In the course of a conversation which Belcher had overheard between the landlord of the hotel and his wife after they had retired to bed, (for they slept in the next chamber to him, and the rooms only being parted by a very slight partition of canvas, he could hear every word they uttered,) he had learnt that a drover, who invariably called at their house, and who usually had a large sum of money about him, was expected there that day, and he was also enabled to ascertain that this was the road he always came; but he could not think of making an attempt to commit a robbery in the open daylight, and when his detection would be almost certain to follow, and thus his nefarious wishes would be foiled. But then, as he understood that the drover usually slept at the hotel, the villain thought there might still be a chance left of his being enabled to rob him in the night. This, however, would be attended with considerable danger, for suspicion would, in all probability, light upon him, and should he abandon the place, it would, undoubtedly, be a direct confirmation of his guilt, and would put him to great inconvenience in having to quit the neighborhood. Reflecting therefore, in this manner, Kay was constrained to give up all thoughts of plundering the drover, although it was with much reluctance that he did so, for he had no doubt but that he should from him have been sure to have got a very rich booty. The day which succeeded the night on which Kay had overheard the conversation we have spoken of, was passed by him in a state of great agitation and uncertainty, and at one time he would determine upon some daring scheme, which the next moment would make him abandon all idea of. The drover, however, did not come to the house that day, but Kay gathered from the conversation of his host, that he would sure to be there that night, so that he might be in time for the market on the following morning. Kay caught at this information, and his hopes once more revived; he resolved to lay wait for him, and make a desperate attempt to rob him as he had at first designed. Kay was no coward, as that which has been already related, will fully prove, and he was, therefore, prepared for any resistance which his marked victim might make, and he had made up his mind not to be defeated easily. But from what he could learn, the drover was an old man, and one who was not very likely to offer much resistance, especially when he saw that the individual who attacked him was well armed, and a determined man, and, therefore, Kay calculated that his success was almost certain. He had taken the precaution to provide himself with a mask and poncho, so that he might be fully enabled to disguise himself, and these were the more indispensable for the villain’s safety, as he intended to return to the hotel after the perpetration of the robbery.