The next important piece of news the Mercury had to offer referred to Ephraim Shine, who had recovered consciousness in the gaol hospital but was declared to be dying from an old ailment.  Steps were to be taken to secure his dying deposition.  On the Saturday morning came the information that Shine was dead, and with this came the full text of his deposition—­a complete confession, setting forth his crimes and those of Joe Rogers without reservation, and completely exonerating Frank Hardy.  Rogers and Shine had been working together to rob the mine for two years.  Their apparent hostility was a blind to deceive the people.  They had conspired to fix the crime upon Frank at Rogers’ suggestion, for the reason that his vigilance was making it unsafe for the faceman to continue his thefts, and because they hoped his conviction would arrest the growing suspicions.  Shine agreed, for these reasons, and because he cherished a desire to marry Mrs. Haddon and found Hardy in the way.  For a long time the pair had been content with such gold as Rogers could hide about his clothes, but his discovery of the big nugget, which he hid in the drive, gave them the idea of attempting robbery on a large scale, and for weeks Rogers had hidden such gold as he could lay his hands on in holes in the muddy floor of the workings, to be carried away when opportunity offered via the Red Hand laddershaft.  That was to have been their last venture together, and Shine had intended to induce Mrs. Haddon to marry him, and then to take her away somewhere where he was unknown, and where it would have been possible to sell the gold in small parcels without exciting suspicion.  Rogers had hidden the gold in Frank Hardy’s boot, and Shine salted his washdirt on the creek with Silver Stream gold, and the slug he pretended to take from Frank’s crib bag was hidden in the palm of his hand when he took up the faceman’s billy from the floor of the searching shed.

Joe Rogers appeared before the bench of magistrates at Yarraman on the following Monday.  Harry and Dick were in attendance as witnesses; Chris was also present in court, and there Harry saw her for the first time since the night of Shine’s arrest.  She sat beside Mrs. Summers, a stout, grey, motherly woman, and was dressed in deep mourning.  Harry thought she had never looked so beautiful.  But how changed she was from the simple gentle girl of a few days back!  She sat as she did when he found her in the skillion after her father had been taken, with intent eyes bent upon the floor.  When called upon to give her evidence she gave it clearly and fully, in a firm distinct voice, like a person without interest or feeling.  She seemed to have no desire to shield the character of her father, but told the whole truth respecting him, and left the Court with her companion immediately on being informed that her services were no longer required, so that Harry was unable to speak with her.  This was a bitter blow to him; he believed that she was taking precautions