"We wanted to see what Lingan had got for those bullocks for us, and it took some time to settle up."
"What bullocks?"
"Some that strayed up here, and whose marks we couldn't make out," said one of the men.
"Don't be a fool, Evans. Why, some bullocks that we drove off from Sheridan's station, all the marks on which we got rid of. But it was before you joined us, Crosby, so you don't get any of the plunder," said Starlight.
"What was that shot I heard just now?" asked Crosby, in an incidental manner.
With what sickening anxiety Alec awaited Starlight's answer! He almost feared to listen, yet he could hardly breathe till he heard what was Como's fate.
"Oh, just as we were coming out of Lingan's yard we saw that dog, that great beast of yours, Law, trotting calmly off. We called to it, but that made it start off at full rush, so I lugged out my snapper and let fly at it."
"Well?" said Martin.
"Why, the brute got away. He was going too quick, I think. But it doesn't matter. We don't want a great hulking brute of that sort about the place. He would eat as much as any two men."
When Starlight so lightly dismissed the matter, he little knew what momentous results to him and his gang depended upon that "hulking brute" getting safely away. Alec breathed freely again when he heard that Como had managed to give them the slip, and Martin could not prevent a faint smile flickering in his sunny face. Starlight noticed it, and said—