Robbery Under Arms by Rolf Boldrewood (epub read online books TXT) 📕

for the first twenty miles or so. By Jove! it was a great ride; the forest was middling open, and we went three parts speed when we could see before us. The horses seemed to go as if they knew there was something up. I can see Rainbow now, swinging along with that beautiful bounding style of going he had, snorting now and then and sending out his legs as if one hundred miles, more or less, was nothing. His head up, his eye shining like a star, his nostrils open, and every now and then, if anything got up, he’d give a snort as if he’d just come up out of the bush. They’d had a longish day and a fast ride before they got to Eugowra, just enough to eat to keep them from starving, with a drink of water. Now they were going the same style back, and they’d never had the saddles off their backs. All the night through we rode before we got to the top of Nulla Mountain; very glad to see it we were then. We took it easy for a few miles now and again, then we’d push on again. We felt awful sleepy at times; we’d been up and at it since the morning before; long before daylight, too. The strangeness and the chance of being followed kept us up, else I believe we’d have dropped off our horses’ backs, regular dead beat.

We lost ground now and then through Warrigal not being there to guide us, but Jim took the lead and he wasn’t far out; besides, the horses knew which way to steer for their grass at the Hollow. They wouldn’t let us go much off the line if it was ever so dark. We gave ’em their heads mostly. The sun was just rising as we rode across the last tableland. We got off and stumbled along, horses and men, down the track to the Hollow. Dad and Warrigal hadn’t come back; of course they couldn’t stand the pace we did. They’d have to camp for a bit, but they both knew of plants and hiding holes, where all the police in the colony couldn’t find them. We knew they’d turn up some time next day. So we let go our horses, and after a bit of supper laid down and slept till well on in the afternoon.

When I looked round I saw the dog sleeping at Jim’s feet, old Crib. He never left father very far, so of course the old man must be home, or pretty close up. I was that dead beat and tired out that I turned over and went to sleep for another couple of hours. When I next woke up I was right and felt rested, so I put on my things, had a good wash, and went out to speak to father. He was sitting by the fire outside smoking, just as if he’d never been away.

XXXVII

“We done that job to rights if we never done another, eh, lad?” says father, reaching out for a coal to put in his pipe.

“Seems like it,” I said. “There’ll be a deuce of a bobbery about it. We shan’t be able to move for a bit, let alone clear out.”

“We’ll show ’em a trick or two yet,” says dad. I could see he’d had a tot, early as it was. “I wonder how them chaps got on? But we’ll hear soon.”

“How shall we hear anything? Nobody’ll be mad enough to show out of here for a bit.”

“I could get word here,” says father, “if there was a police barrack on the top of Nulla Mountain. I’ve done it afore, and I can do it again.”

“Well, I hope it won’t be long, for I’m pretty full up of this staying-at-home business in the Hollow. It’s well enough for a bit, but it’s awful slow when you’ve too much of it.”

“It wouldn’t be very slow if we was all grabbed and tried for our lives, Mr. Dick Marston. Would ye like that better for a change?” says the old man, showing his teeth like a dog that’s making up his mind to have ye and don’t see where he’s to get first bite. “You leave the thing to them as knows more than you do, or you’ll find yourself took in, and that precious sharp.”

“You’ll find your pals, Burke and Moran, and their lot will have their turn first,” I said, and with that I walked off, for I saw the old man had been drinking a bit after his night’s work, and that always started his temper the wrong way. There was no doing anything with him then, as I knew by long experience. I was going to ask him where he’d put the gold, but thought it best to leave that for some other time.

By and by, when we all turned out and had some breakfast, we took a bit of a walk by ourselves and talked it over. We could hardly think it was all done and over.

“The gold escort stuck up. Fourteen thousand ounces of gold taken. Sergeant Hawkins shot dead. The robbers safe off with their booty.”

This is the sort of thing that we were sure to see in all the papers. It would make a row and no mistake. It was the first time such a thing had been thought of, much less carried out “to rights,” as father said, “in any of the colonies.” We had the five thousand ounces of gold, safe enough, too. That was something; whether we should be let enjoy it, or what chance we had of getting right away out of the country, was quite another matter. We were all sorry for Sergeant Hawkins, and would have been better pleased if he’d been only wounded like the others. But these sorts of things couldn’t be helped. It was the fortune of war; his luck this time, ours next. We