First in the Field Part 18

The cattle and horses were grazing all around, and in the calm silence the _crop, crop_ as they bit off the gra.s.s sounded peculiarly loud, while from a distance came the loud wailing cry of the curlew, a strange trumpet-like tone, and a note from close at hand which made Nic turn inquiring eyes upon his father.

"Curlew, crane, and the mopoke," said the doctor. "More pork the settlers call it."

"Mopoke?"

"Yes. There goes one;" and he pointed to where a dark, swift-winged bird was hovering about a tree evidently in quest of moths.

"Why it flies like the goat-sucker does at home," said Nic, pausing to watch the bird.

"To be sure it does. It is a relative, only bigger. You'll find plenty of birds that bear a resemblance to our own."

"And animals?"

"No. Birds are most plentiful, and in great variety; quadrupeds are scarce, and very peculiar. This, you know, is the land of the kangaroo, and we have varieties of that curious beast, from tiny ones we call rats, right up to the giants which stand up taller than the biggest man."

The sun had set, the great stars were s.h.i.+ning out through the clear air, and night was coming on fast, with the cries of the birds sounding strange and even awful in that loneliness.

"Tired out, Nic?" said his father; and the boy started and stared.

"Why, you were asleep, Nic. Don't you understand me?"

"Eh? Yes. What say, father? Was I asleep?"

"Soundly, my boy. Come along; you can creep in under the tilt and go to sleep on the boxes. There are two blankets rolled up ready for you."

"But what are you going to do?" asked Nic.

"Look round for a bit, and take my turn at watching."

"But I must too," said Nic, shaking off his drowsiness.

"When I tell you, my boy. Now go to sleep, and get rested for to-morrow's work. The dogs will give warning if any one comes near."

Nic obeyed, and as he went to say "good night" to the dogs--towards which he felt no animosity for the ducking they had given him--he saw that the two men were making their bed under the waggon, while the black was sidling slowly up to the fire. There the Australian curled himself up like a great dog, while the doctor stood about a dozen yards away, searching the dimly seen landscape with a little pocket-gla.s.s.

Then Nic climbed in under the tilt, opened one blanket and doubled it, made a pillow of the other, and then--

"Yes, father--directly."

For the dawn was beginning to break, and a bright light shone up among the branches of the trees, out of which came a series of piercing bird screams.

"Look sharp: kettle nearly boils."

Nic scrambled from under the tilt, feeling now that he must be called to help keep watch, for he was convinced that he had only just lain down.

CHAPTER TEN.

A MORNING DIP.

"Had a good night's rest, my boy?"

"Night's rest?" stammered Nic.

"Yes; you have been asleep eight hours, I should say."

Nic stared.

"Like a bath? Do you good. Get a towel, and have a plunge into the pool. Don't be more than a quarter of an hour gone. Can you swim?"

"Yes, father," said Nic, who felt stiff and s.h.i.+very; and as he climbed up under the waggon-cover for the towel, he wished bathing had never been invented.

Getting down and making for the water-hole, he came upon Brookes, who was carrying an armful of wood for the fire, and he saluted the boy with:

"Going to have a dip?"

"Yes."

"Hope you'll like it. Don't ketch me at it."

His face was only dimly seen reflecting the light of the fire; but recalling what he had seen, Nic could not help feeling that the stock man did not use water much for outward application.

Half-way to the hole he met the black, who said something incomprehensible, to which Nic answered with "good morning," and hurried on to the bank, down in the hollow along which the river ran.

There was a thin, whitish mist just visible over the water, which looked horribly black and cold, making the boy feel as if he would have given anything to evade the morning duty.

"Why not s.h.i.+rk it?" he said to himself. "I might wash my face and hands, and go back."

Hurrying a dozen yards or so to where the bank was lower and the water not above eight or ten inches beneath, he prepared for a simple wash, and laid his towel on a bush; but his conscience attacked him, and, setting his teeth hard, he tore off jacket and vest in a way that was nothing less than vicious. These he placed on the bush which acted for a chair back, while the morning air struck chill to the bare skin.

"It's horrid," he thought,--"horrid. How can one go on like this?"

Ugh! how cold the black water looked in that grey dawn, for there was no sign of the sun, the stars being still faintly visible, and to keep his teeth from chattering Nic set them so hard that they began to ache.

"Pretty cowardly fool I should have looked if father had asked me at breakfast if--Bother it all. Why didn't I take off my shoes?"

Nic had got one leg half out of his trousers, but not being so clever as the black at that crane or stork-like way of standing he overbalanced, tried to save himself failed, and went down on his side, in which safer position he dragged out first one and then the other leg.

"Yes; pretty cowardly fellow I should have looked if father had asked me at breakfast if I enjoyed my swim."

He rose and hung up his trousers on the bush, thrust off shoes and stockings, and then stood on the bank white and ghostly-looking, gazing down into the deep, still water overhung by thick bushes, which made it look still more untempting. For it was big enough--there were two or three acres--to hold any number of terrible monsters. There might be water-serpents hidden under those overhanging trees, waiting amongst the roots ready to seize and pull him down; or huge alligators or crocodiles might be lurking in the deepest holes. Nic was not learned enough as to the way in which their teeth fitted between the others or into holes in the opposing jaws to know which was which. It was enough for him to remember that they were shaped like the fierce little efts which seized the worms in ponds at home when he had been out fis.h.i.+ng.

The thoughts were horrible, and he stood s.h.i.+vering, and had it been broad daylight his skin would have been seen becoming covered with tiny pimples, like the cuticle of the goose plucked, and a.s.suming a reddish, purply hue.

"Oh," he thought, "if I could only escape this bitter task!" But he was too determined to attempt that, though he could not help putting off the task as long as he could; for cold water which looks bad enough at dawn in a bath in a comfortable dressing-room seems far worse on the banks of a river; and a hundred times worse when an active brain suggests the possibility of its containing fierce, hungry reptiles in all their amphibious horror, watching and waiting, in a land of blacks, for a tender, well-fed breakfast off a delicate, well-bred white.

"It's of no use," thought Nic. "I must summon up courage and do it.