"Don't be so ridiculous. Our work is at an end, we have got the gold home. There can't be a slip this time, because the cup is already _at_ the lip."
Poor lad, his words were doomed to be proved false, for, as he uttered the very words, an armed horseman leaped out from the shelter of the trees by the side of them and shouted--
This is the Australian equivalent to the English highwayman's "stand and deliver." It has been adopted by bushrangers all over the colonies, and by it they mean to say that unless the threatened person stops and instantly throws up his arms above his head, to prevent his getting at his pistol, they will fire upon him. But this time the man had waited a little too long before shouting; the boys were close upon him, and Alec, who seemed to grasp the situation the moment the man sprang out from the trees, had clapped spurs to his horse and rushed at him. Amber was not accustomed to the use of the spur, and leaped like a stag when he felt it.
Before the ruffian had time to take a steady aim, Alec was down on him like a whirlwind, and charging full at him. The shock of the contact with Amber's weight and great strength fairly knocked the bushranger out of the saddle. The man, a heavy-browed, black-bearded fellow, gave a great shout as he fell, evidently to call his comrades, for an answering call was heard from the bank of the gully, in the direction of the Yarrun station. Alec knew that their only chance of escape lay in instant flight, so that he did not stop to touch the man, who lay like a sack on the ground, but turning in his saddle as he passed on, he fired a shot at the horse which quite disabled it. As George caught him up, Alec said--
[Illustration: "AN ARMED HORSEMAN ... SHOUTED 'BAIL UP!'" (_p. 170._)]
"We are in for it now. That fellow is Jim Kearney, I feel sure, the forger and murderer. I've seen his portrait at the police station at Bateman. We must ride like mad to escape them."
"Why, Kearney is Starlight's right-hand man."
"Yes, and it is Starlight and his band who are looking out for us."
"How can you joke, Geordie, when in a minute we may have eight or ten of the most bloodthirsty villains in Australia after us."
"Can't help it, I am really as serious as you are, Heaven knows."