ut when the escort was starting. People in the crowd
'most always knew whether it was a 'big' escort or a 'light' one. It
generally leaked out how many ounces had been sent by this bank and how
much by that; how much had come from the camp, for the diggers who did
not choose to sell to the banks were allowed to deposit their gold with
an officer at the camp, where it was carefully weighed, and a receipt
given to them stating the number of ounces, pennyweights, and grains.
Then it was forwarded by the escort, deducting a small percentage for
the carriage and safe keeping. Government did not take all the risk upon
itself. The miner must run his chance if he did not sell. But the chance
was thought good enough; the other thing was hardly worth talking about.
Who was to be game to stick up the Government escort, with eight police
troopers, all well armed and ready to make a fight to the death before
they gave up the treasure committed to their charge? The police
couldn't catch all the horse-stealers and bush-rangers in a country that
contained so many millions of acres of waste land; but no one doubted
that they would make a first-rate fight, on their own ground as it were,
and before they'd let anything be taken away from them that had been
counted out, box by box, and given into their charge.

We had as little notion of trying anything of the sort ourselves than as
we had of breaking into the Treasury in Sydney by night. But those who
knew used to say that if the miners had known the past history of some
of the men that used to stand up and look on, well dressed or in regular
digger rig, as the gold boxes were being brought out and counted
into the escort drag, they would have made a bodyguard to go with it
themselves when they had gold on board, or have worried the Government
into sending twenty troopers in charge instead of six or eight.

One day, as Jim and I happened to be at the camp just as the escort was
starting, the only time we'd been there for a month, we saw Warrigal and
Moran standing about. They didn't see us; we were among a lot of other
diggers, so we were able to take them out of winding a bit.

They were there for no good, we agreed. Warrigal's sharp eyes noted
everything about the whole turn-out--the sergeant's face that drove, the
way the gold boxes were counted out and put in a kind of fixed locker
underneath the middle of the coach. He saw where the troopers sat before
and behind, and I'll be bound