We were constrained to follow Steel Spring's advice, although I promised him a kicking for his impudence.
"Jim," cried a black bearded fellow who sat near us, and who, Mr. Brown whispered, had served six years as a convict, and who preferred Australia to the old country, "when is you going to try your hand at the trade agin?"
"Not until the brads get low, and when Dan refuses to trust me for lush and grub," was the answer.
"Isn't it a pity that I haven't got the power to arrest these fellows, and hang them without a trial? They deserve punishment, yet there is no evidence by which they can be convicted. Your California lynch law would work wonders here in a short time."
The inspector felt as enthusiastic as an artist in the presence of a great painting, and Steel Spring was obliged to whisper a few words of caution for fear of a discovery.
The doorkeeper brought our drink, and expressed great gratification when we asked him to take a drop at our expense; but Dan, who was watching the operation, looked much more pleased when he saw Fred display a few gold pieces, and pay for the same; and at length the reserve of the landlord wore off; and seeing that we were strangers and had money, he made an excuse to call at our table, and grunt forth a few words of welcome.
"Is you from the town or bush?" he asked, appealing to Fred as the leader, because I suppose he had on better clothes than the inspector and myself.
"From the town; but on the lookout for a chance for the bush," my friend returned.
"Whose gang have you faked with?" was the next interrogation.