PUNISHING THE BULLY.
There are moments when the hardest hearts are softened with a feeling
akin to pity for criminals; and although I thought that I had got pretty
well toughened to all sentiments of the kind, yet I must confess that
while I looked at the imprisoned bushrangers. I wished them upon the
very summit of Mount Tarrengower, and compelled to remain there amid
snow and storm, until all their wickedness was washed away, and their
past sins were forgiven.
I was more inclined to feel as I did from the fact that the farm hands
were encircling the poor devils, and criticising and abusing them
without mercy. I hate to see a fallen enemy ill treated. I always
thought that it was more noble to treat a fallen foe with some slight
show of respect, but that standard was not thought of by the laborers.
At last, one man, carried away by his feelings, deliberately spat into
the face of old Bill, and the act was hailed with shouts of applause and
laughter. The bushranger was unable to remove the indignity, and it
remained upon his grizzly countenance, a dirty monument of reproach to
his tormentors. I saw the old robber's eyes flash fire, and I could
imagine his feelings while standing there with bound arms, powerless.
"Can't you interfere, and prevent so disgraceful a recurrence?" I asked
of Mr. Brown; but that gentleman thought that it was best to wait until
Mr. Wright made his appearance, and get him to check the abuses.
I thought so myself for a few minutes, but when I found that one
individual in the crowd was disposed to add cruelty to his insults, I
could no longer remain silent.
Mike had told the men the method which he took to get the bushrangers to
cross the creek, and now one fellow, whom I noticed was foremost in the
disgraceful proceedings, was testing the most tender portion of their
bodies by the aid of a sharp-pointed knife; and although the robbers
uttered no complaints or groans, I saw that they were suffering, and
that it was time to interfere.
"These men are prisoners," I said, urging my way through the crowd until
I stood before the robbers and their tormentors. "Let them receive good
treatment, for we may desire it ourselves some day."
The laborer whom I addressed paid not the slightest attention to my
words, but continued to prick the prisoners with his knife as if he
enjoyed it. Old Bill had uttered a few savage oaths in remonstrance, but
they were unheeded.
"Excuse me for interfering in your sport, my man," I continued, laying
one hand on his shoulder, "but you will gratify me if you desist."
"What is it to you?" he demanded, rudely; and I noticed that there was
an uncommon stillness in the room, and many anxious glances were cast
towards me, which convinced me that I was dealing with the bully of the
farm, and a man whom they all feared, and I fancied disliked.
"Excuse me for interrupting you, but I think that I have a right to. I
assisted to capture the men, and therefore have a voice in relation to
their disposal."
I was perfectly cool and collected while speaking, for I did not intend
that the fellow should get the advantage of me by displaying passion.
"Your voice is of no account here in this house, so you will just take
yourself off, and go to the devil, if you wish."
"I have no desire to see your relations, so I shall do no such thing. I
have a right to be in the house, and I have authority to ask you to
desist from ill treating these men. If you do not, I shall--"
"What?" the bully asked, thrusting his face close to mine, and leering
most insultingly.
"Make you," I answered, decidedly.
"You will?" he demanded, with a malignant look.
"I shall do my best," I replied.
The bully did not utter a word in reply, but he put the point of his
knife to a bushranger's arm, and pressed so hard that the prisoner
uttered a half suppressed cry of pain.
"You see!" the fellow exclaimed, turning to me. "Now, what are you going
to do about it?"
I saw that Mr. Brown and every person in the room were watching my
motions with considerable curiosity, and that I should be disgraced if I
retreated from my unpleasant position. The quarrel was not serious
enough to use my weapons, although I was not blind to the fact that the
bully had a knife in his hand, and looked like a fellow who would not
scruple to use it.
There was but one course for me to pursue--so, no sooner had he proposed
his question than I raised my arm and struck him a blow between his eyes
that caused a stream of claret to spurt out, and sent the bully reeling
backwards to the further end of the room.
"Good!" cried a dozen voices, and I heard Mr. Brown's deep bass foremost
in the exclamation.
"Take care," shouted the crowd; "he's got a knife, and will use it."
