ge, no hope for them. A crash of broken wood and glass told them
that the bushrangers had found the store-room, and had made short work
of bolts and bars. There were spirits stored there, brandy in plenty,
as Bessie and her stepmother knew full well, and Hollis scanning their
faces read clearly their thoughts--what chance would they have once
these men began to drink! Ghastly stories of the bushranging days of
Van Diemen's Land rose before him, of innocent children murdered, of
helpless women, and a groan burst from his lips as he thought that the
woman he loved was in the power of men like these.

Bessie started forward, though the man at the door pointed his pistol
straight at her.

"Oh, Tom," she cried, "oh, Tom!"

"You go back," ordered the guard angrily.

"Don't be so hard," said Bessie, suddenly. "You've got us safe enough.
What can a lot of women and a wounded man do against you? You look
kind," she added, "do let me give baby to his mother, it's wearying to
everybody to hear him crying like that, and let me bind up Mr. Hollis's
hand, oh, please do."

Her voice trembled at first, but she gained courage as she went on. She
looked the man straight in the face, and she was very pretty.

He told her so with a coarse oath that sent the shamed blood to her
face, and then crossed the room and spoke to the other man.

They whispered for a moment, and then curtly told the woman they
intended to hold Hollis surety for them. If any one attempted to escape,
they would, they said, "take it out of his skin." Then one rejoined his
comrades, while the other lolled against the doorpost, his pistol in his
hand.

Lydia Warner crossed the room and gathered her baby in her arms, and
Bessie stepped to Hollis's side.

"Oh, Tom," she whispered, "oh, Tom--" "Hush, dear, hush--here they
come." They came trooping in with coarse jokes and rough horseplay,
bearing with them spoils from Lydia Warner's well-filled storeroom,
among them an unopened case of battle-axe brandy. This was the centre of
attraction. For a moment even the man on guard craned his neck to watch,
as the leader of the gang, the man they called the Mopoke, produced a
chisel and a hammer and proceeded to open it.

Their prisoners took the opportunity to whisper together, Mrs. Warner
joining her stepdaughter and Hollis.

"What can we do, Tom, oh, what can we do? They are beginning to drink
now, and--"

"Slip away if you can, you and Bessie." "No, no, they will