"If we could but put a good broad river between us," said Jack, "we might feel safe. Did you see that stringy bark tree just at hand, Mr. Arthur? I marked it in my mind, and if Master Hugh, and you, and Master O'Brien will help me, we will twist some long ropes, on our road to-morrow, and then, I fancy, if we came to a river we could not ford, we might contrive a ferry-boat."
Rope-making.--The Cavern of Illustrations.--Ruth at the Water-pools.--Victualling the Fortress.--The Blockade.--Assault and Battery.--Bloodshed.--The close Siege.--Prospect of Famine.
Mr. Mayburn was uneasy till they set out next morning; for the thick bush-covered hill was a convenient spot for concealment. They left their sleeping-place, therefore, at the earliest dawn, and continued their progress, while the young men found several trees of the stringy bark; the strips of the bark, measuring twenty or thirty feet, were hanging from the trunk raggedly, but very conveniently for the purpose of the workmen, who collected a quantity of the rolls of bark, and carried it on their shoulders, till a singular isolated column of rock attracted them to examine it; and as it afforded a little shade, and stood in an open glade, where they need not fear hidden enemies, they rested at the foot of it, and eat their breakfast of kangaroo steaks. Then Jack, fixing short poles into the ground to tie the bark to, soon set all the youths to work to twist strong ropes of considerable length. They spent some hours in this labor, and completed so heavy a burden of ropes, that when they set out again they looked anxiously for an opportunity of relieving themselves by putting the ropes to profitable use. They directed their steps towards a rocky range before them, which held out a prospect of protection for the night; and bending under the weight of their burden, they were glad to reach the straggling, mountainous, sandstone rocks which, running east and west, interrupted their direct course.
It was always easy in these ranges to find caves or hollow grottos, convenient for a retreat, and the bright moon showed them a low opening, which admitted them into a spacious and lofty cave. It was large enough to have contained fifty persons, dry and clean--for the floor was of fine sand; and when they had lighted a fire, they discovered that they were not the first who had inhabited the cave, for the walls were covered with rude, colored paintings of men and animals--the men and animals of Australia. With great amusement and astonishment the boys looked on the kangaroo, the opossum, many curious lizards, and heads of men, colossal in size, and imperfect in execution, somewhat resembling the ambitious child's first attempts at high art.