The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-03-01
FRECkLES.

.r.- came II Funston schOOl, not eN-
1 ,.,n, even Mason, who shot the doc
4, :. wifes parrot with Il catapult. and
] .,,r ba had been fi0gged offered to stuff
- ,he face of the whole school and
4..,rly got expelled. Freckles was so
.nsj owing to his skin. which was
rm,ly a complicated pattern much like
s-,ar you can see in any map of the
ac..,.;an archipelago. This arose, he
9..,n,hr. from his having been born in
3,-.tralia Anyway. it was rum to see,
ri :, we're his hands. which had red
8S.b down on the backs. His eyes were
IT., IT, reddish-a sort of mixture Of red
crav specks. and they glimmered
H. cats when he was angry, which
|rs. often His real name was Maine.
III: father had made big fortune sell
E. wool at Sydney. and his grandfa-
H. was one Of the last people TO be
gl.snsvortcd to Botany Bay-through no
5.-lt Of his own. After he had been on
8 Nnvict ship two years chap at
a ,me confessed on his deathbed that he
a 4 done the thing Names grandfather
s. =. transported for. So they naturally
u Names grandfather go free. and he
y g 50 sick about it that he never came
a, q X home again, but married farm
81 daughter near Sydney and settled
b, there for good.
Maine didn't think much of England
sss,i was always talking about the Aus
SsA,lian forests Of blue gum trees and
g 81 and snccring rather at the size Of
hr forests round Merivale. though they
3,re good ones He never Joined in
mes but roamed away alone for miles
81 1 miles into the country On half holi-
bys and trespassed with cheek I never
dw equaled He could run like hare.
3.ecially about half a mile or SO,
S1ilch as he explained to me. is just
but distance to blow a keeper. Ger
A;ny, though often chased. he was
}yer caught and never recognized. ow-
e to things he did which he had
8aned in Australia and copied from
nous bushrangers His great hope
E; ne day was to be a bushranger him
and he practiced in q quiet way
sAery Saturday afternoon, making it
teto go out Of bounds always His get
vas ine Me, being fond of the coun-
and not keen on games. he rather
kto. and after had sworn on crossed
si iyes not to say a word to q soul
hch never did till Freckles lefty be
HE his secrets and showed me his
SA3ngs If you d seen Freckles starting
IA an excursion you wouldn't have
d there was anything remarkable
but him, but really he was armed to
8 teeth and had everything a bush
sat tger would be likely to want in a
Jet place like Merivale Down his leg
|zf the barrel Of an airgun, strong
8ugh to kill any small thing like
M at % yards. The rest of the gun was
inside the lining of his coat.
n the slugs you fired he carried loose
bis trousers pockets. Round his
us 9st he had leather belt he got from
4llor for pound. Inside the leather
| human skin, said to be hayed off p
llssag;aap By cannibals somewhere, which
E{ splendid thing to have for your
~ E7|Ep if it was true, and IN the belt
had been specially made for a
lie. Freckles, of course, had knife
ia bowie knife that made you cold
ee He never used it, but kept it
10y, and said if a keeper ever caught
333 be possibly might have to. In ad-
fn to these things he carried in his
- pockets little spirit lamp and u
4psible tin pot and q bag Of tea.
5ly, Freckies had a Hat lead mask
- holes for the eyes and mouth
q Eh he always fitted on when tres
fns
Esfce, as an awful favor-me being
Nd smaller and not fast enough to
away from mamie let me come
see what he did when bushranging
y iaif holiday in winter. 81 shan't
ny usual frightful risks with you"
fld, because I might have to open
~ % save you, and that would be
4 disagreeable to me, but we'll tres
iTss bit, and I'll shoot few things if
y don't shoot much. Only for
made me a mask with tinfoil off
plate, smoothed out and gummed
cardboard. but I had no arms, and
! pa l had better not try and get
az We started for the usual walk
s were allowed to go through a
!, Y pine wood to Merivale. but half
ash, by a place where was q board
9 warned US to keep the path.
sEfles branched off into some dead
,Id zen and squatted down and put on
: s }ask. I also put on mine. Then he
ped his airgun together and loaded
y 81 told me to walk six PAGES behind
nd do as he did His eyes were
= 1aAy keen. and now and then he
ed to a feather on the ground or
y nest or a patch Of rum fungus or
] ii , apple still hanging on the tree.
70 all tho leaves were off.
% ~, fe he fired at a jay and missed it.
sa ell down in the fern as if he was
rs Is flmself and remained quite mo-
rs for some Tina He told me that
efs did SO after firing that he
gel hear if anybody had been attract
DEfE the sound. It was q we'll known
c. pans dodge. Once we saw keep
esiE oagh a clearing, and Freckles lay
0AP his stomach. and 80 did I. He
HEh the keeper well and told me he
any times escaped from him.