The warning came none too soon, for suddenly the crowd opened to the
right and left, and I caught sight of the bully, with bloody face and
inflamed eyes, rushing towards me.
There was no time to draw my revolver, or even my knife, for before I
could lay my hand upon either the fellow was within three feet of me,
with uplifted hand. I stood firm, and when I saw the weapon descending,
like lightning I sprang aside. The point of the knife touched the barrel
of my pistol, glanced aside, and such was the force of the blow that the
ruffian fell to the floor, completely at my mercy.
"You would, would ye?" I heard Mike shout, as the bully struggled to
regain his feet. "Take that, for a bad man that ye are."
The Irishman, as he spoke, snatched a boomerang from Kala's hand and
struck the fallen man a blow upon his head that I thought had crushed
his skull.
"Served him right!" I heard the laborers say, who, now that their
companion was beaten, could afford to give some expression of their
opinion.
"The d----d blackguard! he not only insults our guests, but must pick on
prisoners he never dared to face. O, the spalpeen, I've a good mind to
fetch him another winder," and Mike raised his weapon as if to do so,
but I stayed his hand, for the bully appeared to be really suffering,
and groaned as though his head ached.
"What is the cause of this disturbance?" I heard Mr. Wright ask, while
endeavoring to persuade Mike to remain quiet.
"Faith, the cause of it was insolence, and right well has it been
punished," replied Mr. Brown. "But come into the other room, and I'll
tell you the whole story."
Our host followed the ex-inspector to the room where we had supped,
while I left the now quiet crowd as soon as possible, and passed out of
doors with Mike at my heels.
"It's close to your heart he struck," said Mike, alluding to the blow of
the knife. "An inch would have been the death of ye. Long life to ye."
"I have to thank you for your efforts in my behalf," I replied, and when
I shook his hand I left a gold piece in it.
"Bedad, if ye wish, I'll go back and give 'urn another lick," Mike
exclaimed, with enthusiasm, when he felt the weight of the coin.
Before I could reply, Mr. Wright left the house, and hurried towards us.
"Let me, in the first place, apologize for the rudeness of my servant,
and, in the second place, thank you for punishing him as he deserves.
Mr. Brown has given me a very impartial account, of the affair."
"And did he tell what I did, bedad," cried Mike.
"Yes, I am glad to think there is one man in my employ who knows how to
back my friends when I am absent. Mike, from this night your wages are
raised one pound per month, and you shall have Kelly's place, whom I
intend to discharge."
This news excited all the Irishman's enthusiasm, and we left him bidding
defiance to the moon, and wondering how he should spend all his money.
"The fellow whom you punished for insolence, has long held the position
of a bully," Mr. Wright said, "owing to his quarrelsome disposition, and
readiness to use a knife on slight occasion. I have overlooked several
faults in hope that he would improve in disposition, but I see that my
leniency is lost, and as soon as his head is healed, he goes to
Melbourne."
I begged him not to discharge the man on my account, but Mr. Wright was
firm and obstinate as any Englishman, when once resolved on a project,
so I let the matter drop, and when we reached the house, Jackson
informed us that our second supper was ready, and that Nancy was
impatient for something to eat.
"Where have you two men been wandering?" cried Mr. Brown, who was pacing
the room like a hungry bear. "Supper has been ready ten, minutes; a long
time for famished people to wait"
We did not waste precious time in excuses, for it was near three o'clock
in the morning, and I felt anxious to finish, and get that rest which I
so much needed.
"Let the men close the doors and windows, and set a guard over our
prisoners," Mr. Wright said, addressing Jackson, who stood in readiness
to attend to our wants.
"And one more request," my friend said, as we took our seats at the
table, "when we once get to sleep, be kind enough to let us rest until
we wake of our own accord. For the past three days our naps have not
been very long or sound."
"Every thing shall be as you desire, gentlemen. Now fall to, and don't
forget that there is a lady present."
Unless our host had alluded to the fact, it is probable that we should
have forgotten it, for Nancy was so well disguised in men's apparel that
she looked like a respectable farmer.
