DISCOVERY OF STOLEN TREASURES IN THE STOCKMAN'S CELLAR.
Lying upon the ground were the bushrangers, bruised, bloody, and dirty,
groaning with disappointment and pain, and one or two of the most
violent ones cursing so loudly that the air smelt sulphurous. Across the
bodies of the fallen wretches were the policemen, with huge beads of
perspiration standing on their brows, and faces red with the sudden and
unusual exertion which they had endured to conquer the desperate
robbers.
The poor fellow whom the leader of the robbers had injured by breaking a
carbine over his head, was lying on the ground, bleeding profusely from
a long gash in his skull. He was assisted into the hut, and left for a
few minutes, until more pressing demands had been attended to; and after
the prisoners were once again ironed, and chained to the cart, some one
asked what had become of Bimbo; as that individual had not been seen
since the commencement of the attack.
"I'll warrant the lazy rascal has gone to sleep somewhere, and not
awakened during the disturbance," Murden said, not suspecting the trick
which the stockman had played him.
"And what has become of my dog?" I asked, surprised to think that he had
also disappeared.
Fearful that he had got tired of my society, and left for his mistress,
I whistled shrilly, and was happy to hear a response, in the shape of a
deep bay, back of the hut. We hurried where we could get a view of him,
and, to my surprise and delight, I saw that he was standing over the
prostrate body of the miserable, treacherous Bimbo, and showing a set of
ivories at every movement of the wretch, which would have delighted a
gentleman versed in dentistry, or an admirer of white teeth.
The Lieutenant, Fred, and myself, proceeded to the spot, and as we
approached, Bimbo attempted to rise, but the vigilant animal, with an
angry growl, grasped him by the neck, and the dirty fellow was content
to lie quiet, although he used his voice well, and broke forth with
lamentations at the hound's rough treatment.
"Is this the kind of usage a cove meets for giving you something to eat,
and looking after yer hanimals. Take the cuss off, can't ye, and not let
him stand over me this way?"
"Call off the dog," whispered Murden; "I am afraid that the animal will
choke him to death, and then, lazy as he is, he still would be a loss,
for he gives me information at times concerning the movements of
bushrangers, which I can obtain nowhere else."
"Did he ever give you tidings that led to the arrest of thieves?" I
asked.
"No. I think not," replied the officer, after a moment's reflection;
"but that, you know, is no fault of Bimbo's. By his advice, I have twice
been near capturing parties of marauders. Something, however, has
happened to prevent me--either I would get the intelligence too late, or
the robbers had just changed their haunts."
"I see," replied Fred, with a grin; "the lazy, ignorant Bimbo has
blinded the eyes of one of the smartest lieutenants of police in
Australia, and by pretending to furnish information, has gained his
confidence, simply to place him on the wrong track."
"What mean you?" asked Murden, astonished.
"I mean that this scamp"--and by this time we were beside the fellow,
whose face bore every mark of the most abject terror--"has been in
league with the bushrangers for years; that he just entered into a
contract with Jim Gulpin, to set his gang free, and that he picked the
pocket of Maurice to get the key of the robber's irons, and that our
deaths were deliberately planned, and would have been carried into
effect, had we not chanced to overhear the bargain."
"So help me God, lieutenant, it's a lie!" shouted Bimbo, struggling to
his feet, a proceeding which the hound did not exactly like, and he
looked into my face as much as to ask whether it was all right, and
manifested hostility even when I called him away.
"You knows very well, lieutenant, that I've been the best spy on this
route for years, and that I always tells you all that happens, and now
to think that these strangers should come here, and try and take my
character away, it's too bad, it is," and the dirty scamp dug his filthy
fingers into his eyes, and tried to force a tear, but the effort was a
failure.
"How about the stolen articles in the cellar of the hut, a portion of
which you were to receive for setting the gang free?" asked Fred.
"There's none there," whined the fellow, "so help me God, there's none
there, and there's no use in searching."
"Well, examine the hut at all events," replied Fred; and bidding Bimbo
walk to the house, we followed close at his heels, and threatened him
with the fangs of the dog when he hesitated.
By the time we had reached the station hut, the policemen were just
depositing Gulpin near the door, having brought him in a blanket from
the spot where he fell. The wretch was suffering great pain, and huge
beads of perspiration were streaming down his forehead from its effects.
The men had stripped off the leg of his trousers, and revealed bones
protruding near the knee. But little blood flowed from the wound where
the ball had penetrated, and I considered it, with my imperfect
knowledge of surgery, as looking decidedly bad for saving the robber
chief's life.
