We saw the force of his reasoning, and looked to him for advice.

“We must set the police at work to find Follet’s accomplice; and I will not leave a stone unturned on ‘Gravel Pit Hill,’ but I will discover him if in Ballarat”

“And is there any way that we can assist you?” I asked.

The inspector thought for a few moments before he replied.

“If we could but get Murden to lend us Steel Spring for a week or two,” he muttered, “I think that we could make that scamp serviceable to us.”

“Murden will accommodate us in that respect, I am sure, if we make application,” I returned.

“If he will, we can set the fellow at work, and he will be able to get information that no policeman in Ballarat could possibly obtain.  He must be supplied with a liberal amount of money, and must represent himself as being connected with a gang of bushrangers between here and Melbourne.  I will give the ‘Traps’ a hint not to molest him unless he betakes himself to roguery again, and I suppose that he will some day.”

“But won’t suspicion be aroused if Steel Spring is seen to enter the store, or hold communication with us?” we asked.

“Of course it would,” returned the inspector, with a smile, at our innocence; “of all the persons in Ballarat, you must he the most avoided, and when an interview is needed, a rendezvous must be appointed where there is no fear of listeners.  Take my word for it, in less than a fortnight we shall have the true account of the attempted assassination, and if Follet’s companion does not leave the town, we will nab him, and ‘pinch’ him severely.  Write to the lieutenant at once, and don’t fail to tell him that your reputation, and perhaps life, depends upon the loan of Steel Spring.”

With these parting words, the inspector left for his office, and without delaying for a moment, I sat down, and briefly wrote an account of the transaction in which we were involved, and stated the necessity there was for the employment of a spy of Steel Spring’s adroitness.  I succeeded in getting my note posted before the mail left Melbourne, and soon after my return to the store, the surgeon of the police force made his appearance, and examined the wounds of our patient with some considerable skill, and did us the honor of saying that he could do no more than we had already done; and John Bull like, wondered where we got our knowledge of the art of healing.  He thought that there was danger of inflammation; and ordered a cooling draught and low diet, and then said that he considered we were competent to attend the patient, unless he was worse, in which case we were to send for him, and not without.

And we did attend the old gentleman; hour after hour, and night after night, we watched by his side, barely taking rest ourselves, for fear that he would suffer; and although he was unconscious of our kindness and attention, and was wandering in his mind, many miles away to his family and friends in busy London, yet we never lost our patience, or refused to gratify his wants, as far as lay in our power.