“Who are you, young chaps, and where are you going?” inquired one of the horsemen, who from his appearance we concluded was the leader of the party.
“We are going our own way and are not inclined to give that information to those who have no authority to ask it,” replied Guy in a firm voice.
“Did you fall in with a young fellow who had been stuck up by bushrangers?” inquired the man.
The question convinced us that we were not mistaken as to the character of our visitors.
“I have just told you that we are not going to answer any questions from those who have no right to put them,” said Guy.
“Oh, oh, oh!” cried the man, making a movement as if he was about to unsling his gun.
“If you do that, I’ll fire,” shouted Guy. “Our rifles are loaded with ball; now ride on, we do not wish to take your lives, but we have no intention of being stuck up.”
During this conversation I was looking at the other two fellows, who had not spoken but seemed to be waiting until their chief gave a sign to them to act. As my eye ranged over the countenance of one of them, it struck me forcibly that I had seen the man before, but when or where, I could not recollect. He was evidently very young, for while the faces of the others were covered with hair, he had but a small moustache on his lips, but exposure to the hot sun had so tanned his complexion, that had he been an intimate friend I might have failed to recognise him. He looked at me and then at my brother, whose attention was occupied by the older bushranger and did not notice him as I was doing.
“Oh, oh, oh!” exclaimed the man, after the warning Guy had given him; and, without saying another word, he and his companions turned their horses’ heads and rode away in the direction from whence they had come. Probably they had been attracted by the smoke of our fire, and expected to find some travellers unprepared for them; so we should have been had we not fallen in with Bracewell, and should certainly have lost our baggage and horses, and perhaps our lives.
“We have had a narrow escape, for there is no doubt about those fellows being bushrangers,” I observed to Guy.