"Yes. He"s my father."
For a moment the drover looked at the boy with keen eyes from which nothing could be hidden. They were light-grey eyes, set well apart, and absolutely fearless. He caught and held Sax"s glance and seemed to be reading the boy"s character. He evidently approved of what he saw, for he held out his hand, which Stobart took at once.
"So you"re Boss Stobart"s son," he said. "I"m sure glad to meet you.
My name"s Darby. Mick Darby. Me and your father were mates for close on ten years. You came up to meet him, did you?"
Sax told him a little about the school, and how he and Vaughan had come up to Oodnadatta expecting to meet the drover, and how disappointed they were. He did not mention the mysterious message; but when Mick Darby asked what the boys intended doing, Sax answered promptly that they were looking for a job, as Boss Stobart had sent a note advising them to do this.
"He"s likely changed his plans," said Darby, "and can"t come down for a bit. What sort of a job d"you want?"
By this time Vaughan had come up, and the three whites were sitting near an open pack-bag, eating damper and salt meat, and drinking tea from the drover"s quart-pot. To his question as to what sort of job they wanted, there seemed but one reply. Sax"s mouth was full at the time, so Vaughan answered:
"This sort, of course."
Mick smiled at the boy"s enthusiasm, and asked: "Can you ride too?"
The word "too" pleased Sax immensely, but it stirred his friend to answer, somewhat boastfully:
"I can ride as well as he can--can"t I, Sax?"
"You"re better than I am," said Sax generously. "He is indeed, Mr.
Darby."
"Well, we"ll see. I shan"t be starting back till the day after to-morrow. What d"you say to a riding test?" he asked, laughing.
The boys were willing to agree to anything, especially as the station to which Mick was returning was out towards the Musgrave Ranges. "It"s sure a rough place," said Mick, when he had agreed to take the boys.
"It"s out on the edge of cattle country, the Musgraves west of us, and n.i.g.g.e.rs--bad n.i.g.g.e.rs, too. You"ll wish you"d never come." He looked at the eager faces of the two lads and his own suffused with thoughts of the days when he was their age. He remembered all the hard years between, the trips on which he had only just come through alive, the terrors of thirst, the slow torment of being out of tucker, the sc.r.a.ps with blacks, the dreary homeless monotony of the desert, and he said earnestly: "I"m not urging you to come, mind. I know what you"re in for; you don"t. But if you want to be men, now"s your chance."
Vaughan"s riding test next day was a severe one. "It"s not that I want to make a fool of you," explained Mick, as they lead the horses out of Archer"s yard. "But there"s not a properly quiet horse in my plant.
It"s no good your getting your swag ready if you can"t ride. What d"you feel like?"
Vaughan said he was feeling fine; but if the truth must be told, his pulses were beating unusually fast as he looked at the bush horses and realized that he was soon to be on top of one of them. The party consisted of the drover, the white boys, and one or two black stockmen, and when they came to a broad expanse of soft sand, Mick said they needn"t go any farther.
Vaughan rode three horses. The first was a bay mare, of medium height, short in the back, and with a long rein. "You"ll find her a bit tricky to mount," said Mick. The animal stood as quiet as a mouse while Vaughan caught her and put the saddle on, but as soon as he tossed the reins over her head, she backed away and started to prance round excitedly. The boy found it impossible to get his foot in the stirrup; as soon as he touched the metal, the mare jumped back. Mick Darby stood by and said nothing, but he interfered when Sax wanted to go and help his friend. "Let him do it on his own," he said. "He won"t always have you with him."
Instead of quietening down, when the mare found she could bluff the lad she pranced about more than ever, and Vaughan saw that, unless he could surprise the animal for a moment, he would have no chance of mounting.
So he kept the reins over her head and started to pat the lovely neck and shoulders. He slowly worked round till he was on the off side--a side from which, normally, no one ever mounts a horse--and let his hand run down the shoulder till it touched the stirrup. The mare stood quite still.
