"All ready," I responded, making a signal to Fred to be on the alert.
"Stoop down a little," was the whispered injunction. I obeyed the order, and no sooner did I bow my head than the bushes appeared to be illuminated with a sheet of flame. A roar of musketry that seemed to shake the forest followed the flash, and over my head I could hear the bullets whiz as they sped on their errand of death.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
OPPORTUNE ARRIVAL OF LIEUTENANT MURDEN AND HIS FORCE, ROUT OF THE BUSHRANGERS.
I heard a wild yell, such as men utter when taken by surprise—I heard groans and curses, and then, loud above all, arose a cheer which could only have proceeded from men who had some great matter at stake, and were determined to fight to the last for victory.
Through the smoke, which slowly drifted over the clearing, I saw half a dozen robbers spring to their feet and fall headlong, like logs, to the ground, and by the light of the still blazing fire I observed the astonishment depicted upon the faces of the bushrangers as they looked in the direction from whence the discharge proceeded, and stumbled over each other on their way towards the spot where their arms were stacked.
All this I observed in a few seconds' time, but before I could start to my feet, wondering who were the attacking party, I heard the voice of the old convict, shrill and wild, shout out a quotation from the Bible, and conclude with one of his semi-religious, fanatical expressions.
"May the God of my fathers," he exclaimed, "forgive me for killing the devils, but I couldn't help it."