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Show A FELON'S LOVE. DY I1I5NRY W. NRSriHLD. tllAlTLIl WII On the fourth morning the ex pert I tlon began to enter a lovely country In the far dlstanre loomed the dray Itangtt about hlrh llttlo then at Vnown sate that they ere popularly popular-ly tuppoted to swarm with blacks Tracks of wild cattle and 1 ortes be-rn be-rn to le obtrrvrd and small herds of kangarooi and docks of emus fled In dismay from the unexpected Into-lion Into-lion of their domain The country beiran to be more hilly and better tlmbercl Larue clumpa of hta oak and pint dotted about the hills nave It that park like appearance ro familiar to tho traveler In civilize I Mctorla. Now they crostc I a wide sandy crtek lined wilt hum g im trees where dead loss and I owl lera spoke of the wintry floodt which had wathed them down from the highlands above to their present retting placet Hero the white cockatoos screamed tneir thrill welcome and tho Icuanaa ttole itralthllr away from tl e track of the explorers an 1 yawned tholr dli approbation at a safe dlttance "Well" thought Mr Hall If thli eieapade means nothing else It means oue thing If I get back safely over Itioie confounded tnnd hllla my name Im t Chttlrt lloll If I don t take up a hundred square inllet of thla country for a cattle run Towards midday tl 0 inrty came acroia a deserted native encampment and near tt wat a well Here they retted and refreshed their horiei and themtelvrs having first taken the precaution of laylnp Jn n full supply of the ood drinking water for tbelr future needs After a few hours test another start was made but no algn of the fugitives could be teen It was drawing towards evening whin Jack Hall who lcj tho way suddenly sud-denly cried "Haiti Dismounting he carefully examined the ground Ilaln had fallen there re ctstly, and In a "clip pan which he u about to crots he had came upon tit tracks of a large dog Uncertain whither this waa the trail of a wild dingo or of a more domesticated ant ail he had at once decided upon following fol-lowing It up Skirting the edge of the molit clay, h tnada hit way carefully through a Bui of.reeiey grast and ruil ft, until he i" upon a tecond open tpace a eUJ pan like the flrit Theoe clay pant are bare shallow patches of earth which bold the water many weeka after the rain las fiVUt.t and In some of tbe dry ills I s of Australia they are utilized by no tiers who make tanka In tl elr neli l-borhood l-borhood and run the water from them by means of small drains Into the artificial arti-ficial rain catcher At the second clay pan Jack Hall paused and looked carefully nrnund It, and then with a cry of delight ho ibouted out to his companions "All rlghtl We are on to them steady don t move! Stay where you are Here are tracks of a man s boot! tracks not three daya old! netting quietly In their anddlea as they were bidden the men ait allently ezpectant while Jack followed up the twenty yards or so from where ba first atruck It, nn the left of the "clay pan ' he discovered In some tklck scrub the remains of a kangaroo Ths feet, head and entralli lay upon tho ground Tho other portlona had bun taken away "niacks! inquired Mr Hall "No' replied Jack not blacks-look blacks-look there! and holding up the anl mala akull he ahowed upon It tbe mark of a bullet wound "They are armed then laid the ser feint. "Tos they have weapons of tome ion, that a clear replied Jack Hall d splitting open tbe head with bis heath knife he extracted a bullet "Itevolver bullet he remarked hold-Ing hold-Ing It up for hla fathers Inspection "How about the dog? asked one of the troopers Thero are trncka across both thtie clay pans of a dog "Ilaynea had a kangaroo dng at the station I remember well his buying It from one of the men said Jack nd his being chaffed about going out hunting "But on the night of Dob Lukes tolng up to the hut Interposed the irgeant how waa It that no one nitrd the dog barkl fjmea took It down with him to Buiilvan a I remember seeing him fol low Ilaynea down the creek ou ubt to know, Sullivan? Did you re nog with him when ho came Into tbe br for tbe mall bant? replied Sullivan, I reinem h, . '" "CDB ,h8 dn wltn hlm . '"' ' on the night ho came down ol 1. nla",l ' don ' rwaember nolle- It with him before though But lkf'tf ren ' ,uch 8CBrca nnlmnl. about Botlce DC " t0 Ca" f0f Parllcular it Jr,'.11, 1 """smber hla having done dl.L We" woek' befarn nob ul dlisppeared ,ald Jack and whats Jh, h took the dog away with hlm n left the station wt. T ,1iolrtlnB hurried council It I M CKlde lht route jack should continue the trail aul having at latt picked It up he led tho way followed at tome little dlttance by tba rest of the 1 arty acroat a plateau until at latt he arrived at tho brink n