The mysterious man had a tucker bag with him. He took some firewood out of the bag and lit a fire by rubbing sticks and stones together, before sitting down on the ground, warming his cold hands by the fire. "What shall we call you?" asked Tram. "Call me Barton," replied the mysterious man. "That name rings a bell to me," said Hans to Banjo, who nodded. "Where are you going, and what are you looking for?" Barton asked everyone.
"What is it to you?" asked Tram. "Is it money you're looking for? Or is it food?" "I have no need for those things right now," claimed Barton, patting Tram on the shoulders, before bopping her on the nose. "I only want to repay a certain debt to someone very special. I will not tell what you want to know yet, but I will tell you later." "And what is that debt?" asked Tram, who was puzzled regarding what debt Barton was talking about. He seemed to indicate that Tram had once done something special for him, but what had she ever done for him? "It's certainly not money," claimed Barton. "Let's just say that I want to make you afraid because I know that you want to learn the meaning of fear. You do not understand what I am here for but you shall understand later." Barton stood up and drank a sip of water. "It is almost time for me to go," Barton told them. "I have things to settle with certain people. There are many people whom I want to take revenge on." "Finally this creep will leave me alone," sighed Tram in relief. "What does he want from me, anyway?"
"You're all going to Bremen, aren't you?" Barton asked them. He did not ask them because he did not know where they were going. He knew where they were going. "I'm going to Bremen because I think I'm a decent singer," admitted Hans. "I can also play the drums, but the main reason is so I can make enough money to buy a vineyard and set up a restaurant within that vineyard." Barton pointed at Elisa. "Do you know this woman?" he asked them. "You mean the Swan Lady?" answered Hans. "She's a stranger we invited to join us. She doesn't even speak. I decided that it was best to let her join us because I heard that Mad Dog wants to capture her for some reason." "You didn't decide to let her join us," clarified Banjo. "I did!" "Just let me have one moment in the spotlight!" yelled Hans angrily.
Now it looked as though a few tears were forming in Barton's eyes. "I must tell you that one of you will betray her," he claimed. "One of you will send the Swan Lady to the executioner. She will be mocked and killed by her captors." Hans felt sad and angry when he heard this as if he suspected that Barton was talking about him. Then he laughed as if he thought that there was no way Barton could have been talking about him. "He makes up facts," shouted Hans angrily. "He knows nothing about us. Everything he says is just the product of good guesswork!" "You may be laughing now, but you will be crying later," prophesied Barton. "I don't think Swan Lady has done anything wrong, so why would she be sent to the executioner?" exclaimed Tram. "It doesn't make sense. Could the executioner be evil?" "It is a funny world we live in," replied Barton. "Why should it make sense?"
"At least tell us who this traitor will be," Hans asked Barton while making rude gestures at him. "Is it I?" "It is only you who is saying so," answered Barton, who did not deny that Hans would be the traitor. "If the traitor is not me, then who is it?" a skeptical Hans asked Barton. "Is it Banjo?" Is it Tram?" "It is not for you to know now, but you will know soon," said Barton. "Well, what if you're wrong, and the Swan Lady never gets betrayed?" scoffed Hans. "I could be wrong," replied Barton. "I am open to being wrong and I hope I'm wrong."
He walked away from them until he disappeared into the shadows. Tram still had more questions she wanted to ask him, so she got up and ran after him. But it was dark and Tram found no trace of Barton. He simply disappeared without even leaving behind the sound of footsteps. "He's gone!" exclaimed Tram. "Thank goodness for that!"
The next morning the group walked along the road to Bremen. "Where are we now?" Hans asked Tram. "I think we're not far from the Speewah," answered Tram. "There's no such thing as the Speewah," mocked Banjo, who thought the Speewah was a fairytale, even though many people considered dwarves to be the stuff of fairytales as well. "It's a fairytale based on comic exaggeration."
The group heard the sound of horses so they turned and saw a gang of bushrangers. It was Mad Dog and his gang. Mad Dog was also on his way to Bremen, not to listen to the musicians there, but to steal stuff. "Run!" cried Banjo. "Mad Dog will show us no mercy if he catches us." Mad Dog saw Elisa carrying the black swan, and recognized Elisa as the lady he had stolen the basket from. He also saw Hans and Banjo, and a certain Asian girl.
Mad Dog couldn't fathom why Hans and Banjo would want anything to do with Asian people. "It looks like our traitorous friends have found themselves a damsel in distress," said Mad Dog to the members of his gang. "If we catch the girl then we win the jackpot!"
Banjo and his friends ran as fast as their legs could carry them, but it was no use, for Mad Dog and his gang were gaining on them. Hans shouted at Elisa and said, "Stop carrying your swan. It's slowing us down." "Leave her alone!" shouted Banjo. "Don't you remember what happened to your pet horse?" Hans knew what Banjo was talking about so he stopped talking. Tram kept on running until she saw a stream.
There was a waterfall located on one end of the stream. She stopped because she saw a bat fly straight into the waterfall. This meant that there might be a tunnel hidden behind the waterfall. "We must hide there!" said Tram, pointing at the waterfall. "There are bats behind that waterfall," argued Hans. "Besides we don't even know if there's an exit." Tram grabbed Hans' hand and dived into the water, dragging Hans along with her. The rest of the friends dived into the water as well and swam towards the waterfall. They all hid themselves behind the waterfall. It was convenient because the inside of the tunnel was completely dry.
