ted, and they formed a
plan for putting Spiller's knowledge of inland navigation to the test.

A start was made next morning, the cockney as usual, taking the lead.
One man followed him, but kept losing ground purposely, merely
keeping the leader in sight; the others did the same. Before the
last man had lost sight of the camp, he could see Spiller in the
distance walking towards it. He then uttered a long coo-ee, which
was answered by every man of the party. They thought some valuable
discovery had been made. One by one they followed the call and were
soon assembled at the still burning embers they had lately left.

"A nice navigator you are, ain't you, Spiller? Do you know where you
are now?" asked Brown.

"Well, I must say there seems to be some mistake," said Spiller. "I
came along when I heard the coo-ee, and found myself here. It is
most unaccountable. Here is where we camped last night, sure enough.
It is most surprising."

"Yes, it is surprising," said Smith. "You know the compass, don't
you, you conceited little beggar. You can box it and make a bee-line
for Western Port, can't you? Here you have been circussing us round
the country, nobody knows where, until we have not a morsel of food
left; but if I am to be starved to death through you, you miserable
little hound, I am not going to leave you alive. What do you say,
mates? Let us kill him and eat him. I'll do the job myself if
nobody else likes it. I say nothing could be fairer."

Sparrow, one of the Irishmen, spoke. He was a spare man, six feet
high, had a long thin face, a prominent nose, sloping shoulders, mild
blue eyes, and a most gentle voice. I knew him after he returned to
Gippsland and settled there. He was averse to quarrelling and
fighting; and, to enable him to lead a peaceable life, he carried a
short riding whip with a hammer handle, and kept the lash twisted
round his hand. He was a conscientious man too, and had a strong
moral objection to the proposal of killing and eating Spiller; but he
did not want to offend the company, and he made his refusal as mild
as possible.

"It's a think I wouldn't like to quarrel about with no man," he said,
"and the Lord knows I am as hungry as any of you; and if we die
through this misleading little chap I couldn't say but he would be
guilty of murdering us, and we might be justified in making use of
what little there is of him. But for my part I couldn't take my
share of the meat--