Chapter X: Part 10

"Maybe it's ha-aunted, bhoys. It's juist th' sphot owld Ben'd hide his sowl in, so as to frighten awa-ay th' p'lice whin they goes rummagin' about f'r booty; loike th' carr-sthle ghosts in th' owld conthry. Bedad, thin, Oi'll be expactin' t' see th' bowld raider comin' on us out iv th' dark, his face shinin' loike th' stuff phwat matches is made ov."

"Brimstone an' treacle you're thinkin' of, ain't you, Denny? But, I say, chaps, it'll be better to hide 'em at the 'ranger's outlet; though it'll be the dickens own job to get the barrels into the cave up that slope. Wouldn't it be better, after all, to hide the stuff in the scrub, slinging the bag into a tree, high enough to be safe from the dingoes?"

So it would, and have saved a most painful experience; but having started the idea of hiding the fish in the caves, it presented an attraction that the others would not surrender. It gave a flavour of romance to the act. Now that he was dead, the bushranger's hiding-place took on a new interest; and so it came to pass that Tom found himself in a minority of one.

They found it a tough piece of work to get the barrels up the precipitous slope to the cave entrance. But, when the fish was at last stored in the forage chamber, as it was now called, and the party had remounted their horses, they could appreciate the advantage gained by relieving the pack-horses of so much dead weight.

They now made more rapid headway, and struck an accommodation house, in the early afternoon, kept by one Jago Smith--an old acquaintance of Harry's.

*CHAPTER XXXII*

*HOW THEY STRUCK GOLD*

"There's a bonny wee spot in the mountains I love,
Where the pine trees are waving o'erhead far above,
Where the miners are happy, kindhearted, and free;
And many come here from way over the sea.
There's gold in the mountain, there's gold in each glen,
The good time is coming, have patience, brave men;
Hold on to your ledges, and soon you will see
Both money and mills coming over the sea."
C. CRAWFORD.

Jago Smith was an "old timer," as, in Colonial parlance, men with his past were called. A Londoner by birth, he was initiated when but a child into the arts and artifices of that profession which flourishes by the application of sleight-of-hand tricks to the pockets and purses of an unsuspecting public. In short, this London arab was a thief, belonging to just such a school as Dickens has portrayed in _Oliver Twist_.

His career as a collector of "wipes" was brought to a summary end through being caught full-handed in a theatre crush. A "Children's Court," or a "First Offender's Act," was unknown in the early days of the nineteenth century; consequently young Jago Smith was had up before the magistrate, committed to the Assizes, convicted to the hulks, and ultimately transported to Botany Bay to serve a term of penal servitude.

At a theatrical effort made by certain prisoners of histrionic talent at Sydney, at the tail-end of the eighteenth century, to which first Governor Philip and his wife were "graciously" invited, the following lines form part of the prologue composed for the occasion--

"From distant climes, o'er wide-spread seas, we come,
But not with much eclat or beat of drum.
True patriots all; for be it understood,
We left our country for our country's good.

No private views disgraced our generous zeal,
What urged our travels was our country's weal,
And none can doubt, but that our emigration
Has proved most useful to the British nation."

Fourteen years' penal servitude for the theft of a few pocket-handkerchiefs! Such a sentence to-day would be regarded as a monstrous iniquity; it passed without comment in those days.

But transportation was not an unmixed evil to Jago Smith. As early as 1793 schools were started at the penal settlement, under the impression that they would be the most likely means of effecting a reformation in the morals of youthful prisoners.

Jago, with the consent of the master to whom he was assigned on landing, attended a night school, and gained some insight into the three R's.

After a somewhat varied career, the ex-pickpocket, who had served his time, became a settler on Rocky Creek; and when the Rocky Gully gold rush set in he drove a very profitable trade with the diggers. In addition to raising cattle on his selection, Smith kept an accommodation house, where board and lodging was to be had. As the place was on the public road, about five miles from the diggings, it received much patronage. Jago was very proud of his signboard. It was an incontestable proof of his accomplishments in writing and spelling.

ACKOMERDASHON FUR MAN
AN BESTE SMALL BIER
SOULED HEAR GORD SIVE TH
E KWEEN J SMITH

As the party drew up to the hitching blocks, old Jago, who was lounging in an arm-chair in the verandah, hobbled out to the front, quietly surveying the group; to whom Harry addressed himself.

"Good-evenin', Mister Smith. How are yer gettin' on these times?"

"Not gettin' any younger, you may be sure. But who be you?"

"Don't yer remember me, Jago?" replied the stockman, walking up to the old man.

"Yes; I see who it is now. You be the boy wot worked with old Humpy, an' used ter stay here when Bob had an attack of the jim-jams."

