The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1912-07-20

OF having Nourse take my place
what 90 you say, Ncurse, to changing
places with me and letting yourself be arrest
ed. If it comes to that?"
i had been thinking of that very thing .
he replied. Il don't care much what han
pens to me, but am not exactly hungry for
a long term in Pentridge. If this thing is
no worse than you say it is, though, I'll swap
places with you and see it through for two
hundred pounds Z ss #s
accepted his terms without argu1n ell
AS soon as We reached LongWood We ex-
changed clothing, even down to our under
wear socks and shoes.
We had just finished dinner and were sitting
alone IN the hotel office, rehearsing the part
Nourse was to play, when sergeant and two
officers, who had got track of us at Seymour
rode up on horseback.
The orders of the officers called FOR the ar
rest OF only one man, SO I was not interfered
With did not return to Melbourne on the
same train with them the next morning but
went down by the one that followed it. The
first thing heard was that Joe, who had taken
the train ahead of me, had been captured at
Albury, and was on his way back, ia charge
of an officer, to join Leigh and my counterfeit
presentment behind the bars
at once engaged Purvis, the best barrister
in Australia, to defend them, and later en-
ployed elliot & Snowden, another high-class
firm to assist him.
Nourse was as game as hornet and played
his part well.
The trial was held before Judge Williams
and resulted in conviction. I had expected
no other verdict. for with the opton-of-pur-
chase clause missing from the charter it was
a clear case.
Nourse and Wilson were sentenced to seven
years and Leigh to three and onehalf years
in Pentridge Prison. With the time deducted
for good behavior this meant five years and
three months for Nourse and Joe and less than
three years for Leigh When the case as
sunled more serious aspect than I had be-
Heved it would when I barganed with Nourse
to take my place I sent word to him that
would pay him well If he would play the
string out, and as soon as l left the town I
deposited $4,000 which was to be paid to him
when he was released. spent some time and
considerable money In an effort to secure a
pardon for my companions, but when I found
that was impossible l returned to England
with promise to be back in Australia by the
time their terms expired
With my return to London In the early eigh-
ties the old lure of the West Indies. with their
continuous riot Of revolutions came over me
SO strongly that / could not hold out against
it, nor did try
was much interested in reports which
reached me, through contraband channels that
new revolution was shaping up in Costa Rica
and that there was a prospect of trouble in
Hayt1 and even in Venezuela
| took the first ship for Halifax and went
from there to st. John, New Brunswick, where
bought the fore-and-aft schooner George Y.
Richards. l took her to Bridgeport Connecti-
cut, where | loaded up with old Sharp's and
Remington rifles and lot of ammunition and
after bury1ng them under sixty tons of COAL
sailed fo@ Venezuela to see what was going
on in Guzfnan's absence
found that General Alcantara was acting
as dummy President while Guzman was en-
1oy1ng himself in Europe, and I soon satisfied
myself, from remarks dropped by his friends
IN response to my guarded inquiries, that he
was ambitious to become the ruler of Vene-
zuela in fact as well as in name
The movement to overthrow Guzman was
IN fact. taking definite form, and I sold a part
Of my arms to Alcantara's friends
Guzman had heard of what was going on
and, as | subsequently learned, he returned
70 Venezuela few months later, before the