"Poor fellow!" I muttered; "his unjust sentence has broken his heart."
"He feels the wrong keenly," Smith said. "He has but one wish on earth now; and that is, to see his daughter before he dies."
"He then has children living?" Fred asked.
"Only one, and she was a mere child when he left home. After his misfortunes the girl was placed with a respectable family in Lincolnshire. He has often heard from her—she married a hard-working man, and now has one or two children. The stockman has saved every shilling of his earnings for the last few years, for the purpose of paying their passage to this country, where he thinks the husband can prosper, and where he will have the privilege of seeing his grandchildren grow up around him. Ten months since a hundred pounds were sent for the object he had in view, but during the whole of that time no word has arrived that the money reached its destination."
"A hard case, and one deserving of our warmest sympathy," cried Fred, once more stopping to look at the solitary man, who still stood with folded arms and bowed head, meditating upon his wrongs.
"A kangaroo! a kangaroo!" cried the convict, suddenly, pointing with his hand towards a tall, slim animal, that was standing under a tree, as if to shelter itself from the sun.
We looked at the kangaroo with considerable interest. It was nearly six feet high, when standing upon its hind legs, of a dark red color, with small spots of white upon its breast, while two short arms, or flippers, were dangling from its fore-shoulders, which were narrow and lean, as though, clipper-like, it was intended for speed.
The animal watched our movements narrowly; but as the distance was too great for a rifle shot, we slowly edged towards it with the expectation of getting within range.
Cautiously we crept along the prairie, sometimes partly concealed by tall, rank grass and sweet-scented shrubs, until we were forty rods from the tree under which the kangaroo was sporting.
"Hist!" said Smith, holding up his hand, to command our attention. "The poor brute is a female, and has her young 'uns sporting around her."
A closer scrutiny revealed the presence of two kangaroos, who were playing about their mother, unconscious of all danger. They were of a much lighter color than the old one, and the fur upon their bellies was nearly pure white. For some time we watched them, and then, desirous of obtaining fresh meat for supper, Fred and myself crawled a little nearer.
"Remember our wager," the convict cried, as we moved along on our hands and knees.
Fred nodded in reply, but after we had got a few rods from Smith, the latter suddenly started to his feet and uttered a loud yell.
So rapidly that our eyes could hardly follow their movements, did the young animals run towards their parent and disappear from view; but we had no time to wonder at that, for the mother, after a hasty glance around, and comprehending the danger in which she stood, suddenly sprang from beneath the shelter of the tree, and with the most extraordinary bounds, some of which would measure over thirty feet in a straight line, and nearly ten feet high, was passing us like a streak of lightning, when Fred raised his rifle and fired.
The kangaroo continued her bounds without relaxing her speed; when, thinking that I might be more successful, I also fired.
I heard the convict laugh heartily at our failures; but before his merriment ceased, another gun was discharged, and with a mighty bound the poor brute sprang into the air, alighted on the ground, and, rolling over and over as though even in her death struggle she sought to escape, yielded up her life.
We looked towards the stockman to see if he had discharged his gun. He was leaning on his old musket, and a bright blue smoke was curling over his head. For a moment he seemed to be warmed into life by the excitement of the sport, but before the kangaroo had breathed her last, his head sank upon his breast again, and he appeared no longer to take an interest in the affairs of life.
We hastened to the animal, and wondered at her immense muscular power. Her legs appeared like springs of steel, while a powerful tail, long and bony, was also used to help the animal make those tremendous bounds, which have become proverbial in Australia, and have excited the attention of the most eminent naturalists.
"But where have the young 'uns disappeared?" I asked, after we had sufficiently admired the animal.
"You would hardly think that they are still about her person," Smith said.
We laughed incredulously, but Smith maintained his gravity and persisted in his statement.
"It is an easy matter to settle," said Fred. "Just prove to us the truth of your statement, and we shall be as knowing as yourself."
The convict bent over the body and inserted his hand in a small opening in the belly of the animal that resembled the mouth of a pouch, but which had escaped our attention. He drew forth, as the result of his investigation, a little, struggling kangaroo, that tried to induce Smith to relinquish his grasp by snapping at his hand with its toothless mouth.
While we were admiring the softness of its skin, the second one was dragged to light; but it uttered shrill cries of terror, and endeavored to effect its escape from the rough hands that held it.
"It is as bad as murder, killing the poor brute," cried Fred, indignantly, he having recovered from the mortification of missing the animal.
"And there are no judges upon earth to sentence its murderer," cried a solemn voice.
We looked and found that the stockman had left the shadow of his hut, and was occupied the same way as ourselves, gazing at the carcass of the kangaroo.
"Man is merciless, and God punishes us all in his own good time," the stockman continued, as he listened to the grief of the motherless animals.
"Then why did you take her life?" demanded Fred.
"A man that is wronged seeks to shift his burden so that the load which weighs him down may grow lighter."
The old man, without another expression of sorrow, turned away and walked towards his hut again; while Smith, who was used to such scenes, and therefore had hardened his heart, deliberately commenced skinning the dead brute, and allowed the young ones to escape wherever they chose to run.
That night we supped upon the meat of the kangaroo; and while feasting there was little thought of the sorrow which we experienced at its death.
CHAPTER VI.
ADVENTURE WITH A DOG.—THE MURDER IN THE RAVINE.—STORY OF AN OUTRAGED WOMAN.
The flickering light of a fire, around which was seated three men with sunburnt faces and long beard, hardly illuminated the bank of the river sufficiently to distinguish objects ten yards distant. The men were Smith the convict, Fred, and myself. Each of our mouths were graced with dingy pipes, and while we puffed away diligently, our eyes were fixed upon the cheerful blaze, silently watching the ever-changing embers, and meditating upon the events of the day. The wind had gone to sleep with the sun, and the heated air had given place to a coolness that felt doubly refreshing after the scorching which we had undergone on the prairie that forenoon.
The air was still perfumed with the smoke of broiled kangaroo meat, attracting large numbers of a fox-like species of animals, that rarely ventured from the surrounding darkness, into the light of our camp-fire, but skulked in the vicinity, and waited for the time when sleep would overpower us, and allow them free pillage of our larder. Occasionally an impatient one would utter a short bark, as though expressive