"The same, ole chap. We're goin' to put up here for the night, and intend goin' on to-morrer to where me an' Humpy worked when 'e was took. Got room for us, I s'pose?"

"Plenty o' room, me lad. Not over rushed with travellers these times. Better take your 'orses round ter the back; ye'll find the saddle-room in the old plice, an' yer can turn the neddies inter the paddock. There's plenty o' grass fer 'em."

The boys were ready for the supper of homely fare which awaited them at sunset. After supper, Harry and the old man got into a conversation, in which the former stated that he was determined to have a try at the old claim; for, though Humpy had put it about when working it that it was a "shicer," Harry, of course, knew differently. The gold-bearing stuff, it is true, was but a thin vein, but they expected it to develop into something better farther on. Old Jago informed him that no one had touched the spot, so far as he knew. Yes, he had some picks and shovels and prospecting dishes, which he had taken as payment at one time and another from hard-ups. Harry was welcome to make a selection.

This the stockman did without any delay. He took from the curious assortment of diggers' tools two picks, two short-handled shovels, two prospecting dishes, the roller and handle of a windlass, a couple of buckets, some stout rope, a length of chain, a strong hook, a crowbar, and a pound or two of blasting powder.

These he obtained as a loan, for Smith would not hear of pay. He viewed the whole thing in the light of a joke. The idea of Harry starting to work a claim with a parcel of kids who had never seen a gold shaft in their lives, with a time limit of three or four days at the most! The stockman was but humouring the fancies and ambitions of the kids. They, no doubt, expected to locate the golden nuggets in the same fashion that they would track a missing bullock on the bush, or run down a wild cat to its lair in a hollow log. Well, they would at least develop their arm muscles and have blistered hands to show their friends. So the old settler--who at the time of the rush had listened to the confident prediction of many a greenhorn, going post-haste to pick up the nuggets that were waiting for somebody to tumble over. Not so Harry; he, at least, was no greenhorn. He would give the abandoned workings a trial. It would be a novelty for the boys, and though they mightn't get anything to boast about, would, he was confident, get enough to give each member of the party a souvenir of the visit.

Leaving the accommodation house after an early breakfast, the band of diggers, for such we must now call them, arrived at the old workings in a couple of hours, passing _en route_ two or three fossikers who were working their shows. These ancients looked with a degree of astonishment upon this cluster of youths, whose very jauntiness was suggestive of a prime lark.

Arrived at the diggings, the party had a good look round. Intense solitude reigned everywhere, and save for the heaps of rusty cooking utensils and other rubbish there was little to indicate that the place had once been a busy hive of life and energy. An old signboard, written by another hand than had done Jago Smith's, was seen nailed to a tree. Its language was simple and to the point.

ROYAL HOTEL
ALL DRINKS 6c.

_N.B.--Clean Glasses_

Harry took a rapid survey of the situation. The place apparently had not been disturbed since the fatal accident. The old tent poles remained as he had left them, and there was no evidence of any one having camped there for years.

Proceeding to the tunnel, which, as previously described, was driven into the perpendicular bank of a deep gully, things looked pretty much as they did on that fatal day, excepting that the earth had fretted away about the tunnel mouth, and, on venturing in a short distance, the man saw that the roof had broken down, completely blocking the mine.

"Well, Harry," exclaimed Joe, when the leader emerged from the tunnel mouth, which the boys had been eagerly watching, "is it all clear? Did you go to the end?"

Didn't git half-way. Tunnel's half blocked."

"What a pity!" chorused the lads.

"Dunno 'bout that; cause, yer see, it's proof ter me no one's bin interferin.'"

"'Twon't be a heavy job to clear it out, will it?" continued Joe.

"Carn't say; depends on the amount that's fallen. But 'tain't my notion ter use the tunnel at all. Yer see, it's this way: it may take us an hour or a day to clear the rubbage outer the tunnel. When we'd done that, we'd have ter do two other things afore we could tackle the wash-dirt. Fust an' foremost, there's plenty of foul air in the far end of the drive, like wot nearly pisened you coves in the caves. Let me tell you, it's hard work clearing the stinkin' air outer a tunnel. You can git it outer a shaft easy enough, by tyin' a bunch o' bushes onter a rope and running 'em up an' down; but it's mighty hard work clearin' a tunnel, an' orften a long job. Then, s'posin' we got it out, we'd have ter shore up the whole blessed length; for, let me tell you, I'm not goin' ter run any risks in this 'ere job. We've had fright enough over Joe an' the shark, an' I cuddent face the Boss an' the missus if anything happened to any of you here. Now, to shore up this blessed tunnel'd take a power of timber, an' ter git it an' fix it'd take a far longer time than we've got."

