"How long have you been a member of the band?"
"Five years."
"You must have been a mere boy when you joined."
"I was seventeen. I am twenty-two now."
"I should like to ask you a question, but you may not like to answer it."
"Go on! If I don't care to answer, I will tell you so."
"What induced you to join the bushrangers?"
"I will tell you," said the young man, showing neither offence nor reluctance. "I was employed in Melbourne in a business establishment. One of my fellow-clerks stole some money, and, to screen himself, managed to implicate me by concealing a part of the stolen money in my coat pocket. I knew no way to prove my innocence, and my employer was not a man to show pity, so I escaped from Melbourne and took refuge in the bush. There I fell in with Captain Stockton, who offered me a place in his band. I accepted, and here I am."
"But for the act of your fellow clerk you would have been an honest business man today, then?"
"Very likely."