I stooped down, and sought to examine the limb, but with horrid
imprecations, the bushranger ordered me off, and swore that no one but a
regular physician should attend him.
As we were over a hundred miles from Melbourne, and there was not a
doctor, probably, between us and that city, I gave the man up for lost,
and so I told the lieutenant, who merely shrugged his shoulders, and
declared that there would be one the less to hang, and that it was
always bad travelling with wounded men in company.
"Let that man be kept within musket shot," said Murden, pointing to the
guilty Bimbo, who was still snivelling, and endeavoring to excite our
sympathies.
"And what shall we do with this poor wretch?" Fred asked, gazing with
pity at the prostrate form of the robber chief, who, an hour before, was
a model of health and strength.
"What can we do?" asked the officer, with a puzzled expression.
"I am no surgeon," replied Fred, "but I will, if the poor wretch is
willing, attempt to amputate the limb, and it may be the means of saving
his life."
"Save it for a halter, hey?" asked Gulpin, opening his eyes; and for a
moment they were lighted up with a fierce fire, that showed the bitter
hatred which the man entertained against his captors.
"That is not for me to judge," replied Fred; "I offer to save your life,
if possible, and you must depend upon the courts of Melbourne whether it
is continued."
The outlaw shook his head, and after wetting his parched lips with water
exclaimed,--
"I would rather die as I am; no surgeon's knife shall hack my flesh
while living, and I'm too far from the big town to think they will
string my bones on wires after death. I shall live; and if the
bushrangers in these parts get the alarm, I may defy you yet! See, I
grow stronger, and my leg no longer troubles me with a racking pain."
In his desperation, the outlaw struggled to sit upright, and smiled a
ghastly smile, at his supposed triumph over death.
"Foolish man," I replied, "the cessation of your pains is a sure
harbinger of death. Already has mortification set in, and the best
surgeon in the world cannot save you."
"Is it so?" he asked, hoarsely, after a sharp glance at my face to see
if he could not read trickery, and an attempt, to deceive him.
"Upon my word as a man, you are dying," I replied.
"Well, death and me has met many times, and why should we fear each
other? Let him come; he will not find me unprepared."
"But your peace with God?" I asked, earnestly.
"Look you, young man," the outlaw said, "for ten years I've led a life
of crime; I've committed murders, and robbed all who crossed my path,
and laughed at the agony of those I have rendered penniless. Do you
think that God is willing to pardon sins on such short notice?"
"There is hope for all," I replied.
"You may think so, but I don't believe in that kind of mummery. Go away
from me, and let me die in peace."
"But, consider," I urged.
He waved his hand impatiently, as though the conversation wearied him,
and he wished to terminate it without farther discussion. I joined
Murden, who was standing a short distance from the dying man, calmly
smoking his pipe, and apparently indifferent to the remarks which his
prisoner made.
"Has he been grumbling?" asked Murden.
"No, he appears to be rejoiced to think that he will cheat the courts of
Melbourne of a victim, and declares that if a man is accused of being a
bushranger, his death is scaled, whether innocent or guilty."
"There is much truth in what he says," replied the officer, after a
moment's thought; "the judges act upon the principle that it is better
ten innocent persons should die, than one robber escape. They do not
prove a man guilty, but require him to prove that he is innocent; hence
the burden of proof rests upon the defendant, and he has no means of
establishing, unless possessed of unbounded wealth, the fallacy of such
reasoning."
"And the people of Australia call that law?" I asked, indignantly.
"That is law, and very good law, too," replied Murden; "you can hardly
wonder at such a state of things, when you take into consideration the
lawlessness of the bands swarming over these vast plains, and attacking
every party weaker than themselves."
Murden walked towards the hut as though he declined to converse any
further on the subject; but just then his eyes fell on Bimbo, who was
seated under the shed, within sight of the sentry, and the idea occurred
to make search on the premises for the goods which we had overheard him
talk about.
"Ho, Bimbo," he said, "show us where the stolen property is kept, and
perhaps I may interfere to save your life."
"So help me, God, lieutenant, I don't know what you mean. I never stole
a single thing in my life."
"Then how came you to be sent to Australia for ten years?" asked the
officer, with a sneer.
"Because I was unjustly suspected, as I am now. A man swore that I broke
into a store when he knew I was nowhere near the building."
