St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-04-30
Among the &
@ lBuSbraDg@rSe
BY Charles B. Lewis.
Copyright 1898.

1t happened in the palmy days of tn
nushrangers, when | went "up ccun
try in Australia to try sheep herdin;
Tor q change. The station to which
was attached had eight herders on,
and after couple of weeks spent il
learning the ropes" was put out 70
the ninth. My hut was erected on tn,
banks of a creek 20 miles frcn
headquarters and seven miles from an,
other herder, and I had no dog to as
slst me. My duty was TO guard hert
OF 1,50O sheep as they fed on the plains
by day. and round them up near the hu
at night and turn out every hour or two
to see that they were all right. Th'
solitary life, poor fare and hard worl
were bad enough, but added to this wa.
the peril from the bushrangers. 1t hae
come to be custom that bushrang
er should take what mutton nc wanted
without interference, and in return ht
should not meddle with the herders. Il
was also tacitly understood that the
herders should give the police no in
formation. There were herders on oul
station who had given shelter to .Rie
George" "Black Bill" and the "Red
Knight" and our orders from head.
quarters were to make friends with
them and give the police no informa.
tion. This was in one sense selfish
policy, and was greatly complained of
by travellers, farmers and those whose
duty it was to hunt down the outlaws,
but if it had not been practiced no sheep
station could nave put out herders.
They would have been killed and the
focks scattered. l was warned that
should probably receive visit from
big George" within week. and l was
both curious and apprehensive.
Just at daylight on the fifth day Of
my herding, as l was making my coffee
On fire outside, rider wearing the
uniform of a policeman came galloping
up and asked Inc if anyone had passed.
l replied in the negative, and he ex-
planned that on the night previous a
force of 20 officers had surrounded a
camp of five bushrangers at spot
about ten miles away, and mad killed
four Of them. The fifth had dashed
through their lines on horseback and
had come in my direction. The man
questioned me very sharply, and though
/ answered truthfully he was not salts
fed. He said il was my duty to stand
by the police. and that if it could be
ascertained that gave aid or comfort
to the bushrangers should be brought
TO grief. He continued to speak angri
ly and doubt my word, and l finally
lost my temper and gave him back as
good as he sent. He thereupon an
nounced that I was under arrest and
undertook to slip the irons on my
wrists. In the fight which ensued he
got the worst of it, and finally rode
away swearing vengeance. Half an
hour later man in rough clothes rode
up and asked for cup of coffee, and
after a bit / recognized him as the
policeman. 1t was big George" him
self and that was the way he took to
test me. In the fight be had given me
bloody nose and had given him a
black eye. but he bore me no ill-will,
and was rather proud of having been
too much for him in a rough-and-tum-
bic. He was in a good-natured mood
and inclined to be talkative, and in
going away he assured me that /
should come to no harm as long as l
stood neutral between the outlaws and
the police. This band of five men had
their headquarters in the neighborhood
for three months. and I got to know
every man by sight. They took sheep
from my flock whenever they desired,
and sometimes cooked a meal at my
fire, and in return they often left me
tea. coffee and canned provisions--the
spoil OF some Transfers hauling. After
awhile three of the gang were killed
while attacking farmhouse 20 miles
away, two others were captured in
camp after being wounded, ard one
night "Big George" aroused me from
sleep to say that he was the last of the |
band and had bullet in his shoulder |
and wanted my assistance.
To the west of my hut was deep
Iavine which l had explored to find a |
safe retreat in case was ever run off |
by the natives. descended into it |
IN company with the %.tlaw, fixed up |
a shelter and made a bit of fire for him.
and then attended to his wound and |
cooked him some food He was in low
spirits. All his men were dead or cap
tured. he had no horse, and he was in |
no condition to travel and take care of |
There was reward of |
$1,000 on his head, but had it been ten |
times as great | should have had no
thought of betraying him. For three
days and three nights the outlaw was
my guest. and no one came near to dis
turb us. Sleep and rest were getting
him in shape to travel when, on the
afternoon of the fourth day., a body of
police arrived. They knew the man
was wounded and on foot, sand were
beating up the country for him. was
questioned and threatened, but posi-
lively denied all knowledge, and had
big George" remained in his hiding
place he would have escaped. Finding
the police at hand, and probably be-
lieving he had been tracked to the
spot. he made off down the ravine 10
escape across the creek Unfortunately
for him he was seen as he skulked
along. and the alarm was raised and he
vas pursued. He led them chase of
three miles. and wounded two men
when he was finally brought to bay,
but they laid hands on him and he
was sent down to the coast and con-
ricted and hung. He told me ON the
night before the attack that he had
about $1,000 hidden away, and he in
ended to ge, 1T and try to get out OF ,
he country. The police made every
effort to get possession of this money.
put be died defying them. Fifteen wears
ater it was found by the wife of a
qua ter in hollow tree, and as it was
III in gold none of ii had suffered from
exposure to the weather. The police
insisted that | had given the outlaw
lid, aud they made me considerable
roui5.e over the affair.
This was Of benefit to me in the end
lowtser. About the time got back /,
q my flock. "Rlack 3ilI'' aud bis eanr
4 seven uen came into the peiahbor.