"No; it could not have been."
"I am glad of that," she said. "I have always feared he would. Then there could have been no doubt. Was he found?"
"Yes. Durham was driving in from Waroona Downs with Brennan. They found him in the water where the creek crosses the road in the range."
"Drowned?" she asked wonderingly.
"No, not drowned; he had been shot."
She shuddered and gripped his hand.
"They did not——" she began brokenly. "They—it was not because he was—escaping?"
"They found him," he said gently. "He was lying in the water—the shot had been fired from behind him."
For a time she sat silent, still holding his hand firmly.
"Where is he now?" she asked presently.