ingle men, or at least, not over three
at a time. You were speaking of Black Darnley, and the manner in which
he met his fate. I never encountered him but once, and then he slipped
through my fingers; and whether the fellow concluded that we pressed him
too hard, or thought that better opportunities for stealing existed near
the forest, I can't say; but, at any rate, I never heard of his being
nearer Ballarat than twenty-five miles after we met."

"If not too much trouble, please relate an account of it," I said.

The little man glanced at his watch, and saw that the hour was still
early, and after asking our permission to light his pipe, which we
readily accorded, and joined him with pleasure in the same agreeable
occupation, he began:--

"I think it was about three months since, when a party of three miners,
who had accumulated a considerable amount of treasure by working in
these mines, concluded that they would sell out their claim and return
to Sydney, and from thence take ship to England, where they belonged.
For the sake of saving the small percentage that government charges on
sending gold dust to Melbourne, or Sydney, under the escort of soldiers,
the miners concluded that they would guarantee its safety.

"I explained to them that they were running a great risk, as I had heard
that Darnley was in the neighborhood; but they only laughed at my
warnings, and pointed to their long knives and smooth-bored guns, and
intimated that the bushranger must be a bold man who dared to ask them
to stand and deliver.

"If I had not often heard such boasts, perhaps I might have been
deceived; but I knew many men, both brave and daring, who had quailed at
the sight of an armed bushranger, so I put no confidence in the stories
of what they intended to do in case of an attack. I considered it my
duty to warn them once more, and when that failed, I let them leave the
mines without further remonstrance.

"I think that it was the third day after the miner's departure, that I
was sitting in my office, making out a few records that were to be sent
to Melbourne, when, to my surprise, one of the pig-headed follows
presented himself before me. I should hardly have known him, he was so
changed. His feet were bare and bleeding, his clothes were torn into
shreds, and his whole appearance of the most abject and wretched
description.

"I asked a few questions, but for a long time my visitor could not
answer me, so overcome was he with