Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1897-02-09
CHAPTER VIII.
how MATTERS IMPROVED.

ut IIaD-Oi-Wa itmaihtA Whth ao
until the cages were made secure, and
when ready to resume her voyage Hoop
er, Larkins and Green were ordered
aboard to be landed in England. They
made no objections, knowing that We
could clap them in irons il they remain.
I'd on rna bark. There wasn't the slight.
est doubt that they had shipped for
the purpose Of liberating the prisoners,
but there were reasons why we wished
to bc rid of them rs quietly as possible.
twas lucky for US that Captain Hodg.
son Of the man.of.war was an excep-
tion 10 the average. BY straining point
he could have taken charge OF the Hin
du and returned Us to England, and
that would have meant financial ruin
to the owners. He was satisfied, how
ever, that the summary punishment
meted out to the four men. together
with the removal Of tho confederates
named, would put an end to our trou.
bles. He hauled DR.. Haxton over the
Goals pretty severely, had sharp word
for the remainder Of the guards and our
crew, and when the Hindu resumed her
course officers and passengers felt great
" relieved. cannot say that the pun
ishment Of the ringleaders had a moral
effect on either the punished or those
who looked on and feared to get the
same dose. You cannot better the ma
ture of criminal by any form Of cor
poral punishment. We did not hope for
that. The object was to COW them, and
this was fully accomplished. Even Ben
johnson, who had received double
dose, and who must have felt the dis
grace keenly, acted like totally differ.
ent man.
We had TO have three guards in the
place of those taken away, and Captain
Clark arranged with Haskell, Thomas
and Saunders to fill the places. Saun.
ders was one Of the four married men
amcng the passengers, you will remem-
Der, while Thomas was the man we
were returning to the Cape. wish to
give DR.. Haxton all possible credit, and
therefore say that he made an earnest
effort to do his duty after we resumed
our voyage. The trouble with him was
that he was not the man for the place.
He was not good judge OF human M:
ture, and he lacked that force of charac-
ter which compels respect and that
courage which enforces obedience al
most without command. The "infiu-
ence" which forced him into the posi-.
ton should be held to account.
We had many days of fine weather
after the man-of.war left US, and no
convict ship ever held her course under
more favorable auspices 1t was during
this period that began to see more OF
Mary Williams. have admitted that |
had taken a great fancy to the girl.
You may even call it case Of love on
my part, and I will not deny the allie.
CATION. was not so soft headed, how.
ever, as to fatter myself that could
win her in week. Her parents felt
grateful to me, and / knew that she
shared in the feeling. Why not? l had
helped to save her from lasting igno-
miny. This feeling Of gratitude caused
her to meet me in q friendly manner,
and compelled myself to be satisfied
with that. Whenever circumstances
would permit, / smoothed my path. as
you might expect, and as any other man
would, but fiatter myself that l used
more diplomacy than many another
sailor would in my position.
/ must tell you the conclusion we
reached after q bit regarding the con.
victs. When say I'VE. mean Cap
tain Clark and myself, for We did not
always take the doctor or the second
mate into our confidence. and as for the
passengers, of course, they had nothing
to say. We felt that we should be per-
fectly safe until reaching the Cape. We
might give the convicts ever SO good an
opportunity to mutiny and they would
not take advantage OF it. The meeting
with the man. of. war had settled that
matter. Two days after Captain Hodg-
son left us we met second cruiser, and
on the fourth day we exchanged signals
| with third. The convicts would figure
that mutiny in the regular track Of gov
ernment vessels was altogether too
risky. But after leaving the Cape the
hour Of peril would come. Once to the
eastward of the Mozambique channel,
with the island Of Madagascar far to the
north, we should have entered upon the
J broad iexpanse of the Indian ocean,
where q craft might sail for days and
weeks without sighting sail There
were sailors among the convicts, and
there were others who knew the Aus
tralian coast and the coasts Of Java and
Sumatra and the off lying islands. Once
let them get possession Of the bark and
they had only to keep her head north
east to find 100 safe havens. should
have been less anxious il Ben johnson
had sulked and exhibited more or less
defiance after his whipping. He would
then have acted o natural part Instead
Of that he became humble almost tc
bringing, and was sure he had an OBJ.
iect in view in assuming this role. One
afternoon while he was at work on
deck he asked permission Of the doctor
20 speak to me. had passed Close Il
him 100 times since the whipping, bu
he had never raised his eyes 70 mine
On this occasion when I snuroache
him, he said:
"Mr. Tonipkins. Il may make no dii