e mines are overrun with ruffians, who have no fear of law, and can
only be kept in awe by courage superior to their own. Of this we were
quickly made acquainted, as we were considered, by the old residents,
green, having but recently arrived, and not yet learned the mysteries of
Ballarat.

The first case occurred even before we had finished our supper, and
perhaps gave us a better insight into the manners and customs of the
miners than we could have otherwise learned for months.

I have already said that Fred and myself rode two fine horses, formerly
owned by the police department of Melbourne. The animals, owing to the
care which we had taken of them during our journey, were in capital
order, and worth full as much money as when we first purchased them.

As we had understood that horseflesh was scarce and dear at the mines,
we had determined to hold on to the brutes for a few days, and then, if
we liked Ballarat, and were disposed to locate there, we had resolved to
sell them, to save expense of keeping--no inconsiderable item, where to
turn a horse out to pasture was to lose sight of him forever, and where
barley was worth about ten dollars a hundred.

We were leisurely sipping our coffee, after looking to the comfort of
the animals, having fed and rubbed them down, and allowed them to drink
their fill of water, when a thick-set, black-bearded man, evidently
partially intoxicated, came swaggering towards us. He wore a blue
flannel shirt, open at the neck, exposing a chest brawny enough for
Hercules; and around his waist was a leather belt, such as is worn by
sailors on shipboard. In the belt was a long knife on one side, and on
the other a pistol of mammoth dimensions; but it looked to me as though
more dangerous to the holder than the one who stood before it, for the
stock was broken, and the barrel rusty and neglected.

Thus equipped, the ruffian--for we could see that he was a ruffian in
every movement and in every line of his animal face--swaggered towards
us, nodded to Smith in a patronizing manner, and after a broad stare of
half-defiance and half-wonder at Fred and myself,--an act of
impertinence of which we took no notice,--he began examining the animals
as though he was a connoisseur in horseflesh.

We apparently paid no attention to his movements, and continued
discussing our private affairs, and sipping our coffee. Rover, who was
sharing our meal, once or twice showed his teeth, and manifested a
disp