the fencing party, who had worked up on the other side, a little more
than opposite the culvert.

Dave took in the lay of the country at a glance and thought rapidly.

"Gimme an iron-bark chip!" he said suddenly.

Bentley, who was quick-witted when the track was shown him, as is a
kangaroo dog (Jack ran by sight, not scent), glanced in the line of
Dave's eyes, jumped up, and got a chip about the same size as that which
the inspector had taken.

Now the "lay of the country" sloped generally to the line from both
sides, and the angle between the inspector's horse, the fencing party,
and the culvert was well within a clear concave space; but a couple
of hundred yards back from the line and parallel to it (on the side on
which Dave's party worked their timber) a fringe of scrub ran to within
a few yards of a point which would be about in line with a single tree
on the cleared slope, the horse, and the fencing party.

Dave took the iron-bark chip, ran along the bed of the water-course into
the scrub, raced up the siding behind the bushes, got safely, though
without breathing, across the exposed space, and brought the tree into
line between him and the inspector, who was talking to the fencers. Then
he began to work quickly down the slope towards the tree (which was a
thin one), keeping it in line, his arms close to his sides, and working,
as it were, down the trunk of the tree, as if the fencing party were
kangaroos and Dave was trying to get a shot at them. The inspector,
by-the-bye, had a habit of glancing now and then in the direction of his
horse, as though under the impression that it was flighty and restless
and inclined to bolt on opportunity. It was an anxious moment for all
parties concerned--except the inspector. They didn't want HIM to be
perturbed. And, just as Dave reached the foot of the tree, the inspector
finished what he had to say to the fencers, turned, and started to walk
briskly back to his horse. There was a thunderstorm coming. Now was the
critical moment--there were certain prearranged signals between Dave's
party and the fencers which might have interested the inspector, but
none to meet a case like this.

Jack Bentley gasped, and started forward with an idea of intercepting
the inspector and holding him for a few minutes in bogus conversation.
Inspirations come to one at a critical moment, and it flashed on Jack's
mind to send Andy instead. Andy looked as innocent and guileless as he
was, but