"It won't do, Bimbo," replied the officer, sending the fellow back to
his place. "Remember, I have offered you a fair chance to act as a
government witness, but you decline."
I thought the follow had half a mind to confess, but he apparently
considered the offer, and resolved to brave it out.
"Bring me a couple of hatchets," Murden said to his men; and when they
were brought he led the way to the hut, and began splitting the boards
of the floor and removing them; but no signs of a cellar were
discovered, and I began to think that the conversation must have
reference to some other stock-house, when one of the men uttered an
exclamation of surprise, and tearing up a board that was pinned against
the wall, we saw a large hole, which, instead of being directly under
the floor, extended beyond the sides of the hut, and formed a sort of
magazine that could only be discovered by removing, as we had done, all
the planks and timbers.
"Jump down, one of you," said Murden, addressing his men.
An exclamation of surprise was uttered by the man that descended.
"Here's a large room," he shouted, "and nearly full of different
articles."
"Go and slip a pair of irons on Bimbo," Murden said, turning to Maurice,
"and chain him to the cart with the rest of the thieves."
A moment after we could hear the prayers of the fellow as he was led to
the cart, and his entreaties to speak with the lieutenant just for a
moment.
"He is too late," was all the remark that the officer vouchsafed upon
being informed of Bimbo's desire.
We entered the secret cellar, and then had the articles which were found
there passed up for an examination. Clothes, powder, and lead, liquors,
boxes of pickles, preserved meats, China ginger, and other sweetmeats,
and in fact it is hard to remember all the names of the different
articles stored in that underground cell. The collection looked as
though it had been plundered from various teams on their way to the
mines, and such we afterwards found to be the case; as Bimbo confessed
that he had acted in the capacity of storekeeper for three or four
years, and even before the mines were discovered he was in league with
bushrangers, and always gave them information when he knew a party of
policemen were on their trail.
There was another piece of information which Bimbo gave us, more
pleasing than any thing which he had said. By his directions, one of the
men was set at work digging in the cellar, and after throwing up a few
shovelfuls of earth, a canvas bag was reached, which proved to be
remarkably heavy. The men crowded around, wild with excitement, when
Murden loosened the string tied around its mouth, and we all gave a
shout when particles of gold dust were discovered, and a louder cheer
when the lieutenant emptied into a basin about forty pounds of gold of
the first quality.
"This is a prize worth something," Murden said, overjoyed at his good
fortune.
"The government will make its expenses on this trip," I remarked, as I
calculated the worth of the gold.
"Do you suppose that government will ever see the color of this dust?"
asked Murden, with a laugh.
I replied that I expected he would render an account of it to his
superior officer.
"And let my superior officer retain the whole of that which we have
worked hard for. I know a trick worth two of that. Stand by and let me
divide it according to grade, men."
A pair of scales was produced in a twinkling from one of the saddle
holsters of the men, and with great dignity the lieutenant weighed out
the full amount, and then made a calculation.
"I am going to let these two gentlemen share equally with me. They
deserve more, but according to the rules of the service, volunteers must
rate with lieutenants."
Fred and I looked at each other in surprise, hardly believing our
senses, while the men declared with one accord that it was but right we
should receive our share, and that we were an honor to the police force.
"There's twenty-two hundred dollars to be divided among the men, and
about two thousand dollars for us three," said Murden, after finishing
his calculations.
"And do you expect us to take the money?" Fred asked.
"I certainly do," replied the lieutenant, with the most refreshing
coolness.
"But suppose an inquiry should be made by those in authority at
Melbourne, regarding the finding of this money? What answer should we
return?"
"You can say that you should like to find more on the same terms, and
refer inquirers to me for further particulars."
"But shall you say nothing about the discovery when you reach the city?"
we asked.
"To be sure I shall. I intend to mention in my report that I found a
large quantity of stolen goods, and present a schedule of the same."
"And the gold?" I asked.
"The gold! why, I have lived too long in Australia to think of giving up
my lawful prize-money, and if I did I should be dismissed from the
police force as not worthy of a command. Follow my example and pocket
all that you can get, and say nothing to any one, or you will be laughed
at for your weakness."
The argument of the officer was not convincing as far as the honesty of
the transaction was concerned; but when I saw the men empty their share
of the dust into pouches which they wore around their necks, I confess
the desire to do likewise was overpowering, and Fred and myself received
our thirds of the gold, valued at two thousand dollars, without farther
argument, or, indeed, caring particularly whether we were doing right or
wrong.