The morning call., 1893-02-19
CHAPTER XIII.

/
Harold has been accepted. and We are to
load convIcts for one Of the settlements
early next month"
l started, then sat mOtionless, feeling my
cheeks bOOdiess
who told you this?" said my uncle.
"Mr. Bates. l met him in the Minuries
He only got the news this afternoon"
"Couvicls?" said nv aunt Il don't like
:he idea Of your going out in a convict
ship"
safe as the Bank of England" said my
uncle. They carry plenty Of soldiers,
plenty of sailors and a large freight of
handouts and irons. What more would
you have?"
Suppose Captain Butler should be put
into cur shipw exclaimed VIII. looking at
me.
could net make him any answer then.
THE chances are a hundred t. one against
such probability" exclaimed my uncle
at is big convict ship that takes out 800
feons. How many have yOn aboard the
Thames huiks alonel Not less than 1000
dare say. Then patches are picked up at
Portsmouth and Plymouth. Consider the
odds. Besides Butler has served no time
10 the hulks. I ct it would be extraordinary
should it come to pass" he added musingly.
THE ship goes to Deptford to be equipped
I don't know when," said VIII.
'Wiil the ChiIde Harold be tie only con-
Wet ship of her da;e?" l asked.
That's 10 be found out" said viii.
''Pl find out" I exclaimed
"Why do you ask, Marian?" said my
sl0w-minded aunt.
Tom is to tell me when he sails" re-
piled. I'll his date is 10 be the Childe
Harold's date. and if there should be no
other vessel, WHY'S ship will be Toms
ship"
Ny aunt averted her face as though an
noyed by my coupling VIII with Tom in the
same breath.
Having begun TO talk Icontnued, and our
conversation for some time was all about
the Childe Harold and convict ships. My
uncle knew a great deal about this sort of
vessel. Long association with seafaring
people had taught him much that is not
commonly known to lawyers. He ex-
planned that ships chartered for convicts
often went TO Deptf0Td 10 I'll out; the
lower decks were cleared fore and aft {;
strong bulkheads OF oak frequently loop
hOled for muskets erected. hatchway open
iBgs strongly rallied and protected, bed
boards set up in tiers within the whole
length Of the prison after the manner of a
soldiers guardroom.
Il dare say" said be, "the Childe Harold
viii get about E. a ton; not bad pay as
times 60 The captain receives so much A
head Tor every man delivered in the colony.
This makes him careful. Formerly the
skipper took The job in the lump and the
more deaths during the voyage the better,
because deaths saved vctuals. II Butler
wants to sail i hope he's pretty we'll"
'Why?'' I asked.
They'll carry no sickly converts to sea-"
SAID ne. The surgeon lDSDects the fellows
and rejects those whom lie considers unfit
for the voyage. But they're mostly so wild
10 get transported that they'd cheat old
Nick himself. and I've heard Of surgeons
being hHnbugged into taking who'Ve died
before the Settles we're fairly astern."
Tom, when l saw hin" saidI. was as
strong and we'll as it is possible for a man
20 be who IS every day put to killing work.
My aunt eyed NE askant; my uncle softly
drummed upon the table and then suddenly
burst into a speech on the delights of trans
portatiOn. lie felt strongly on this point.
H said he knew of country lab0rers who
had called upon the parsOn Of the parish to
know what crime they could commit to en-
sure their being transported.
Letters are read In village alehOuses,"
said he. from Tagues who are making
money and doing we'll in New South Wales
or Tasmania. The writer's hail from the
district, and they tell their friends how
Bob, whom the countryside knows and
who was transported for burglary, is re-
eeiving a hundred a year as tapster at a
tavern, aud how Bill, who was Jagged for
stealing wheat, has taken large farm near
sydney. Transportation ought 10 increase
crime In this country. l am surprised that
tile people of Australia should be appre-
hensiYe that morality is On the Increase
among u.s.
"How do the respectable people ont
there" inquired my aunt. relish our turn
Ing their country into a dustbin for our own
vile sweepings and Offal?"
THE systems liked. We send them labor
for nothing. Labor thew must have and
they get it free. Ia the West Indies they
have to pay handsomely for slaves; in the
colonies the slaves called c0nvicts cost
their masters nothing but their keep"
Let US change the subject" said my
aunt, really all this talk Of cUnvicts and
transportation makes me feel as If one was
just out Of jail ones self. wish they would
give VIII another vessel. ! do not at all
ike the idea Of a convict ship"
"Pshaw" exclaimed my uncle, and left
the room.
Next day called upon Nj. Wolfe and re-
quested him carefully to ascertain what or
how MANY ships had been accepted by ten
der Tor the transport OF criminals between
this and date l named TO him. | PROM
ised him handsome fee If he could
accurately find this out for me.
don't know how he went to work: prob
ably be obtained his Information direct
from the Admiralty; l did not inquire
But in few days he managed to learn all
desired to know. and without my having
told him that | was aware the Childe Har-
ODDS tender had been accepted he informed
me that the only transport taken up, the
only ship indeed whose services were re-
CURED down to the end OF the year. was the
Childe Harold, and that tie Government
would not call for further tenders til! the
following spring.
| came down one morning TO breakfast
and the first thing | saw lying upon my
table was peculiar-iooking letter. l
snatched it I'd and instantly saw that the
handwriting was Toms. 1t was not three
months since ! had visited him, and there
fore | insiinctively guessed that he was
about to be removed and that leave had
been granted him to communicate with his
friends. II was SUPREME moment; it was
a crisis IN ny life; my hand shook; | could
scarcely open the letter. 1t was a prison
sheet. with certain jail rules, of which /
forget the nature, printed in corner. The
letter ran thus:
My dear Marian. am permitted to write that
] may Inform you have bern told by the gov
eTHoT / am 10 make one Of baica of cOnyicts 10
be removed from this hulk for transpoI tatiOn to
Hobart Town, Van Diemans Land, by ship
sailing on or about November r. ! hope you
are quite we'll am tOeTably So / have moth
ing 10 complain OF, but shall be glad when the
time comes for departure. The rules viii
p rmit you % pay me visit 10 bid NE farewell.
Yours ahectiOnaley, THOMAS BUTLER.
/ easily understood the meaning Of the
cold, formal style Of this letter. A single
inindeious sentence might have caused the
governor through whose hands it passed TO
withhold or destroy it. Tom was right; he
could not deliver himself too briefly and
dispassiGnately.
read this letter a dozen times over. and
kissed it as often. 1t seemed that an extra
ordinary coincidence was about to happen
] mean that the vessel In which VIII was
an apprentice WAS to prove the very ship
which would carry Tom across the seas. /
was strangely agitated; in manner self
deirI0us with the sudden wild play and dis
order of my spirits. Tom was to be trans
ported to Van Diemans Land; ] would fol-
low him; / would imme diately find out If