Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1907-12-05
[coNT1NuED.lI

Sullivan" continued the major, "per-
haps you didn't know you were tres
passing when you came on these
works. But you We're, and you'll stop
on 'em now till I've done with you.
You came to gloat over the man you've
bounded here to tell him you'd hound
him to the gallows, did you? To laugh
at him, eh? Gadzooks, sir, the boots
on the other leg this time! The whole
chain gang is laughing at you, and you
may frown upon 'em as much as you
like, but if you touch IL you'll be in
irons yourself in two minutes. 1 know
you, sir. We know all about both Of
you here. Half the men who come here
have been driven here by you and your
father. Silence in the gang! Go on to
Sydney and tell them anything you
like about the man you mean to hang.
But, gadzooks, you don't get him out
Of this! No, and the governor himself
sha'n't have him out of this until he
knows IN whose word he's acting! Go
to my superiors. They'll never listen
to your clumsy yarn. If they do I'll
send down to Sydney myself to tell
'em what know of you and yours. And
Castle Sullivan will be swept into the
sea, and you-you slave d~riyer-you'll
be where these men are now! Be off,
sir. ! hate the sight of you! Sentry.
let him go"
About the middle of this TRADE Nat
had been ready with a retort as viru-
lent, but the concluding sentences were
too much even for his hard nerves and
sturdy ruffianism. Muttering some
thing unintelligible about an outrage"
and 'reporting' Major Honeybone, he
put spurs to his horse and galloped off.
leaving nothing worse behind him than
a look. 1t was such a look as might be
seen any day, any moment even, in an
iron gang, yet Tom never forgot the
cruel eyes, the low lips, the murderous
scowl nor the peculiarly bestial whole
which they made on that occasion.
The convicts cursed and cheered him
In derision and when he was gone
were given to understand by the ma
jor that if they ever did it again he
should treat the lot of them as they
would be treated at Castle Sullivan
to fifty lashes all round.
"Only ! give you fair warning" said
he, land you don't catch me break my
word either way"
The major was a man who liked q
little opposition for the sake of putting
it down, which be never failed to do
with the highest hand, but he had his
chain gang in such an exemplary state
of broken spirited subsection that the
iron will within that labby body was
growing rusty from disuse. The impu-
dence Of young Sullivan was conse
quently a godsend to this born marti-
net. 1t gave him an appetite. and it
made him sleep. Furthermore, it fixed
his eye on Erickson and to some ex-
tent his thoughts also. The major was
harsh by habit, but impartial to the
core. He did not believe a syllable OF
Nat S%ullivan's story. But why had
Erickson so taken it to heart? He
alone had neither cursed nor cheered.
The major was puzzled, but kept
watch.
"Fancy he's a gentleman" said Hon
eybone in a day or two, and he made
Inquiries.
The result of the inquiries was the
information that Erickson usually sulk-
ed, but when he was in a bad temper
he was more blasphemous than any
man in the gang; when in a good one
he was more foul.
"He is a MISUNDERSTANDING"
said the cocksure major. "Only it's
the old story-the farther they have to
fall, the lower they sink. Poor devil,
poor devil.' And old Honeybone sigh
ed, for he had sunk u little, too, and If
his conscience was clear of crime it
was more or less saturated with sin.
of which the perfume was not a little
stale and sickly. Whether from that
cause or another, the fat major found
himself taking a more human interest
in this prisoner than in most. $50
that's the most profane tongue in the
stockade!!' he would think whenever
he looked at Tom. $50 that's the foul
est MOUTH
1t was not, but Tom was educated
and had an educated mans sense Of
emphasis and Of selection. His bad
things stuck-that was all.
But if those superlatives We're not
literally justified others were, and be-
fore Tom had been six weeks in chains
he had shown a temper as insubordi-
nate, an audacity as brazen and a cal
lousness as shocking as anything of
the sort which the major had yet en-
countered in his present capacity. 1t
was the reaction from the sulky spirit
in which the convict had begun his
term. For two whole weeks he broke
no rules, but in the next four he was
three times flogged.
On the first occasion he knocked
down the scourger when it was all
over and SC brought 1t all owe again.
On the last the major addressed him
from his chair as the convict positively
staggered from the triangles, with
his letters clanking and his shoes
squelching at every step.
"You want to try Norfolk island"
said the major, "but you shan't."