The troopers were not armed with guns, but they were armed with swords. They quickly seized Hans when Hans slipped on a wine bottle while trying to escape, but Andrew ran from them. He leapt out of an open window and ran as fast as he could. Andrew ran and ran further and further away from the village, until he reached a ravine. There was a bridge that was composed of rope and planks of wood. Andrew began to walk across it. There were rocks at the bottom of the ravine. If he fell from the bridge, he would certainly be killed. The troopers managed to catch up, and they saw Andrew walking across the bridge. One of the troopers tried to approach the bridge, but that trooper was stopped by the chief trooper. "Don't be a fool," warned the chief trooper. "Can't you see that the bridge is held together by rope? It is too dangerous for two people to go on that bridge!"
When Andrew was walking across the bridge something fell out of his pocket. It was a small knife! It was small but very deadly. The sharp tip of the blade of the knife fell onto one of the ropes securing the bridge. Just one touch of the knife was enough to make the rope snap. Andrew Patterson fell, but he managed to grab one of the ropes on the rope bridge with his left hand. "Just don't let go, Andrew," yelled the chief trooper, who did not want Andrew Patterson to die, even though Patterson was a criminal. "We'll find a way to save you." Patterson hung there, utterly petrified at the thought of dying. It was not because he thought he didn't deserve to die, but because he feared what would become of his family if he died. "Take care of my family," Patterson cried out to the troopers. The fingers on Patterson's left hand loosened because they were so tired. Patterson fell down and hit the rocks below! The chief trooper walked to the edge of the ravine, where he saw Patterson's body. He and the other troopers were the witnesses to his death and they were very grieved that they were not able to save him.
Hans was taken to the police station and questioned by the troopers. "I heard you and Patterson talking about Mad Dog Morgan," asked a trooper. "Can you tell me where he is?" "I could tell you, but you would not believe me," answered Hans. "Why then, should I tell you?" The trooper slapped Hans on the face upon hearing him say this. "Don't be a fool!" snapped the trooper. "Do you want to spend the rest of your life in prison? If you work with us we will let you go free." "I promise to tell you everything for money!" promised Hans. "Do you not fear prison?" asked a trooper. "There's no point in being free if you have no money," answered Hans. "Also, a job at a police station would be good for me." He wanted a job at the police station because he wanted to claw his way into the upper class. So the troopers reluctantly counted out 31 silver coins and gave the coins to him. Hans counted the coins feverishly like a dog burying a bone.
Hours later, Hans led the troopers to the wooden hut where Mad Dog Morgan was staying. He had a pink shawl wrapped around his face so that the members of his gang would not recognize him. He was also disguised in a red dress, so some of the troopers pointed and laughed at him. Hans didn't want to wear it, but the troopers had insisted that he wear it for his own protection. Hans was tired of being a butt monkey. He swore that he would garner the respect and love he deserved after this whole ordeal.
"These troopers are going to pay for this," Hans thought to himself. The place where Mad Dog Morgan was staying at was located in a rural area. Hans and the troopers marched to that place on horseback. Hans got off his horse and pointed to the hut where Mad Dog and his gang were staying. He began to walk away from the troopers. "I guess you won't need me anymore," Hans said to the troopers, but the troopers were not done with him yet.
They blocked his path to stop him from leaving. The troopers were armed with swords and guns. Mad Dog looked out of the window of his house and saw the troopers marching towards him. He reached into a drawer and got out several guns, handing the guns over to the members of his gang, and saying to them, "Kill the troopers and show no mercy." "Give up, Mad Dog!" shouted a trooper. "You can't run from this. If you give yourself up, you will certainly live. You will be locked away in a cell, but you will live." "Do you think I am a coward?" shouted Mad Dog. "I'm not going to give myself up to you runts." One of the troopers was bored, and that trooper was the one who stood beside Hans, guarding him. That trooper pulled the pink shawl off Hans' face because he wanted to know how Mad Dog Morgan would react.
Now Mad Dog could see Hans' face. That trooper shouted to Mad Dog, "Hey, Mad Dog, we have your friend here. He's the one who betrayed you for 31 silver coins. If you don't give yourself up we will hurt him, and torture him!" "Shoot that piece of garbage!" yelled Mad Dog. "I don't want anything to do with him." Mad Dog raised his gun and tried to shoot Hans, but Hans knocked the trooper who was guarding him to the ground and ran off. Hans carried a bag filled with 31 silver coins with him, which were the same 31 silver coins the police used to bribe him. He ran, but he did not get very far when he tripped on his dress and fell to the ground. He dropped the bag of coins onto the ground. A blackbird saw the bag of coins. It swooped down, grabbed the string that tied up the moneybag with its beak, and flew away with the moneybag. When Hans saw this, he began to weep and lament bitterly, bashing one of his fists against a tree trunk. One of the members of Mad Dog's gang ran off when the showdown between the police, and the bushrangers was going on. That gang member was Banjo.
