_ CHAPTER LXXVIII. 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. _