The Gold Hunters' Adventures Part 84

"We have but little time to spare," said Fred; "we must reach Ballarat before sundown, and send out a party to look after the wants of the wounded bushrangers; now, if you think that you can ride to the mines, we will start immediately. Even if the pain of moving is great, let me advise you to endure it for much depends upon your firmness."

The inspector understood the meaning of Fred's words too well to hesitate about which course he should pursue. He knew that his wounds were dangerous, and that they would mortify in a short time, unless dressed and cleansed; for already a crowd of flies were hovering in the air about his head, and ready to plague his life out, the instant we withdrew a short distance.

"I think that I can ride to Ballarat," the inspector said, after feeling of his leg, and finding that the bleeding had nearly ceased; "at any rate, I cannot remain here through half of the night. Lift me on to one of the horses, and let me see how I can navigate."

We raised him gently in our arms, and placed him in my saddle, and to our great satisfaction, we found that after the first paroxysm of pain was over, he could get along very well. We led the animal upon which he was mounted slowly along the ravine, until we reached our prisoners, who were lying in the same position as when we left them.

Upon the inspector's thinking that it would be better to take the two uninjured men with us, we cut a portion of their bonds, but still allowed their arms to be confined, and after a hasty examination of the wounds of the two bushrangers, we promised them speedy a.s.sistance, and then started on our return to Ballarat.

Our prisoners marched in advance of us, in gloomy silence, for a short distance, but I could observe that the leader, or the man who was called "Bill," cast anxious glances at the inspector, as though desirous of speaking, yet fearing that his remarks would not be received with much cordiality. At length he mustered sufficient nerve to exclaim,--

"It is long since we have met, Mr. Brown."

"I know that, Bill; yet you have managed to keep your name alive, so that you see I have not forgotten you."

"I never was a favorite of yours, even while at the hulks," replied the bushranger, with a gloomy scowl.

"It was your own fault, Bill. I would have treated you in the manner that the others were treated, had you but given me the chance. Was not your conduct of the most stubborn and rebellious nature? Did you not endeavor to excite to mutiny the prisoners of your ward, and when you were detected, how could you hope for mercy at the hands of the prison commissioners?"

"But you flogged me--flogged me until my back was marked and bruised, and even now the scars are visible. You tied me up like a dog; you would not hear me, although I begged with tears for death, rather than have the cat touch my back. I then felt like a man. After the flogging I was a brute, and ready to avenge my wrongs upon all who crossed my path."

The outlaw stopped while delivering his remarks, which were uttered with vehement pa.s.sion, and we were obliged to compel him to move on, so carried away was he with his subject.

"The flogging which was administered to you caused you to murder a miner and his wife, who were journeying towards Melbourne, rejoiced to think that they were worth a few hundred pounds," continued Mr. Brown, sarcastically.

"It's a lie," muttered the fellow, with a downcast look.

"You know that you murdered both, while sleeping. Coward that you are, you feared to meet the miner awake."

"It's a lie.'" returned the fellow, with a glance towards the inspector that would have annihilated him if it had been possible; "I met them when awake, and--"

He ceased suddenly, and continued to walk forward at a rapid rate.

The inspector glanced at us in a meaning manner, as though desirous that we should remember all that was said.

"Your brother pal, who was with you at the time, and who is now working out a sentence on the roads, tells me that you crept up to the miner and wife, and struck the former first; and that after the deed was completed, you refused to share the gold dust."

"That's another lie!" cried the fellow, stamping his foot with pa.s.sion; "I gave him his share for silencing the woman, while I dealt with the man. He knows it, and he also knows that he spent the dust in three days at Melbourne, where we were in disguise, and stopped at old mother Holey's."

A gratified expression beamed upon the inspector's face, and I doubt if he remembered the pain with which he was afflicted, for the murder that he had thus suddenly brought to light was one that had puzzled him for a long time, and a reward of two hundred pounds was due to whoever revealed the mystery. He had indulged in a little fiction to make Bill confess the crime, and he had succeeded beyond his utmost expectations.

For a long time after Bill had revealed his knowledge of one of the most brutal murders that ever occurred in Australia, our prisoner refused to talk, although Mr. Brown provoked him to reveal other matters that he was anxious of knowing.

The bushranger appeared to recollect that in a moment of pa.s.sion he had disclosed more than he should have done, and therefore refused to converse; but at length Mr. Brown led him to talk of the days when he was a prisoner at the hulks, and when the inspector was an overseer or turnkey at the same inst.i.tution.

