the hands at yanda marvelled greatly at the tale edgar told of their adventures, and they marvelled still more when the treasure they brought with them was shown.
‘and to think that black fellow knew all about it, and kept the secret so long,’ said ben brody. ‘i can[205] hardly believe it is true. you must have travelled thousands of miles. all i can say is you deserve what you have got.’
after staying a few weeks at yanda, where he received letters from home, and from wal jessop, edgar decided to go to sydney and see eva again. will brown remained at yanda, in order to gain more experience of station life.
when edgar arrived in sydney, he at once went to watson’s bay. wal jessop did not know edgar had left yanda. eva had constantly inquired for edgar during his absence, and been comforted by the assurance he would return to her.
edgar walked up the steep path to the cottage, intending to give the inmates a surprise, but eva, who was looking out of the window, recognised him, and gave a joyful cry that brought mrs. jessop to her. together they rushed out to greet edgar, and he soon had little eva crowing delightedly in his arms, mrs. jessop looking on, her motherly face beaming with satisfaction.
‘how you have grown, eva!’ said edgar, holding her up in his arms to have a better look at her. ‘you have had a good home, and mrs. jessop has taken great care of you.’
eva began to prattle in her pretty childish way, and asked edgar numerous questions, some of which he found a difficulty in answering.
when wal jessop returned home and found edgar installed in the cottage he was delighted. he had been longing to see him again, and to hear all about his adventures. these edgar had to relate over and over again, and little eva, too, was interested in hearing about yacka and the blacks, and the white spirit in the wonderful cave. when she saw the precious stones and gold edgar brought with him, she clapped her hands with joy, and wanted to play with all the pretty things.
‘you’ll not be short of money for a time with such rubies as these to sell,’ said wal jessop, as he took some of the stones in his hand. ‘they are the finest i ever saw. you’ll get more for them in london than you will here.’
‘i shall keep the bulk of them,’ said edgar; ‘but we must dispose of some of them, wal, in order to keep things going.’
‘captain fife will be able to do that for you,’ said wal. ‘he knows the best market for such things. what a wonderful chap that black must be! there are not many like him here.’
‘you will see him before long,’ said edgar. ‘he has promised to come to sydney when his wound has quite healed.’
‘a knife-thrust like that will take some time to get well,’ said wal. ‘i wonder if he will ever take you back again to find more of the treasure?’
‘i shall not go,’ said edgar; ‘but i have no doubt there will be search made for it, even if yacka declines to lead the way.’
the evening of edgar’s arrival at the cottage he[207] had a walk on the cliffs with wal jessop, and again looked down upon the terrible rocks where the distant shore was dashed to pieces, and himself and eva were so miraculously saved. as he looked into the depths below, the scene came vividly to mind again, and he could not resist grasping wal jessop by the hand, while the tears stood in his eyes.
wal jessop knew what he meant better than if he had spoken, and returned the pressure of his hand. they walked back to the cottage, and once more talked over the scenes of that awful night.
when edgar saw captain fife that gentleman received him cordially, and promised to dispose of some of the rubies to the best advantage.
‘they are wonderfully good stones,’ said captain fife, ‘and there will be no difficulty in obtaining a stiff price for them. by the way, what are you going to do with yourself now? are you returning to the station, or would you prefer to remain in sydney?’
‘if i can obtain a suitable billet,’ said edgar, ‘i should like to remain here.’
captain fife had been on the look-out for a private secretary for some time, and he offered edgar the post, which he willingly accepted, thinking himself fortunate, as indeed he was, to gain such a position.
time flies quickly, and when edgar foster had been private secretary to captain fife for over two years, he had become quite at home in sydney, and was recognised as one of the best of good fellows. edgar was fond of sports of all kinds, and he liked fun as well as any young fellow of his age, but he shunned the fast sets in the city, and one of his constant companions was wal jessop. two or three times a week he went to wal’s cottage to see eva, who was rapidly growing into a very pretty girl. he heard regularly from home, and also had news from yanda—for will brown was still there. yacka had tried sydney life, but quickly tired of it, and returned to the west.
two or three expeditions had been fitted out to try and find the cave of enooma, as it was called, for the adventures of edgar foster and will brown had been related in the sydney mail, and naturally there was a desire to obtain the wealth stated to be there. these expeditions had, however, been failures, and nothing came of them. yacka refused to lead anyone into the enooma country, and edgar and will, when approached upon the subject, expressed their inability to do so. when the second expedition failed in its object, people said the discovery was a myth, but others knew better, and edgar only smiled when he heard disparaging remarks made.
although edgar stuck well to his work during the time he had been with captain fife, he found ample opportunity to indulge in his favourite pastime, cricket, and, much to his delight, had been selected captain of the south sydney team. in this capacity he not only proved himself a good all-round cricketer, but a splendid leader, and no one, it was generally acknowledged, placed his men to more advantage in the field. he was selected to play for new south wales against victoria, but, like many a good cricketer before him, he failed at his first attempt. there was, however, no doubt about his ability, and he now stood an excellent chance of being selected as one of the next australian eleven. this is the height of every cricketer’s ambition in the colonies, and edgar felt anxious as to whether his performances during the season would warrant the selection committee including him in the team. so far he had done fairly well. there remained one inter-colonial match to play against south australia, and edgar knew upon this match would depend the final decision as to his being a member of the australian eleven.
