Maitland in five or six days. On the very
first day I was tempted foolishly to chase a
stray emu, because I had promised a few
feathers to some Sydney friends. The emu was
caught; but Moonlight, my horse, putting
his foot into a wombat-hole, gave me a fall
over his head, by which the stock of my
carbine was snapped asunder. So, for the rest
of the journey, I was doomed to go
unarmed.

"Before getting to Liverpool Plains, at a
Bush inn where I passed the night, there was
a great talk about a certain One-eyed Dick,
a bush-ranger, whom the mounted police had
been seeking for the last three weeks. In
chase of him, a few days before my arrival,
they had shot his horse; but he had,
nevertheless, contrived to get away into the scrub,
and to find a hiding-place among the rocks. It
was supposed he was by that time driven to
extremities, as no one would dare to help him,
if there had been any one inclined; and he
could not venture so much as to light a fire
to cook his food lest the smoke or flame might
betray his whereabout to the pursuers. He
was a murderous fellow, for whom no one had
a good word; and it seemed to be agreed on
all sides, that, if he did not find means to get
another horse to carry him into another
district, his life could not be worth many weeks'
purchase. Being tired, and knowing full well
that bush-travellers were given to ornament
their narratives, I paid little attention at the
time to all this gossip, and went drowsily to
bed.

"Crossing the ranges on the following day, I
had to pursue a narrow track along the steep
side of a hill which went down by steps into
the valley. Before I reached the open forest,
as I was winding round a long peninsula of
rocks, my dogs dashed after a kangaroo. In
another minute I was hailed by a voice im-
mediately overhead, shouting, with wild oaths,
"Bail up, or I'll blow out your brains!"
I caught a glimpse of an extremely ugly face,
and of the muzzle of a rusty musket. There
was no time for consideration. The gentleman
above, required my horse; I regarded that
horse as my choicest treasure. Therefore I
pressed the said horse's sides, threw myself
flat on his back, and away we went tumbling,
rather than galloppmg, along the narrow pathway
of uneven stones. The musket, of course,
was discharged, and the slugs whistled round
me, raking up the skin of my neck and
shoulders; but we soon turned the jut of the
peninsula from which the bush-ranger had
fired. The narrow defile into the open forest
being partly blocked up by a small tree that
had fallen across it, the gentleman of the bush
was taking a short cut to meet me at this
point, holding his musket clubbed ready to
deal, when he could get at me, a desperate
blow. He had evidently set his mind upon
bestriding Moonlight.

"We got to the barrier nearly at the same
time. Moonlight went at and cleared the tree
like a kangaroo; but, as he alighted on the
other side, he tripped and struck upon his head
among the brambles. I rolled over him, still
holding firmly by the reins. It was well for
me that the bush-ranger, being out of breath,
missed the blow aimed at my devoted head.
It was parried for me by the strong arm of an
overhanging tree, which caused the musket
to recoil at an unexpected moment with so
much force as to fly out of the ruffian's hand,
and to tumble down the hill side. My horse
rose, and the man ran to seize him, shouting
threats and oaths against me which I do not
think it needful to repeat. I still maintained
my hold upon the reins and the stirrup; my
blood was up; and with all my force I cut my
assailant across the face with my doubled
stockwhip. Then, he grappled with me,
and we fell. He was a bigger, broader
man than I, but starvation had weakened
him, and I was in the better condition for
a wrestle. "We rolled over and over; at first
each trying to get the other down. I had
his left wrist grasped in my right hand; my
left hand, missing his throat, tugged at his chin
and beard. He clenched my neckerchief in
his fist and dug his knuckles into my throat,
and would certainly have strangled me, had
not my neckerchief—which was thin—given
way. Then he attempted to get out his
knife; but in the moment when he put
down his right hand—being then undermost—
I threw back my own head and struck him a
stout blow on his only eye. I do not know
how long the struggle lasted, but my strength
began to fail. His knees were once or twice
upon my chest, and although I threw him off,
my hands were losing power rapidly.

Until I felt that his endurance surpassed
mine—until I despaired—I had been silent,
while my antagonist most vehemently swore:
I summoned however at last my failing
strength for a loud shout. In a very little while
his cursing took the form of a wild howl of
rage and pain, his grasp relaxed, and I saw
him fighting at the jaws of my two fierce
and faithful dogs. Supporting myself on my
hands and knees, I, like a savage, urged them
on in feeble whispers—they were my last hope,
and my strong hope. One dog had the robber
by the throat, the other had plunged his sharp
muzzle into his side. Shrieking horribly, he
writhed and. fought with them. As soon as I
could gather strength I arose; and with faltering
steps followed my horse, who waited,
trembling, for his master. I mounted, and
without looking back pushed over fifteen
miles, until we halted at a cattle station.
My dogs did not follow me. I waited an hour
for them before they came in. Refusing the
offal of a sheep that was presented to them,
they went to sleep before the fire.

"While I was in the colony, I never
mentioned the matter to any man except to the
head of the police. One-eyed Dick was
never heard of more. The dingoes, and
eagle-hawks, soon provide decent burial for