Part 40 (1/2)

'”The affair is in no way ludicrous,” says Clifford, very stiff and dignified ”I hold myself to have received an insult, and must ask you to refer me to a friend”

'”Do you know that I could arrest you and Hastings now and lock you up on suspicion of being concerned with him in the Ballabri Bank robbery?”

says Sir Ferdinand in a stern voice ”Don't look so indignant I only say I could I a you, my dear fellow, I am perfectly at your service at all tin my appointment as Inspector of Police for the colony of New South Wales The Civil Service regulations do not per at present, and I found it so deuced hard to work up to the billet that I a to imperil my continuance therein After all, I had no intention of hurting your feelings, and apologise if I did As for that rascal Starlight, he would deceive the very devil himself”

'And so Sir Ferdinand rode off'

'How did you coal, as usual, ullies, mountains, all manner of desert paths

We made the Hollow yesterday afternoon, and went to sleep in a nook known to us of old We dropped in to breakfast here at daylight, and I felt sleepy enough for another snooze'

'We're all here again, it seeo on the old lay; they won't let us alone e're doing fair work and behaving ourselves like men They must take the consequences, d--n theht in his dreamy kind of way 'Most true, Richard Society should make a truce occasionally, or proclaim an amnesty with offenders of our sta us to desperation How is Jim? He's worse off than either of us, poor fellow'

'Ji away from Jeanie I never saw him so down in the ood for the place Sad ht or have no relatives to bear the brunt of their villainies ”But, soft,” as they say in the play, ”where aain Here we are at this devil-discovered, deain--first cousin to the pit of Acheron There's no help for it, dick We allantly, as dee'

We didn't doto do, for one thing; and we hadn'twas certain: there would be more row made about us than ever We should have all the police in the country worried and barked at by the press, the people, the Govern to show about us Living at the diggings under the nose of the police, without their having the least suspicion ere, was bad enough; but the rescue of Jie of hi that had happened yet

There would be the devil to pay if they couldn't find a track of us No doubt ive information about us Every one would be tried that we had ever been known to be friendly with A special body of et wind of near where we had been last seen

We had long talks and barneys over the whole thing--soht, so tiular put-up bit of work to do

Sooner or later we began to see the secret of the Holloould be found out There was no great chance in the old ti through the bush, once in a way straggling over the country But now the whole colony swar, as they called it--that is, looking out for fresh patches of gold Now, small parties of these men--bold, hardy, experienced chaps--would take a pick and shovel, a bucket, and a tin dish, with a feeeks' rations, and scour the whole countryside

They would try every creek, gully, hillside, and river bed If they found the colour of gold, the least trace of it in a dish of wash-dirt, they would at once settle down themselves If it went rich the neould soon spread, and a thousand athered in one spot--the bank of a sht, with ten thousand ht happen at any ti out of the track down to the Hollow by soers would be as certain to happen as the sun to rise

Well, the country had changed, and ere bound to change with it

We couldn't stop boxed up in the Hollow day after day, andand earning nothing

If ent outside there were ten ti out for us than ever, ten ti tracked or run down than ever

That we knew from the newspapers How did we see theal, and he got our letters and papers too, frolish wars used to say

The papers were soht us in a handbill that was posted in Bargo, like this:--

FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD

The above reill be paid to any one giving information as to the whereabouts of Richard Marston, James Marston, and a man whose name is unknown, but who can be identified chiefly by the appellation of Starlight