Still patting the animal, Vaughan shortened the rein, and quietly lifted his right foot. As soon as it was in the stirrup, he sprang, and before the surprised horse could recover from its astonishment, he was in the saddle, having mounted from the wrong side.
The blacks shouted their praise, but Vaughan listened only for the drover"s voice. Mick laughed heartily. "Good boy! Good boy!" he said. "You bluffed her all right. Get off, and I"ll show you how to do it on the near side."
The mare was quite quiet when once the rider was seated, and Vaughan had no difficulty in riding her round or in dismounting. Mick shortened the rein for mounting, and just as the mare began to turn away, as she had done with Vaughan, he took off his hat and put it under the cheek-strap of the bridle, thus blinding the horse on the near side. She stood quite still, and the drover got on and off several times without any difficulty. Then Vaughan tried it in the same way, and found he could do anything with the mare if only he blindfolded the near-side eye when he was mounting.
"She"s a good little mare to ride, and as game as a pebble," said Mick, when the saddle had been taken off her. "I"ll let you have her if you promise to treat her well."
The next horse was a big raking bay, high in the shoulder, too long and badly coupled in the back, and of a very awkward appearance. Vaughan saddled him up and mounted. The horse stood stock still. Vaughan then shook the reins and it moved on for a few paces, but as soon as the reins were slacked again, it stopped. The boy became impatient.
Nothing is so annoying to ride as a lazy horse. So he shortened the rein. As soon as he did so, the big animal started to move forward, and it got faster and raster as its rider put pressure on the reins.
It had an awkward habit of thrusting its long lean head straight out, so Vaughan pulled hard. But the harder the boy pulled the faster the horse moved. And it _could_ move. Vaughan had never had such an uncomfortable few minutes in his life. Every part of the horse seemed to be moving by itself, and jerking him in all directions. He couldn"t possibly sit in the saddle. He let the stirrups take all his weight and just hung on. The horse was bolting.
Vaughan did not lose his head. After trying to pull up the runaway by sheer force, he realized that he was only wasting his strength, and making it go faster. By the time he found this out, he was a mile away from the others, enveloped in a cloud of dust, and racing as hard as the horse could set foot to the ground. He slackened the reins a little. Instantly the pace slackened too. He took off more pressure still and the horse was soon cantering at a medium speed. Vaughan had found out the secret. He turned his horse"s head towards home, and made it do just anything he wanted by simply increasing or decreasing the force with which he held the reins. The horse had a most delightful canter, like a big rocking-horse, and Vaughan rode up to his companions feeling very pleased with himself.
"What d"you think of it?" asked Mick.
"Fine!" replied the lad. "Fine! But he shook me up before I found it out."
"Found what out?" asked the drover.
Vaughan told him, and the man smiled approval. "Good!" he commented.
"Remember, these horses up here are all different, and you"ve got to find them out. Perhaps you"ve been used to riding properly trained ones. We don"t do any of that up here in the bush. Would you like to try another?"
Vaughan was sore and tired, but he answered eagerly that he was ready for a dozen more.
"I"ll only give you one," said Mick, beckoning to one of the black boys. "Take him pretty carefully."
The black stockman caught and saddled a chestnut gelding. Compared with the thoroughbreds of Langdale Station, the horse was heavily built, but it had beautifully made shoulders and back. The rump was coupled to the saddle of the back without the slightest dip, and the curve rose over a pair of high shoulder-blades and up to a deep and shapely neck. The legs, however, were thick, and seemed to be out of proportion with the rest of the body.
Vaughan mounted, or rather he tried to mount. If he had known more about horses he would have noticed the nervous head and eyes, and would have taken precautions accordingly. But he just flung the reins over its head, put his foot in the stirrup, and--found himself sprawling in the sand. He did not let go of the reins. The drover noticed this, and knew, because of it, that the boy had the instincts of a horseman.