he had practised steadily, and felt confident, and was encouraged by wal jessop and captain fife. will brown wrote from yanda, saying they were coming down in force to see him play, and ben brody added a postscript to the effect that the honour of the yanda boys was in edgar’s hands.
when the eventful day arrived edgar’s feelings can be imagined. the match took place on the association ground at sydney, and the south australians placed a formidable team on the field. several men on either side were on their best mettle and playing for a place in the australian eleven.
ben brody appeared on the ground resplendent in a new cabbage-tree hat, which he had bought in[210] honour of the occasion. he was as anxious as anyone to see edgar successful. will brown vowed if edgar foster went home with the team, he should go by the same boat. will henton, harry noke, and jim lee all came up from yanda for the match, and consequently there was a family party on the ground. in wal jessop ben brody found a man after his own heart, and they got on well together.
edgar felt encouraged by their presence to do his best, and something seemed to tell him he would succeed.
the new south wales captain won the toss and elected to bat. this gave edgar a chance to sit and chat with his friends. he hardly knew how popular he had become in sydney, owing to his numerous adventures and his sterling character, until he saw the number of people who were only too proud to recognise him.
‘you must be a favourite with the ladies,’ said ben brody. ‘all the pretty girls are smiling at you. lucky dog!’
it was true edgar knew several nice girls, but he had not yet found one he preferred to any of the others. he thought there was time enough for that in another five or six years.
the home team commenced badly, and lost two wickets for thirty runs. at the fall of the fourth wicket edgar foster went in, and his appearance on the ground, from the pavilion, was the signal for a loud outburst of applause. as he walked to the[211] crease edgar vowed he would do his utmost to merit this reception. he was cool and collected, and had seldom felt so confident. he commenced well by making a couple of boundary hits in his first over. his partner, frank highdale, was well set, and the pair looked like making a big stand.
edgar roused the spectators by hitting a ball into the pavilion, and highdale had completely mastered the bowling. runs came rapidly, and the south australian captain seemed puzzled to know how to effect a separation.
although highdale had been batting some time before edgar came in, the latter was first to reach the coveted fifty. when this number of runs appeared to edgar’s name on the scoring-board, ben brody, to use his own expression, ‘broke loose.’ he cheered in the most frantic manner, and waved his huge hat in delight.
the new south wales eleven were at the wickets all day, and when stumps were drawn edgar foster was ‘not out, one hundred and nine’! he was congratulated on all sides, and captain fife said, as he shook hands with him:
‘your place in the team is assured. i shall cable to your father as soon as the selection is made. he will be mighty proud of his son.’
on the renewal of the match next day, edgar added another fifty to his score, and was clean bowled, after making one hundred and fifty-nine, a magnificent innings.
the match ended in a win for the home colony by two hundred runs. in the second innings edgar foster placed fifty-six to his credit; he also bowled well during the match, and came out with a very good average.
consequently, it was no surprise when he found his name amongst the favoured thirteen cricketers picked to make up the australian team. he received a cablegram from his father congratulating him, and this gave him more pleasure than anything else.
as usual, there was some grumbling about the composition of the team, but no one had anything to say about edgar foster’s inclusion.
‘we are to go home in the cuzco,’ said edgar to will brown; ‘so you had better book your passage.’
‘you bet!’ said will; ‘and who do you think is going home for a trip with us?’
‘don’t know,’ said edgar. ‘i wish we could take yacka. he would create a sensation there.’
‘yacka is far happier camping out at yanda,’ said will. ‘ben brody is going home with us. he says he has never had a holiday since he was a lad, over forty years ago, and he thinks it is about time he took one now.’
‘i am glad,’ said edgar. ‘ben brody is a real good sort; he’s a rough diamond, but i like him better than if he were polished.’
the hands on yanda were in high glee about ben leaving them for a time. they fancied the mutton diet would be knocked off, but ben said he should leave strict injunctions behind about that.
the time passed quickly, and the morning the cuzco was to leave circular quay a large crowd of people assembled to see the new south wales members of the team leave for london. there was so much hand-shaking, and so many parting good-byes, that edgar felt sure some of them would be left behind.
wal jessop and his wife brought eva down to see edgar off, and the child did not like to see him leave her in the big steamer.
‘i will come back for you, eva,’ said edgar; ‘i promise you i will come back. be a good girl while i am away, and i will bring you back the best doll i can find in london.’
‘with brown hair, and blue eyes?’ said eva.
‘yes,’ said edgar. ‘it shall have bonny blue eyes, and bright brown hair like yours, eva.’
he took her in his arms, and kissed her over and over again, and then handed her to mrs. jessop. just as the gangway was about to be raised they saw a tall figure flying up it with long strides. it was ben brody.
‘you nearly missed us,’ said edgar, laughing. ‘where have you been? i thought i saw you on board some time back.’
‘so i was,’ said ben, gasping for breath; ‘but i left my ‘bacca behind in a box at the hotel, and i’d[214] sooner have gone back to yanda than been on board without my usual brand.’
the cuzco had now cast off, and as she left the wharf edgar singled out eva, hoisted high on wal jessop’s shoulder, and waved her a hearty farewell.
