ng such a cursed fool.'

'Too late to think of that,' I said; 'we'll have some fun in Melbourne
for a bit, anyhow. For what comes after we must "chance it", as we've
done before, more than once or twice, either.'

. . . . .

Next day our steamer was to sail. We got Starlight to come down with us
and show us how to take our passage. We'd never done it before, and felt
awkward at it. He'd made up his mind to go to New Zealand, and after
that to Honolulu, perhaps to America.

'I'm not sure that I'll ever come back, boys,' he said, 'and if I were
you I don't think I would either. If you get over to San Francisco you'd
find the Pacific Slope a very pleasant country to live in. The people
and the place would suit you all to pieces. At any rate I'd stay away
for a few years and wait till all this blows over.'

I wasn't sorry when the steamer cleared the port, and got out of sight
of land. There we were--where we'd never been before--in blue water.
There was a stiff breeze, and in half-an-hour we shouldn't have turned
our heads if we'd seen Hood and the rest of 'em come riding after us on
seahorses, with warrants as big as the mainsail. Jim made sure he was
going to die straight off, and the pair of us wished we'd never seen
Outer Back Momberah, nor Hood's cattle, nor Starlight, nor Warrigal. We
almost made up our minds to keep straight and square to the last day of
our lives. However, the wind died down a bit next day, and we both felt
a lot better--better in body and worse in mind--as often happens. Before
we got to Melbourne we could eat and drink, smoke and gamble, and were
quite ourselves again. We'd laid it out to have a reg'lar good month of
it in town, takin' it easy, and stopping nice and quiet at a good hotel,
havin' some reasonable pleasure. Why shouldn't we see a little life?
We'd got the cash, and we'd earned that pretty hard. It's the hardest
earned money of all, that's got on the cross, if fellows only knew, but
they never do till it's too late.

When we got tired of doing nothing, and being in a strange place, we'd
get across the border, above Albury somewhere, and work on the mountain
runs till shearing came round again; and we could earn a fairish bit of
money. Then we'd go home for Christmas after it was all over, and see
mother and Aileen again. How glad and frightened they'd be to see us. It
wouldn't be safe altogether, but go we would.

Chapter 13

We got to Melbourne all rig