The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1914-05-29
Captain Charlie"
BY M. QUAD
Copyright, 1918, by Associated Lit
erarY Press.


near Cheltenham. England, and at the
age of eighteen had the reputation of
being q roySterer. He did not drink or
gamble. and no one could say that ne
was dishonest or unfilial, but he cray-
cd adventure and was constantly in
trouble.
he accidentally shot a gamekeepcr
aud was sent to the penal colony at
Botany Bay. Australia. He escaped
from there and became a buShranger.
| was herding sheep on the Began riv-
cr when II evening young Thorpe
walked in on me. He was in good
health. full of good nature. and his con-
Wet life had not hardened his heart.
Young Thorpe had no sooner taken
10 the bush than he was given the title
Of captain Charlie" For the first
seven or eight months he had no COM
panions. During this time all his work
was on the highway. lie held up sew
cral stages and half IA hundred lone
travellers and On three occasions shot
men from their saddles. He had the
reputation of being brave to reckless
ness and IF being a square man" He
would not rob Il poor man. nor would
he shoot unless fired upon first. If he
stopped Il stage and there were women
passengers he treated them with the
utmost courtesy. He would take moth
ing from a settler without paying for
it, and now and then he gave them
warning that the natives were out on a
raid and gave them time to prepare
for defense.
He would probably have continued
TO work alone had it not been for an
escaped convict named Treat. This
man was thoroughly vicious and had
not one redeeming trait. In escaping
from the penal settlement he killed
two of the guards. and he was no o
or in the bush than he gathered around
him five or six other hard cases and
began 4 merciless var on all outsiders.
In three months they killed eight
travellers. settlers and herders. and.
not content with highway robbery,
they looted stores. tavernS and farm
houses and applied the torch in sheer
wa|ntOnness. Looking upon Captain
Charlie as a mandy pamby fellow.
who was unworthy of being called a
bu~shranCer. they sought to hunt him
! down. In self defense he organized Il
band of his own, numbering five. and.
though they were pretty tough fell
lows. he held them well in hand ana
would permit no violence when it could
be avoided. The first meeting between
the two bands took place on my range
Treat had somehow heard that ! was
friendly TO Captain Charlie" He
made a night ride of ~thirty-tivc miles
with his band to Kill me and destroy
the herd. The captain heard of his
intentions. and just at sunrise one
morning both bands rode out of the
scrub within fifty rods of my hut. A
| fight took place at Once. and within
ten minutes Treats band was driven
| off with the loss Of three men. Cap
tain Charlie" had one man killed and
two wounded.
An adventure much talked of through
New South Wales was the "bai!ing
up" of sixteen mounted police, who
had followed captain Charlie" and
three of his mel into the hills. Worn
out with thirty hours Of hard riding,
the entire band fell asleep at night in
their camp. The b~uShrangers crept in
on them and ran off their horses and
removed every iircarm and then van
iShcd. Every one could have been
killed while he slept. but no II was
harmed.
On another occasion "Captain Char
lie' learned that two bushrangers who
had lately set up in business in his ter
ritory had made prisoners Of three
men and their wives. who were trav-
cling by stage. and were holding them
in the hills for ransom. He made a
ride Of forty miles with his men. hunt
ed through the hills for two days and
finally found the captives. AS the
bushrangerS refused to give them up
without ransom. the captain paid over
to them the sum Of $1,000 in gold and
escorted the grateful people to the
nearest farmhouse. He then returned
and warned the two trespasSerS to
leave his territory. and While making
their way north they were captured by
the police.
In only one instance did the chevalier
Of the bush betray a spirit of revenge.
\ settler whom he had several times
~befriended put the police on his track.
and in escaping pursuit he rode his ia
vorite horse 10 death. Later on he cap
tured his betrayer on the highway and
tied him to a tree and gave him a terri!
bic whipping.
For Il period Of two years and a half
Captain Charlie" held full sway in the
district, holly pursued most Of the time.
but always escaping, but at last his
time came, as it came to all others OF
his ilk. There was a quarrel in his
band. and it divided. He came to my
hut with a companion one night AZ
midnight. and after I had prepared
them a meal they lay down and slept
till daylight. Meanwhile the men vile
had broken away got word to the po-
lice. and at daylight the bluecoats We're
in ambush around the hut. AS the two
men stepped out they were shot down