She seemed perfectly cool and unconcerned, and I was not surprised to
hear her say that she had passed many months so disguised while mining
with her husband at Bendigo, Tarres Creek, and Ballarat, during the
early history of the mines, when it was neither safe nor agreeable to
have a woman in camp. Tired as we were, she related a few incidents
connected with her life that were listened to with much interest, and we
found that if Nancy was rough, she possessed a true heart and a
Christian spirit, and was never backward in extending aid to the sick,
or giving good advice to the profane.
"Smoke your pipes, gentlemen," she said, "and don't be afraid that I
shall be sick, or that the smoke will injure my complexion. My old man
has used a pipe these twenty-five years, and I hope that he will live
twenty-five more, and as much longer as the Lord is willing. I don't
think that using a pipe will shorten his days or his nights. When I see
him, after a hard day's work, sucking a yard of clay, I thank Heaven
that it ain't a whiskey bottle. It's but little comfort the poor fellow
gets in this country, and if he's contented I'm happy."
"I wish that I could find a wife with your sentiments," Mr. Wright
remarked.
"So you can," Nancy replied; "but you've got to search for 'em. They
ain't found out here on the sand plains, or in the mines, but beneath
the shelter of a parent's protection in the large cities, where
education and virtue are taught."
"If you speak of Melbourne," Mr. Brown said, with an incredulous shrug
of his shoulders, "I shall be inclined to doubt you, for in the city no
such word as virtue is known."
"Spoken like a man of the world, and without a thought of how much that
is good and true is placed upon a level with the vile and unworthy. For
shame, gentlemen, and brave men as I know you are, to utter such
slanders concerning the weaker sex. Remember that your mothers were
women, and if aught was spoken against them, would not your blood
tingle?"
Mr. Brown did not jest again that night, and I think that the reply made
us all reflect upon our obligations to our Maker, for we pushed back our
chairs from the table, and declared that sleeping was better than
drinking, and that we would finish the punch some other time.
Jackson led the way to our room, while our host did the honors for his
lady guests. We bade all good night, and after Mr. Brown and myself had
exchanged a few words relative to the incidents of the day, we threw
ourselves upon the mattresses spread upon the floor, and just as
daylight began to glimmer in the east we fell asleep, and our slumbers
were undisturbed for many hours; but at length we were awakened by Mr.
Wright, who sat in the only chair the room afforded, smoking his pipe
with great apparent relish, and looking as though he had been awake
since sunrise.
"Come, rouse up," he said, "or you will have no appetite for supper. You
are the soundest sleepers that ever saw, for I made some noise in hopes
of awakening you, but I found that was an impossibility, so I thought I
would try tobacco smoke."
"What o'clock is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes, and trying to think
where I was.
"Near four. Come, get up, and help me entertain the women. They have got
their proper clothes on, and don't look so bad as they might. The young
one still wails for her husband, although I tell her to keep up her
spirits, and think of something else."
"Advice which she is certain not to follow. Did you ever know of a woman
that would be advised under any circumstances? No, I thought not."
"You are always grumbling about the women," I said, addressing Mr.
Brown. "If the truth was known, I suppose that it would show that you
have been jilted some day by a female with a pretty face, and revenge
yourself by abusing the whole sex. That is ungallant."
"I don't care how ungallant it is, for I know it to be true," replied
Mr. Brown, with great candor; "ten years ago, I made love to the
prettiest piece of flesh and blood that ever walked on two legs, or
allowed her hair to curl in ringlets. But I don't like to talk on the
subject."
"A truce to your love affairs," interrupted Mr. Wright; "come and take a
gallop with me this afternoon, and have a look at my farm, and I'll
warrant that you will think no more of women or of marriage. Will you
come?"
We both readily assented, and a good cup of coffee, which Jackson had
kept in readiness for us when we awoke, was swallowed with a relish, and
then we found our horses standing at the door, looking in prime order,
in spite of certain places on their coats which had been singed while
riding through the fire the day before.
Mr. Wright had been very attentive to our comforts, for the saddles
were repaired and made smooth where they were rough, and the bridles
were oiled and cleaned, and looked like new ones. We mounted, and
turning our horses' heads, trotted slowly towards the field of wheat,
which we had passed the first day of our arrival.