thing could ever set him straight again, or keep him from fighting
against them, as he called the swells and the Government, and everybody
almost that was straightgoing and honest. He'd been at it a good many
years, one way and another, and any one that knew him didn't think it
likely he'd change.

The next dust we got into was all along of a Mr. Knightley, who lived a
good way down to the south, and it was one of the worst things we ever
were mixed up in. After the Turon races and all that shine, somehow or
other we found that things had been made hotter for us than ever since
we first turned out. Go where we would, we found the police always quick
on our trail, and we had two or three very close shaves of it. It looked
as if our luck was dead out, and we began to think our chance of getting
across the border to Queensland, and clear out of the colony that way,
looked worse every day.

Dad kept foraging about to get information, and we sent Warrigal and
Billy the Boy all over the country to find out how it was things were
turning out so contrary.

Sir Ferdinand was always on the move, but we knew he couldn't do it all
himself unless he got the office from some one who knew the ropes better
than he did.

Last of all we dropped on to it.

There was one of the goldfields commissioners, a Mr. Knightley, a very
keen, cool hand; he was a great sporting man, and a dead shot, like Mr.
Hamilton. Well, this gentleman took it into his head to put on extra
steam and try and run us down. He'd lost some gold by us in the escort
robbery, and not forgotten it; so it seems he'd been trying his best to
fit us ever since. Just at first he wasn't able for much, but later on
he managed to get information about us and our beat, whenever we left
the Hollow, and he put two and two together, and very nearly dropped on
us, as I said before, two or three times. We heard, too, that he should
say he'd never rest till he had Starlight and the Marstons, and that
if he could get picked police he'd bring us in within a month, dead or
alive.

We didn't care much about blowing of this sort in a general way; but
one of dad's telegraphs sent word in that Mr. Knightley had a couple of
thousand pounds worth of gold from a new diggings lodged at his private
residence for a few days till he could get the escort to call for it;
that there was only him and a German doctor, a great scholar he was,
named Schiller, in the house.

Moran and Daly knew about