'That was a near shave, Sal,' said Dalton; 'and if you belonged to me I'd damage that face of yours. As it is, I'll leave that for your new master to operate on when he's tired of you.'

'My new master!' she said. 'What do you mean?'

'A very nice man has fallen in love with you, Sal, and we are going to take you to him.'

'You will suffer for this. Wait until Jim Dennis returns,' she said.

Sal knew it was useless to offer resistance; she must escape by some other means when out of Dalton's hands.

Where were they taking her to? It could not be Barker's Creek. Then she recollected what Rodney Shaw had said to her, and shuddered. Would he dare to risk this outrage, with the a.s.sistance of such men as Dalton and his gang? A man in his position dare not do it.

She little knew of what Rodney Shaw was capable.

They took her outside and strapped her on one of Jim Dennis's horses.

The black gin cowering in the corner had escaped notice until, unfortunately for her, as Dalton was leaving the room he caught sight of her.

'There you are!' he said with a savage scowl. 'I'll teach you to play the spy, you black devil!'

He rushed at her and hit her across the face and head with his whip. She howled with pain, a piteous cry, almost like that of a dying animal, a long wail that caused Sal to shudder.

'I'll teach you,' he said, and, picking up Sal's revolver, he shot her through the head with no more compunction than he would have done a dingo.

'You will tell no more tales,' he said as he kicked her body away from him. 'I'll leave you here for the boys to clear away when they return.'

The party were soon on their way to Cudgegong, and they kept a lookout in every direction for signs of Willie Dennis and Dixon.

'We shall leave them on the left,' said Dalton. 'I don't think there is any danger of our being seen. I hope you are comfortable, Sal,' he added with a grin.

She made no reply. She was busy thinking how she would act, for she knew they were going in the direction of Cudgegong.

It was a long, tedious ride, and the men were in a bad humour. They thought Abe Dalton a fool for being mixed up in a job like this.

'Did you shoot that black gin?' one of them asked.

'Yes; she will tell no tales,' he answered.

'There'll be a lot of trouble over it, and with Seth Sharp's bungling piece of work the Creek will be too hot to hold us.'

'If you are afraid to stay there you know what to do,' growled Dalton.

'Clear out, I suppose. You are mighty fond of telling some of us that.

Mind we don't clear you out.'

'Yes, I'll mind that, and I'll not forget what you have said. That's your grat.i.tude after I have kept you all these years,' said Dalton.

'Kept me!' echoed the man. 'Come, I like that. It's me that's helped to keep you, and more fool I have been to do it.'

Sal was in hopes they would quarrel and give her a chance to escape, but, although Dalton and some of his men were always falling out, their mutual interests were too inseparable for any really serious quarrel to arise.

Rodney Shaw was awaiting their arrival at Cudgegong, for Dalton had sent him word the previous day that he might expect them. He was in an excited state, and had been s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up his courage with his favourite liquor. He knew he was doing a rash and cowardly act, one that would not only get him into trouble possibly, but would cause everyone to regard him as a scoundrel.

He was, however, a man who cared little for such things, and, if the worst came to the worst, he could clear out from Cudgegong. He had come to hate the place, and there were other matters connected with it, memories that haunted him and caused him to have many sleepless nights.

He thought in time Sal would settle down with him, as she had done with Jim Dennis, and that she would be company for him. Until such time arrived he meant to keep her safe and do as he liked with her.

He little knew the task he had set himself or the woman he had to deal with. There was much of the cunning of the black in Sal, and she was not a woman to submit tamely to indignities. When Abe Dalton and his party arrived at Cudgegong Rodney Shaw at once had Sal taken to the room prepared for her.

'You will soon be happy and contented here,' he said to her; 'and you will not find me a bad master. You would not come to me of your own free will, so I thought I would send for you.'

Sal gave him a fierce look from her big dark eyes, and said, as she faced him,--

'You are a coward, not a man. Jim Dennis will throttle the life out of you when he finds out what you have done.'

'He will not find out, because he will never suspect you are here,' he replied.

She made him no answer. She felt Jim Dennis would know what had befallen her.

He left her and went to settle with Dalton.

'You will find yourself in a nice mess over this,' said Dalton.

'I'll take the risk. I have the woman, that is what I wanted. Here is your money.'

'It was a stiff job,' said Abe Dalton, 'and we have run a big risk.

Can't you make it a trifle more?'

Rodney Shaw swore at him, and said a bargain was a bargain, but he eventually gave him twenty pounds over the sum agreed upon.

When they were gone he went again to Sal. He meant to try and coax her into a good humour. He succeeded ill, and, losing his temper, said,--

'Remember I am your master now, and you will have to obey me. Think it over during the night, and make up your mind to be contented.'

With that he left her, and she looked round for some means of escape.

The one window was heavily barred, and the door was fastened on the outside.

Rodney Shaw had taken every precaution, so he thought, to secure her; but he did not antic.i.p.ate she would try to attempt what seemed impossible, and escape. He did not know Sal. She meant to try every means in her power to get out of that room.

The house was, as usual, built on thick wooden piles and was some height from the ground. As Sal walked round and round she heard a board creak, almost in the same spot, each time she pa.s.sed over it. She knelt on the floor and felt closely round the skirting. To her joy she discovered the white ants had been busily at work on one of the piles and that they had penetrated the skirting board of the room. She tapped it, and the sound told her it was hollow inside, crumbling away. So great was her joy that she had much difficulty in restraining herself from testing her plan at once.

She knew, however, it would be safer to wait until it was dark and all was still. The time pa.s.sed slowly, but at last she determined to risk it.

She pressed her hand heavily on the board, and, as she expected, it gave way and crumbled to pieces. It was an easy matter for such a powerful woman to rip the rotten portion away, but a more difficult task awaited her when she attempted to pull up the flooring boards, and she had to be very careful not to make much noise. Her hands were cut and bleeding, but she heeded it not. She pulled and tugged with all her strength, and at last one board gave way, but the s.p.a.ce made was not wide enough for her to squeeze through. The second board did not take so long to raise, and this gave her a sufficient opening.

She slipped through and found herself underneath the house, free, if she could only manage to get away un.o.bserved or without rousing any of the dogs.

She crawled along the ground, hardly daring to breathe, until she reached the fence, which she quickly climbed.

Once outside she commenced to run for her life, and as she was fleet of foot she soon put some distance between herself and Cudgegong. She knew in which direction Wanabeen lay, and could tell by the star-lit heavens that she was on the right track.