"We had some luck, but we are tired of mining, and are going back to Melbourne. Would you like to have us take you along also?"
"Yes, if you would be so kind."
At this moment Obed"s voice was heard.
"Come here, Harry; we"ll make a litter to carry our friend there if he is unable to walk."
"All right, Obed."
There might have been something in Obed"s voice that betrayed him. At any rate, the victim, looking up, eyed him keenly, and then, to the surprise of the boys, gave a sharp whistle. Their suspicions were at once kindled, and they started to run, but too late. From the underbrush there sprang out three bushrangers, accompanied by Colson and Ropes, who covered the boys with their weapons.
"Halt there!" exclaimed Fletcher in a tone of authority.
"Oh, it"s you, is it?" said Obed with apparent coolness, though his heart sank within him.
"Yes, it"s I, Mr. Stackpole," returned Fletcher, with a grim smile. "I hope you"re better fixed than when we met last. I hear you"ve found a nugget."
"One of those gentlemen with you can give you information about that,"
said Obed, indicating Colson.
Colson frowned and bit his lip.
"He has told us about it."
"Ask him for it, then. He broke into our tent the night we found it and carried it off."
"Is this true?" demanded Fletcher, eying Colson suspiciously.
"No, it"s a lie. The nugget is in charge of a mounted escort on the way to Melbourne."
"What have you done with _your_ nugget, Colson?" asked Obed.
Colson did not reply.
"There"s no time to waste here. Stackpole, you and the boys will have to go with us. Here, you two men, close behind them. We must not let them escape."
The party started with the captives in the middle. It was decidedly a bad outlook for our three friends.
CHAPTER x.x.xII.
OBED IN A TIGHT PLACE.
It must be confessed that the reflections of Obed and the two boys were far from pleasant. The cup of happiness had been dashed from their lips just as they had begun to taste it. Then again it was very mortifying to watch the exultation of Fletcher and Colson, who had finally triumphed over them after being successfully baffled.
"The worst of it is," said Obed to Harry, who was walking alongside of him, "that them skunks have got the best of it. It"s their time to crow now."
"That"s the way I feel," said Harry soberly. "I believe I would rather have lost twice as much to anybody else."
"We haven"t lost all, that"s a comfort. They will take the money we have with us, but if ever we escape to Melbourne, there is the nugget money waiting for us."
Just then Colson stepped up with a smile on his face.
"It strikes me I"ve got about even with you, friend Stackpole," he said.
"Don"t call me friend, Colson; I don"t own any man as friend who acts like you. So you"re a bushranger, are you?"
"Certainly not," answered Colson, amazed.
"It looks like it," remarked Obed significantly.
"I am merely in the company of the bushrangers just at present."
"Aiding and abetting them in their scheming. That"s so, isn"t it?"
"No."
"You haven"t any interest in the plunder, then?"
Now, one of the bushrangers was within hearing, and Colson didn"t venture to say "No," or it would be virtually giving up his share of the money taken from Obed and the boys.
"I don"t care to answer any of your questions," he said stiffly.
"I don"t wonder--not a mite, Colson. Still I"d like to ask one."
"What is it? I don"t promise to answer it, though."
"Didn"t you find that nugget rather heavy?" asked Obed slyly.
Colson didn"t answer, but frowned, for the subject was a sore one.
"How many miles did you carry it, if I may be so bold?"
"I don"t care to discuss the subject."
"I shouldn"t if I were you. It makes me laugh when I think how you must have looked when you found out it was nothing but common rock."
"How much does it weigh?" inquired Colson, in a tone of curiosity.
"Somewhere between fifty and five hundred pounds. Are you thinking of attacking the guard? I wouldn"t if I were you. They are prepared for gentlemen of your kind. You"d be more likely to carry off lead than gold."
"Confound the fellow!" thought Colson. "He looks as if he had the best of me--I must worry him a little."
"Do you know that you are in a very ticklish position?" he asked.
"I can"t say it"s a position I fancy much. Did you put our friends here on the track?"