Sax ran forward, but Mick stopped him. "He"s all right," he said.
"Let him alone."
Vaughan picked himself up and approached the horse, cautiously, but without fear. He put the reins quietly over its head, shortened the near side one and took a good handful of mane, and put his foot in the stirrup.
"Don"t rush it! Don"t rush it!" shouted Mick. "You"re dealing with a nervous horse. Take your time. Don"t be afraid. He"s got no vice."
Vaughan gradually pressed his weight in the stirrup and rose slowly into the saddle. The horse stood quite still and trembled. The boy realized that something was going to happen and settled himself firmly.
It was well he did so. Without any warning, the horse"s back arched like a bent bow, and all four feet came off the ground. It was an extraordinary experience for Vaughan--everything sloping away from him.
Then the back straightened suddenly and the hoofs struck the ground with such impact that, if the boy had not been very firmly in the stirrups, he would have been tossed in the air like a stone from a catapult.
After that, Vaughan had a few of the busiest moments of his life. Up in the air--in front and behind and all together--pitching this way and that; rooting, jumping, bucking, doing everything except rolling on the ground, the screaming horse tried to get rid of its rider.
Vaughan did not know what he was doing. Sheer pluck, and the supple strength of his young body, brought him through a test where more experienced riders would have failed. He did the right things without knowing why. He leaned forward over the neck of the rearing horse; he lay back when its heels were lashing the air; he balanced himself, as he had often done on a horizontal bar at school, when the arched back of the horse quivered under him high off the ground; and he stood in his stirrups to save his body from the shock of those four heavy feet striking the ground at once. He did all these things instinctively, though he had never been on a bucking horse before.
He was far too excited to be afraid. His determination saw him through, and at last the quivering horse and the breathless boy came to a standstill. Then, with a shrill whinny, the horse did its final worst. It braced its hind legs well apart and tossed its chest high in the air. Up and up rose the head and shoulders, while the fore feet pawed the air; up and up, till horse and rider hung for a moment in the balance--a horse on two legs, standing erect with a white boy clinging to its back. They swayed for a moment; for two; for three. Then over they came. With a violent jerk of its head, the horse fell over backwards.
A shout of consternation went up. Vaughan"s position was one of greatest peril. But the boy"s dancing blood had given his mind a lightning grip of the situation, and as the horse fell, he kicked his feet free from the stirrups, and flung himself clear. He was not a moment too soon. With a crash which shook the ground, the heavy horse came down, and would have mangled to a lifeless pulp anyone who had been under it. But Vaughan was safe. He lay for a minute, gasping, then stood up and faced the drover. The rein was still in his hand, though the force of the fall had torn the strong leather strap from the bridle.
CHAPTER VI
Smoke Signals
Travelling across country in Central Australia is usually very monotonous. The same routine is gone through day after day, and there is not even the relief of meeting new faces, for one"s companions are often the only human beings met with during the whole of a trip of many weeks.
For the first few days of journeying towards the Musgraves, young Stobart and Vaughan found everything new and intensely interesting. At piccaninny daylight--which is the bush term for the rising of the morning star--Mick Darby turned over on his swag and sat up, and called out "Daylight! Daylight!"
The drover was so punctual with this call that it seemed to the boys as if he must have been awake for hours, watching for the star to rise blood-red above the eastern horizon. But years of bush travel, of watching restless cattle, and of sleeping under the threat of danger from prowling blacks had made the man respond immediately to any noise or unusual sight. There was no period of stretching or yawning. Mick was asleep one instant, and fully awake the next and shouting "Daylight". The black boys were also light sleepers, trained out of their native laziness by a.s.sociation with alert whites. There was Yarloo, who had come in from the west with Boss Stobart"s message and had joined the white man"s plant at once; and Ranui, a tall fine man from North Queensland, who showed both in his build and name a trace of Malay blood; and Ted and Teedee, two boys who had been with Mick since they were "little fellas".