December 1959 School Magazine

Brisbanr• Girls~ Grammar School Magazine

December, 1959

December, 1959

13risbann Girls~ Grammar School Magazine

BRUMBY. The wild life of the bush was hushed in the shimmering heat of the early afternoon, and only the monotone of the crickets' song penetrated through the dusty haze. Faintly, over the rolling bushland, came the distant mutter of hooves. The brumby running had begun. Earlier in the day, the mob had been grazing beside Black- man's Waterhole, one of the few that held water in times of drought. Lazily swishing their tails, the horses were too drowsy to notice the silent horsemen slipping into position amongst the trees on the surroundings hills. Suddenly, their leader, a large, bony stallion, caught an alien scent on the wandering breeze Uneasily, he gathered the mob and began to drive them away; but it was too late. With loud, rough shouts, the men spurred their eager mounts out of the scrub and charged towards the brumbies which scattered wildly, and then raced for the shelter of the friendly hills. The stockmen furiously urged them on, knowing that the grass-fed brumbies could not hold their hard gallop. The stallion running in the lead made several vain at- tempts to bunch his mares and turn them. Ordinarily, they would have obeyed him, but now, stupified by terror, they crashed into him, and swept him along in their wild flight. After the first few miles, the pace hod dropped consider- ably, and many of the horses were flecked with foam that shook from their lips as they tossed their heads in fear. Already, a few of the young foals had staggered out of the ranks of the mob, and these had been shot by the pursuing horsemen. Cunningly, the men began to crack their whips and bully the mob into submission. The horses would gladly have slack- ened into a walk, but fear of the whips drove them to greater effort, and they wearily increased their pace. Terrified by this sudden attack, the stallion, still galloping freely, broke from the mob and dashed away to the right. Instantly, he was pursued. Above the sound of his own flight, he heard a swift rattle of hooyes, and felt a stinging cut across his back. Neighing wildly, he wheeled, and hurried by re- peated lashings, returned to the mob and pressed beside the other horses for comfort. More foals and old mares were falling behind, and they, too, were shot like others that could not maintain the pace.

JOAN THOMPSON, VIE.

CLUES.

ACROSS. I. A deluge or flood. 6. A pair. 7. Old spelling of "say'" 8. Mountain-peak . 9. Savoury Jelly. II. Well skilled. 14. Worship (verb). 17. Done by stealth or fraud (adj . ) 20 . Preposition. 21. Past tense of "run". 22. Small social insects of the order hymenoptera. 23. Facade. 24. Small fish with ventral fins joined into a disk. 27. Finishes. 30 . Proportion . 31. Comparative of "nice".

3o . A slow ball, hit or bowled underhand. 36. Opposite of "credit". 38. To cease living . 39. Merely. 40 . Boy's name. 41. The crystalline humour of the eye. 42. Treatment. DOWN I. A thicket. 2. Donkey. 3. An upright drum revolv- ing on a spindle, and used for winding cable on a ship. 4. Part of Hawaiian cos- tume, worn round the neck. 5. Abandon on a desert island. 6. Annoying, irritating.

9. Past tense of "eat" . 10. Makes smooth . 12. A dul! brown colour. 13. Pecuniary gains. 15. Language. 16. Groove. 18. People who p romote com- ponies . 19. Aiming. 25 . Name of an "Orient Line" ship. 26. Inarticulate chatter. 28. Wanted. 29. Channel for superfluous water. 32. To run or spread, as water. 34 . Repose. 37. Huge serpent of South America .

32. Lies (noun). 33. Rip (verb).

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