Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1897-01-06

dining room had three or four. The en-.
trance to the cabin was in front.
Waii, what we did was to secure iron
skaters for all the windows looking out
forward, each shutter having portfolio
for musketry firing and likewise iron
plates which could be clamped on be-
meath the skylight if the emergency
arose. Then the bulkhead between cage
No. 8 and the passengers quarters was
provided with portfolios and made bull
let proof as we'll. For the cabin defense
we bought four double barreled shot
guns and two rifles. This would give
Us, in case of row, six good arms, to
say nothing Of the officers pistols and
what firearms the passengers might
bring. You will observe that have left
the seven guards entirely out in my
figuring.
When the Hindu was ready to receive
the convicts, government inspector
came aboard to zee that everything re-
lating to the prisoners was shipshape.
There was nothing to find fault with,
and he named the date when the gang
would he sent aboard. Our passengers
came frst-exactly 20 Of them. Whom
do you suppose the first three wereF
When I first clapped eyes on them, !
was 80 taken aback that I stood open
mourhed and could not utter word.
They were Mr.. and Mrs. Williams and
the daughter, Mary. It had been six
weeks since I left Dudley, and had re-
ceived no news Of them whatever,
though I was every day trying to pluck
up the courage to write direct to Mary
herself.
"Well, Ra'ph, it's this way" said
the father as I expressed my astonish-
ment. Everybody knows the gal is in
nocent as a babe, but she can't abide
notoriety. Well 60 out to Australia
and have look around, and if things
don't suit we can return after couple
of years. I'd forgotten the name of your
craft, and it's pleased am to find that
we are to sail with you.
I can't say that Mary seemed over
pleased to find me there. Indeed, she
acted az if considerably put out about
it. While may not have been distaste-
full to her personally, yet the sight Of
me kept all the past in mind, and she
had taken her troubles very much to
heart. She shook hands and made an
effort to be friendly, however, and that
was all / could expect. Of the other II
there were four married cou-
Piles, two young women servants, one
single man and six children. They were
all middle class people, tidy and re-
spectacle, and we could not have asked
for better lot.
The passengers came aboard in the
At 3 O'Clock in the after.
noon our prisoners came alongside un-
der a heavy guard, and I received an
other shock, and far more disagreeable
one. The first convict to step aboard
was Ben johnson, the villain who was
to blame for what I had gone through.
We were face to face before we recog.
nized each other. He was handcuffed
and also had on leg chains, for he had
become so desperate that everybody
feared him. His face was full of curl
Dsity as he stepped on deck, but the in
eyes Lighted on me he raised
his manacled hands to strike and shout
ed at the top of his voice:
"You here, Ralph Tompkinsl Ah,
you cowardly cur, but I could ask for
no better luck! When we take the ship,
It will be my pleasure to fay you alive. "
knew, of course, that he had been
sentenced to transportation for life. but
it had never occurred to me that he
might be among the gang Of 60. The
seized him, and were hustling
him along when he caught sight OF
Mary and her parents. He realized in
BID instant that they were passengers,
and there was look Of devilish ferocity
on his face as he cried out:
"Whatl And Mary tool Why, satan
himself seems bound to play into my
hands on this trip. Three cheers for Ben
Johnson's luckn'
The girl and her people were as badly
knocked out as I was. and bad we not
been all ready to weigh anchor they
would have quit the brig and forfeited
their passage money. Mary had to be
led below, while the father declared to
me that nothing on earth could have
induced him to go with the Hindu had
be known that Ben johnson was to be
one of the gang. The situation was
bad one for all four of Us, but the only
way left Us was to put on bold face
and make the best of it. Ben Johnson
was perhaps the most desperate man in
the lot, but the gang as a whole was
one of the worst ever embarked. When
they had been divided and Gagged, the
officer of the guard felt it his duty to
say: .
"I have handled at least 30 gangs Of
in my time, and tell you that
no ship ever had worse one under
matches. There are plenty Of men afloat
and shore who are willing to bet two to
one that you never get as far as the
a q
,8ZNIk1H..E