Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1907-08-30

same fierce glare all day, and
several men had had their chains
struck off, and four had died In them
since Tom first felt the weight OF his,
but the vacant spaces on the shelves
We're never vacant very long. Those
eighty suits OF letters were In con-
tinual use. And still tho dual work
went on Of chisellng the great road to
given level and OF degrading each
newcomer to that of the worst man
there before him, for there was no
lereling up in these iron gangs, where
In mutual converse bred mutual de-
basement until best and worst found
common ground on the very bedrock
Of human infamy.
Tom for one, however, still stood out
among the worst, and there was an
other newcomer whom the gang had.
nothing to teach either OF misery or of
wlcke1ness. Indeed, he laughed at the
one and greatly Increased the other.
This was an ancient feIon known on
" as the First Fleeter-a wizened page
of dreadful history. Will. not tooth In
his head aud but the one redeeming
trait Of lncessant cheerfuiness. He
had arrived with the first fleet In 1888.
He had slnned and suffered through
those unspcakable early years until.
the sense of suffering became as dead
as the moral sense, and not yestlRe
of either remained to him now. But
he would recount his crimes with grin
ming gums and gloat over unforgotten
agonies until there was writing man
on every ledge but his own. He lay
above Tom, who would listen to him
by the hour.
According to his own account, there
was literally nothing this old man had
not done or been done to In the early
days. He was cannibal. murderer and
worse, and hi3 only regrets were for
neglected chances Of additional crimes.
But his spirits never deserted him, and
for q cruel man he was singularly good
natured. He had weak and cunning
eyes. a perfectly bald head, displaying
every criminal cavity and protuber-
ance, and q million wrinkles which,
like his mumbling gums. were never
still. Yet 1t was better to hear his
wicked laughter than the clanking
irons of men who neither slept nor
spoke, and the evils endured by the
majors iron gang which the First
Flceter poohpoohed with quaint SUI
periority, did seem less intolerable aft
err one Of his yarns.
Bad ratlons 2" he would croak when
the salt meat was rancid or the fresh
meat strong .'Tell zee, there's none on
you knows what bad ratlons is. You
should ha' been Mt Toongabble forty
year ago. We never had no rations at
all except when a ship come into har-
Dor. Toongabbie would ha' learned
We! Many's the time I've dragged tim
Der all day, twenty or thirty OH US.
yoked to the one tree like bullocks,
and dined OFF OF pounded grass aud
soup from native dog. And glad to
get 1t, tell zee. We wasn't pampered
and spoilt like you blokes- mot at Toon-
gabbie!"
ing from the scourger's lash. The First
Fleeter waxed especially eloquent on
all such occasions.
Call that foggingT' he would
quayer from his ledge. Zone little
fifty? II we'd had you at Toongabbie
you'd know what logging was. Five.
six an even eight bloonin. hundred
I've given an took. What do you
think Of that7 There was no nies
about them fioggings, tell zee; no, an
there was no flies about the hangings
either. I've seen man took an
strung up on the spot for prigSing a
handful Of weeviliy biscuits, have.
An all the time we was dyin' by dog
ems OF the bad food an the ard graft
IN the 'ot sun. Lord. how we did die.
There was a big hole dug; we collect
ed 'em every day an pitched 'em In.
mind seeing one man pitched In be-
fore the breath was out of I'm. L
amt dead, he says. You will be by
sundown,' says the overseer, an do
you think we want you about the place
till tomorrow, you selfish manY There
wasn't no flies about that oyerseer. ell
ther; 1t was him az killed three men in
a fortnight by overwork at the saw.
They just dropped dead at their work.
Take 1t away is all he says. put 1t
In the ground, an you mover heard
nothing more. No, no. the old mon
ster would conclude. with his senile
chuckle, there wasn't no dies about.
them old days In Toongabbie. can
tell zee. I'd give bit to have 'ad some
o. this feather bed gang there, them as
thinks they know what 'ardship is!'
The First Fleeter became less loqua-
cious after time, however, and much
less severe upon the luxury OF the
majors iron gang. Honey bones shrewd
eye was on him, and that Of the First
Fleeter began to droop and ruminate
with a cunning preoccupation that
made him quite silent on his ledge, AT
length, however, he took to leaning
over and mumbling to Tom In the
stillest hours. And when Tom listen
ed the old wretch mnmbled to others.
including Macbeth, who had soon fol-
lowed his enemy from Castle Sullivan
and been well nigh as refractory In
| the stockade. The Scot was in another
| den at nights, but the First Fleeter
made and used his opportunities with
characteristic craft. So now there
was a new poison In the air, and the
| virus had come all the way from
l Tn0n m hl,ip in tho an rlv daya