He was called Banjo because he liked carrying a banjo. He was carrying his banjo with him now. Banjo was short, and that was because he was a dwarf. Being so short, he was able to sneak away unseen, although that meant he had trouble reaching the doorknob to the back-door. There were horses tied right outside the wooden hut. He leapt onto his horse using a footstool and rode off. He did not know what happened to Mad Dog and the other members of the gang, but he heard the sounds of many gunshots. Some of the troopers saw Banjo riding away from the scene, but they did not bother to fire at him. That was because they thought Banjo was harmless because he was so short. They went easy on him because he was so small. Banjo knew where to go because he had another home in the bush.
Banjo was a half-aboriginal Australian so he knew many of the aboriginals in the bush. He rode towards an aboriginal camping site. The only houses in the area were huts made out of sticks. Some aborigines were sitting by a large bonfire, so Banjo sat among them on a big tree trunk. There was a young woman who also sat among the aborigines, and she was definitely not aboriginal. She was cuddling a swan and patting it on the back. "Where did you come from?" Banjo said to her. "I've never seen you from around here before." "I don't think she's from around here," said one of the aborigines. "Hello, my name is Banjo, but I don't know yours," Banjo said to her.
She smiled, but she did not reply. "Can you speak?" asked Banjo. She nodded but she did not say anything. She pointed to Banjo's banjo, so Banjo gave his banjo to her. Elisa strummed some chords on the banjo and began to play a catchy melody. "Where did you learn to play like that?" asked Banjo. He received no verbal reply, and Elisa simply pointed to her heart.
Elisa gave the guitar back to Banjo and appeared to want him to play a melody. "I'm sorry, but I can't play the banjo as well as you can," replied Banjo in an unsure manner. "I can sing a bit. At least that's what my friend Hans tells me." Banjo was unsure whether Hans truly believed that he had a good singing voice, but he knew that Hans was the only member of Mad Dog's gang who would praise his singing voice. He also knew that Hans was quite good at lying. Banjo wrote symbols depicting musical notes on the dusty ground with a twig. Elisa could understand the musical notes very well, so she took Banjo's banjo and began to play notes on the banjo while Banjo sang a tune. Despite his odd stature he still had an amazing voice that was like the voice of a teenage heartthrob. "I have a friend who is called Andrew Patterson," Banjo told her. "He is a poet and he wrote this amazing song." The song was called Waltzing Matilda.
Some of the aboriginal folk danced, and beat drums, and played the didgeridoo when they heard the song. When Banjo finished singing it, one of Banjo's relatives turned and said, "Why don't you go to the town of Bremen to become a street musician there?" "I'm afraid I'm not very good at playing the Banjo, but I like carrying it around," answered Banjo, who was very embarrassed at admitting this. "You don't have to play the Banjo to become a musician, Banjo," said one of the female aborigines. "If you want your voice to be set to the chords of a banjo, then you can ask this woman here to play them for you."
"Would you be willing to go with me to the town of Bremen?" Banjo asked Elisa."I need someone to play the banjo for me." She nodded gleefully. Banjo began to get ready for the journey. He picked some Nardoo plants and packed them into his bag. They were a great source of food, but only if they were detoxified by soaking in water, and cooked. Elisa brought her swan along with her. The swan couldn't fly because of its wounded wing. "Why do you always bring that swan with you?" asked a puzzled Banjo. Elisa did not answer verbally. She reacted to Banjo's question by lifting the swan into the air, closer to Banjo.
Meanwhile, many miles away, a 14 year old girl with a golden voice and a violin was basking for money. Her name was Tram and she was of Asian descent. The mayor of the town stopped by to listen, and he was completely naked. "What do you think of my new clothes?" said the mayor to the crowd that surrounded Tram. He was trying to steal the attention away from Tram. "Your clothes are divine!" they replied. They were lying because the mayor wasn't really wearing any clothes at all.
Tram looked at the mayor and saw that he wasn't really wearing any clothes, so she said to him, "Why aren't you wearing any clothes at all?" The mayor was furious at her for questioning whether he was wearing any clothes. "This fool said that I wasn't really wearing any clothes," shouted the mayor to the crowd. "How ridiculous is that! You must all mock her." They all laughed at her and mocked her.