grass for a short time, to the great discomfiture of Grough, who, from having nothing to eat and nothing to drink, was in an excessively surly humour, Brandon began to have misgivings as to whether he was on the right scent for the girl.

He considered that it was a most unlikely thing for the natives to leave any one of their white enemies alive during such a skirmish; and it was altogether contrary to their practice, so far as he had heard, to encumber themselves with such prisoners. After all, he thought, either Helen and Silliman had been killed, or if they had been able to avoid that fate, they had escaped in another direction; and in that case, he calculated, they would make right for the cave on the shore of the Bay, from which they had been taken.

Impressed with this idea, he determined to retrace his steps and endeavour to overtake them; for, as he guessed, they would not be able to make rapid progress in the Bush, even if they should be able to find their way at all through a strange country over which they had only once passed. He communicated his suspicion to Grough, who at once acquiesced; and after cursing himself, with sundry energetic oaths, for being such a fool as to suppose that the natives would trouble themselves with white people as prisoners, he uplifted his huge carcass from the ground, and prepared to follow Brandon :

"To be sure, "said he-" more fools we, for thinking anything else! The natives would smash in their skulls with their waddies-and that was too good for the like of them! The cave 's our mark-and there we shall find the liquor that we buried, if we find nothing else. My mouth just now hankers after a glass of rum, as a black fellow after a roasted piccaninny! Rum for ever!"

As Brandon had been careful, according to the practice of experienced travellers in the Bush, to take bearings of the principal objects in his line of march, he had no difficulty, although in the night, in finding his way back to the sugar-loaf hill from the neighbourhood of which he had started, and near which the fight with the natives had taken place. In this course it was necessary for him to pass by the place where the Ensign and the Corporal were reposing for the night; but he had another and a powerful reason for wishing to visit again the spot where he had left Helen.

Brandon's passion for the girl was most powerful and absorbing-she was a girl after his own heart-bold, brave, ready-witted in difficulty and in danger, and resolute in her determination. She was handsome withal-lofty in her bearing, tall and commanding in her figure, and with the air of a heroine of romance. If his lot, he thought, had been cast in happier circumstances, the companionship of such a woman

might have spurred him on to noble enterprises, and have saved him from the commission of many a deed of crime! He had even flattered himself with the idea, that, even as he was-sunk, degraded, proscribed--a felon, and a murderer-the girl had been inclined to regard him favourably; and he had indulged in the hope that, possibly, she might be reconciled to a life in the wilderness with him, by whom she would have been worshipped as the goddess of his idolatry!

When, therefore, he discovered, as he did in their passage from the hill across the river, that she had been deceiving him all the time; and that, in fact, she, a girl, had outwitted him, the wily bushranger-it was with mingled feelings of disappointment, of wounded pride, and of deep mortification and pain, that he became convinced that Helen regarded him with abhorrence, and had found out some secret means of directing the pursuit of her friends to her rescue.

Nor did the sight of one of the two whose death he had resolved on, tend to lessen his resentment; for that one was young, handsome, an officer, and doubtless had been actuated by more than ordinary zeal in hazarding himself in the bush with only one companion, in so desperate a service as the capture of the man the most dreaded in Van Diemen's Land. That young man, then, his jealousy whispered to him, was the favoured admirer of the girl; and it was for him, and for his sake, that she had contrived to give a clue to the path of her retreat.

This thought stung him so sharply, that he stopped in his walk; started! and stamped his foot with signs of the most violent emotion! His excitement moved even the insensible Grough to ask him, with as much concern as he could throw into the brutal tones of his coarse thick voice::

"If a black snake had bit him?"

"Worse than that, man!"

"Crush it, then," said Grough, " under your foot; if a cretur has bit you, and no help for it, have your revenge!"

"I will!" replied Brandon.

They both now moved on more rapidly. As they drew near to the dense scrub, Brandon enjoined strict silence to his companion, and advanced with his usual caution.

It was easy to ascertain, by the light of the fire, which the Corporal had kindled close to his officer's sleeping-place, the precise spot where the two soldiers had established their bivouac; and the thickness of the bushes served as an effectual screen to prevent either party from seeing the other, until they came almost face to face. Brandon whispered to his fellow not to make the slightest noise, and to follow him.

The Bushranger then crept stealthily foward till he reached

a thick bush fronting the fire, on the other side of which the Corporal was sitting, with his firelock lying by his side. The Bushranger regarded him attentively, and saw that he sleptor seemed to sleep; for, as Brandon's own habits taught him, it might be only a feint to throw enemies off their guard. Grough had already put his musket to his shoulder with a deliberate aim; but Brandon, by a sign, checked him.

By the light of the moon he saw a rough sort of bush hut at a little distance from the fire, which fronted its entrance. He guessed that the wounded officer was there-perhaps not alone? The girl might be with him! Brandon was seized with a feeling of condensed hatred and spite, which mastered all other considerations. "The snake," he muttered to himself, "has bitten me with its poison-and I will have my revenge!" Retreating from his position to some little distance, he made a circuit through the bushes, and got behind the officer's hut. He observed through the partial openings, here and there, as he went, that the sleeping soldier retained the same position.

"If it's a sham," he thought to himself "it is well done!" Grough made signs to shoot him; but Brandon, by a determined gesture, forbade it.

