Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-04-26


life, and some of the convicts backed
him up in hopes of making things
easier for themselves, but | knew that
1t was false charge 1t wouldn't do
to say too much to Stebbins, however
Low and contemplate as he was, he
had pull with the government and
did not hesitate to threaten revenge
on me for interfering with his disci-
pline. Neither one of us sent in a re-
port, but we were open enemies after
that
Not one convict in a thousand would
have stood the insults and degradation
put upon Black Jim during the next
year. | know he tried his best, but
there was no pleasing Stebbins. He
was always boasting that he had gen
tleman convict and that he was bound
to "break" him, and he spent a good
share of his time worrying the man. 1t
was an almost daily thing for Black
Jim to be fiogged, and four-fifths of his
days We're spent under lock and key
and on diet of bread and water My
interest in him saved him somewhat
but as the weeks went by knew what
the end would be. He would either
rise up In his desperation and kill Steb-
bins or he would bolt for the bush and
join a gang of rangers. There were
times when | felt vexed with him that
he didn't do one or the other and show
a proper spirit, although it would have
Il. l.. IT,. H..
either case. One day, as l was return
ing with the troop after hunting down
a false alarm of bushrangers, my horse
SHE'D and threw me almost in front Of
Stebbins' house, aud as l struck on
stone and had several ribs broken /
see me, but under the circumstances
was obliged to give me bed. Having
got settled, the police surgeon would
not allow me to be removed. The
brute Stebbins wanted to show his In
dependence of the police and persecute
Black Jim at the same time, and the
insults he heaped on that convict for
three or four days made me itch to
shoot him. On the fourth night Of my
accident four men and three women
arrived for an evening visit They
were about the only friends Stebbins
had in social way, and he made them
very welcome. My being In the house
was not permitted to interfere with the
festivities. When dinner had been fin
lshed and the drink had gone around,
Stebbins sent for Black Jim and or
dered him to dance for the amusement
of the company. The convict respect
fully but firmly refused, and his master
cried out in Indignation:
"You won't dance, eh? Too much Of
a gentleman to give us a hornpipel
Mebbe this company isn't swagger
enough for the likes of a bloomin muir
dererr'
protested, but Stebbins went ahead.
The men gave him their assistance and
the women encouraged him. He had
had ropes and pulleys fastened to the
ceiling long before, and it wasn't five
minutes before the convict was fasten-
ed up. I saw desperation in his face
as they laid hands on him, but he did
not resist. His arms were drawn up
till his feet We're clear of the eoor, and
had been able to reach a pistol l
know l should have killed some one.
The man had been hanging ten min
utes, and the agony had almost
brought unconciousness, when the door
was kicked open and four bushrangers
crowded in. 1t was q complete sur
prise. The women screamed out and
began to cry. but the men, with the
exception of Stebbins, took it rather
cool. The bully and coward went white
as death and fell into a chair, and it
was almost pitiful to hear him beg for
his life. He knew those bushrangers
were escaped convicts, and he also
knew that stories of his brutality had
gone to them. While three of the
rangers covered the people with their
pistols, the fourth cut Black Jim down
Then he stepped over and took look
at me and said he had heard of my ac-
cident and was sorry for it. When
Black Jim had recovered sufficiently to
stand on his feet, the leader of the out
laws put a pistol in his hand. and,
pointing to Stebbins, said;
"Shoot him dead in his chair. He
deserves mercy from no man."
Jim returned the pistol and shook his
head. Next instant Stebbins toppled
out of his chair with a bullet In his
head, and the leader said:
'Sorry to have interrupted the fes-
tivities, but 1t was our calling night.
We were after Stebbins alone, and the
rest of you need not fear. Come, Jim;
we want you"
Two of them helped the forger con-
vict out of the house and upon horse,
and that was the making of the most
notorious bushraDger in all Australia.
He had career of five years and then
died from a bullet, and 1t was two
years after his death before 1t became
publicly known that he had let the law
make a convict of him in order to
shield a brother. l had always be-
lieved him innocent of the crime, and.
knowing how he had been prosecuted
and abused by Stebbins, I almost re-
joiced when the bushrangers carried
him off to make leader of him.