, 1890-01-15

IL Ctt NOu hdibF ~ Ahio hhN .
work" was the reply.
''Mebbe you will, but not until after /
sees your money. You also go down for
e300. Now, the fourth gent"
you've got my last dollar, f" l replied.
"Ilanded in Melbourne only a week ago."
That's bad for all of us, but l guess
you tell the truth. Now, you fifth gent. "
81 might possibly raise e5 if up at the
ranch" replied Davis, "but tina would
be all. l am poor and just making o
start
as that your little gall"
Yes"
Where's the mother"
Dead"
"Shoo! That's too bad. What's the
gals name?'
Eva"
mighty sweet. Say, gal, come and
kiss me-"
She went over to him and kissed his
bronzed and bearded cheek without the
slightest hesitation, and he held her for
a moment and looked her over and said:
Sweet as honeyl l wouldn't hurt you
for all the gold in the big worldI'
She was allowed to return to her ia
Their, and the leader her said:
1--WE shall hold you three peppery
gents until you raise $500 for us, and as
these Americans might give the alarm
we shall be obliged to hold them as well.
Sorry to do it, but business is business,
m il we don't look out for ourselves no
one will"
Each one of the Englishmen swore by
all that was good and great that he'd
.~. -..N - # 1t
only laughed at their words. At a late
hour we were ordered to go to sleep, and
the last thing l saw before my eyes closed
was the guard sitting on a rock at my
feet. The night passed quietly, and as
soon as we had breakfasted in the morn
ing the leader took pen, ink and paper
from n box and said to the Englishmen:
Now, then, here's the chance to write
to your friends to raise the rocks, and I'll
see that the letters reach them"
Each one of the three refused point
blank to make any attempt to raise
money, although it was plain they had a
desperate lot to deal with and that they
would suffer for their obstinacy.
well. some other day will do Just as
well" laughed the leader, but l want
it understood that each day of delay adds
Fps to the ransom"
We were then united, given a few
minutes to get over our stiffness of limb,
and then we all set off over u rugged,
scrubby country toward a range of hills.
We travelled steadily until moor and then
came to a V cry secure stronghold among
the hills. By placing us in a natural
inclosure of about an eighth of an acre
we were surrounded by rocky walls on
three sides, and on the fourth the bush
rangers built their fire and made their
camp. AS we were penned in here the
chief of the bush rangers announced to
the Englishmen that he would give them
two days in which to make up their
minds to send for the money. If they
held out at the end of that time he
would take his own measures to extort
the money. One of the Englishmen was
a large landowner in Australia, another
was Il civil officer at Melbourne, the
third was fresh from England and was
intending to start a mandatory Of
some sort at Melbourne or Sydney.
Davis and | both labored with them to
make them realize the situation, but
they were pigheaded and obstinate, de-
claring that it was all a bluff, and that
the rangers would not dare proceed to
extremes. We believed differently.
They were escaped %convicts, each one
%outlawed, and a more villainous gang
one never looked at.
On the morning of the third day, with
out having annoyed US in the least dur
ing the interval, the chief called for their
decision. Each E~nglishman CURLY re-
n1.ol tl,. H. ,,.a-1l -.
dollar of their money. The civil officer
was the leader and the most independent.
He was seized, tied hand and foot, and
after his boots and stockings had been re-
moved he was placed with his feet to a
fire. He on the torture until we could
smell the odor of his burning soles and
then gave in. The other two followed
his example without waiting for the tor
ture. Each one wrote a note to a friend
in Melbourne worded by dictation. While
the chief was a rough looking fellow, he
proved to have a very fair education.
When the letters were ready he took
them and started, presumably to find a
messenger to act as a go-between. There
were foul left to guard us, and after the
chief had gone n of them bruised some
herbs and kindly tied up the English
mans feet. Our three fellow prisosers
rather Stunned Davis and myself during
the afternoon, seeming to be put out be
cause we were not called upon to ransom
ourselves. But we afterward recalled
that they made much of the child, and
had her with them a good share of the
time. Each outlaw also had a good word
for her whenever she came near, and she
was permitted to run about without re-
straint.
At 4 O'Clock in the afternoon this was
the situation: Three of the guards were
asleep beyond the fire. The fourth sat
on the ground, with his back to n rock,
reading Il novel, while he had a rifle
across his knees. Davis and l lay close
together, talking matters over, and the
Englshmen were ten steps away. Little
Eva was running about, shouting and
playing. All at once we heard the pop
OF a revolver, followed by a death cry,
and as we sprang up two of the English
men, each with a pistol in hand, dashed
past us. In sixty seconds more every
one of the bush rangers was dead. They
had coaxed Eva to bring them the
pistols, which were lying on the far side
OF the camp, and she had passed behind
the guard and made two trips. As soon
as they had the weapons one of them shot
down the half asleen puard and than tL,a