The search of the troopers had been fruitless, too, and at this crisis the opinion of McKnight as a pioneer of Waddy was solicited.

McKnight's belief was that Shine was hiding away somewhere in the old workings of one of the deep mines--the Silver Stream perhaps--and he recalled the case of a criminal who got into the old stopes of a mine at Bendigo, and subsisted there for two weeks on the cribs of the miners, stolen while the latter were at work.

The detective considered this a very probable supposition, and an invasion of the Silver Stream workings was planned for next morning.
CHAPTER XXII.
SHORTLY after eight o'clock on the night of Dick's journey to Yarraman the figure of a woman approached the searcher's house and knocked softly at the front door.

There was a light burning within, but the knock provoked no response.

The visitor knocked again with more vigour; presently a bolt was withdrawn and the door opened a few inches, and Christina Shine, seeing her visitor, uttered a low cry and staggered back into the centre of the room, throwing the door wide open.