lofty preel pice llcneath him lay a long narrow valley val-ley I'llta coveted with thick scrub roio up on either sldo of It while beyond be-yond apparently only a few mllea dli tant could be seen plainly the lung line of tbe Oray Itangcs At tho bottom ut tl a gorge waa a winding creek full of sand and huge bowldera but from the luxuriant growth of tie gum trees which Unci II, there coul 1 be no doubt but that an ample supply of water waa to be found there Looking down upon these guroi and wattlea from that dirty height they teemed to be no larger than cabbage plants but Jack knew qulto well thst the plateau they were on waa probably two thousind feet above the water-bed water-bed upon which he gazed Ily and by, aa hta eyes became more accustomed to the sceno I e fancied ho detected n thin line of smoke Ittulng from the foliage below V It was amoke That curling line of blue vapor betrayed the pretence of human beings be-ings nrobablr It wa a native en campment The I lacke were reported to be very numerout and hottlle In thli nearly unknown region and It was ad-vltablo ad-vltablo to take every precaution bctoro n proachlng them That a a ramp exclaimed Jack scarcely above his breath and a white man a ramp too I II wagerl It was decided after a hurried discussion discus-sion that one of tbe party aboutd go down and rcconnolter cnuTi'n, xviii Jack Hall claimed that right, and leaving hit horao In charge of on of tho troopers he hunted about to try to find some aafo place where be could make the descent Presently he found a zlg tag path which had evidently been worn by human feet, and which appeared to lead directly down to where he had obierved the smoke I)y careful maneuvering he arrived nearly at tbe bottom of the gully and he ptuted to make surs that hla revolver re-volver waa In readiness Silently he drew It from Its sheath and examined It Then he gently continued hla way, avoiding every piece of dry wood that lay In his path the cracking of whcb might betray hla pretence At length the ground became lets thickly timbered and be felt aura that ha could not be far from the camp "-lining hta eyea ha could now dli-tlngulih dli-tlngulih between the stems of tho trees . roughly built bark hut. It was not above twenty yarda from where he stood but tho color of the bark mad it difficult to discern It was, as ha surmised no native encampment en-campment There waa 11 chimney at one end of It which at once proclaimed the Inhabitants to be white men lying down flat upon tbe ground, Jack Hall watched and listened Presently he heard volcet Then a woman came out and walked towarda a pile of firewood Taking up a chopper chop-per the split aome up and carried It Into the but, Then be heard more talking but he waa unable to dlttlngulih what was said An hour patted and the sun bgan to get low If anything was to b dona that night It must be done quickly, so creeping up on bis hands and knees he at last regained his companions abort Motioning to them to be silent, be withdrew the party to some little dls tance from the. edge of tbe precipice and then told them all that be had seen There ran bo no doubt about It they are thero he said I did not go up to Ilaynea hut when It waa searched and to did not tee the woman, but you did father and from what you told me I am certain It la she Then the matter rests now entirely with you sergeant remarked Mr Hall ' You give your orders and we will do our belt to carry them out " Jutt to sir replied the trooper In command Then my or (era are for you all to spread out. Oet down tho sides of the ravine as well together at you can Surround tbe hut and arrett them at once We have a good hours light left yet Tbe eight men then proceeded to tether their lionet on the flat and having made them all tafe they each selected a spot at which to descend They then disappeared amongtt the acrub Some ten minutes elapted Then a cry broke tho tllence It waa the voice of William Luke Hurrying down rather mora quickly than his companions be bad aeen one of tho occupants of the hut standing near tho doorway Tbe slamming to of a door was heard and almost simultaneously tho traders emerged upon the valley There was no further necessity for silence for their presence bad been be trayed by Lukoa exclamation of surprise sur-prise Two remain In tho rear cried the sergeant one on cither tide and tbe others advance with mot The men who ran to the troopers laMsMMMsMMMM il -z 4 I aide wer William I uke, Jack Hall and H Sullivan I call upon you In ths Queen a nam j H to surrender! cried tho sergeant, as H he advanced IH Two puffs of white smoke frpm be W B tween the ahccla of bark which formed J M tho walla of the hut followed by sharp m reports were tho only answers ho re- 3 M celved J U (To be Continued 1 xjm 9 |