trustworthiness. Lord Glenarvan,
therefore, believed in the fidelity of this man, and, by his advice,
resolved to cross Australia, following the thirty-seventh parallel.
Lord Glenarvan, his wife, the two children, the major, the Frenchman,
Captain Mangles, and a few sailors composed the little band under the
command of Ayrton, whilst the _Duncan_, under charge of the mate, Tom
Austin, proceeded to Melbourne, there to await Lord Glenarvan's
instructions.

"They set out on the 23rd of December, 1854.

"It is time to say that Ayrton was a traitor. He was, indeed, the
boatswain's mate of the _Britannia_; but, after some dispute with his
captain, he had endeavoured to incite the crew to mutiny and seize the
ship, and Captain Grant had landed him, on the 8th of April, 1852, on
the west coast of Australia, and then sailed, leaving him there, as
was only just.

"Therefore this wretched man knew nothing of the wreck of the
_Britannia_; he had just heard of it from Glenarvan's account. Since
his abandonment, he had become, under the name of Ben Joyce, the
leader of the escaped convicts; and if he boldly maintained that the
wreck had taken place on the east coast, and led Lord Glenarvan to
proceed in that direction, it was that he hoped to separate him from
his ship, seize the _Duncan_, and make the yacht a pirate in the
Pacific."

Here the stranger stopped for a moment. His voice trembled, but he
continued,--

"The expedition set out and proceeded across Australia. It was
inevitably unfortunate, since Ayrton, or Ben Joyce, as he may be
called, guided it, sometimes preceded, sometimes followed by his band
of convicts, who had been told what they had to do.

"Meanwhile the _Duncan_ had been sent to Melbourne for repairs. It was
necessary, then, to get Lord Glenarvan to order her to leave Melbourne
and go to the east coast of Australia, where it would be easy to seize
her. After having led the expedition near enough to the coast, in the
midst of vast forests with no resources, Ayrton obtained a letter,
which he was charged to carry to the mate of the _Duncan_--a letter
which ordered the yacht to repair immediately to the east coast, to
Twofold Bay, that is to say, a few days' journey from the place where
the expedition had stopped. It was there that Ayrton had agreed to
meet his accomplices, and two days after gaining possession of the
letter, he arrived at Melbourne.

"So far the villain had succeeded in his wicked desig