r, Tap, my son."

"The new-comers might not, but what about Gleeson and Walker? Are they
such new chums as to let the others get in ahead, do you think?" Tap
answered.

"I don't know either of them, and don't want to."

"Well, you'll find they're a bit too tough to handle----"

"See here, Tap," the other interrupted. "Ten years down yonder ain't
changed me for the better, and don't you forget it. I don't give a damn
for you nor your mates. See? I don't care if it's five or fifty, I'll
face the lot of you. Two words and your interest in this is----" he
pointed to the gold, and then snapped his fingers in the other man's
face. The black brows were lower over the eyes and the eyes flashed
brighter in the firelight, and Tap did what most men of his type do
before danger, real or imagined--shifted his ground and cringed.

"I didn't mean to say anything----"

"Then dry up," the other retorted quickly. "We'll finish dividing this
first, and then make the next move."

"But--some of them are bound to have horses--Gleeson will, if he's
there--and then they'll be on the ground before we are ten miles away,
and he'll track us as easy as a black-fellow."

"Will he? And you think----here," the man broke off impatiently, "what's
the use of talking to a soft-brain like you? If it weren't that I wanted
a mate, I'd have no shift with you. I've said we're square for old
times, and square it is--you take the dust and I take the nuggets."

"The dust ain't----"

"You'll take it or leave it," the other exclaimed in a bullying tone;
and Tap quietly reached for the tin plate, and proceeded to push the
dust into a small bag he produced from his pocket. The other man
stripped a coarse canvas belt from his waist, and stuffed the nuggets
into it through a small opening at the end.

"Now, Tap, my son," he said, when the last nugget was out of sight and
the belt was again round his waist, "we're ready for the next move. Pick
up the swags. We're going down to the next camp to look after their
horses, if they've got any."

He started as soon as the other man had the two swags slung over his
shoulder, walking away from the fire and into the bush in the direction
from whence the sound of the song had come. There was just light enough
from the stars to make the pale bark of the gums show against the sombre
shade of distance, and to reveal the presence of shrubs by a darker loom
on the black shadow. The heavy, brutal-shaped head turned from s