The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1870-07-14
SIN THE BRUSH"

CO0h dIISI lily dill' ai III HusIi aiia
I obtained, through the influence o
, some friends in Melbourne, a bertl
in the mounted police. The service
there differs very much from what i
is in other countries, nearly all thu
members of the corps being well-edu
Gated gentlemen, many ofthe young
err scions of noble houses, who like
the adventurous life they lead.
| was stationed up. country, neal
Ballarat, and the chief duty upor
which that branch of the force was
engaged, was protecting the squat
ters from the depredations of bush
rangers.
A rough and often bloodthirsty LOT
these fellows are. The leader of one
ofthe most powerful gangs was man
named Morgan, wild and desperate
fellow, whose very name was terror
to peaceable settlers.
One spring-spring there, by the
way, is about October,-we received
information at head quarters, that the
mail had been "stuck up" between
Avocs anG Mt. Alexander, and that
many squatters' shanties had been
despoiled by large body of mount
ed bush rangers, and, from the de
scription given of the leader, little
doubt remained but that the gang
was comprised of Morgan and his
! satellites. Our chief detailed eight
of us to scOur the country, and, if
possible, bring the marauders to JUS
tice and, as large reward was of
fered for Morgan-dead or alive-we
set out full of zest for the chase. The
inspector heading our party was Har-
ry Butler, the second son of an Eng
lish baronet, frank, genial, open
hearted fellow, brave rs lion.
1t was Sunday evening when We
arrived at little store, kept as sort
of half way house for journeying dig
gers, and there we concluded TO stop
for the night. We picketed our
horses in the kraal outside, made a
hearty supper, rolled ourselves up
in our opossum, rugs, and, wearied by
our long ride, sank quickly to sleep.
In the middle of the night | was
aroused by little aborigine, who had
crawled in on his stomach, and at
tracted my attention by gently squeez-
ing my nose.
'Lags here I" he whispered softly,
as | raised my head in astoniSh-
ment
| listened for moment, aud then
heard a horse Whitney outside, and
shortly atterward trampling Of
hoofS. Rolling over and over, soon
gained Buffers side, awoke him, and
put my finger OH his lip as caution
to him to be silent.
The gang are outside, and are
probably stealing our horses | said,
In hushed voice.
lie sprang to his feet, and com
menced gently arousing our COM
rades.
Look to your pistols, boys [; come
out the front way. Half of Us 60 90
the right, half to the left, meet in the
rear, and | guess we'll capture the
scoundreIs,' he ordered, speaking
rapidly, but in low tone.
Our party separated, as instructed,
| following Butler round to the right,
our short carblnes cooked, and the
revolvers i'll our belts ready for I'M
mediate use. AS we turned the last
gable of the building we came sud
denly upon large body of men, ma
ny of whom were mounted, while the
rest were busily occupied untether-
ing our horses. Stand, in the queen s
name, or we fire - shouted Butler,
leading boldly to the front, and bring
ing the muzzle of his piece to bear
upon a swarthy, rougl-bearded man,
who was evidently the leader.
Scarcely were the words uttered
when flash came from another oil
rection, and Butler fell dead at my
feet, having had a ball put through
his brain.
Quick, men The gruffies are
down on u.s. yelled a voice III saw
age fury, and heavy volley follow
ed his words.
a bullet pierced my shoulder and
| fell, but while on the ground, /
drew my revolver and fred at the
leader. His horse swerved just at
that moment, and received the ball
aimed at his rider. Cursing with
rage, the man strove to free himself
from his fallen Steed, and | became
aware of sharp conflict being main
tanned by my comrades and the baud
Of desperadoes, but | was unable to
rise, and shortly tainted from loss OF
blood. When consciousness return
ed l found myselflying on my back,
| securely bound, the rest of our party
in the same predicament, and our
rough foes mounting guard over
us.
so you've come to, blast We have
ye Well, I'm, glad yer amt dead
| yet, for owe yer one for my horse,
said Morgan-I easily recognized
him in the tickering glare OF fire
they had lighted-giving me brutal
! kick
They assisted US to our feet, blind
folded our eyes with bandages, and
led us along by the sides of our hor-
| ses.
yer thought to trap us, did yer ?
said Morgan with an oath. 4 guess
the boots on t'other leg. Yer aim,
got long to live; SO spit out yer pray
ers, if yer know any.
Say, mates, the poor wretches may
want to say a prayer or two before
they kick off. Let's hang them over
this precipice not by their necks
though. Wen Tx the tnIng after a
new fashion. Knot the end of each
rope, and put it Tito their hands,
When they are tired of holding on,
they can just let go, and hurry off to
Kingdom come OF their own accord.
This proposition met with unani
nous assent, and the fiends chuckle
as they hitched the ropes to the END
of fallen tree that hung partly over
the chasm. We were still blindfold
and | could only conjecture theil
movements by their conversation
Then they unbound my arms, placed
the knotted end of rope in my
hands, lowered me slowly over tn,
brink, and let me swing off in mid
air. They followed the same cours'
with my six companions, and thel
rode off laughing.
Never shall forget the agony o
the time when all hope seemed TO
ever fled 1t was highly improba
BILE that any assistance could arriv
in time to save us, for it is not posi-
! BILE to hang for any length of tim
with the whole weight of ones bod
solely upon the hands. All my pas