"The latter part of the solicitation sounded as though uttered in a hypocritical tone, and I was undecided whether to comply with the request, or send him to the next station, about ten miles distant. A fresh gust of wind influenced me; I slipped off the bar and opened the door; but next moment I would have given all the sheep under my charge to have had my guest where he was five minutes previous, with the oak bar across the door; for by the flickering fire that blazed upon the hearth I saw that my visitor was Black Darnley.
"He was greatly altered since I had seen him last. His clothes hung in tatters about his body, while his large feet were shoeless and bleeding profusely: but the fire of his black eyes was unquenched, and the bony form, still upright in spite of the hard labor to which he had been subjected, gave assurance, to my dismay, that he still possessed his giant strength.
"The instant he entered the hut he closely scrutinized my face, and then cast hurried glances around the room to see if I were alone. Satisfied that I was, he strode to the fire, and seated himself near its cheerful blaze.
"'I have seen your face somewhere,' he said, looking at me keenly.
"'I should think you would remember it,' I replied, 'for we were both passengers in the same ship.'
"He started up with a fearful oath, and would have rushed upon me; but I brought my gun to my shoulder, and kept him at bay.
"'I remember you now,' he said, and seemed inclined to dash at me in spite of the weapon which I held in my hand. 'You are the one that threatened to betray me when I wished to take the ship. I swore to have your life for your cowardice; but I retract the oath, and now let us be friends. Give me shelter, and something to eat, and to-morrow I will leave you for a distant station.'
"'You are deceiving me,' I said, still retaining my hold of the gun, and looking at him suspiciously.
"'No, by——, I'm not,' Darnley cried, with a look of sincerity: 'here, let me prove it. Ten days ago I murdered one of the guards, and fought my way to this part of the country in hopes of joining a gang of bushrangers. Since that time I have been pursued and hunted like a wild beast; but they haven't captured Black Darnley yet.'
"He laughed triumphantly as he spoke, and thought of the long chase that he had given the police of Sydney.
"'You are a strong man, much stronger than myself, and if I am upon an equal footing with you, could crush me as easily as an eggshell.'
"I still retained my hold of the gun, but I no longer covered his huge body with its barrel.
"'Look at me!' he said, baring his arms, which were shrunken, and holding them up for my inspection. 'For three days I've not tasted food, or closed my eyes in sleep. I've run and skulked from tree to tree during that time, and heard the tramping of horses as the policemen strove to follow my trail. I am weak, exhausted, and a child could overcome me now.'
"'But after your strength is recruited, you may act the part of a serpent, and sting the one that warmed you into life,' I answered, half resolved to trust him.
"'I don't blame you for your suspicions,' he cried, moodily, seating himself by the fire again, and holding his hands towards the blaze to dry his ragged shirt. 'I am defenceless, and you hold a loaded gun. Discharge its contents into my body, and then go and obtain a full pardon from government for the murder of Black Darnley.'
"He bowed his head and sat scowling at the fire, as though he cared not what became of him, and was rather anxious, than otherwise, that I should end his career of crime.
"'I'll trust you,' I said, replacing my gun over the bed and taking a seat beside him, and I did so with perfect confidence.
"'Your clothes are wet and ragged,' I remarked, after a few moments' silence, during which he did not remove his eyes from the fire.
"'A starving man cares but little about his dress,' he answered, glancing over his ragged suit, and stooping to wipe the gravel from his bloody feet.
"'You shall have all that you want to eat,' I answered; and I hastily put a kettle of water upon the fire to make him a cup of tea, and then laid upon the table nearly the whole carcass of a lamb which I had roasted that day. He still sat by the fire and gazed at the flames as though he read his past life amid the coals that glowed upon the hearth, and was trying to read the future. I went to my small stock of clothing and took out a flannel shirt and pair of trousers, much the worse for wear, but still warm and dry.
"'Strip off your wet garments," I said, 'and accept of these.'
"He started, and looked me full in the face, as though reading my thoughts.
"'I have wronged you,' he cried, while doing as I directed. 'I thought when I proposed to take the ship, that you were a coward, because you refused to join me. You are a braver man than myself.'
"'It was because I knew that certain death not only awaited you and I, but half of those who were not aware of the plot. The innocent and guilty would have been massacred without mercy by our taskmasters.'
"'But we could have slain half a dozen of them before dying ourselves,' he exclaimed, with a touch of his old fierceness, and a wave of his long arms, as though, even then, weak as he was, he would like to strangle his oppressors. I made no reply, but assisted him to dress; and after he had squeezed his body into my clothes, which were two sizes too small for him, the water on the fire boiled, and I made a strong cup of tea, and then bade him eat to repletion. He needed no second invitation, but fell to work like a wild animal, and craunched bones and flesh between his strong teeth in such a ravenous manner that I had expectations of his choking himself; and I don't know that I should have been sorry if he had. The lamb rapidly disappeared, but not until every bone was picked, and half-eaten, did he evince that he was satisfied, and again drew towards the fire, into which he continued to gaze until he began to nod with weariness.
"'You are sleepy,' I said. 'Occupy my bed to-night, and I'll sit by the fire.'
"'The floor will do for me. Give me a sheep-skin and let me stretch myself before the fire.'
"Finding that he was resolved not to deprive me of the bed, I spread half a dozen skins upon the hearth, and giving him a pipe well filled with tobacco, retired to my couch, and lay watching his huge form by the faint flicker of the fire, which had begun to grow dim.
"In a few minutes Darnley's head, which he had supported upon his hand, sank upon his pillow; 'the pipe dropped from his mouth, and by his heavy breathing I knew that he slept. Wicked thoughts then crowded upon my mind. Within my reach was a gun, well charged with slugs, and there, lying upon the hearth, was an escaped convict, whose life was forfeited by the laws of Australia, and pardon and official patronage granted to any man that shed his blood. Nay, more, I had the moans of purchasing my freedom by exhibiting proofs that I had taken his life, and I thought of the many years that must elapse before my term would expire.
"I reached towards the gun, and considered that I should but do my duty in slaying him as he lay; but other thoughts succeeded, and I now thank God that my hands are not stained with the blood of a man who trusted to my goodness of heart. I fell asleep during my meditations, and when I awoke, Darnley was still sleeping in front of the cold fireplace.
"I moved about the room as gently as possible, and tried to avoid awakening him; but while I was endeavoring to kindle a fire, he suddenly started up, his countenance inflamed with passion, and his deep-set eyes glaring like those of a tiger.
"'I'll never be taken alive,' he shouted, throwing his huge form upon mine, and crushing me to the ground with his weight, while his hand sought my throat which was compressed in his grasp until my eyes started nearly from their sockets.
"In his half-awakened madness I should have been strangled, had it not been for my dog, that flew at his leg, and inflicted a savage bite that caused Darnley to relinquish his hold and turn upon the brute; but by the time that he had staggered to his feet, he awakened to his situation, and became calm