de on, we do not wish to take your lives, but we have no
intention of being stuck up."

During this conversation I was looking at the other two fellows, who had
not spoken but seemed to be waiting until their chief gave a sign to
them to act. As my eye ranged over the countenance of one of them, it
struck me forcibly that I had seen the man before, but when or where, I
could not recollect. He was evidently very young, for while the faces
of the others were covered with hair, he had but a small moustache on
his lips, but exposure to the hot sun had so tanned his complexion, that
had he been an intimate friend I might have failed to recognise him. He
looked at me and then at my brother, whose attention was occupied by the
older bushranger and did not notice him as I was doing.

"Oh, oh, oh!" exclaimed the man, after the warning Guy had given him;
and, without saying another word, he and his companions turned their
horses' heads and rode away in the direction from whence they had come.
Probably they had been attracted by the smoke of our fire, and expected
to find some travellers unprepared for them; so we should have been had
we not fallen in with Bracewell, and should certainly have lost our
baggage and horses, and perhaps our lives.

"We have had a narrow escape, for there is no doubt about those fellows
being bushrangers," I observed to Guy.

"Not the slightest," replied my brother. "I felt that there was only
one way to deal with them. Had we shown the slightest hesitation or
nervousness, they would have attempted to frighten us into submission."

"Did you notice the countenance of one of the others?" I asked. "I
could not help fancying that I knew it well. If it were not so very
improbable, I should say that it was that of a fellow I remember at
school when I first went there. I wish that you had observed him, for
as you must have known him better than I did, you would have been more
sure about the matter."

"What, do you mean the youngest of the three?" asked Guy. "The fact is
I did note him. It struck me that he was wonderfully like a fellow I
always stood clear of, though he especially tried to make friends with
me. If you remember the name of the person you think he was, tell me,
and I shall better be able to judge whether I am right."

"I am nearly certain then that it was Cyril Vinson."

"You are right," answered Guy. "He was a clever fellow without a
particle of principle; and I remember h