The St. Johns herald., 1891-03-05
THE CONNECTS SON.
How g Young Australian Surprised
 His English Friends
Story Which Shows That Man May He a Convicted Fe on and Yet Ee In- nocent Of Any Crline-Evers Mans
 Honor In His Own Hands

th HIS Ohh
 The young mon were practieing arch cry on MT. Howson's lawn and Bud Markham had astonishod every ore with his skill as ularksuan. says writer in the New York Morning Journal. ''Why, you shoot like nn Indiaz," sad Jim Crawford.
 "I am worsc' than that,'' said the other. calmly. ''I w2s born in Austra- lia, the son ot q convict" Frank How son and tho other young men drew away. The young host flushed angriIy.
 What GO you ucaa?' he asked. "You know very well that if you're the son of q convict wo can't associate with you. and so I'll tell the coachman to have the carriage ready for the fvo o'clock train"
 His young hosts plain speaking did not seem to give the other any uneasi- nees, for he answered, with . short laugh:
 "All right-as you please. But you may change your mind about my not be- ing good enough to associate with after you've heard my story"
 IEouA lOohCu uICcEGdlu dG LUIS mo- ment, and then sat down and looked un- easily at the other, who began:
 ''My father was arrested twenty-eight years sgo oa the charge of killing his uncle and tried for tho murder. The testimony, which was entirely circum- stantial, was not sufficient to hang him, but was so damaging that, in spite of his most solemn protestations of inno- oance. he was transported for life to the penal settlements of Australia.
 "He was taken there, and for ten years worked like slave, With chain and ball dragging at his heels.
 ''At tho end of that time another con. vict died in the same prison, where he had been sent for highway robbery, four years after father was transported. On his death-bed he confessed that he mur. dered my fathers uncle, and gave minute details of the crime, and even told the place where he had hidden the knife which he had used in the crime, and also where he had hidden the murdered mans watch and pockct-book.
 "Of course my father was released and every thing done for him by the Gov ernment of New South Wales to show how deeply every one regretted that an innocent man should have suffered for so long.
 ''ln year he married the daughter of merchant who had visited the prison very often and been Iainistaring angel to him and to tho other cOnyicts.
 After living 8 short time in Mel bourne his dislike of the city as being the place where he had suffered so much unjustly drove him to move away, and with my mother he went far up into the interior, in the brush, miles away from any human beings, except tho natives, and there built log hut and lived for twelve years.
 II was born soon after our new homo was finished, and in less than two years after my brother came. We grew mp to- gether, with no companionship but each other and tho few natives who lived in the mountains near US. From them VIC learned how to throw tho boom erang and draw the bow, until, young as we were, wo eXcelled even them in their use. We could bring down. the kangaroo with the bow at one hundred yards, even if it was running at full speed, and smash bottle set behind tree one hundred feet away with the boomerang.
 ''When was thirteen and my brother eleven father discovered gold on his farm, which by that time had grown to thousands of acres, and in two months the country was flooded with miners and he was worth S5G1 0O0 My mother prevailed upon him to move back to Melbourne, whcrc he is now the Governor of New South Wales and one of the richest mon in Australia" Il beg your pardon, my dear fellow" exclaimed Frank, eagerly extending his hand, while the others crowded around him with equally profuso apologies.
 But, to their a3toniShment and chagrin, ho did nos seem to notice any of the proffered hands. but, with quiet smile, turned to Frank.
 ''Now that you know how camo to handle bow So woll-GS also how a man can bo convicted felon and yet be innocent of any crime-it would mako your stock of information still more complete if you could learn that even ii a father i3 guilty of crime it does not make his son any the less honorable or it ta associate with tho world. Every raan's honor is in his own hands, and is not affected ia tho slightest by what others may do-it is by a mans own deeds that he will Dc judged by his Maker, And now, my dear Frank, will % to your house and pack my valise. and if you will have tho carriage ready for the five clock train will relieve you of my presence"
 And, in spite of his friends rsotesta- tions. the boy that afternoon shook from his feet the dust of tho Uowson estate.