Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1907-12-13
CHAPTER ZXIII.

"IE redhot summer cooled gradu-
ally into lukewarm winter,
with chilly nights, but the
same fierce glare oil 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
were never vacant very long Those
eighty suits Of letters were In con-
tinual use. And still the dual work
went on Of chlseling the great road to
given level and Of degrading each
newcomer to that of the worst man
there before him, for there was no
leveling 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
wickedncss. Indeed, he laughed Mt the
one and greatly increased the other.
This was an ancient felon known on
~ Us the First Fleeter-a wizened page
of dreadful history, with not tooth In
his head and but the one redeemIng
trait Of incessant cheerfulness. He
had arrived with the first fleet In 1883.
He had sinned and suffered through
those unspeakable early years until
the sense Of suffering became as dead
as the moral sense, and not q vestige
of either remained to him now. But
he would recount his crimes with grin
ming gums and gloat over unforgotten
agOnies until there was writhing man
Oh 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 his only regrets were for
neglected chances of additional crimes.
But his spirits never deserted him, and
Tor cruel man he was singularly good
natured. lie had weak and cunning
eyes, a perfectly bald head. displaying
every criminal cavity and prOtuber-
ance. and n 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
Fleeter poohpoOhed with u quaint su-
periority, did seem less intOlerable aft
er one Of his yarns.
BAD rationsY he would croak when
the salt meat was rancid or the fresh
meat strong. Tell 'ee. there's none on
you knows what bad rations is. You
should ha' been ut Toongabbie forty
year ago. We never had no rations ut
oil except when n ship come into har-
Dor. TO0ngabbie would ha' learned
ye! Many's the time I've dragged tim
Der oil day, twenty or thirty ON US
yoked to the one tree like bullocks,
and dlned. of Of pounded grass and
soup from a native dog. And glad to
get 1t, tell zee. We wasn't pampered
and spoilt like you blokcs-not at Toon-
gabbie"
Or perhaps some wretch was groan-
Ing from the scourger's lash. The First
Fleeter waxed especially eloquent on
nll such occasions.
Call that n floggingT he would
Quaver from his ledge. zone little
hftyf II we'd had you ut Toongabbie
you'd know what flogging was. Five.
six an even eight bloomin' hundred
I've given an took What do you
think Of that? There was no flies
about them hogsings. tell 'ee: no. an
there was no flies about the hangings
either. I've seen man took an
strung up on the spot for prigying a
handful Of weevilly biscuits. l have
An all the time we was dyin' by doz-
ems Of the bad food an the ard graft
In the 'ot sun. Lord, how we did die:
There was big hole dug; we collect
ed EN- every day m pitched 'em IN.
mind seeing one man pitched in b.
fore the breath was out Of I'm. I
amt dead he says You will be nv
sundOwn.' says the oyerseer. an do
you think We want you about the place
TILL tomorrow. you selfish man! There
wasn't no flies about that oyersesr. e.