"Oh, I say, Harry," cried Tom in tones of deep disappointment, voicing the feelings of the group of boy diggers, "don't tell us it's all a go, an' we're to return without havin' a try! Can't you find some other spot?"

"Harry, ye spalpeen, Oi dhramed all laast night Oi was diggin' up gowlden prr-aties, an', ochone! Oi'd just stuck th' pick into a monsther iv a prr-atie, a ton weight at the laast, an' was tryin' me best to upind her wid a laver, whin owld Jago comes bangin' at th' dure. Begor! Oi was sweatin' loike a stoker whin th' owld mahn woke me. Jist give me wan little chanst, me bhoy, an' be Saint Michael Oi'll----"

"Ye'll git yer charnse, Denny, never fret. They's more ways of killin' a pig besides chokin' 'im with a lump o' butter. It never was my plan, boys, ter use the ole tunnel. There's a better way nor that. When me an' ole Humpy drove in 'ere, we wus follerin' a lead, an' ye niver can tell 'ow far yer 'ave ter go: maybe a few feet, maybe a 'undered yards afore it opens out inter a body. So we did the right thing then. Now I propose ter put down a shaft, to tap the wash-dirt jist erbout the end of the tunnel, or, maybe, a little furder up nor that. I calkerlate we'll tap it in twenty feet or so. I know the clarss of country we'll have to go through. All this bank's wot we call 'made up.' It's a formation called pudden stone. It's formed o' river wash, an' is pretty pebbly. The pebbles is the plums. We'll go through it in a couple o' days at most, an' that'd give us two days more afore we need clear orf 'ome."

The boys were delighted beyond measure at Harry's proposal, and set about rigging up the camp near the spot which the leader had selected to put down the shaft.

While the pals were doing this, Harry and Denny set to work at sinking the shaft. So expeditious were they that by night they had sunk the hole about ten feet and had rigged up the windlass. All the boys had a turn at digging, which they enjoyed immensely because of the novelty of the work. Harry and Denny, however, did the main part, while the lads manned the windlass, and hauled up the stuff from time to time, as the buckets were filled.

At daylight next morning the party were eating breakfast preparatory to a long day's work at the shaft. They had to do a good deal of blasting, for some of the stones were too heavy to haul up, and that consumed time. It was verging on evening when, clearing up a rather heavy blast, Harry, who had gone down to fill the bucket, cried out, "Haul up quick! we've broken through. Foul air!"

On winding their comrade up, he declared that the blast had broken the ground into the tunnel, and that the foul air was coming freely into the bottom of the shaft. "We'll let it stay as it is till termorrer, an' then we'll clear it out."

The pals went to sleep that night to dream about the El Dorado which, in their imagination, they had struck. The earliest dawn found them at the shaft's mouth. Harry tied several bushes to the end of the rope, and this was rapidly lowered and raised for about a couple of hours, the condition below being tested from time to time by a lighted candle placed in a bucket and lowered to the bottom. At last it remained alight, though it burned very feebly. About half an hour after this, the candle, on being sent below again, burned brightly.

"It's all right, now, boys! We've got rid of the gas, that's a blessing. Lower away!" In a few seconds Harry was filling the buckets with the broken rock and earth. In a short time it was all cleared up, and the leader had started to drive along the line of the vein. He had not cut in more than a couple of feet when he threw down the pick and shouted up the shaft, "Hurroar, boys! I've struck a patch. Be gosh, it looks like a pocket!"

The excitement above at this good news may be better imagined than described. The vein of wash-dirt suddenly expanded into a cube of about sixty buckets of auriferous earth. It was a genuine though small pocket. Whether rich or poor could be determined only by washing.

Harry filled a bucket with the dirt, which was speedily hauled up. The next minute he was pulled to the surface, and, spreading the stuff on the ground, examined it. To the great delight of the pals, he picked out several large specks and a small nugget, scaling about half an ounce.

"It's all right, mates!" cried the stockman, now almost as excited as the boys. "We've struck it rich, I do believe. Sandy, me boy, git your nag an' a packhorse, an' streak fur Jago's as fast as yer can git, an' borry a cradle. It'd take too long ter pan this stuff--must have a cradle. But, look 'ere, don't give the show away. Tell 'im I got a few specks from a bit o' stuff I came acrost, an' that I'm jist goin' ter give it a try. He'll most likely call me a big fool, an' don't yer conterdict 'im."

A cradle, it may be said, is a machine on rockers for washing the auriferous earth. The machine is fed with the wash-dirt, a stream of water being poured on while it is rocked like a child's cradle. The heavy sand and gravel, together with the precious metal, sink to the bottom and are retained by the "ridges," whilst the earth and all light matter pass away with the water. It is finally treated in a dish so skilfully that only the pure metal is left.

