The Newtown bee., 1879-01-21

with smoke-six shots, it is believed, having been exchanged in almost as many seconds at such terribly close | quarters,
 The bushrangers rushed for the horses, which had broken away in the melee, caught them, and decemped; but Pear son was seen to drop his revolver and to be staggering, and, as was subsequently, discovered, was shot through the wrist and the shoulder. McCahe was down, mortally wounded, and the first care seems to have been for him, circum- stance which explains the almost unmo- tested escape of the bushrangers.
 It was at this juncture that the over seers, McNall and zouch,. came upon the scene, and, without further delay, ! armed themselves with poor McCabe's rife and revolver, and, accompanied by l the unhurt trooper and his native boy, went in pursuit. Following the tracks, they reached the head station, Belaile, l where they learned that Pearson and his 1 mate had been before them, had helped themselves to two of my best horses, abandoning their own, and, leaving the road, had struck out due west across the bush. This occasioned some surprise, as Rutherford, who knew the ground, must have been aware that such route, | if persisted in, would necessitate seventy miles without water, and that, too, with l wounded comrade.
 Occasionally across the wide plains the fugitives were sighted, riding leisurely along, little suspecting how closely they were followed; and our men had to check their pace, as their tactics were to keep them in ignorance of pursuit, with the hope of being able to take them by night surprise, when. as was nat urally expected, they would "go into camp" NcNall has described to me how, on one occasion, where tue plains were smaller and the clumps of timber more frequent. they were able to get within rihe-shot, and he was sorely tempted to show them as little consider ation as they had shown the poor ser geant, and fire; but Zouch, who, before he came to my employment, had been a sub- inspector of police, and had had much experience in hunting down bush- rangers, was bent on taking them alive, and would not risk the chance of long shot. These cooler counsels prevailed, and they steadily and stealthily followed on. They were doomed to disappoint- ment in the end; for, almost incredible l oo 1p may oSClh, WIbu q NOuIitt6u Inhu 10 endure such heat and fatigue, these hardy desperadoes made no halt. As | night came on our men, on tue other hand, were obliged to camp, as they 1 could no longer follow the hoofnarks of the fugitives' horses without risk of los | ing them altogether. So soon, however, | as the moon was up they were again on i their tracks, and followed them till soon after daylight, when, worn out with | thirst and fatigue, they reached MT. | Vincent Dowling's Yantabulla station, on the Cuttaburra river. Here they were mortified to find that the bushrang- CTS had again been too quick for them, had run the station horses into the yard, helped themselves to fresh ones, and were away with some hours clear start. It was then decided to abandon the pur- suit. There were at that time few sta- tions further west, and sooner or later starvation would compel the runaways to return to inhabited parts. Tue troop CTS were left to watch and endeavor to pick up further information, while Mo- Nall and Zouch had reluctantly to return and look to their station duties.
 | At the time when bushranging was rife in Australia thero were parts of the country where, among certain class of small farmers and publicans. sympathy was shown for busArangers. and what the police had to encounter before they ultimately succeeded in ex- tlrpating the evil was the great difficult | ty in getting reliable information of the movements of these marauders, who on the other hand were themselves kept | posted ln the movements of their pur- suers, and the " office being given, were arbored or assisted to escape by secret allies, who seemed above suspi- cion. In the far interior, where we lost sight of Pearson and Rutherford, this was fortunately not the case; here they would find no "cover either from the nature of the country or the disposition of the inhabitants. They could not hold out long outside the occupied country, and when forced to return, population was SO scattered and sympa- thizers none, that hopes of escape were slight. Added to this, the excellent 1 police force of the colony was on the alert, and border patrols active and vigilant. Notwithstanding, for upward of month there was no sign; till ono day Pearson was sighted on foot in a range of hills near Fort Bourke. He was easily captured, and, when brought before the bench, was haggard and worn out with fatigue.
 This unfortunate man was of con- paratively gentle birth, had been a medical student in England, and being sent out to the colony to seek his for tune, had, as is too often the case where a young fellow is shipped off without friends, interest or capital, lost caste, got among dissolute companions, until, attracted by what weak minded boys would think dashing life, had como by rapid steps to this terrible depth oi crime.
 4 The case was simple--his only care seemed to be to clear himself of the actual murder of McCabe. The law, however, could take no coanizance oi this-whether he fired the shot or not he was equally guilty of the murder. He was committed, tried and senteiced to be hanged. Subsequently, his sen- tence was commutcd to imprisonment for life, and when last heard of him
 he was still an inmate of Darlinshurst jail. sos
 An extraordinary statement of his was that on leaving the public house, he had
 to bG helped on to his horne in m sImosj fainting condition, and yet held np
 through that exhaustin8 escape; that ! dny later. by hIs directions, his mate ex' tx16ked th6 ball fxtln hi6 ehos1ldek With &l9 4Rd Yet when ta|kep, though