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Upon the inspector's thinking that it would be better to take the two uninjured men with us, we cut a portion of their bonds, but still allowed their arms to be confined, and after a hasty examination of the wounds of the two bushrangers, we promised them speedy assistance, and then started on our return to Ballarat.
Brown," I said; "you have no use for them here." "But what is the meaning of this?" he demanded. "Send your men to the station-house, and we will explain." "But these " He pointed to the supposed bushrangers. "We will go bail for their appearance to-morrow morning," I replied. The inspector made a sign to his men, and they rather reluctantly dispersed.
We had taken the precaution to disarm the wounded men, before they fairly recovered from their surprise, so that they were powerless to inflict harm; and after the two bushrangers who were uninjured stood before us, obedient to our will, we began to ask ourselves what we should take to secure them with.
"Do you take me for such a greenhorn as to suppose that I would enter a wood after dark? No, sir; I've studied the habits and cunning of bushrangers for many years, and seen much service during that time. I shall start near dark, halt half a mile from the edge of the forest, and remain there until daylight. Does that suit your ideas of our peculiar kind of warfare?"
The ashes of the burned hut were still visible, so that its location was defined without trouble, but the great question to be solved was where the treasure lay buried. To determine this we had purchased an excellent pocket compass in Melbourne, and upon taking the bearings we found that the bushrangers were exactly in a south-west direction from where the hut stood.
This detail is as true to life as the example of the sympathy and assistance accorded the bushrangers by settlers in the neighbourhood of their mountain retreat. It was sympathy of this kind, combined with bribery, which so protected the Kelly gang as to involve the Government of Victoria in an outlay of about one hundred and fifteen thousand pounds before their destruction could be accomplished.
Yet in view of what France had achieved; of the patient gallantry of her explorers, the zeal of her missionaries, the adventurous hardihood of her bushrangers, revealing to civilized mankind the existence of this wilderness world, while her rivals plodded at their workshops, their farms, or their fisheries, in view of all this, her pretensions were moderate and reasonable compared with those of England.
"What is your hurry?" cried Fred, with a provoking degree of coolness. "Because there is need of it," Mr. Brown answered, reining his animal in for the purpose of allowing us to get alongside of him. "Those bushrangers have noted the road we have taken, and will seek to cut off our retreat. Our only safety now lies in getting through the ravine before they can gain a position to fire at us.
We could now also see that they were armed at least a part of them with muskets. Satisfied that they were the much dreaded bushrangers, of whose vicinity we had been apprised, the sergeant hastily left the window at which he and I had been seated, and, stealing with soft and cautious steps through the house, visited each of his posts to see that the men were on the alert.
"Ready with your carbines, men! we have fallen upon a gang of bushrangers." I heard the ominous click of the locks of the guns, and cleared the blood from my eyes to get a view of our assailants. "We are no bushrangers," shouted Smith, starting forward and fronting the officer. "You should know my face, lieutenant," he continued, to the man in command.
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