Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1907-10-11

with rum. The convict would pay the
sIuattcr with the only currency with
in his reach namely. that Of stolen
property. The SIuattcr was sly pub
lican and sly pawubrok"r i'll one. nnd
IL pretty specimen of his clusS had his
wigwam nud his black gin on creek
not Il hundred miles from Castle Sulli-
van.
Iither was Tom taken by one Of his
fellows on an early sunday evening
Half II dozen others We're there before
them. Not one of these We're sober
when they arrived And the strong
fumes tempted Tom. SmOlderlnG mis-
cry was In flames at this chance OF
Guenching II for the noncc. lie might
have followed suit had not his COM
panion produced screw hammer In
payment for the liquor. Tom glanced
at the implement and then ut his mate.
You're never going to pay with that.
Mac"
An what for no."
mere = inc IuI1ll DTuIll yOu
in the face, 1t isn't yours"
whats ABBOTT it? If man mayn't
blk the covcs wha may he blk? They
vie us nae wages for our work, so we
maun help ourscls"
And as this was the principle Of all
Wet throughout the colony. honest Tom
had no choice but to turn on his heel
and walk away amid the excavations
Of his fellows. But not Il hand was
raised against him. He had still the
eye and the bearing that discourage Il
blow. Even the elder Sullivan had
given up tapping and rapping him
with that bamboo wand which was
forever quickenng felon fingers and
sowing black murder in felon hearts.
But the incident of the screw ham-
mer made oil unpopular man Of Tom
among his fellows. and worse was to
come of 1t. The theft was brought
home to the man Macbeth. and the
vary next night Tom met him with q
white. plnched face and his coat on
back to front.
"Why. Mac" cried Toni. What
now?"
The fOulest maledictiOns were his
only answer. n white lip quivering
with the words.
"What on earth have | doneW
you ken wecl. This, them
He turned his back. and Tom started
back with horror The shirt beneath
the open coat was sOpping red.
In vain Tom protested that he had
never told soul about the hammer
Nobody would believe him. His in
dignation and his sympathy We're treat
ell with scorn rs SO much hypocrisy.
His name was exccrnted In the con-
Wet huts. and SO much Of the convict
spirit survived In Ginger that he was
with tho men IN this and never spoke
to Tom now. The overseer besides
shared Nat Sullivan's grievance against
Tom. A furtive admiration for the girl
O'Brien was one Of his softer traits.
and she was the same to neither Of
them now
At the end of month the groom's
truest friend was the terrific old doctor
himself Peggy was his friend indeed;
but. though her gray eyes watched him
wistfully enough from the window, he
seldom heard her full. rich brogue. Nor
was II consideration for the girl that
made Tom deny himself thnt small
consolation. Young Sullivan had for
hidden him the house and was suffi
ciently his enemy as 1t was. Indeed,
the groom discovered he was becoming
q bone Of contention between father
and son.
out Of the stables and put to Telling
timber. The father would not hear Of
It.
The father granted him the usual
good conduct indulgences Of tea, sugar
and tobacco. in addition to the regula-
ton ratiOns. The son laid himself out
to catch Tom smoking ut night and at
once put stop to the tobacco.
Then came the very hottest day OF
the summer, for which the son had
waited. He had brought from Sydney
on the pack horse n quantity Of new
harness, saddles. brides and the like.
and he made the groom devote the very
hottest day to seasoning the brand new
leather with castor oil. to be rubbed
into every inch Of 1t In tho sitting
heat Of the little saddle room. When
Tom was finishing, nauseated with the
smell, swollen with mosquito bites and
In streams Of perspiration from head
to foot. Mr.. Nat came In and patiently
nagged ut him. But even this did not
compass the destruction Of Toms skin.
He perceived the design and defeated
1t with imperturbable civility.
Mr.. Nat was driven into deeper plots.
He had never been bested by convict
yet. And now at last Tom read re-
venge In the jaundiced eyes. but re-
venge for what? He felt more mysti-
fed than afraid. All he had to do was
to keep his temper. but what had he
done? To nobody on the farm had he
breathed word about aught that hap
pened In Sydney or on the road. He
never .ventured within the palisade.
What, then, was his Offense?
One night as he lay puzzling his head
about it and yet half asleep. sound
startled him.
1t came from the saddle room next
door. Tom sat up in his bunk.
The sound was very thin and wholly
metallic. as the scraping Of dinner
knife between the prongs Of fork.
Suddenly bolt shot back, with a little
slam.