is sally, and when it had died
away, Fred said,--

"This man [pointing to Tom] says that we are bushrangers, which we deny,
and can prove that we are honest miners, like yourselves. [Sensation.]
We do not propose to bandy words with him, because he is a contemptible
coward, and dare not impose upon any one but a little boy. That is not
characteristic of the miners of Ballarat, for long before we reached
this part of the country, we were told they were foes to tyranny. [Faint
indications of applause.] We tell the man who called us bushrangers that
he is a liar, and that we require satisfaction, or an abject apology
from him for the insult."

There were cries and yells of--

"That's right--go in, old fellow--a ring, a ring--let 'em fight--he's a
brick, ain't he?" &c.

Tom turned slightly pale, and seemed confused with the way that the
affair was likely to work. The crowd saw it, and were the more strenuous
for the acceptance of Fred's proposition.

"You see, gentlemen," my friend exclaimed, "the man who calls himself a
miner of Ballarat is nothing but a coward. He never worked in a shaft,
or dug an ounce of gold in his life. He is nothing but a 'packer,' and
dare not face a man; but can beat boys and natives, because he knows
they cannot resist him."

"Let him fight, or we'll lynch him," yelled the crowd; and thousands,
who a few minutes before were ready to crush us beneath their feet,
suddenly arrayed themselves on our side, and pressed towards the miner
with scornful looks.

"I'll fight the feller," Tom said, after a few minutes' silence, "but it
shall be in the old English style, stand up and knock down. I'll have no
pistols, 'cos I never used 'em, and don't think I could hit a man, any
how."

"A fight, a fight! form a ring!" and the proposition for a combat _a la
fistiana_ was received with joy by every Englishman present.

"O, don't, sir," exclaimed the youth who had been the cause of the
trouble; "don't expose yourself on my account."

"Don't be alarmed," returned Fred; "I'd fight a dozen men, sooner than
one hair of your head should be touched."

"Remember," Fred continued, turning to the crowd, "that if I come off
best in the fight, the boy goes with me."

"Yes, yes, we understand the conditions of the fight. Form a ring; stand
back there;" and the crowd shouted, and swayed to and fro, and during
the tumult we saw a sturdy fellow struggling towards us, as though to
get a front view. The man, whose