r remonstrance against the course that Fred had marked
out, but I inwardly dreaded to think that it was necessary to shed more
human blood for the sake of preserving our lives.

Nearer and nearer did the bushranger draw, and we could hear him mutter
an oath at the difficult task that was assigned him. By the direction of
the sound, we calculated that he would land directly in front of us; and
we were not mistaken, for he jumped to clear the shelf under which we
were hid, and when he struck the earth, it was within a foot of us.

Before he discovered us--for his back was towards me--I flew at him,
grasped him firmly around the throat, and then fell backwards, drawing
my prisoner with me. He struggled desperately for a moment, but I saw a
knife gleam before my eyes, and I felt a convulsive shudder run through
the frame of my prisoner, and then his resistance ceased.

I rolled him from me, and allowed the body to remain face down. I could
not encounter the ghastly face of the dead. It seemed to me like murder.

Fred noticed the expression of my face, and must have surmised my
feelings, for he grasped my arm, and whispered hoarsely,--

"Remember that it is to save our own lives, and the life of Mr. Brown,
that we resort to the knife. I would give all the gold that I am worth,
or hope to get, for a chance to escape such a massacre, but it is
impossible. Another victim will descend, and he must share his fate, and
then--"

He ceased speaking, for just then a voice called out, and wanted to know
where their companion, who had descended to get the horses, was.

"You, Jim," called out the fellow who appeared to be in authority.

"D---- him, he has gone to sleep, I'll bet a nugget. Go down, Sam, and
wake him with a kick of your boots."

The man addressed as Sam grumbled some at the order, but we could hear
that he was obeying the command, for the dirt rolled down the bank and
fell at our feet, and the oaths and exclamations uttered by the gang
hurried him in his descent. "The same operation is to be repeated,"
Fred whispered; "use all of your strength, for this fellow is a
dangerous customer, I'm convinced."

He had hardly finished speaking, when a stout, burly fellow slid down in
front of us, and as he did so, he got a glimpse of our forms.

He was about to utter an exclamation, when my hands were around his
throat, compressing his windpipe with a strength that seemed marvellous
to me. There was a slight struggle, uns