While Sandy is speeding off to Jago's the rest are busy picking the pocket and carrying it down to a flat by the side of the tiny stream which ran along the gully bottom. The work was hard, for the wash-dirt was heavy, and the buckets big; but they made fun of the hardships of bruised fingers and strained muscles, as they hauled the precious earth from the shaft mouth, and then humped it to the stream.

They had not quite finished their work ere Sandy reappeared upon the scene with the cradle. Very little grass had grown during the performance of his task.

Scarcely allowing themselves time to bolt down their midday meal, the party were grouped around the cradle, which Harry had fixed within a yard of the stream. The stockman soon made his dispositions of the forces. Joe and Tom are to lift the water and pour it on as required, while he and Sandy work the cradle. Denny is to feed the machine with the dirt.

So the work of "washing up" started. Every now and then Harry stopped the work and "cleaned up" the cradle--that is, took out the heavy golden sand which was caught in the cross-bars of the machine and emptied it in a bag, to be "panned" later. From time to time the party were gladdened by the sight of large specks, and now and then a tiny nugget of some grains' weight. The gold, for the most part, however, was fine. The work went on continuously till night closed in upon them. Though dreadfully tired, they reluctantly abandoned their work for the day, and after supper threw themselves upon their primitive beds and slept the sleep of the just.

"Be up betimes in the morning, boys," was Harry's last word.

The party had to thank a pair of laughing jackasses[#] for their early waking. Perched on the limb of a tree close to the tent, they began their morning orisons at the first paling of the stars, making such a cachinnation as to cause Tom to fly out from his bunk, crying in startled tones, "Dressin', dad; goin' for the cows this minute." While Denny was disturbed sufficiently to turn over on his side, saying in sleepy tones, "Jist repa-ate they swa-ate wurrds agin, Bridget me darlin'! an' sa-ay ye---- Howly Moses, 'tis th' owld Johnny-axes at their thricks!"

[#] Giant kingfisher.

In a few minutes the fire is burning briskly, and as soon as breakfast is demolished the lucky diggers make their way to the gully to start operations. The work was a repetition of yesterday's, and, according to Harry's calculation, they would be finished by noon if they stuck well to the job; bullock teams couldn't have drawn them from it.

After working for about an hour, Denny, who was shovelling the dirt, picked up a lump of rock, saying at the same time, "Oi'll pitch this awa-ay, annyways. It feels moighty heavy, though, for a sthone: 'tis as heavy as lead. Musha, but the sthones ar-re heavy hereabouts!"

"Hey, you fool! don't throw that away. Let's see it," cried Harry, seizing the piece of rock, which was about the size of the lad's head. "Why, great jumpin' Jehosaphat! it's a bloomin' nugget. You precious duffer! if you'd thrown that away I'd 'a' pitched you down the shaft."

The pals dropped their buckets and crowded round the leader as he held the lump with both hands.

"See 'ere, this white rock's quartz, an' all these yaller veins is gold. It isn't wot you'd call a pure nugget, but by the weight of it I guess there's a power of the yaller stuff inside. 'Ere, Tom, streak up ter the tent fur a tommy an' we'll soon see."

Furnished with the tomahawk, the stockman laid the quartz nugget on a flat stone that cropped out of the ground near by, and dealt vigorous blows upon it with the head of the weapon. In this way he crushed the quartz crystal sufficiently for them to see that the gold formed a mass in the centre.

"That's all we'll do at present; we'll crush it out properly in a mortar when we get home. Guess there's full twenty ounces o' gold in 'er."

There were no more such finds in the dirt, but the last few lots yielded a good deal of coarse gold, one piece weighing about four ounces.

By nightfall they had washed out the bagged ore. There it lay on a cloth before the fire, a little heap of pure gold, and beside it the quartz nugget, so to call it.

"Call me a frog-eater if there ain't full seventy ounces o' gold in that there lot--close on three 'undered pounds' worth!"

*CHAPTER XXXIII*

*BULLION AND BUSHRANGER*

"And if you doubt the tale I tell,
Steer through the South Pacific swell,
Go where the branching coral hives
Unending strife of endless lives,
Go where the rivers roll down through the sand
Under skies that are blue in a golden land."
KIPLING.

"Pull up a moment, chaps. I want ter say a word afore we strike Jago Smith's--we'll sight it over the next ridge. No blabbin' erbout the gold. The ole cove's sure ter arsk erbout our luck. You keep mum, an' leave me ter answer 'im. He's er good ernuff sort in hes way, is ole Jago, an' me an' 'im always got on well, as 'e sort er took a fancy ter me. All the same, 'im an' Ben Bolt is, or was great friends. That's why I steered clear o' the shootin the night we stayed there. 'E might 'a' cut up rusty, like. Many's the time 'e's planted the 'ranger when the p'lice 'as been 'ot on 'is trail. 'Twuddent s'prise me a bit if the kid that wus Ben's mate wus 'idin' somewheres erbout Jago's. 'E's several good plants. At any rate, there must be no blow. Bes' be on the safe side."

