But well on into the afternoon Tresco had reached the neighbourhood of his cave, where his recluse life dragged out its weary days. His route lay for a brief mile along the track which led to the diggings. Reaching this cleared path, where locomotion was easier, the goldsmith quickened his pace, when suddenly, as he turned a corner, he came upon two men walking towards him from Timber Town.

In a moment he had taken cover in the thick underscrub which lined each side of the track, and quickly pa.s.sing a little way in the direction from which he had come, he hid himself behind a dense thicket, and waited for the wayfarers to pa.s.s by.

They came along slowly, being heavy laden.

"I tell yer I seen the bloke on the track, Dolly, just about here," said the younger man of the two. "One moment he was here, next 'e was gone.

Didn't you see 'm?"

"I must ha' bin lookin' t'other way, up the track," said the other. "I was thinkin' o' somethin'. I was thinkin' that this place, just here, was made a-purpose for our business. Now, look at this rock."

He led his companion to the inner edge of the track, where a big rock ab.u.t.ted upon the acute angle which the path made in circ.u.mventing the forest-clad hill-side. Placing their "swags" on the path the two men clambered up behind the rock, and Tresco could hear their conversation as he lay behind the thick scrub opposite them.

"See?" said Dolphin, as he pointed up the track in the direction of Timber Town. "From here you can command the track for a half-a-mile."

Sweet William looked, and said, "That's so--you can."

"Now, look this way," Dolphin pointed down the track in the direction of the diggings. "How far can you see, this way?"

"Near a mile," replied William.

"Very good. We plant two men behind this rock, and two over there in the bush, on the opposite side, and we can bail up a dozen men. Eh?"

"It's the place, the identical spot, Dolly; but I should put the other two men a little way up the track--we don't want to shoot each other."

"Just so. It would be like this: we have 'em in view, a long while before they arrive; they're coming up hill, tired, and goin' slow; we're behind perfect cover."

"I don't see how we can beat it, unless it is to put a tree across the road, just round the corner on the Timber Town side."

"No, no. That'd give the show away. That'd identify the spot. There're a hundred reasons against it. A tree across the track might stop the diggers as well, and the first party that come along would axe it through, and where would our log be then? It would never do. But let's get down, and have a drink. Thank Gawd, there's a bottle or two left in my swag."

Tresco saw them clamber down from the rock, and drink beer by the wayside. Only too quickly did he recognise these men, who looked like diggers but behaved so strangely; but the sight of the liquor was almost more than he could bear, yet not daring to stir a finger lest he should be discovered he was forced to see them drink it.

Indeed, they made quite a meal; eating bread and cheese, which they washed down with their favourite beverage. When the bottles were empty, Dolphin flung them into the bushes opposite to him, and the missiles, shivering into hundreds of pieces, sprinkled the goldsmith with broken gla.s.s.

He stifled a wordy protest which rose to his lips, and lay still; and shortly afterwards he had the pleasure of seeing the undesirable strangers hump their "swags" and retrace their steps towards Timber Town.

When they had disappeared, Tresco came from his hiding-place. He looked up and down the track. "Just so," he soliloquised, "half-a-mile this way, a mile that. Good cover.... Commanding position. What's their little game? It seems to me that there are bigger rascals than Benjamin in Timber Town." And with this salve applied to his conscience, the goldsmith pursued his way towards his dismal cavern.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

The Goldsmith Comes to Town the Second Time.

Tresco stood in the yellow light of the paraffin lamp, and gazed in wonderment at Gentle Annie. He was a tattered and mournful object; his boots worn out, his trousers a marvel of patchwork, his coat a thing discoloured and torn, his hair and beard unshorn, himself a being unrecognisable by his former friends.

Gentle Annie's att.i.tude betokened the greatest surprise. With her hands on her bosom, her lips parted, her cheeks pale, her eyes frightened, she stood, and timidly returned the gaze of the strange man before her.

"What do you want?" she asked, so soon as she could find her voice. "Why do you come here?"

"Don't be alarmed," said Benjamin rea.s.suringly. "First, let me tell you that I'm your friend and protector. Do you forget Tresco the goldsmith?"

Gentle Annie gave vent to a little cry of astonishment.

"I am an outlaw,"--he spoke as if he were defending himself before his peers--"an outcast, a hunted dog. My own house is unsafe, so I came here for protection and a little comfort." He dropped suddenly into quite a sentimental tone of voice. "I haven't spoken to a soul, save my lad, for over six weeks. I'm a bit lonesome and miserable; and I badly need a well-cooked meal."

"But if you stop here"--Gentle Annie's ample bust rose and fell with agitation--"the police will catch you."

"They'd think of looking for me in the moon before they came here, my dear; besides I have no intention of stopping. I only want rest and food."

"I'll do what I can for you, but you must go almost directly."

"Why, certainly." Tresco sat down, and drew a deep breath. "It's good to look at a wholesome woman again--it seems years since I saw one."

A smile pa.s.sed over Gentle Annie's face, and her eyes twinkled with merriment. "I see you're not cured of your old weakness," she said.

"No, my dear; and I hope I never shall be." Benjamin had rallied from his depression. "On the contrary, it increases."

They were a strange couple--the wild-looking man on one side of the table, and the fine figure of a woman who emitted a faint odour of patchouli, on the other.

"I suppose you know I'm my own mistress now."

"It looks like it. I understood something of the kind from Jake."

"I objected to be pulled about indiscriminately, so I left The Lucky Digger. A rough brute cut my arm with a broken gla.s.s." She rolled up her sleeve, and showed the scar of the newly-healed wound.

Benjamin took the soft, white arm in his hand, and gave it just the suspicion of a squeeze.

"I wish I'd bin there, my dear: I'd ha' chucked him through the window."

"Mr. Scarlett--who has been so lucky on the diggings--kicked him out of the house on to the pavement."

"Ah! but did he do the thing properly, scientifically?"

"I think so. And when he found the boss blaming me for the row, he turned on him like a tiger. But afterwards old Townson gave me the office, so I've retired into private life. Do you like my rooms?"

"A trifle small, don't you think?" said Benjamin.

"Cozy."

"My dear, where you are it can't help being cozy."

"After that I'll get you something to eat. What do you say to grilled steak and onions?"

"Delicious! Couldn't be better."

Gentle Annie bustled out to the safe, at the back of the house, and returned with a dish of red and juicy meat.