ut we had but little
time to waste in explanations. The driver was impatient, and the
soldiers ready to march. I had but time to reward the sergeant for his
kindness, and to assure Fred's fellow-prisoners that I would use all the
exertion that I could to obtain their pardons, when the rolling drum
gave the signal for moving, and in a few minutes the military were lost
to view in a cloud of dust.

But I must here draw my long narrative to a close, not because we did
not afterwards meet with adventures worthy to be recounted, but because
a lengthy absence from the country precludes the idea of further
continuing the series of sketches, which I am glad to find have found
favor in the eyes of the public.

For the satisfaction of the reader, I will state that for three years we
remained in Australia, and then when we left that country it was with a
solid conviction that we had been repaid for our toil and trouble, our
sufferings and pleasures.

Before I bid farewell to my readers, I will state that the miners who
were arrested and marched to Melbourne were all discharged, and that
after the mining tax was reduced, all further trouble ceased.

In many instances, in the course of the narrative, I have used
fictitious names; but the reader will pardon me when I state that most
of those introduced are still alive, and employed by the Australian
government, and it would hardly be right to expose their good or bad
actions to the world. With these few words I am happy to inform the
reader that my sketches are, for the present, brought to an end, but I
hope at some future time to resume them, and publish a second series of
"Adventures in Australia."

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOLD HUNTER'S ADVENTURES***

******* This file should be named 16050.txt or 16050.zip *******

This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/0/5/16050

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm conc