which he claimed as belonging to Gangoil, but over which the
Brownbies had driven their cattle since the fence had been made,
under the pretense that the fence marked the boundary of two runs.
Against this assumption Heathcote had remonstrated frequently, had
driven the cattle back, and had exercised the ownership of a Crown
tenant in such fashion as the nature of his occupation allowed.
Beyond this strip was Boolabong; the house at Boolabong being not
above three miles distant from the fence, and not above four miles
from the German's hut. So that the Brownbies were in truth much
nearer neighbors to the German than was Heathcote and his family. But
between the German and the Brownbies there raged an internecine feud.
No doubt Harry Heathcote, in his heart, liked the German all the
better on this account; but it behooved him both as a master and a
magistrate to regard reports against Boolabong coming from the German
with something of suspicion. Now Jacko had been introduced to Gangoil
under German auspices, and had soon come to a decision that it would
be a good thing and a just to lock up all the Brownbies in the great
jail of the colony at Brisbane. He probably knew nothing of law or
justice in the abstract, but he greatly valued law when exercised
against those he hated. The western fence of which mention has been
made ran down to the Mary River, hitting it about four miles west of
Medlicot's Mill; so that there was a considerable portion of the
Gangoil run having a frontage to the water. As has been before said,
Medlicot's plantation was about fourteen miles distant from the house
at Boolabong, and the distance from the Gangoil house to that of the
Brownbies was about the same.

The oppressiveness of the day was owing more to the hot wind than to
the sun itself. This wind, coming from the arid plains of the
interior, brought with it a dry, suffocating heat. On this occasion