nd pulls out the tubers. That morning I had
endeavoured to dig some potatoes; the stalks were there, but the
potatoes were gone. I stopped to think, and examined the ground. I
soon discovered tracks of the bandicoot, but they had taken the shape
of a small human foot. We had no small human feet about our
premises, but at the other side of the fence there was a bark hut
full of them. I turned toward the hut suspiciously, and saw the
bandicoot sitting on a top-rail, watching me, and dangling her feet
to and fro. She wore towzled red hair, a short print frock, and a
look of defiance. I went nearer to inspect her bandicoot feet. Then
she openly defied me, and said:

"You need not look so fierce, mister. I have as much right to sit on
this rail as you have."

"Lilias," I replied, "you won't sit there long. You bandicooted my
potatoes last night, and you've left the marks of your dirty feet on
the ground. The police are coming to measure your feet, and then
they will take you to the lock-up."

I gazed across the barley paddock for the police, and Lilias looked
as well. There was a strange man approaching rapidly, and the
bandicoot's courage collapsed. She slid from the fence, took to
flight, and disappeared among the tussocks near the creek.

The stranger did not go to the garden gate, but stood looking over
the fence. He said: "Is Dr. Ignatius at home?"

"No, he is away somewhere about Fiery Creek, and I don't think he'll
return until Saturday."

The stranger hung down his head and was silent. He was a young man
of small frame, well dressed for those days, but he had o luggage.
He looked so miserable that I pitied him. He was like a hunted
animal. I said:

"Are you a friend of Dr. Ignatius?"

"Yes, he knows me well. My name is Carr; I have come from Ballarat."

"I knew various men had left Ballarat. One had arrived in Geelong on
December 4th, and had consulted Dr. Walshe about a bullet between his
knuckles, another was hiding in a house at Chilwell.* He had lost
one arm, and the Government were offering 400 pounds for him, so he
took outdoor exercise only by night, disguised in an Inverness cape.

"There was a chance for me to hear exciting news from the lips of a
warrior fresh from the field of battle, so I said:

"If you would like to stay here until the doctor returns you will
be welcome."

*[Footnote] Peter Lalor.

He was my guest for four days. He said that he went out with the
m