Graham guardian., 1914-01-30
y
BY M. QUAD
BY M. QUAD
Copyright, 1913, by Associated Lit
eTaTy Press.

/ lEOln lueTe ullu DPCNnlP DUSHTangeT.
| was herding sheep on the Began riv-
| er when one evening young Thorpe
| walked In on me. He was In good
health. full of good nature. and his con.
vict life had not hardened his heart
! Young Thorpe had no sooner taken
| to the bush than he was given the title
Of Captain Charlie" For the first
seven or eight months he had no COM
pGnlons. During this time all his work
was on the highway. He held up sew
eral stages and half a hundred lone
| travellers and on three occasions shot
| men from their saddles. He had the
reputation Of being brave to reckless
ness and of being square man" He
would not rob a poor man. nor would
he shoot unless fred upon first II he
stopped n stage and there were women
passengers he treated them with the
| utmost courtesy. He would take moth
ing from settler without paying for
II, and now and then he gave them
warning that the natives were ont ON
raid and gave them time to prepare
for defense.
He would probably have continued
to work alone had 1t 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 Soon
er in the bush than he gathered around
him Eve or six other hard cases and
began a merciless war 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
wantonness. Looking upon Captain
Charlie" us a namby pamby fellow,
who was unworthy Of being called
bushranger. they sought to hunt him
down. In self defense he organized a
band Of his own. numbering FIVE. and.
though they were pretty tough fel-
lows. he held them well In hand and
would permit no violence when 1t 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 n night ride Of thirty-fve 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 CITY rods Of my hut. A
fight took place at once. and within
ten minutes Treats band was driven
of 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 "bailing
up" Of sixteen mounted police, who
had followed Captain Charlie" and
rnree OF his men INTO tho n.m:: ::::Ssa
out with thirty hours Of hard riding,
the entire band fell asleep at night in
their camp The bushrangers crept in
on them and ran Off their horses and
removed every firearm and then van
ished. Every one could have been
killed while he slept. but no one 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 chevaiier
Of the bush betray a spirit Of revenge.
A settler whom he had several times
befriended put the police on his track.
and in escaping pursuit be rode his ia
vorite horse to death. Later on he cap
tured his betrayer on the highway and
tied him to tree and gave him terri.
BILE whipping.
For a period Of two years and a half
Captain Charlie" held full sway In the
district, hotly pursued most Of the time.
but always escaping. but at last his
time came. as 1t 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 at
midnight, and after I had prepared |
them a meal they lay down and slept
till daylight. Meanwhile the men who
had broken away got word to the po-
lice. and at daylight the bluecoats were
In ambush around the hut. AS the two
men stepped out they were shot down
In their tracks. and both were dead
when the officers got them. Some.
where among the hills Captain Char
lie" had planted plumber, believed to
amount to $4,000; but, though II has
been searched for by scores Of men
for the last thirty-6ve years. It has
never been found.