In a few minutes the party sighted the accommodation house at a distance of a quarter of a mile or so. They could see the old man in the front, talking to a man who held a horse by the bridle. Even as the party sighted the pair they were themselves seen. After a few hasty words with Jago the horseman threw his bridle over the steed's neck, vaulted to the saddle, and rode away briskly.

"By George, that 'ere cove's ridin' a good nag. See the style o' 'im! 'E's a beauty, 'e is; all muscle an' spirit. If ole Ben wusn't a goner, I'd say 'twas 'im on Samson; blamed if I wuddent."

The mounted band have approached the house by this time. The owner stood awaiting them by the hitching posts. Saluting them as they rode up, he jeered good-humouredly--

"I 'opes yer left a few specks fur them fossikers, gintilmin? 'Twud be too bad to scoop the pool an' leave the old uns nothin' but mullock heaps. At any rate, ye've brought back the tools--cradle an' all. Come now, 'ow did the stuff pan out?"

"I'll tell yer wot we did git, ole man, sore bones an' blistered 'ands. Blame me, but yer soon gits outer the diggin' business. Tried that bit o' stuff I come acrost, wot the kid tole yer erbout. Waal, speakin' in confidence, we didn't git ernuff ter hire a gold escort ter fetch it erlong. We did git a bit--ernuff ter make these young coves a breast-pin apiece. But let me tell yer, one of these days I'm comin' back ter have a good prospect. Keep it close, Smith; I don't want any of these blessed gully-rakers ter smell anythin'."

"Dark it is, young feller. Yer can trust me fer not givin' the show away. Comin' in?"

"No, we're makin' fer 'ome. Just tote the tools ter where youse got 'em, boys, an' then we'll be orf."

The lads speedily discharged, and were in the saddle again. The party was moving off when Harry said to Jago--

"Forgot ter arsk yer whether yer 'eered that Ben Bolt wus shot by Hennessey t'other day."

"Yes, I 'eered it," replied Smith dryly.

"Kid not collared yet?"

"You're more likely ter 'eer about 'im than me: so-long."

"Ole Jago's a deep un," soliloquised Harry as they rode along. "I forgot ter arsk 'im erbout the man we saw ridin' away as we came up," he remarked a few minutes later to Joe, who was riding at his side. "If that 'ere 'orse 'e wus ridin' warn't Samson, I'm a greenhorn."

"It might have been the young fellow that got away when Ben was shot. It struck me Jago was bluffin' you, Harry."

"My word, Harry," said Tom, riding up on the other side, "you bluffed ole Jago over the gold."

"Ain't so sure o' that," replied the stockman.

"No one could have done it better," broke in Joe. "You circumnavigated the truth."

"Don't know wot yer mean, my boy: unless it's somethin' in the circus line."

"Not exactly that," replied Joe laughingly; "but it reminds me of an epitaph I heard about, that was stuck on a fellow's tombstone--

HE TRIED HARD NOT TO BE A LIAR."

"Wot I said about tacklin' that ground's true ernuff, anyways," replied the stockman, with a smile. "But erbout this gold: we'll go shares, o' course. We'll divide it up inter five equal lots when we get to Bullaroi."

"No; that's not fair, Harry," said Sandy. "We must have a fair division."

"Well, wot yer call a fair division, if that's not one?" said the man shortly.

"If it was left to me to decide, I would give you half, to start with. It was your show. You did most of the work. We were more like wages men; so at the very least you should get half. Then I'd divide the other half among the rest of us in equal shares."

"Sandy's right," broke in Joe. "As far as I'm concerned, Harry'll have the lot. I'd like him to take my whack, anyway, because----"

"No, yer don't, Joe. I know wot yer goin' ter say. Think I'm mean ernuff ter take pay fer shootin' a jolly shark?"

"Oh--I--didn't--mean--it--just----"

"Joe meant it as a mark of gratitude, Harry. I think my way's best. Whatcher say?"

"Agreed!" chorus the four.

"Joe, me mahn," said Denny a little while later, as he and Blain were riding together, "cud ye tell me phwat me quarter ov a half ov th' gowld'll come to?"

"Lemme see, seventy ounces; half o' that, thirty-five; quarter of thirty-five is eight an' three-quarter ounces: yes, your share is eight an' three-quarters, Denny."

"Give it in pounds, plaase, Joe."