The gang of bushrangers rode towards the waterfall, but they could not find Elisa or the swan. "Maybe the girl is a witch?" suggested one of the bushrangers. "Maybe she made herself invisible?" "Witch or not, I want her alive!" ordered Mad Dog. "Dive into the water to look for her! I've heard that witches cannot drown." One of the bushrangers protested, saying, "It is far too dangerous to go into the water, for there are crocodiles lurking." "What poppycock!" claimed another of the bushrangers. "There are no crocodiles in Victoria." "Find the girl, and make sure no stone will be left unturned!" shouted Mad Dog madly. In his anger, Mad Dog kicked a large egg that lay beside the stream.
It was a crocodile egg. The goo from inside the egg stuck to one of Mad Dog's boots. "Smashing a crocodile egg is bad luck Mad Dog!" warned one of the bushrangers. "I had to make sure the girl wasn't hiding inside the egg!" cried Mad Dog, like the imbecile that he was. Mad Dog and his gang dived into the stream but they found nothing. "I see something moving in the water!" cried a bushranger, pointing at something moving in the distance. "Maybe it is a floating log." It was like a tree trunk because it had bumpy skin, but it was not a tree trunk. It was a crocodile. It was soon followed by other crocodiles. "Flee, you fools!" cried Mad Dog, diving out of the water like a dolphin. They all leapt out of the water and jumped onto their horses, riding away deep into the forest. "Flee, you cowards!" laughed Banjo. "Wipe that smile off your face!" shouted Hans, barely concealing his smile. "It's not over yet!"
Unfortunately, Hans was right. A crocodile leapt out of the water, through the waterfall, and into the tunnel. All of them took a step back, except Tram, who raised her fists as if to attack the crocodile. Hans reached out his hand and pulled her back. "I can handle this!" argued Tram. "Don't be a fool!" shouted Hans, pushing Tram to the ground. "It's better to be punched in the face by enemies than to fight a crocodile." Hans happened to have a stick of dynamite, and a few matches, in his pockets. He took out the stick of dynamite and lit it up. Then he threw the stick of dynamite at the crocodile. The crocodile scowled at Hans, before crawling out of the tunnel.
"Hans, you fool!" cried Banjo angrily. "You've doomed us all!" The stick of dynamite exploded, but fortunately no one was harmed because the dynamite exploded at a distance. "Why did you do it, Mr. Hans?" Tram yelled. "You could have killed us all. Is that what you wanted?" "I just can't stand crocodiles," explained Hans, still traumatized by the last time he came face to face with a crocodile. "What are they doing in Victoria?" The roof of the tunnel started to crumble. Rocks started falling from the roof of the tunnel onto the ground. One of the rocks fell onto the swan and knocked her out. Elisa screamed as if she had lost her sister. This was no surprise since the black swan was her sister. The rocks covered up the entrance to the cave, so they could not go through the entrance. They were trapped!
Elisa shed tears as she tried to bring the swan back to consciousness. Her eyes were full of rage when she turned to look at Hans. "What are you looking at?" he asked her. "Don't look at me like I'm a monster. It's not my fault your swan didn't move out of the way fast enough. It was the swan's fault. We have more pressing issues to deal with." Elisa removed a knife from her belt and charged at him. Hans turned and ran, screaming like a girl. Fortunately, there was an exit leading out of the tunnel. The exit of the cave was located a mile away. Hans ran, but he kept hitting the walls of the tunnel because it was so dark inside the tunnel. Finally, he made it outside. Soon, Hans saw a bright spot. That bright spot must have been the mouth of the tunnel. As soon as he exited the tunnel, he tripped on a stone and fell headfirst to the ground.
Tears streamed down Hans' face, for Hans' feared death, not just because his instincts made him fear death, but because of his personal beliefs. To be stabbed by a girl was a pathetic way for him to die. "Don't kill me!" begged Hans. "I've always been afraid of girls with swords because I know I'm a sinner! I'm not afraid of much, except girls pointing knives at me. Before I die, I have a list of sins I need to confess." Elisa looked at him, turned, and saw that her swan was still alive. Then she looked at Hans and laughed hysterically. "You are ridiculous, Hans!" laughed Banjo, who had just exited the cave. "A lot of people point swords at you. Why are you so scared when a girl does it to you?"
Banjo was carrying the swan. That swan smiled and even appeared to laugh at Hans. Or at least that swan made noises that sounded similar to laughing. "What's going on here?" shouted Hans in confusion. Banjo, Tram, and Elisa pointed at Hans' pants. He looked at them and saw that he had pissed his pants because he was so afraid. "I'll kill you for this!" roared a furious Hans. "I'll kill you all! I swear that one day I will betray you all when you least expect it!" "Tough guy eh?" mocked Banjo, taking a compass out of his pocket. "It's funny to hear you swear at us, but there's no time for insults now, Hans. We have to go around the canyon in order to make it back to the road to Bremen. I think I can lead you to Bremen, for I have a compass with me."