,’ said Yacka faintly.</p>
<p>‘Where is he?’ asked Will.</p>
<p>Yacka pointed to some bushes, and Will went
across and found the body of the man they had left
with Yacka. This man had also been strangled.</p>
<p>They managed to stop the flow of blood from the
deep wound in Yacka’s side, but it was some hours
before he had sufficiently recovered strength to relate
what had happened.</p>
<p>When Yacka heard the shot fired, he at once
thought the man’s mate had doubled back to rescue
him, and had given Edgar and Will the slip. He
knew how easily it could be done by an old hand,
and his surmise was confirmed by the expression on
the man’s face when he heard the shot. In a moment
Yacka had made up his mind how to act. He had
no gun, for he found that all three had been taken,
instead of only those belonging to Edgar and Will.
He seized his prisoner by the throat, and strangled
him. Then he propped the dead man up with his
back to a tree, and tied him to it with one of the
tethering ropes. He hid himself behind the tree and<span class="pagenum">[200]</span>
waited, and in a short time the other robber came
on to the scene. When this man saw his mate bound
to the tree, he dismounted and came towards him,
evidently thinking Yacka had made him fast, that he
had fallen asleep, and Yacka had gone away.</p>
<p>Yacka awaited his coming, crouching down behind
the tree. No sooner did the man see his mate was
dead than he realized that a trap had been set for
him, and ran back to the horses. Yacka was quickly
after him, and before the man could reach the horses
had caught him up. Finding Yacka at such close
quarters, the man drew his knife instead of his revolver,
no doubt thinking it would be more effective.
A desperate struggle ensued, which Yacka described
graphically.</p>
<p>‘We rolled over and over,’ said Yacka. ‘I had no
knife, and he was a powerful man. I caught him by
the throat, and he lost the grip of his knife. I clung
to him with both hands, and he managed to get his
knife and stuck it in my side. I did not let go my
hold. I became fainter and fainter, but clung to his
throat. Then I fell across him, and when I came to
my senses again, which could not have been long, he
was dead. It was their lives or mine, and they were
not fit to live.’</p>
<p>As they listened to Yacka’s story of this terrible
struggle and awful end of the thieves, they wondered
if many men would have had the courage to act as
he had done.</p>
<p>‘The horses will not have gone far,’ said Yacka.<span class="pagenum">[201]</span>
‘They were dead tired, I could see, when the man
dismounted.’</p>
<p>While Will attended to Yacka, Edgar went in
search of the two stray horses, and found them about
a couple of miles away, quietly cropping the scanty
herbage. He secured them without trouble, and was
glad to see their precious treasure was safe, and also
their guns.</p>
<p>They had to remain in this spot for a week before
Yacka was fit to be removed, and during that time
they buried the bodies of the robbers as well as they
were able with the primitive means at hand.</p>
<p>Their progress was slow, because Yacka could not
ride far, and had to be helped off one of the horses at
different times to rest. It was lucky for them they
had the two captured horses in addition to their own.
Yacka guided them, and seemed to take a delight in
hiding from them how far they were from Yanda.</p>
<p>‘Surely we must be somewhere near Yanda by this
time,’ said Edgar. ‘I almost fancy I can recognise
the country.’</p>
<p>‘You ought to,’ said Yacka, ‘for we are on Yanda
Station now, and we shall reach the homestead to-night.’</p>
<p>They could not suppress their feelings, and gave a
loud hurrah.</p>
<p>Yacka had spoken correctly, for towards sundown
the familiar homestead came in sight.</p>
<p>Yacka wished them to gallop on and leave him,
but this they declined to do, saying he had done so<span class="pagenum">[202]</span>
much for them, it was only making a small return to
remain with him.</p>
<p>As they neared the homestead they noticed several
figures moving about, evidently in an excited way, on
the veranda.</p>
<p>‘There’s Ben Brody!’ said Edgar eagerly. ‘He
has recognised us. What a time we shall have to-night!’</p>
<p>Ben Brody was standing leaning against the door-post
when he saw something moving across the plain
in front of him. He went inside for his glasses, and,
after looking through them for several minutes, he
gave a loud shout.</p>
<p>It was such an unusual thing for Ben Brody to
shout, except when issuing orders, or expressing his
feelings to some unfortunate new-chum, that the
hands about the place fancied the homestead must
have caught fire. Several of them rushed round to
the front, and found Ben Brody executing a kind of
war-dance on the veranda.</p>
<p>‘What’s up now?’ asked Will Henton. ‘Something
stinging you?’</p>
<p>‘No, you fool,’ roared Brody. ‘Do you think I’m
as tender as you? It’s them lads coming back!’</p>
<p>‘Not Foster and Brown?’ asked Will.</p>
<p>‘That’s just it, you bet,’ said Brody.</p>
<p>Off ran Will Henton, and in a few moments
Harry Noke, Jim Lee, and two or three more came
round.</p>
<p>‘Give me the glasses,’ said Noke.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[203]</span></p>
<p>‘No need for that,’ said Jim Lee. ‘I can spot ’em
from here.’</p>
<p>‘We must go and meet them,’ said Will Henton.</p>
<p>‘Right you are,’ said Brody. ‘Boys, we’ll have a
terrible night of it.’</p>
<p>They mounted their horses, and in less time than it
takes to write it down were galloping towards the
home-comers.</p>
<p>The scene was one to be remembered. They
sprang from their horses, and pulled Edgar and Will
out of their saddles, and shook them by the hands,
cheered and hallooed until the plain rang with their
hearty shouts. Yacka stood quietly looking on, and
when they had almost wrung Edgar’s and Will’s
hands off they tackled him.</p>
<p>‘Don’t handle Yacka as roughly as you have
handled us,’ laughed Edgar; ‘he’s got a bad wound.’</p>
<p>Then came a string of questions as to how Yacka
received his wound, and who had given it him. Such
a rain of questions was showered at them that at last
Ben Brody said:</p>
<p>‘Give them breathing-time, lads. We shall hear
all about their adventures later on. We’re right glad
to see you back again safe and sound.’</p>
<p>A general chorus of assent followed this remark.</p>
<p>‘Expect you have not come back loaded with
wealth?’ said Will Henton.</p>
<p>‘Wait and see,’ said Edgar. ‘I rather fancy we
have a surprise in store for you.’</p>
<p>‘Have you had a good time?’ said Ben Brody.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[204]</span></p>
<p>‘It has been a wonderful time, and we have seen
many strange things, and gone through a good deal
of hard work. I’m heartily glad to see Yanda again,
but I would not have missed our experiences for the
world.’</p>
<p>‘Same here,’ said Will Brown, ‘but I never wish
to go through such a time again.’</p>
<p>Yacka rode quietly behind, a lonely black figure,
the pain in his face showing how he still suffered. He
was glad to see this hearty welcome, but it made him
feel lonely. He had no friends such as these men at
Yanda were. He was a wanderer, an outcast, a black,
a despised native of the country these white men had
taken from his people. But Yacka was, through all
this, white enough at heart to know it was all for the
best. His people could never become like these
people, and the country in the hands of blacks, he
knew, would still have been wild and desolate.</p>
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