the sere and yellow age, down the stream of fantasy upon
which he had turned his back in scorn when the blood of youth ran in his
veins.

For miles the road slipped by unnoticed and unheeded as the old horse
stumbled on at his own pace, unguided by the hand that held the reins.
The breath of life had sought to fan the withered soul, but only one
small spark, deep-smothered by the dead mass of loveless years,
smouldered weakly where the record of a long life filled with human
sympathy should have blazed in answer. The gold for which he had striven
lay forgotten at his feet; the hate which he had nurtured passed, a
vapid filmy shade, as the withered soul shrank shivering, chilled at the
void the one poor spark revealed.

The sight of his solitary hut, glowing in the warm mellow light of the
evening sun, broke in upon a reverie so deep he could never recall all
that it had contained.

A horse hitched to one of the verandah posts, against which a man in
uniform was leaning, brought him back to the world of reality with a
shock. The hawk-like eyes gleamed as suspicion flashed through his
brain. Had Wallace, despite his refusal, sent the troopers after him?
The whip-lash fell viciously across the horse's back and the old rackety
buggy rattled as Dudgeon finished his drive at a canter.

"Well, what do you want?" he cried, as he pulled up opposite his door.

Durham glanced from the stern, hard face of the man to the pile of
money-bags clustered round his feet on the floor of the buggy, and over
which he had not even taken the trouble to throw a rug.

"I am a sub-inspector of police--Durham is my name----"

"Durham?" the old man exclaimed. "Are you the man who rode down Parker,
the cattle thief, when he was making off with a mob of imported prize
stock?"

"I arrested Parker--a couple of years ago."

Dudgeon leant forward and held out his hand.

"I'm proud to meet you, my lad. That mob of cattle belonged to me. You
saved me a few thousands over that job of yours. I'm much obliged to
you. I hoped to meet you some day so as to thank you."

"I don't remember your name in the case," Durham said.

"No, my lad, there was no need for me to appear. It was a Government
affair to prosecute Parker. Why should I pay money away for the
Government? Look at the anxiety and loss of time I had to put up with.
Nobody offered to make that good."

"But you got your cattle?"

"Well, they _were_ mine--I paid for them. But that's all