They arrived close to the bush hut. The Bushranger peered about, and presently found a small opening, through which he could see the occupant's face. It was that of the officer; it was very pale, and had a youthful and delicate appearance. was sleeping, and he was alone.

He

By the light of the fire which shone directly upon him, partially obscured only by the body of the Coporal, Brandon observed in the young officer's hand, which was placed on his breast, a woman's glove!-The truth was revealed at once! Here was the lover of the girl-the favoured lover-with the love-token in his grasp!-Again the same sharp pang shot through the Bushranger's frame, and he felt stung as if by a corporal and substantive dagger stabbed into his entrails! All the rage of the demon was roused within him! Slowly and silently he raised his fowling-peice to his shoulder, and covered the sleeping man's brain with the murderous barrel! His finger was on the trigger! He was about to give the fatal touchwhen the sleeping officer turned, and said something in his sleep. It seemed that he was suffering under the painful excitement of some feverish dream. Clasping the glove to his heart, he

murmured :

"Helen!"

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE.

THE Bushranger suspended his touch;-the name of Helen so pronounced, agitated him in an extraordinary manner. His hand trembled; his weapon shook; for once he felt that his aim was uncertain, for his eyes also were blinded with a sort of mist. The sleeping man spoke again.-The Bushranger listened :-

"Dead!" murmured Trevor; "dead! murdered in cold blood! murdered! murdered!"

Brandon recovered his piece-meditated for a moment. Some thought seemed to convulse him; a deep flush came over his face-he levelled his piece again :

Again the sleeping officer murmured—

"Murdered!"

Brandon drew back his piece with a hasty movement, much to the astonishment of Grough, who was at a loss to understand what these pantomimic actions signified; and without speaking, turned away and retreated to some little distance among the bushes. His companion followed him obediently. When Brandon stopped, Grough took the opportunity to ask him:"Why he did not shoot the red-coat as he slept?"

Brandon made no reply for some time.-At last he said, "It is best as it is :-let him be left alone."

He then remained plunged for some time in gloomy silence, without giving any intimation to stir from the spot.

But his companion, who was entirely ignorant of the motives which led his chief to spare the sleeping man's life, and who was equally unable to penetrate the feelings of Brandon in respect to the relations of the Officer with the girl, was by no means inclined to remain inactive, or to delay their journey towards the Major's cave, where a store of rum had been deposited, in a secret place denominated in colonial phraseology a "plant." Besides, this was a neglect of business, to the matter-of-fact marauder, altogether incompatible with his habits of dealing. Here were two of their enemies at their mercy, and Mark was losing the opportunity of taking both their lives at a time when they could make no resistance, for they were both asleep; and what better chance could they have of shooting them comfortably through the head without danger to themselves? To let such a chance slip by, was monstrous!-He conveyed his opinion, in a gruff whisper, to Brandon:—

"If you don't like to shoot the young 'un," he said, "there can be no harm in my shooting the old fellow! Besides, we want powder and shot, and his musket would be no bad grab!"

To this Brandon made no reply ;-he was a prey to the most painful and conflicting sensations. On the one hand, his passion for the girl had so far touched that part of his better nature which was within him, as to cause him to recoil from murdering in cold blood even her favoured lover! And on the other hand, he was stimulated by jealousy, by anger, and by the desire of revenge for the injury which the Officer had done him in forestalling him in the girl's affections, to take the life of the hated rival who was in his power.-Absorbed by these thoughts, he either did not hear, or did not allow himself to be disturbed by his companion's suggestion, but continued plunged in moody contemplation.

Grough, taking his silence for consent, moved quickly off, determined that the night should not pass away, as he mentally affirmed, "without some pleasure;"-so he resolved to shoot the Corporal.

On such amiable thoughts intent, he edged away a little to the right, in order that he might take the poor soldier sideways, which would obviate the inconvenience of the glare of the fire, and allow him to take a better aim. He stationed himself, accordingly, in a convenient position, and resting on one knee, was about to have a deliberate shot, when a slight air which caused the embers of the fire to sparkle more brilliantly, conveyed to his senses the smell of roasted meat!

Now Mr. Grough was, as he expressed it, more than usually "peckish," having not only walked very far, but fasted very long; and the appetizing odour of the kangaroo's leg, which had begun to burn a little, altogether overcame his animal sensibilities! His bowels yearned, and the water rose to his mouth!For a moment he forgot his anticipated gratification of putting a ball through the corporal's head, in the present and more immediate temptation which irresistibly assailed him! He even feared to disturb the Corporal, lest his waking should delay the promised feast.

Taking advantage, therefore, of his early habits, and his ability in prigging, which even in his youth had conferred on him the title of a most accomplished thief, he bent his whole soul to the getting possession of the savoury "grub." It was astonishing to see with what lightness and softness the legs which supported that huge body could tread! Nothing but long practice in stealing and in housebreaking, could have taught the bulky brute to manage his steps so mincingly! And the feat too was so daring! To subtract the delicious morsel from under the Corporal's very nose! There was fun in the exploit! What would be the old soldier's thoughts on waking? How piercing his disappointment! What a glorious "dodge" to put on him! Positively it was better than putting him to death! Grough