re on our arms, as though the speaker would have
added other tokens of his approval, had he dared, and before we could
recover from our surprise, the little old man was edging his way into
the thickest of the crowd.

"Did you suspect him?" whispered Fred.

"No, he altered his voice too much. We owe Mr. Brown a trick for the one
he has just played on us."

In fact, the little old man with the Yorkshire accent was no other than
Mr. Inspector Brown, who was disguised so perfectly, that we should not
have recognized him, even in broad daylight.

He was mingling with the crowd, and "spotting" the most turbulent, for
the purpose of refusing to grant them a license, when next they applied.
He went upon the principle that a few agitators were sufficient to
corrupt the morals of all the miners in Ballarat, and to get them to
leave for other parts was Mr. Brown's whole study.

We did not wait to hear more of Charley's harangue, for we were too
tired to enjoy his artful attempts to excite the miners in opposition to
the government.

The night passed off without any incident worthy of notice, and by
daylight we were astir, and preparing for our expedition.

Shortly after sunrise the inspector joined us, mounted on a very fair
horse, but not equal to the nags that we owned.

We were off without delay--leaving Rover to tend the store--although we
did not forget to examine our revolvers before we started, for the
inspector hinted that there might be such a thing as meeting a
bushranger who would feel disposed to borrow our horses, or take our
lives, just as his fancy seemed to lead him.

"How did the meeting terminate, last night?" I asked, after we had got
clear of the town, and were ascending a high hill, at a slow pace.

"O, after your precious countryman got through with his great annexation
speech, there was quite a brisk fight between half-a-dozen of the men
present, and then the meeting broke up in a row. No arrests were made,
for if I had offered to take any one into custody, I should have been
ill-treated, and raised a tumult that could not have easily been
suppressed. I bide my time, and think of the day when government will
have a force here sufficient to resist all attacks."

We laughed at Mr. Brown's tirade against our countryman, and then joked
him on the cleverness of his disguise, and promised to pay him in his
own coin. He dared us to the experiment, and we mentally promised that
we would keep our word.