es faded, and the
encampment sank into stillness and silence, save for the slow movements
of the sentinels and the clang of the smith's hammer. The night had been
warm, the early hours of Sunday morning were cold, but the men were all
accustomed to camping in the open, and, huddling together, they slept
soundly. The lights of Ballarat had flickered out; the whole field lay in
darkness. The slow hours stole on, the sentinels were changed, and
absolute quiet descended upon Eureka, for even the heroic blacksmith had
stretched himself by his forge, and was sleeping, with the boy by his
side.

'The swaddies are on us!'

At about three o'clock that one fierce cry shook the camp into action.
The men sprang from the ground; there was an almost simultaneous rush
into position--the pikemen nearest the pickets, the rifle men to the
left, the revolver corps to the right. It was a false alarm, but it gave
Jim more confidence in the men, who had shown much better order than he
had expected, and their promptness and determination pleased him.

'They'll make a good fight of it when the swaddies do come,' he said
cheerfully, as they settled down in their blankets.

'My oath!' replied Mike. 'But we were chumps to give up our revolvers.
What good can a man do pokin' round in the dark with a blanky spike?'

The men lay with their primitive weapons in their hands. There was a
little growling and cursing and once more the encampment was given over
to sleep.

Jim Done awoke as the grayness of dawn was creeping through the
night--awoke with an idea that he was sleeping under the gum-trees. There
was a vague belief in his head that he and his mates were on the wallaby,
but where they were going to, he was too sleepy to decide. A slight
drizzle was falling, but he curled himself in his blanket, and disposed
himself to sleep again. Then, with the shock of a heavy blow, he heard a
sharp voice challenging. A gunshot followed.

This time there was no mistake. The men rushed to their positions, and
the sudden confusion fell as suddenly into order. Jim found himself
standing with his column, his pike grasped firmly in two hands, without
quite realizing how it had come about that he was there. Mike was on his
right; on his left was a little wild Irishman, and even in the intense
excitement of that moment, when he could see the black line of infantry
coming down upon them through the heavy dusk of early dawn, he marked the
fierce, semi-conscious