remain another day; he
forswore pastoral pursuits for the rest of his life. His courage had
been tried and found wanting; he had been covered--or, rather,
uncovered--with disgrace; and his dignity--at least in Riverina
--was gone for ever. In other scenes, and under happier auspices,
he might recover it, but on Robinson's station he would be subjected
to the derision of the station hands as long as he stayed.

How he lived for some time afterwards is unknown; but in 1853 he was
a policeman at Bendigo diggings. At that time any man able to carry
a carbine was admitted into the force without question. It was then
the refuge of the penniless, of broken-down vagabonds, and unlucky
diggers. Lords and lags were equally welcomed without characters or
references from their former employers, the Masters' and Servants'
Act having become a dead letter. Hyde entered the Government
service, and had the good sense to stay there. His military bearing
and noble mien proclaimed him fit to be a leader of men, and soon
secured his promotion. He was made a sergeant, and in a few years
was transferred to the Western District, far away, as he thought,
from the scene of his early adventure.

He lived for several years after meeting with and cutting his old
employer, Robinson, and died at last of dyspepsia and peppermints,
the disease and the remedy combined.

WHITE SLAVES.

Many men who had been prisoners of the Crown, or seamen, lived on the
islands in Bass' Straits, as well as on islands in the Pacific Ocean,
fishing, sealing, or hunting, and sometimes cultivating patches of
ground. The freedom of this kind of life was pleasing to those who
had spent years under restraint in ships, in gaols, in chain-gangs,
or as slaves to settlers in the bush, for the lot of the assigned
servant was often worse than that of a slave, as he had to give his
labour for nothing but food and clothing, and was liable to be
flogged on any charge of disobedience, insolence, or insubordination
which his master might choose to bring against him. Moreover, the
black slave might be sold for cash, for five hundred to a thousand
dollars, according to the quality of the article and the state of the
market, so that it was for the enlightened self-interest of the owner
to keep him in saleable condition. But the white slave was
unsaleable, and his life of no account. When he died another could
be obtained for nothing from the cargo of the next convict s