"Pounds! Oh, I say, you've got me there. Well, let's see. What was it Harry said they'd give us per ounce at the bank?"

"Three sivinteen an' a tanner, Joe, me bhoy. Oi tuk note ov that."

"Yes, that was the price, I 'member. Eight and three-quarter times three seventeen six--er--lemme see, that'd be--eight threes twenty-four, twen--bother it, I mean eight times seventeen an' six, that's a hundred an' ninety--no, _that's_ not it. Let me put it down in me mind--one, seven, six; that's right! Well, multiply it by eight, an' leave the quarters out for a bit. That's--why, it's three hundred an'--no, it can't be that much, surely? Bust it, if I only had a pencil an' a bit o' paper I'd soon tot it up. Try again. Eight into seventeen and six is---- Blest if it isn't an interest sum, after all, Denny; an' they always sew me up."

"It's th' troth, Joe; it's th' most interastin' sum Oi iver heerd tell iv. Thry it agin, Marsther Joe; doan't let a little sum loike that ba-ate ye. 'Twas two hondered pounds ye said larrst. Make her go a little higher if yes can."

"What! two hundred pounds! Murder! 'tis shillin's I was reckoning."

"O-o-h!" exclaimed Denny, with a profound sigh. "Awaay goes me bright dra-ames! Sure, thin, 'twas buyin' th' owld family carr-sthle Oi was thinking ov, an makin' melyinaares o' me dear payrunts; maybe the Quaan wud be makin' me farther Lord Kineavy!"

"Well, you are a cure, Denny. You'll have me addressin' you as the Honourable Dennis next. Oh, I say, didn't Harry say he wouldn't be surprised if the gold fetched four pounds an ounce, it was so rich? Well, let's reckon it at four quid. Eight fours are thirty-two--that's thirty-two pounds. The three-quarters of four pounds is three. Thirty-two and three are thirty-five; thirty-five pounds. There you are, ole boss, thirty-five."

"Thirty-foive pounds! Begorrah! it's a bloomin' capertillist Oi am! Whoi, glory be! it'll do betther thin buyin' a rotten owld sthone carr-sthle made ov brick an' thatch; it'll pay for bringin' out me payrunts in th' emigrr-ashon ship. Be Saints Pathrick an' Michael, 'tis a happy bhoy Oi am at this moment! Phwat wid me savin's, an' Norah's, an' this haape ov gowld, Oi'll buy thim th' best cabin on th' boat, and so Oi will!"

In due time the party arrived at the junction of the roads, and crossed the ridge to the cave entrance. After placing their horses in the patch of scrub near the road, they scrambled up to the opening. Lighting the candle, Sandy led the way to the forage chamber, where the fish was stored.

"You don't feel so creepy, Denny, as when you were here last," said Tom to the Irish "boy, as they followed the others into the chamber.

"It's thrue for ye, Tom. Owld Ben's not thrubblin' me to-da-ay. 'Tis only thinkin' ov me dear farther an' mauther comin' out on th' sa-ay Oi am. As for th' 'ranger, he's as dead an' dhry by this toime as the smoked fish yonder."

"Is he?" cried a loud voice from the rear.

"Howly Moses! 'tis th' 'ranger's ghost," cried the Irish boy, as a bull's-eye flashed in his face, dazzling his eyes and confusing his mind. Terror-possessed by this ghostly manifestation--for he saw naught but a bright light, preceded by an awful voice--the boy bolted. He rushed towards the chamber exit, which he barely reached ere the sharp crack of a revolver sounded, what time the panic-stricken youth staggered forward, falling with a dull thud upon the stone floor.

It need hardly be said that the other members of the group were startled out of speech and action. Not ten seconds elapsed between the cry of the man or ghost and the tragedy of the revolver shot and the fallen boy.

The moment the boy fell the others ran towards him, but before they had taken three steps the light flashed on them and a revolver covered them. Behind the lantern came a voice that more than the lantern, or even pistol, cowed them: "_Stop! Hands up!_"

**

For the second time the hands of the boys went up at command. One thing was made quite clear, at any rate: this was no ghostly visitant. Ghosts didn't carry revolvers, nor was there long any mystery about this personage.

"That young cove reckoned I was dead and dry as your smoked schnapper, did he? The young fool'll smoke and dry fast enough in the place I've sent him to. You infernal asses to come here! But you'll never live to tell any one; make up your minds to that."

It was in truth the bushranger himself. Of that there could be no doubt. The news of his death was either a make-up or a gross exaggeration. Here he stood, in the flesh, in one of his most dangerous moods. A black fit was on him. Under its influence he was capable of almost any atrocity. The lads were horror-stricken. There, before them, lay the body of their comrade, the gay, witty, affectionate Denny, who but a few moments ago was in the seventh heaven of delight at the thought of bringing out his parents with the proceeds of his share of the gold; and now--it was too awful!

