Coffee was swallowed hastily, and then the clear, ringing notes of the bugle gave the signal for bringing up the horses.
"You surely don't intend to make these poor devils walk all the way?" I asked of the lieutenant, just before he started.
"They will have to walk until we come across teams on the road to Melbourne, and then I shall let them ride. There is no other way that I can do," he replied.
Even while we were talking, the bugle sounded to mount, so anxious were the men to reach the city.
"There will be a large amount of money placed to your credit," Murden said. "Remember that each bushranger killed or taken prisoner is worth one hundred pounds."
"We hope we shall never be poor enough to ask for it," Fred replied.
"I hope that you never will be in want, certainly," Murden said, "but I do hope that your sensibilities will not prevent you from accepting that which is legally your own. I have no time to argue with you more, but in less than a month I shall be at Ballarat, when we will further discuss the subject."
"You will have business there at that time?" I asked.
"I think that I shall. The miners have suddenly become convinced that it is not right to pay government taxes for the privilege of digging gold. Nothing serious has occurred as yet; but how long the storm will hold off is quite uncertain."
"This is all news to me," Fred said, after a short pause, "and I hardly know how to act under the circumstances. We have no desire to violate your laws, or to foster rebellion, and I have half a mind to abandon our enterprise for the present."