Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-08-08
THE AUSTRALIAN NEVER NEVER
4HN MACKE


went on again; And this is what
used to call kingdom come at)ast. II
iti Yes, it's coming and no mistake
Open my shirt, Savile. and look inside
Take off the flannel belt and see what
you find there.
Savile did as he was told. We al
stood round with wondering and awe
struck faces. knew instinctively thai
now a mystery was 70 be cleared up
that the inscrutable Nemesis which lik,
q shadow follows close upon erring Lives
was about ~ settle down upon one oi
its victims Inside the shirt was the
flannel belt. Sewed up in il were q
small bunch Of papers. receipts fol
horses and several f5 Queensland banl
notes. DAILY stared fixedly Mt the roof OF
the cave as he spoke again--as IL ht
were unable 10 meet our looks
These are some Of the notes. =" hs
said, THAT were taken from the body oi
Sexton, who was murdered on the Clon
curry"
One or two of us gave uttersnce u
involuntary exclamations OF surprise,
and I think that nearly all Of us started
back in horror; for. surely. here was
the murderer Of Sextonl
| "'Judge not that ye be not judged, .
said Gordon. significantly looking at n,
and bending over the dying man.
That's right. DAILY. While you have
time unburden your soul and gle the
dell the slip. Remember who il was
that accompanied Christ into paradise
| wh.r be- died ON the cross.
Then DAILY seemed TO gain fresh corr'
age. for he looked st us now and spoke.
Addressing the Almighty ain''
much in my line, he said. "and ain'i
going to address him more than can
help now, but l feels IL somehow IL
would make the handing in Of my
checks a Bit pleasanter il cleared nr
certain matters just little. l swear
| that did nct murder Sexton. know
that some Of you have fsncied all along
that did. and these notes which you u
| find by their numbers are them that
were took from his body. would lead
You to believe that did. but it's not
40. I've nothing to gain by dying with
a lie in my throat. I'm speaking the
truth now--Id say 's'help me God II
/ dared The chap as did il was the man
who, in his turn, was murdered by the
blacks and whom you found on Scrubby
creek in last July"
Jack and stared blankly at one an
other. and could see that even Norah
Mackenzie looked mystiiied. How much
Of what he said was true, and how
much was false, Was he going to die
with another sin on his soul-that OF
false witness 7" Then he continued:
81 cleared out from the Concur y
two days afore Sexton did but guessed
how rs you. looking at Jack, ''weren' Z
gosng with him. I'd no coin. and
30 the devil Matched scheme in my
head. hung round that quarter for a
day or two and then followed mp Sex
ton. s'pose 1t was my game to bail
him up: but. a. for murder, meant to
draw the line there. dare say. how
ever, / might have done il il I'd been
driven 10 il. When came upon him on
| the night of the 'leventh, found he d
picked mp mate. Is'pose Sexton must
have been flashing bout his money, for
the other chap killed him for it. Then
rode up, and the upshot Of it was that
we went halves on the dead mans stuff
and after bit cleared out. each on his
own hook.
"At first the chap a. did it had tried
to get the drop On me, but I'd the ad-
vantage and held him mp. The beggar
knew LIE. It's a mighty queer thing
one Of US didn't pot t'other. After set
Ting up, this man, whose real name
don't know, sold me sorrel horse, and
paid him with some Of that same
blood money; you remember some notes
were found on his body" Here Gordon
insisted on DAILY resting for few min
utes. Heidi 30 and then went on again
Zone thing can't see through at all
is how you came to find out I'd bought
a horse from him and paid him with
Queensland bank notes, for ! own mp it
was your knowing this that at the
Macarthur racket made me take back
what I'd said. II was facer. How did
you get wind Of itf'
It was strange to see him exhibit
such curiosity on the very threshold Of
death; he looked hard at me, and /
looked at Norah Mackenzie. 1t was a
remarkable sequence of events. ! saw
the face of the girl pale slightly as she
turned to Jack and spoke, as it were, to
him. Though IL was very evident she
was intensely moved by the tragic and
solemn nature Of the scene, what she
had to cay was spoken simply and clear.
" enough. 1t was to the following ef.
feet:
When she had witnessed the sequel of
he tragedy on Scrubby creek, she knew
here was something wrong. but st:1
felt there was nothing criminal in
Jacks conduct. When we were filing
in the grave, she had found a small book
lying on the ground, buried in the long
grass, and, picking it up. took it with
her, unthinkingly. TO her fathers camp.
She had opened it there and found
written ON the fly leaf. ''Sold this day to
T. DAILY one sorrel mare. branded K =
|, Z on near side, for e20 in Queensland
bank notes" She kept the book for GER
tain reasons it was unnecessary to enter
upon. On reaching the Robinson river
she saw q mare answering the descrip-
ton referred to and learned that DAILY
was the owneg. She believed that he
Daly-knew something about the MUIR
der OF Sexton, 80 that when Jack was
before the magistrates at the Macarthur
she Rave the clew to me so that those
whom she felt convinced were innocent
In the matter might not suffer. She had
felt, and she had not been mistakea.
that the only way Of clearing up tha
mystery was by saying little about 1t
Such things we're bound to reveal them
selves sooner or later.
Jack, bending over Daily, said:
"Daly, don't You think we might
shake handss You've said there's no
blood on them anyhow. and believe
you. For God 'Csake. let's part friends
! can see now that I was - much to
blame q you were. perhaps more. and
/ made . smistake about you. Shall We
call II square between N. Daiy -
Daly nodded his head In assent, and
a. -