"Look 'ere, Ben Bolt!" exclaimed Harry, after a few seconds' silence, "you've shot an innercent boy in cold blood. You've grossly belied your reputation that you never laid a hand on woman or child. We came here with no thought of spyin' upon yer, for we believed yer to be dead. In five minits we wud 'ave gone away with our fish, none the wiser for your presence. You've not the slightest justerfication fer takin' that life, an' if yer shoots me the next minit fer it, I tell yer to yer face ye're a blaggard an' coward, an' the pity is that the news of yer bein' shot wasn't true."

Why Harry was not shot off-hand, it were hard to say. The bushranger was convulsed with rage: thrice he levelled his revolver at the brave man, and as often lowered it. At last, with a voice hoarse with passion, he said, "I'll send you along the road I've driven your mate, curse you! You think you're very game, but I'll take all that out of you before I've done with you. You'll be longing for your end hours before it comes....

"Here, boy," continued he, pointing to Tom. "Take that green-hide and tie your mates as I tell you. Look sharp, or I'll lay you alongside your mate yonder."

Thus dragooned, Tom securely tied his mates' hands behind their backs. As soon as this was accomplished, the outlaw, sticking his revolver in his belt, served Tom in the same way, and in addition trussed each victim. Having set them in a row like a group, of mummies, he addressed them--

"You'll lie here for the present. I'll deal with you later. I've got a little job to do first. That fool Hennessey's coming out this way with a couple of troopers to trap me. 'Twasn't enough that he winged my mate, he's sworn to have me inside of the week. And I swear that I'll have him inside of six hours. I'm going out now to have a look round. If you coves try any of your tricks, I'll make hell for you. I shan't be far off, you may bet."

So saying, the outlaw went out into the chamber where his horse was stabled, and led him along the passage to the cave entrance.

"I say, Harry, it was Ben Bolt that we saw at ole Jago's this mornin'."

"True. I cud 'ave taken me oath a'most that the 'orse wus Samson, but I didn't git a fair view of the bloke's face. Yes, 'twor Ben that we saw. He must 'a' got 'is information erbout Hennessey from the ole man. It's wunnerful 'ow they does git the news. I 'ope 'e don't git er charnse ter draw er bead on Hennessey. He'll 'ave ter be mighty smart ter do it. But, dear! dear! on'y ter think of poor Denny lyin' over there--dead! I wish ter 'evven 'e'd 'a' shot me instead. Wot'll your father an' mother say, Sandy? Poor Norah, too! It'll be the killin' of 'er."

"Whisht, boys, spaake low: Oi'm not kilt ontoirely; only knocked spaachless. Oi'm betther nor tin dead Chinymen yit."

It was the sweetest sound that ever ravished the ears of the boys. Here was the blissful fact--Denny was not dead; was very much alive. If the lads did not immediately cry out with joy it was because their joy was too deep for utterance.

"Don't spaake or sthir awhoile till Oi see if th' coast's clear."

Rising quietly to his feet, the Irish boy stole along the corridor that led to the mouth of the cave. After a hasty but keen survey of the immediate neighbourhood, he returned to his companions, knife in hand, and in a few minutes had freed them.

"And are you not wounded, Denny? We never dreamed but that the villain had shot you dead. You lay just like a corpse. He was under that impression too, or he'd never have left you."

"Yez see 'twas this way: Oi was fair flabbergasted whin th' blazin' light dazzled me oiyes. Oi made shure 'twas th' 'ranger's ghost. Oi wud 'a' stood, but me ligs wuddn't. They sthreaked off loike a paddy-melon goes for a hole in th' fince--carryin' me body wid thim. Th' firsht thing Oi felt was a rock sthrikin' me fut, an' thin, begorra, somethin' whistled past me ear as Oi tumbled forrard, hittin' th' flure a nasty crack wid me head. Th' nixt thing Oi heard was owld Harry tongue-bangin' th' rapscallion ov a murtherer fur killin' me. 'Be jabers!' ses Oi to meself, 'he's kilt me ontoirely wid a shot from hes pisthol, if phwat me bowld frind ses be th' thruth. Go it, me brave bhoy! Tare an' ouns, but ye're givin' him th' coward's blow in foine style!'

"Thin Oi sees him rope yez up loike dhrapery parr-sels, an', ses Oi, 'Jist wait till yez is gone, me hairr-y breasted sna-ake!' an' wid that Oi comes to me ray-son an' knows that Oi was not dead at all, at all. Oi was jist goin' to git up an' give him a bit iv me tongue, whin the thought comes--'Lie still, ye gossoon, till he goes an' ye can liberaate yer mates!' So now we'll be even wid th' omadhaun."

