en then, bar
accidents, and I felt ready to ride through a regiment of soldiers.

As I stood up a man caught my hand and gave it a squeeze as if he'd have
crushed my fingers in. I knew it was Jim. Of course, I'd expected him to
be there, but wasn't sure if he'd be able to work it. We didn't speak,
but started to walk over to where two horses were standing, with a man
holding 'em. It was pretty dark, but I could see Rainbow's star--just in
his forehead it was--the only white he had about him. Of course it was
Warrigal that was holding them.

'We must double-bank my horse,' whispers Jim, 'for a mile or two,
till we're clear of the place; we didn't want to bring a lot of horses
about.'

He jumped up, and I mounted behind him. Starlight was on Rainbow in a
second. The half-caste disappeared, he was going to keep dark for a few
days and send us the news. Jim's horse went off as if he had only ten
stone on his back instead of pretty nigh five-and-twenty. And we were
free! Lord God! to think that men can be such fools as ever to do
anything of their own free will and guiding that puts their liberty in
danger when there's such a world outside of a gaol wall--such a heaven
on earth as long as a man's young and strong, and has all the feelings
of a free man, in a country like this. Would I do the first crooked
thing again if I had my life to live over again, and knew a hundredth
part of what I know now? Would I put my hand in the fire out of laziness
or greed? or sit still and let a snake sting me, knowing I should be
dead in twelve hours? Any man's fool enough to do one that'll do the
other. Men and women don't know this in time, that's the worst of it;
they won't believe half they're told by them that do know and wish 'em
well. They run on heedless and obstinate, too proud to take advice, till
they do as we did. The world's always been the same, I suppose, and will
to the end. Most of the books say so, anyway.

Chapter 20

What a different feel from prison air the fresh night breeze had as we
swept along a lonely outside track! The stars were out, though the sky
was cloudy now and then, and the big forest trees looked strange in
the broken light. It was so long since I'd seen any. I felt as if I was
going to a new world. None of us spoke for a bit. Jim pulled up at a
small hut by the roadside; it looked like a farm, but there was not much
show of crops or anything about the place. There was a tumble-down
old bar