Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-01-10

6QngleU uio iCSo. @'SsH (
n ing was so strange as the sud-
den cassa ton of the horrid Jingle which
had marked and Knocked every move
ment OF his body for four whole
months. He felt quite lost without It.
and he cIambered into the curricle
without a word. Daintree cracked his
whip, and that was the sole souna
from either Of them In the first halr
hour of keen and starlit freedom.
"Feel cold, Erichsen"
mo"
because you can have my coat II
you Go. My things are thicker. only
say the word"
He said nothing. Such gratitude as
he felt In his degraded heart was not
vet so poignant as to need expression.
II was a very vague. dull sense at pres
eut But Daintlee understood. He haQ
sin,rly to sit next that silent, aged cal
lous figaro TO understand all.
They drove on to Maitland, where
they supped handsomely and lay oil
night. In the morning Tom was well
and warmly clothed at the best store
I'm the township And that day the dir-
ference was that be kept turning TO
look over his shoulder and this at
shorter intervals as the day wore on.
as anything following usy' said
Daintree once.
"Not yet" said Tom.
"Not yet! Why. what do you ex-
pect?"
"What deserve" said Tom. And
Daintree had the wisdom not to press
him upon this or any other point. He
knew what was alleged against Erich
sen at Castle Sullivan. He had heard
the story from the principal superln-
tendent. He began to think there
might be some truth in it, after all.
Next~m morning he was sure. They
had put up at an unusually comforta-
BILE roadside inn, where Tom had very
excellent room, yet he came down with
wild. unrested eyes and twitching I'm
\ gers.
>"Its no user he bitterly exclaimed.
,(~Haven't you slept?"
"Not a wink. heard them coming
all night long-heard them coming with
fine. chains. Oh, take me back! They
have made me the guilty man they
said was when l wasn't. I deserve
everything now"
And a second day Of terror he spent
In the currice, looking backward hour
after hour, but when that also passed
over and still nothing happened he be-
gan to think that either Butter was
mistaken or the major incredulous or
his enemies Of another mind now that
be was gone. At all events he took
heart of grace and at last thanked
Daintree for what he was doing, with
out asking, however, why he was do
Ing 1t.
On the third forenoon the spires and
windmills of Sydney fringed the sky.
Then they mounted hill, and there
was the harbor sparkling above the
roofs of the convict city.
1--WE had better drop the 'Erichsen
now" said Daintree as they drove up
to the turnpike gate. Il suggest that
Thomas will suffice both Christian
name and surname l think 1t would
he preferable for the present. What
say your" Tom consented with per-
feet readiness and indifference, and ne
looked behind him for the last time as
much as to say what was the only thing
on earth about which he was not as In
different as the dead.
They drove down Brickfield bill over
the spot where Nat Sullivan had tum-
bled off his horse and past the notori-
Gus inn where he had lain. 1t flourish
ed still. And still the d0leful felon
music filled the air, striking more stac-
cato in this crisp weather than six
konths since in the heavy heat, but 1t
kuck to Toms heart no more. On
quay there was crowd and
Ssh shipload Of convicts disembark-
inA. but Tom felt no pity for them
either And now, when his indigna-
ton was aroused, it was by the loung-
ing laziness Of a road gang, whose
overseers were smoking and chatting
with the convicts, while the latter
moved neither hand nor foot, and the
sentries yawned at their posts.
"They want the major there" said
Tom grimly. He'd have that peck OF
stones about their ears Ii they stood
looking at 1t much longer"
Daintree turned and regarded him
80; Io,.lxy rNloo cod an6 kin6lV
smile; then Tom knew that he had just
volunteered his first remark since leav-
~the stockade, and he thought he
knew with what sympathetic patience
his first voluntary remark had been
waited for, though he only now sus-
pected this from Daintree's smile. His
heart swelled little. They put up at
an inn, and he made himself more
useful to his new master than he had
been yet.
The bungalow was some few miles
out upon the delightful woody shore of
Rose bay. They drove on there In the
afternoon, and the greenwood dipping
beyond the post and rails Of the Old
Point Piper road, the lush meadows
dipping beyond that and the azure
arm of the harbor seen through the
one and above the other were all
very wonderful change after that ter
rible plateau OF the past four months.
Nor had they any feature in common
with the detested region Of Castle Sui
Ivan. Tom had seen nothing like this
I'D country. To crown all, the bunga-
low Law bathed In the richest sunset
when they reached it and Rose bay
deserved that name indeed, for its SUM-