"Not a word," said his father; "if he does not appear to-morrow I intend to ride out and try to discover him."

Hector, meanwhile, was bitterly complaining to his mother of the sufferings he had endured. "I wish that you'd let me go back to England, or try and get me some gentlemanly post in Sydney or Melbourne," he said.

"I will ask your father," was the answer.

The captain, to whom Mr Berrington communicated his son's request, laughed heartily. "I am sorry for the poor boy. He would find that he had dropped out of the frying-pan into the fire. If he cannot find occupation in the bush, depend upon it he will not in the city. People there do not want fine young gentlemen any more than they do here. Do not let him go, as you will only be throwing your money away, but have patience with him, and by degrees he will get accustomed to our ways, and prove useful at last."

Mr Berrington told his son "that he would think about the matter," and Hector used to talk to his cousins of the Government appointment he expected soon to obtain.

The heat had been very great. Not a cloud was in the sky, and not a breath of wind fanned the topmost boughs of the tallest trees. Captain Berrington had determined on starting to discover what had become of Paul. Rob and Edgar were awake before daylight. The whole family intended to be up to see the captain off. The window was left open on account of the heat. Presently, from the wood close at hand, there came forth a wild shriek of merry laughter, which made Hector start up.

"Where in the world did that come from?" he exclaimed.

Rob pointed to the wood.

"What can it be?" asked Hector.

Rob did not answer, amused at his cousin's astonishment.

Again, another jovial peal of laughter, followed by a self-satisfied chuckle, came from the wood.

"What is it? What is it?" asked the others.

"You would have heard it before, many a time, if you had been awake at this hour," answered Rob. "That is the settler's alarum--the laughing jacka.s.s."

"Laughing jacka.s.s!" exclaimed Hector. "I never heard that a jacka.s.s laughed, and I don't see one there," for in his eagerness he had jumped up, and gone to the window.

The dawn, it should have been said, had just broken.

"Wait until we have more light," said Rob; "perhaps you will then see our friend. I can just make him out. He is not down on the ground, where you are looking for him--he is up in yonder tree."

"Up in a tree?" exclaimed his cousins, in chorus.

"Yes; he generally lives up there, but he does not indulge in such uproarious laughter until early in the morning. I suppose he laughs at the folly of people lying in bed, and so tries to wake them up."

Hector and Edgar were more mystified than ever. At last they caught sight of a large brown bird with a big beak, sitting on a bough and nodding its head, and then laughing away with all its might. They could now no longer have any doubt whence the sound proceeded.

Just then Harry, arriving from the hut, came into the room.

"Come along, Harry," cried Reggy, "you said there would be time for a bathe before breakfast."

"I'm your man," said Harry. "Come, be quick, Hector, or we shall be back before you have put the finishing touch to your toilet."

The two lads hurried down to the river. Except in the water-holes which were joined by a trickling rivulet the whole bed was dry, but the ponds were of sufficient depth to afford a pleasant bath.

The boys were on the point of throwing off their clothes to plunge in, when Harry exclaimed, "Hark! what's that sound?"

"It is like distant thunder," answered Reggy.

"It can't be thunder, there's not a cloud in the sky," replied Harry.

"It seems to me to be coming right down the river. I don't like it; I heard just such a sound some years ago, when a great flood came down and rose nearly up to the house. We won't bathe, but run back and tell father; he'll judge what it is and what's best to be done."

The boys hurried back; but before they had got up to the top of the bank the roaring sound had greatly increased, and Harry was more convinced than before that a heavy flood was approaching.

CHAPTER TEN.

ALARMING PROGRESS OF THE FLOOD--THE CAPTAIN REMOVES HIS FAMILY TO HIGHER GROUND--THE BOYS, IN THEIR EAGERNESS TO SAVE MORE PROPERTY, ARE CUT OFF BY THE WATER.

Directly on receiving the information brought by Harry and Reggy, Captain Berrington hurried down to the river, followed by Hector, Rob, and Edgar. Presently, as they looked up the dry bed between the high banks, they saw a wall of water moving on towards them, such, on a smaller scale, as might have been beheld by the Egyptians when attempting to cross the Red Sea. But this was high enough to overwhelm any human beings, or horses or cattle, which might have been in its way.

The summit hissed and foamed, rising almost to the top of the bank. No streams advanced before it: it was literally a wall of water. On it came, its roar growing louder and louder. In less than a minute after it had been seen it rushed by, filling the whole bed of the river, and sending its surges up those portions of the bank which sloped more gradually.

"Back, back, boys!" shouted the captain.

They had to run as quickly as their legs would carry them to avoid the torrent. Where the ground had just before been perfectly dry there was now a hissing, foaming torrent of yellow water, carrying along branches of trees, and even big trunks. The captain, who had been joined by his brother, watched it anxiously.

"I had hopes that this was merely the result of a thunder-storm up the country," he observed; "but see, it continues to rise, which shows me that there must be a vast volume of water behind what there is here. We have some cattle feeding on the low land higher up; I trust that White has had the discretion to drive them to the upper ground."

"I fear some animals have been caught, if not ours," observed Mr Berrington. "There go the bodies of two heifers. See, here comes a third."

The captain was silent for a few minutes. "Harry!" he exclaimed, "run and tell Sandy to put the horses in all the drays, and bring them down here."

"What's that for?" asked Mr Berrington, as Harry ran off to obey the order.

"The river once came up within three feet of the house. Had it risen a foot higher it would have flooded the whole ground. It may rise two, three, or four feet higher than that. I wish to be prepared for the worst, and to save what property we can, with our wives and children, in case the house should be flooded."

The captain desired all the party to return with him, and then announced his apprehensions to the ladies. "We will breakfast first, and then pack up the most valuable portion of our property, so that we may decamp if necessary," he said, calmly. His spirit inspired the rest: even Mrs Berrington, who for a wonder had got up, ate some breakfast. The boys set to with a will.

"You know we may have some work to do, and it's wise to take in plenty of provender beforehand. We don't know when we may have time to eat again," observed Harry, cracking his third egg.

His brothers and cousins followed his example, in spite of the roaring sound which continued outside.

Biddy and Betty were busy packing up the cooking utensils, while the ladies were employed in filling their trunks with their clothes and the most valuable articles they possessed. Poor Mrs Berrington's state can better be imagined than described. Her sister's time was much taken up in endeavouring to calm her alarm. The captain again went out. The river, as he feared would be the case, had greatly increased. Still, it might possibly not rise higher than it had done before. He stuck several poles in the ground to mark its progress. The first, then the second and the third, were reached with unexpected rapidity. Already the water was rushing over the opposite bank where the ground was lowest, sweeping everything before it. There was a danger that the scrub being carried away might form a dam lower down, and, if so, create much greater damage than if the river continued open to its mouth.

"I wish the drays would come," the captain said to his brother. "We must get our wives and girls as soon as possible to the top of the ridge. I thank heaven this did not occur at night, or we might have been washed out of our beds."

Still Mr Berrington could not believe that the water would come up higher.

"Look there!" said the captain, pointing to the southward among the trees; "it is flooding the whole scrub. In a short time this place will be surrounded."

As he spoke, two or three kangaroos and several wallabies were seen in the distance making their escape into the open.

"These fellows know there is danger, or they would not be going at that rate," observed the captain.

As the drays had not arrived, Reggy offered to set off to hurry them on.

"We intend to take you for a morning drive," exclaimed Mr Berrington to his wife, in as cheerful a voice as he could command.