ly rewarded by seeing
a man, armed with a long gun, steal quietly from the bushes which we had
passed, and make towards Mount Tarrengower as though in a hurry to reach
some location without a moment's delay.

"It is no use to give chase," Mr. Brown said, seeing me make a movement
towards my horse. "Even if we should bring the fellow to close quarters,
one of us would have to bite the dust; for let me tell you a secret that
may be of some value to you hereafter in case you are anxious for a
fight. Every man in this country who carries a long gun is a good shot,
and can hit his object with as much certainty as your famed Kentucky
riflemen. So you can see that we should get no honor or profit by giving
chase to yonder long-legged fellow, who, if I am not much mistaken, is
better acquainted with this section of the country than ourselves. Let
him go. He is probably a shepherd; been on a visit to a neighboring
station, or else out on a tour of observation to look after
bushrangers."

"How near are we to a station?" I asked, still following with my eyes
the tall form of the stranger, who jumped from side to side with scarce
an effort, and who did not appear to regard the heat any more than a
salamander.

"As near as I can judge," my companion said, "we are still on the lands
belonging to the Hawswood station, although I am not certain. Adjoining
those lands is a station owned by a number of Melbourne merchants, and
the stock-house should be off towards the mountain. At least, it was
there three years ago, during the first and only time that I ever
visited these parts."

"Here we are at last," Mr. Brown said, pointing to a small strip of land
containing not more than a quarter of an acre, surrounded by those
treacherous bogs which are familiar to all who ever visited the plains
of Australia.

"That must be the spot indicated," he continued, surveying it with a
keen eye, "yet I can see no means of reaching the island. The bog, which
looks crusted over and hard, would not bear the weight of a lamb, much
less that of a man; yet that is just such a spot as a shrewd bushranger
would select for depositing his plunder, simply because no one would
think of looking there for it."

"Let us dismount and stake out our animals, and then examine the spot at
our leisure. If that is the place, we will find means for reaching it,
even if we have to build a bridge, or buy a pontoon of India rubber."

My companion accepted the advice, a