would say, "Don't
speak to me: I'm exceedingly intent upon conveying this gold to Timber
Town."

"Strange crowd," mused Jack, as the last hoof disappeared round the
upper bend of the track; "riding loose in the saddle, their arms slung
behind them. If I'd had a gun, I could have shot the first man before he
saw me. Robbing escorts can't be such a difficult matter as is supposed.
If Zahn had been civil I'd have used the opportunity to warn him of the
queer gang I met at the ford. They may be simple diggers--they look like
it--but the man who whips out a pistol on the least provocation is to be
guarded against when you're in charge of five or six thousand ounces of
gold."

With these thoughts Jack mounted his horse, and rode away. The winding
track at length led him into a deep valley, down which flowed a broad
river whose glistening waters rippled laughingly over a shallow bed of
grey boulders. Along its banks grew mighty pines, the _rimu_, the
_totara_, and the broad-spreading black-birch, their trunks hidden in
dense undergrowth and a tangle of creepers; while here and there beside
the sparkling waters grew thick clumps of bright green tree-ferns.

But the track was now flat and straight, and putting his horse into
a trot Scarlett covered the ground rapidly. After some ten miles of
riding, he came to a ford where the track crossed the river, and entered
rougher country. As he drew rein at the verge of the water to let his
horse drink, he noticed that the heavens had suddenly become dark.
Looking at the strip of sky revealed by the treeless stretch above the
waters, he saw a phenomenon in the upper air. Across the tranquil blue
expanse advanced a mighty thunder-cloud; its unbroken face approaching
at immense speed, though not a leaf of the forest stirred, nor the frond
of a fern moved. It was like the oncoming of a mighty army, sweeping
across the still country, and leaving devastation in its track. Then
the low rumble of the thunder, like the sound of cannon in the distant
hills, heralded the commencement of the storm. A flash broke from the
inky black cloud, and simultaneously a deafening thunder-clap burst upon
the solitary traveller. Then followed an ominous silence, broken by
the rushing of the wind among the tree-tops, and the high heads of the
forest giants bent before the storm. The rain came down in a deluge,
and shut from sight both hill and valley; so that instead of wandering
through a leafy paradise, whe