We received the apologies with due dignity, and without placing too much stress upon what was said by the men; and at last they concluded to take their departure, but just as they got to the door, and while Fred was unlocking it, O’Shea expressed a desire to whisper a few words to my friend.

“If ye have such a thing as a thimble full of whiskey in the store, perhaps ye will give us a drink?” he said.

Fred hesitated for a moment, but at last concluded that it would be a cheap riddance by giving them a drink.  He drew a couple of stiff glasses from the barrel, and they swallowed the liquor with a relish that would have delighted the heart of a manufacturer.

“Ah, how I should like to drink such stuff as that all day, and have nothing to do!” cried Pat; and he glanced fondly towards the barrel, as though anticipating another invitation, but he didn’t get it.

They still hesitated about going, and the two villains looked first at one and then at another, as though they still had a matter that they wished to speak about.

“I also have a request,” whispered the Englishman, evidently mistaking his man, and thinking that Fred was a good-natured sort of person, who would comply with every wish.

“Name it,” replied Fred, with some little impatience.

“Could you lend me ten pounds for a few days, until I can collect a few debts that are due me?” the scamp asked.

“No, I can’t do that,” rejoined Fred, opening wide the store door, “but I can let you have a few of these if they will suit you.”

He raised his foot as he spoke, and administered a few energetic kicks to the fellow’s posteriors, that almost took him off his feet.

“They fit well enough,” cried the beggar, “but they don’t suit;” and the twain were speedily out of sight, and whenever we used to see them afterwards, they would keep at a respectable distance, and look to see what kind of boots we wore.

As we apprehended no further difficulty that night, we went to bed, and got quite a comfortable nap before sunrise.

Murden, whose visit extended a day or two longer than he intended, got ready to start in the afternoon, and although he had only brought a valise with him, and a change of clothing, yet did he pretend, every time that his departure was mentioned, that he had to pack his things, and away he would go, and remain absent until he had recovered composure sufficient to face us like a man, and without a display of weakness.

With a hearty shake of our hands, and a troubled brow, Murden left us; and had he not undertaken the difficult task of driving or leading his newly-caught bird, the cassiowary, which gave him trouble, and required all of his attention, he would have broken down in his leave-taking, and galloped off without daring to trust himself with words.

As for Steel Spring, he appeared delighted at the idea of leaving; for he was fond of change, and required exciting scenes to keep him out of mischief, which he was prone to, in defiance of the vigilant eye that Murden kept on him; and I had but little doubt, as I stood and watched their forms disappear amidst a labyrinth of tents and crazy huts, that the long-limbed wretch would have murdered him, and rejoined a gang of bushrangers, had it not been for a sort of moral fear that prevented him from committing the crime.