"How many years have pa.s.sed, Bill, since you crossed the water?"

inquired the inspector; meaning, in a polite way, to find out the exact time he had been transported.

"It's over six, I think; let me see; it's two years next month since I left my quarters at the hulks and started in search of fortune, and at times a hard one it has been," returned the prisoner.

"I've no doubt of it. Had you but remained faithful and obedient, your time would have nearly expired, now, I think," continued the inspector, in a friendly tone; but I could see that he was only leading the bushranger along for the purpose of extracting information.

"Yes," replied the fellow, bitterly, "my time would have arrived, and I would have been discharged from the accursed hulks, but not by human hands. Death would have claimed me long before this; and death would have been preferable to the life that I led."

"But there were others who were confined with more serious charges against them than yourself, and yet you know that many of them were pardoned, or obtained tickets of leave, and are now doing well."

"Yes, because they became slaves to your will, and played the spy upon those who dared to remonstrate against the food and the treatment which they received. I was one of their victims, and well I paid for my independence."

"You did, indeed," muttered the inspector, but Bill did not hear him.

"I went to the hulks determined to serve out my time like a man; but a few weeks' residence convinced me that, unless I became a slave, and trembled at the officer's nod, I should be broken in body and spirit.

Then I laid my plans for an insurrection of the convicts, and had I not trusted to your minion, Ned, you would not have been driving me to certain death at the present time."

"Well, what would you have done?" asked the inspector, quietly.

"There were eight hundred of us, all desperate men, and reckless of life. We should have murdered our officers, and then, before an alarm could have reached the soldiers, we should have attacked their quarters, and those who would not have joined us must have perished without mercy.

Afterwards we intended to sack Melbourne, collect all the gold that we could, and seek for asylums upon some of the islands in the broad Pacific. Such was our programme, and it would not have failed, I am convinced; but your spies destroyed our hopes, and brought me to punishment and shame."

The bushranger strode on as though he was at the head of an army, and his dark features were lighted up at the thought of the carnage which he and his companions intended to inflict.

"Your plot could not have succeeded," the inspector said, after a moment's pause, "because every citizen in Melbourne would have armed himself, and hunted you to the death. But we will not discuss the subject. You failed in your design, and were punished as you deserved to be. Were I in the same position that I then held, and should another attempt be made to revolt, I should recommend, not the lash, but death to all who were engaged."

"Better death a hundred times, than a hundred lashes," cried the bushranger, with a fearful oath. "But I have revenged myself for the, flogging, and for every lash I have made some one pay dear."

"Bah! that is all talk!" cried the inspector, in a careless way; but I saw that he was trembling with anxiety to learn a correct history of the prisoner's outrages.

"Is it all talk?" repeated Bill, with a sneer. "It was talk, I suppose, when we robbed the escort of thirty thousand pounds. It was talk, I suppose, when we picked off six of the soldiers, and drove the rest, like frightened curs, from the treasure. It is talk, when I tell you that we have been in the vicinity of Ballarat for two months past, and have watched for you night and day, and never got a chance to strike until to-day. Talk, is it? Well, we have talked to some purpose, and even if I am a prisoner, I feel satisfied."

"But you could not have spent your share of the plunder," said Mr.

Brown, in a soothing, conciliating tone.

The bushranger stopped, and looked full in the face of the inspector, and a glow of triumph overspread his face as he answered,--

"I understand your question, but it will not do. When I die, I carry all knowledge of the place where the dust is buried to the grave, and you shall never see a grain of it. I have you there, and will enjoy my triumph."

"But perhaps a disclosure may obtain your pardon; and surely, for your life you would give up the gold," the inspector said, still maintaining a cheerful deportment.

"The trick is stale, and will not answer," the ruffian returned, with a hoa.r.s.e laugh; "you may load me with chains, and starve me to death, but I'll never divulge the secret!"

As though he did not wish to converse further upon the subject, the bushranger turned his back upon us, and maintained a stoical silence until we reached Ballarat.

"I have overcome more remonstrance than you will offer, my friend," the inspector muttered, in a low tone; "the gold that you have buried shall yet be brought to light."

"Were you in earnest in promising a pardon?" I asked of Mr. Brown.

"In promising, yes; in expecting to get it granted, I tell you frankly, no. We have to resort to many ways to accomplish our ends, and promises work well; and why should we scruple to use them? The gold that fellow has buried somewhere near here will help enrich three honest, men--meaning us--and would it not be a shame to let the fellow die without divulging?"

"But I supposed that property recovered from bushrangers went to government, unless the rightful owners claimed it."