"Did he make a confession? who was with him when he died?" we asked, eagerly.
"Softly; you would hardly have required me to bother the poor fellow with questions, when his breath was scant, and his thoughts were on things not of this earth. I was with him, but he spoke not, excepting to utter the words,—
"'I am going—remember the shadow!'"
"To what did he refer?"
"That is precisely what the watcher, who was with Bill when he breathed his last, wanted to know."
"He was probably wandering in his mind, and knew not what he said."
"I think that he was sensible of what was going on around him, and uttered the expression to convince me of his sincerity."
"Make us your confidant, and we will endeavor to think as you do."
"I will, because in the first place I owe my life to your devotion on that day, and therefore you shall share in all the benefits that are likely to arise from Bill's death; and in the second place it is necessary for me to have a companion to prosecute my searches for the treasure."
"Then the bushranger revealed the secret?" we eagerly asked.