"D—— him, he has gone to sleep, I'll bet a nugget. Go down, Sam, and wake him with a kick of your boots."
The man addressed as Sam grumbled some at the order, but we could hear that he was obeying the command, for the dirt rolled down the bank and fell at our feet, and the oaths and exclamations uttered by the gang hurried him in his descent. "The same operation is to be repeated," Fred whispered; "use all of your strength, for this fellow is a dangerous customer, I'm convinced."
He had hardly finished speaking, when a stout, burly fellow slid down in front of us, and as he did so, he got a glimpse of our forms.
He was about to utter an exclamation, when my hands were around his throat, compressing his windpipe with a strength that seemed marvellous to me. There was a slight struggle, unseen from the top of the bank, owing to the friendly shelf, and then I saw Fred make a motion with his arm, and almost immediately I felt that I held a corpse in my hands.
I let the body fall to the ground, and as I did so, Fred tore the slouched hat from the wretch's head, placed it upon his own, and then thrusting his head out so that those upon the bank could see the hat, but not my friend's face, and assuming, as nearly as possible, the voice of the dead, shouted:—
"Ah, Bill, come down here and see what we've got."
"Hullo!" cried Bill, "what's up? can't you tell? D—— me if I don't believe they have found a gold mine, down there. Let's go and see, boys."
"Now is our time," cried Fred, quietly removing the pistols which the dead men carried in their belts. "When they have descended half way, we must take them."
We listened attentively, and when we thought that our time had arrived, we stepped out from our place of concealment, and before the bushrangers could overcome their surprise at our sudden appearance, we gave the two nearest the contents of our revolvers.
They relaxed their hold upon the bushes that grew sparsely upon the hill side, and rolling over and over, fell into the ravine, badly wounded.