"'I should think you would remember it,' I replied, 'for we were both passengers in the same ship.'
"He started up with a fearful oath, and would have rushed upon me; but I brought my gun to my shoulder, and kept him at bay.
"'I remember you now,' he said, and seemed inclined to dash at me in spite of the weapon which I held in my hand. 'You are the one that threatened to betray me when I wished to take the ship. I swore to have your life for your cowardice; but I retract the oath, and now let us be friends. Give me shelter, and something to eat, and to-morrow I will leave you for a distant station.'
"'You are deceiving me,' I said, still retaining my hold of the gun, and looking at him suspiciously.
"'No, by ——, I'm not,' Darnley cried, with a look of sincerity: 'here, let me prove it. Ten days ago I murdered one of the guards, and fought my way to this part of the country in hopes of joining a gang of bushrangers. Since that time I have been pursued and hunted like a wild beast; but they haven't captured Black Darnley yet.'
"He laughed triumphantly as he spoke, and thought of the long chase that he had given the police of Sydney.
"'You are a strong man, much stronger than myself, and if I am upon an equal footing with you, could crush me as easily as an eggshell.'
"I still retained my hold of the gun, but I no longer covered his huge body with its barrel.
"'Look at me!' he said, baring his arms, which were shrunken, and holding them up for my inspection. 'For three days I've not tasted food, or closed my eyes in sleep. I've run and skulked from tree to tree during that time, and heard the tramping of horses as the policemen strove to follow my trail. I am weak, exhausted, and a child could overcome me now.'