kick, and
tell him not to make such a row, I felt him give me a good sharp shove
with the heel of his boot, by which I understood that he was awake, and
meant to keep awake, as he did not approve of the strangers.

I was anxious about our horses, yet in a short time I could keep awake
no longer. I slept, and when I next woke, I heard voices whispering
eagerly together. I silently turned, so that I could see whence the
voices came, and perceived the hut-keeper sitting up in bed, in close
confabulation with the stranger.

"Those two rascals are plotting some villany," I said to myself;
"somebody will be minus a horse shortly, I expect." And then I fell
asleep again; and when I awoke it was broad day.

I found the young man was gone, and, what pleased me better still, had
not taken either of our horses with him. So, when we had taken some
breakfast, we started, and I left the kind little old man something to
remember me by.

We had not ridden a hundred yards, before I turned to Dick and said,--

"Now mind; I don't want you to tell me anything you don't like, but
pray relieve my mind on one point. Who was that young man? Have I ever
seen him before?"

"I think not, sir; but I can explain how you come to think you have.
You remember, sir, that I knew all about Mrs. Hawker's history?"

"Yes! Yes! Go on."

"That young fellow is George Hawker's son."

It came upon me like a thunderbolt. This, then, was the illegitimate
son that he had by his cousin Ellen. Oh miserable child of sin and
shame! to what end, I wondered, had he been saved till now?

We shall see soon. Meanwhile I turned to my companion and said, "Tell
me how he came to be here."

"Why you see, sir, he went on in his father's ways, and got lagged. He
found his father out as soon as he was free, which wasn't long first,
for he is mortal cunning, and since then they two have stuck together.
Most times they quarrel, and sometimes they fight, but they are never
far apart. Hawker ain't far off now."

"Now, sir," he continued, "I am going to tell you something which, if
it ever leaks out of your lips again, in such a way as to show where it
came from, will end my life as sure as if I was hung. You remember
three months ago that a boatful of men were supposed to have landed
from Cockatoo?"

"Yes," I said, "I heard it from Major Buckley. But the police have been
scouring in all directions, and can find nothing of them. My opinion is
that the boat was capsiz