When the Red Chief came noiselessly into the Secret Camp the huddled people sighed with relief; mothers held their babies tightly and bent their cheeks to theirs. Nareen and Naroo hurried to give the adored chief food, then urged him lie down, rubbing him from neck to ankles with porcupine fat to keep the stiffness from creeping into his limbs. A guard quietly told him the news as he knew it, adding that neither Weetah, Giluram’s young wife, nor twenty of the oldest women had yet come into camp, unaware that Burradella had sent the old women to shelter elsewhere.

The Red Chief called for little Tuki. In an awed whisper Tuki told all he knew. And just then a guard brought Weetah, exhausted, into camp. Silently she held out her arms to her mother-in-law for her baby.

The Red Chief’s eyes gleamed sombrely as Weetah told her story. Then he said, “Weetah, you have done a warrior’s work this day to find and spy alone on our enemies, and send Burradella and me such urgent news about the Cassilis men. And,” he said to the guard and placed his finger over Tuki’s heart, “a brave warrior is growing up fast inside here.”

Little Tuki nearly fainted with pride.

Shortly afterwards his nine warriors came into camp, breathing heavily. There had been no pause throughout those fifteen hard, swift miles. The Red Chief ordered them to eat and their wives to rub them thoroughly with porcupine fat, then they were to sleep for two hours. The guard would wake five of them to help with guard duty. The other four would be awakened one hour later. When Boobuk and his warriors came in they must take over the camp guard. By then his nine men would be rested, and would come straight down to Burradella, and meet him there. And now he would take nine of the fresh camp guards to join Burradella, and learn any recent news. Meanwhile, every guard must keep alert. Sleepy guards hear things that are not there and miss those that are. The sleepy guard does not even hear the thump of a passing wallaby, whereas the wakeful guard will hear even the soft whirr of an owl’s wings as he flies by in the night.

They must remember, too, that the enemies were Cassilis warriors and Burradella seemed to fear they were in large numbers, and that all the women and children were in the care of but a few warriors until all could gather together.

He then, with nine of the guards and four boys, squirmed his way back through the scrub to Burradella, stepping out of a dank, black world into the starlight of the open forest land.

Low-voiced, Burradella told the Red Chief all that he knew, adding, “We are desperately outnumbered. Giluram here and Kubado have been spying on the camp down there. There are more warriors there than we could muster, even if Boobuk’s men were with us. And I feel certain there is another body of them somewhere! They have lit no fires, which could mean they believe we have not yet discovered they are in the camp. It is a trap—should we return.”