rated through the leafy mantle of the trees than he
was wide-awake. There were dark rings under his eyes, and the eyes
themselves looked strangely tired and haggard. He glanced at his hands
with a faint idea that something had been wrong with them the night
before. He was disgusted to find that they were caked with dried blood,
and a feeling almost akin to nausea shook his frame. He made all the
haste he could to the creek and washed every speck of blood and dirt
off, so that when he had finished his hands were clean and spotless.

He shot a parrot for breakfast and made a gruesome meal off the raw
flesh. There was nothing else to eat, for the flour had all been
finished the previous day. After the morning's meal he brightened up and
set off northward with a brisk stride. The money was safe enough in the
valley for the present, he decided, and a couple of months in the
Riverina would not only not do him any harm, but would allow the hue and
cry time to die down. After that he would come back and get the gold,
and this time there would be no question of division; it would be his,
all of it. Now that the daylight had come he could think of the dark
figure suddenly growing limp in his arms and the smell of fresh blood
mixing with the scent of the wattles without the slightest misgiving. He
had no fear of it; he certainly felt no remorse. The further he got from
the scene of the murder, the lighter grew his spirits. He turned the
situation over in his mind and found abundant satisfaction in it; his
primitive logic told him that there was no evidence against him.

* * * * *

It is doubtful who was the most surprised, the troopers or Bradby when
he stumbled unexpectedly into their camp that evening. They were not the
men who had been following the bushrangers from the start, but another
body, warned by wire and hurriedly sent out from Murtoa. For some
unexplained reason the camp-fire had been allowed to die down, and so
there was no red glow to warn Bradby of their proximity. He had
blundered into the midst of the men before he quite realised what had
happened, and, when he made a wild dash for safety, he found that all
way of escape had been cut off. He was hemmed in on every side. The
troop was in charge of an officer of more than average intelligence, and
he instantly jumped to the correct conclusion. Had Bradby not lost his
head and endeavored to escape, he might have been able to pass hims