"The quicker we're outer this the better!" exclaimed Harry, as soon as he was released. "There's no knowin' when the 'ranger'll return; if 'e finds us loose, 'e'll shoot us to a cert. What a pity we left our guns with the 'orses! 'Ope 'e won't find 'em. It'll be risky goin' out, as we don't know where the feller is. 'E may be close by watchin' the 'ole. The bes' thing'll be for us ter make a dash ter the scrub as soon as we're outer the cave."

"There's a much safer way than that," said Sandy. "We'll go out the way we came in when we first discovered this place. Lucky we brought a candle with us. Come along; every moment is precious."

So saying, Sandy strode in advance, the others following closely at his heels. The party soon hit upon the passage leading to the cave opening on the other side of the ridge. In twenty minutes or so they were in the open.

Their first act was to plunge into the thick bush. This shielded them from ordinary observation. After a short confab, they concluded that the wisest thing to do was to creep along in the thickest part, in the direction of the horses. They had hardly started when the sharp crack of a rifle broke upon their ears. Stopping short, they listened eagerly; with beating hearts, it must be confessed. Again and again, shots were fired; at last they heard the pounding of hoofs, rapidly nearing them.

"'Ssh--don't move--they're on the hard road," said Harry to the nervously excited youths.

The road passed the caves about two hundred yards from where the party lay. Presently, with increasing clatter, Ben Bolt rode furiously along, and after a minute's interval, Sergeant Hennessey, accompanied by two troopers, the Sergeant leading by about fifty yards. Just as he was in the act of passing, the officer took a snap-shot at the 'ranger. In a few minutes all sight and even sound of pursued and pursuers had gone.

"No fear of Ben Bolt trubblin' us now fer a spell. 'Ope Hennessey 'll nab 'im sure this time. Let's moosey erlong, lads."

It didn't take the party long to pick up the steeds and load up the packhorses with the fish. The sun had barely set ere they were well on the last stage of the return journey.

The M'Intyres are just concluding the evening meal. The conversation chiefly centres around the campers. Mrs. M'Intyre had given many a look along the track during the afternoon, in the hope of sighting the lads. The understanding when they left was that they were to return at the end of the second week. It was now Saturday evening.

"I won't give them up till ten o'clock. I expect they have made a late start. Yes, Maggie, I own that I am a bit fidgety now that I've heard that Ben Bolt has been seen in the vicinity of the caves."

"Weel, ye can juist ease yure mind on that pint, my dear, for the Sairgeant and a pairty o' troopers are patrolling in that direection, so that there's no' the sma'est pairtical o' reesk."

"It was lucky for them, mummie, that they had started for their trip before the revised version of the engagement between the police and the bushrangers was published, for had you known of the mistake you would never have let the boys go. What are they going to do with the youth that Hennessey wounded? They say Ben Bolt's mad over it, and swears to have Hennessey's life."

"The misguided lad wull be pit on his trial as sune as the wound on his thigh permeets."

"Do you think they'll hang him, father?"

"Nae, nae, they'll no' hang the chiel; he has never ta'en life, nor is he a hardened ruffian. He stairted this wild life 'for the fun o' it,' like mony another silly laddie. The Sairgeant tells me that Jock Smith, for that's his name, is gled to be captured. His eyes hae been opened to the folly and sin that are compreehended in sic a life. Insteed o' fun, he has encountered nought but hairdship and meesery. The misguided laddie wull hae plenty o' time for repentance."

The evening calm is suddenly and noisily disturbed. The station dogs set up a great babble of barking, and Jessie, who had gone out to the front verandah, comes running in helter skelter and screaming--

"Father, mother, hear the dogs! It's the boys, I bet tuppence. Hurrah! Hurrah!----"

"Jessie, Jessie! you are certainly developing very----"

Mrs. Mac is prosing without an audience, for the girls are flying along the track to the slip-rails, accompanied by the barking dogs.

It was verging on midnight when the Bullaroi household broke up. The adventures were told with a degree of modesty to an intensely interested and at times breathless company. The spoils of the sea and the spoils of the mine were displayed to the admiration of all. Mrs. M'Intyre gave high praise to the pals for their success as fish-curers; while the gold spoke for itself, needing no expert opinion.

Mr. M'Intyre had the last word.

"Ye've advanced a big step towards yure manhood, laddies, and I'm prood o' ye the nicht. Yure conduc' under they perils by sea and land is more precious by far that yon gleeterin' gowd. A guid name is raither to be chosen than great riches. Thank the Lord for a' His mercies! Guid-nicht, bairns."

"GOOD-NIGHT ALL."

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