No, no," I answered, "you wanted to rob me; but you
find that you have caught a Tartar, and I shall not release you till you
give an account of yourself." The cooing had been heard by the man's
companions, for just as I had mastered him, two men appeared coming out
of the wood which covered the hill under which we had camped. My
assailant saw them, and began to struggle to free himself from me; but
starvation and rough living had weakened him. Still it was hard work to
get him along while he struggled in the hope that his comrades would
come to his assistance. They were getting very near indeed, when I
heard a shout close to me, and as the bush-rangers were darting towards
me, Charley, Peter, the other boys, and Dick Nailor came rushing up from
the other side.

The two bush-rangers took to flight, leaving their companion in our
power.

"You have got the better of me, I must own!" he exclaimed. "Perhaps you
will not believe me when I say that all I wanted was your gun and
ammunition. If I had got that I might have demanded some food, for I am
starving, but I did not wish to harm you or any one else."

"A curious way you took to prove that, by trying to knock me down," I
answered, as Dick Nailor relieved me of the charge of the man, by taking
hold of his collar and one arm and forcing him onwards.

"Come along with us to our camp, and we shall learn more about you."

The man said nothing in return, and he felt that in the grasp of the
giant resistance was useless.

We quickly reached the camp, where we found Bob Hunt trying to comfort
my wife and daughters, who had been much alarmed at hearing the shot
fired and finding me absent.

By the light of the lantern held to the prisoner's face we saw that he
was pale and haggard, that his hair was long and uncombed, and that a
razor had not touched his chin or lips for many a day; while his clothes
were rudely patched, and even thus hardly hung together. Thus we could
not but believe the account he gave of his hunger and suffering--indeed,
I had heard that most of the men who had taken to the bush soon died of
starvation, or were killed by the blacks.

We quickly put some biscuits and cheese before our prisoner. He ate of
it ravenously, giving way occasionally to an hysterical laugh. His eyes
sparkled when I gave him some rum and water. I saw that he required a
stimulant, and I would not allow him to take any more solid food.
Compassion for the poor wretch pre