screamed
out to him, and you fired? Another two minutes and I had him, yellow
beard and all. Now we know who the man was who called at the bank to
cash a cheque after hours. Anyhow, I'll have the woman safe before she
can do any more mischief. I'll arrest her right away, and the girl as
well. They're both in the game, if you ask me."

CHAPTER VII

SNARED

Durham awakened with a sense of oppression.

For the moment he could not recall where he was. It seemed as though
some sound had disturbed him, yet before he opened his eyes he realised
the utter silence which reigned.

It was the silence which brought back to him where he was. He had fallen
asleep as he lay in the hammock chair on the verandah at Waroona Downs.

In his half-awakened state he made an effort to sit up. But he could not
move--arms, legs, body were held as though in paralysis. He could only
open his eyes.

Before him, in the faint light shed by the down-turned lamp, he saw the
figure of a man, leaning slightly forward, clad in the attire of an
ordinary bushman--an unbuttoned jacket hanging loosely open over a
cotton shirt; tweed trousers secured at the waist by a narrow strap;
travel-stained leggings and heavy boots with well-worn spurs dangling at
the heels. The head was covered by a soft felt hat pulled forward,
shading the upper part of the face, while the lower was hidden by a
thick growth of yellow beard. The hair, where it showed under the hat,
was fair almost to whiteness and close-cropped. Eyebrows and lashes of
the same light hue gave a sinister expression to the eyes.

Durham recognised him at once as the man Eustace had declared called at
the bank after office hours.

Mrs. Burke's presentiment had come true! The men from whom he had so
lightly offered to protect her had stolen upon him while he slept.

With a frantic plunge he strove to break free, at the same moment
opening his mouth to shout a warning. But even as his lips parted, a
hand came from behind him and placed a soft muffling substance over his
mouth.

"Tie it--tight," the man in front said in a low whisper.

Durham felt the passing of a thong round and round his head. He tried to
raise his legs to kick the floor of the verandah, but they were too
securely fastened to the sides of the chair. He could move neither hand
nor foot. He was as helpless as though he were dead.

The man with the yellow beard bent nearer.

"We'll see you again--later," he whispered.