t.

"Pretty well, but not as well as I could wish, Mr Biddulph," he
answered. "I have been in the country about five years, and know it as
well as most men, but there are one or two things on my mind which I
should like to get free of. One of them is my debt to you, and the
honest truth is, that though I have worked hard, of money I have none.
Most of my wages have come in the shape of rum, and I never yet heard of
a man getting rich on such payment as that."

I saw that our host and hostess exchanged glances, but I took no notice
of them.

"If you know the country you are just the man I want, and can quickly
repay me, and place me in your debt also," I observed. "I want a guide
through the country, and some one who knows the nature of the land, to
help me in choosing a farm."

"Just the thing I should like," he exclaimed, jumping at the proposal;
"I'm a free man, and can go where I like."

I judged from this that he had not always been free. Our entertainers
did not seem over well pleased at his so readily accepting my proposal.
Still they treated us civilly, and we had no cause to complain. They
brought us some sacks full of dry grass, which they spread on the floor,
with some kangaroo skins to cover us; in those days sheep skins were
rare. We lay down, commending ourselves to God, and felt as secure
among convicts, with the possibility of a visit from the bush-rangers,
as we had done in our tight little craft in the middle of the ocean.

We were on foot before daybreak, and with Jacob Rawdon as our guide, set
out, as soon as we had taken some food, on our journey. Our host and
his wife were evidently displeased at his leaving them.

After we had got to a distance I asked him why this was. "The reason is
that I had become well-nigh their slave," he answered. "They paid me my
wages in rum, which I drank mostly, or exchanged at a great loss for
necessaries, and so you see that I am not a shilling the richer than I
was when I first began to work for myself. Still I hope to be able to
repay you, and it will be a great satisfaction to me to do so."

I did not doubt him, and had heard enough about the people I was likely
to meet to know that it would not do to question him too closely as to
why he had come to the country. I observed that he was frequently
downcast, and that an expression of grief passed over his countenance;
indeed, from several things he said, I felt great hopes that, whatever
had been