The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1907-07-05
lack OF food.

Also his wounds were 80 stiff That bic
could scarcely stir. every movement
causing him pain. Yet he struggled In
and tottered east. with those five fixed
stars shining feebly upon his wan
right cheek and laggard profile.
How long this continued Tom could
never tell. 1t might have been hours
later or only minutes that seemed like
hours when the climax came. All lie
ever knew was that his head was by
this time very light. and that the moon
was no higher than the trees when II
shonc upon the stray wether bleating
piteolIsly in his path, which was to
stand ont terribly In his mind ever
after. Yet up to that moment a forty
hours fast had been broken but once
with sandwiches. It was either this or
lingering death.
The moon won clear Of the trees. II
shone into the glutted eyes and on the
blood caked mouth and fingers Of as
| desperate and abandoned a young con.
Wet as the settlement contained.
He pushed on now with new and
dreadful energy. He thought he smelt
the sea. The country. however. was
still well timbered. and instincfively
rather than with conscious precaution
the fugitive made his line where the
trees were thickest. He was now
steering jealously by the moon. with
his head thrown farther back the high
err 1t sailed. Thus It was that little
later he tripped and staggered without
seeing what 1t was that had caught his
foot. hut 1t felt peculiar. aud after a
moment he turned round stood still
and went back.
II was the dead body OF man.
The body had not a rag upon It.
Tom knelt to examine It by the
moonlight. and cold thrill ran down
him. which he resented when he had
time TO think 1t showed there was
something human in him yet. IN
The body was that OF a very swarthy
man. with wonderful white teeth. upon
which, the moon shone and glistened In
the ghastliest manner. and pierced
ears. from which the earrings had
been brutally torn. and a chapfallen
blue chin. Tom thought the man had
not been many hours dead. What
puzzled him was the apparent absence
OF mor0l wound where the other
evidences Of foul play we're so glar-
Ing. When found. however. the wound
itself puzzled him much more. Ii was
at the back OF the sunbnrnt neck and
might hive been a bullet wound. but
Tom had never seen one before. nor
would he have expected a bullet to
drill hole SO clean and round.
He now behaved as though he had
been tripping over murdered men all
his life. He had not only recovered
his composure: he was able to glory In
II as a sign that his heart was dead
after all and 50 past bleeding for any
thing or anybody any more. At this
moment he raised his eyes. and his
new found composure was at an end.
A light flashed through the trees into
his eyes-a tongue Of fame from some
campfire.
Tom listened No voices reached his
ears save those OF the nocturnal bush.
The fire was farther or than be had
thought. r.
He rot up and first walked. then
crept toward the light The colony
was infested with bands OF bushrang-
ers. What IL here were one and this
corpse their handiworki Now Tom
thought Of Il. one particular and most
notorious band bad been depredating
this very part OF the country ever since
the new year. He had heard enyious
reports OF the villains In the convicts'
huts at Castle sullivan. and especially
had he heard OF their terrible Italian
chief. said TO be an outlawed brigand
come 10 seek fresh fortunes In New
South Wales. OF the mercIless ferocity
OF this free alien the most horrifying
stories were adoat. Yet the worst Of
these but feebly expressed one who
shot men from behind. stripped their
corpses and tore the very rings from
their ears. F.
Tom crept near the Gre In a personal
fright curiously 'exhilaratlng In Its 10.
tensIty. He might almost haye been n
free man once more. worth robbIng.
worth numbering for bis money. The
novel sensation brougls back a mo.
mentary whlff Of unconscious self re.
spect. 70 was Just the little thought
Of having a life worth taking once
more. Of being anything TO anybody
but a beaten dog. and Il came and
went and was forgotten In the same
moment.
The next he was gazing on a curious
scene. and his fears were also AZ IN
end.
In the light Of the campfire four men
were sitting soleninly ut whist. and
three faces more innocently lntent-for
the fourth was turned the other way
Tom had never seen In bis life. On
his left sat long llmbed stripping
whom the others addressed as slipper
while they shuffied and cut and crit.
icIsed his play. II was clear that slip.
per was . novice. though an anxious
student Of the game. Ills partner was
a wall eyed man without a smile. Nei.
Their did TIN hear a word from the