DAN KELLY, Outlaw,

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 137, 10 June 1911, Page 17

DAN KELLY, Outlaw,

. j M . MEMOIRS >.l' i'ANU'.I. KKU.Y ioTIIEU U!" INWARD KKLLV. iiDEB OF Till': KEI.M HAM. <>I | JcBHUSUEK*. TU HAM. j BEES SLAI.N IN Till-: I'A.MULS FIGHT '"'" AT GLEN HO WAN. Edited by AMBROSE PRATT. CHAPTER X\ I. iC.-iiliiiued.. i jnv;.v ; •'"'-'-' ' A ' ''"''. '" i ',' :'■;..!,■'J.."''V-I '■ k . ;j .■■"»■'■■"•' ''..'.; .'.:'. V. M '"\V'.- "> r.'-''.'.'. T- "l-"- **"•,. ; ii.s.i.- W- ~-.. ~.. 1..1.,-.'! 0e "t ,'re u..,-'.'"s ti.i.i.s ... I.c >..' „Mrt f-- '"' <" "-•"■ '" ' ""' " ' " %», as we can Ihe d,',.dful moment j ilea .ve'll be buried 1..." Il.i'.akcf burnilS; nre '"-■'' * ; fl Km urn,. v.v 1....** "-'•■';•■•■» "■'^; ■boat i'-' 11,,:i " "' " ~'' l ~ «.eb ...,'. 1 -■>' »" :mv "■. .'uoi.e. I (V , VC ~„ „, fi-'hl. ~:.d :f lII.' I. 1 ciues, .re'vegot i" murder, ...el .u.i.Mit. nnd keep I V annlcring .., Iy ,;.„!:" groai.-d N.-I. "li - -.-lie: its W e" >.:■! "I'lir-i spur:: I :: -'~ ■■. 1. !j c di.MiL'H'.s Hhi.h :..v words had Jur.-l | 1, his l.rain. X» finli-r 1...:: wa, ■!,■ | a . n „-o i',..i.h.-l Moon's l'i....eer Hold. ~ pahlk'-lious,- percb.-l .... H.c bank ..f the Dveus HiviT. al. Un i Mvi.ty miles fr-mi our sarting [»-liii- '1'1.e... w,- p,.r.-h.-,se.l s..me | m nu .| provisions and presently i-.-ii.-cl - Into die In'"!' ; ' '-.-imp. Hi.- richer ...-■• .y I piece of >!•'■ rili..-' i.il..i-:..a;i..n. A i-iiui,..ir j did conic through ih.i; lie H.iven.iucn; bid ollerod a reward of iT*«\ per head j (or oar apprehension, >!.-...1 ..:' alive. We *U>lc dc-ply Ui..t night, seeking Solace, tod courage in the can, y.-i aiding nothing tot 111-humo.ir aid black iiiiiiginings. Horning broke, raining .'.'lis and dogs. Wet and unspeakably miserable, we break(iSted ou nun and I..tidied on sardines. ■Ecsumlni' our J-.un.oy in li arly afteroool, we passed Unit evening through ihe townships of "xlcy ami l'.vvrion. and, dwelling all nigh., we brought up at Hie Murray soon after dawn. Ii was apparent it a glance thai «',. sh mid experience peat difficulty in orosdm:. Al most seaM n3 of til-' yer the .Murray in that district is readily fordahie. i mere ihre.ul ~t t stream rnlining lazily between '.is wide, knr-ljrlng hanks. But now il was in H-iod. I. had overflow,si its banks and Ihe wlu.lo conntrvside was under wa.er. presenting I the aspect of a vast lake spangled here and there -with islands. Driven by our fears we made many fierce Biiempts tv gel a.-r.ws. but we never even succeeded In reaching the main s.ream, , co deep and wide were the intervening ] lijoons. and so irei.cherous Ihe current a | «c were fon-e.l to eueounter. Not until j we had fruitlessly risked death n dozen times did We abandon the vain i.tlempL Te then pushed on along Ihe edge of ihe water to Bu.igowiin.iah. where we knew that a punt was kept for the convenience ot travellers. Once more an evil fate atwcited ns. The punt had disappeared. overwhelmed by ihe Hood. Two whole days j bad been wasted In Irving In cross ihe j fonfcr. It was now November ihe :ird. j ffi/f a score or more, of people had seen ' amine friends, some strangers. Clearly I umust remove. Taking breakfast at the tiase of :' syniparlieti.. settler, we were f.ld thai the Idegrapl. wires had been at rork, and thai ihe northern bunk of ihe Murray w.,- a. ilcn niomenl being patrolled ty scores of New Sou.h Wales mounted oolice. We were also informed that ihe Victorian p.lice had learned of our elTnrts (oford Ihe river, and were hurrying northivanls loward ihe border in Ihe hope of taking us between -he firc>. There seemed mulling left hut to return to our native haunts. .Mounting '" hast,-, w turned our horses' heads southward throngli the blinding rain, and r.Mlc as Hough pursued by furies. By dusk we had covered forty miles, and were in the neighbourhood of Wangaratta. nesting In the scrub until nearly mhlnight. we mounted once more and passed through Wangaratta at a gallop, making for .Joe Uyrue'a borne in the Woolshed Itanges near 13 -hTOrth. Before morning our horses were very nearly knocked up. ami we were forced to abandon them and take to the packs. But it was neck or nothing, and we pressed on -without a pause until we got to the shelter of the hills. Hardly less exhausted than our horses, we were now compelle-J to .take a lengthy rest. There was no thought of defence or of guard. We threw ourselves upon the ground and slept like the dead. Had the police followed us they wnld have captured us wilh absolute ease; In fact, they could have handcuffed us vlthout awaking us. But although the officer in charge of Wangaratta knew of our passage, and could, if he chose, have tracked M without difficulty owing to the muddy ftound, he did not move to a'tack us until too late. Early next morning we set out across tbe ranges io Sebastopol. and made iaron Sherritt's hut by midday. Aaron was it home and lie gave us a mos; cordial »eleome. offering to serve as a bush teleStaph anil to carry ..... any plan we might >o?gest for putting the police off the trail, fed was greatly aiT.-ied by Aaron's geneNns demeanour, and the pair mudc up tteir old n,uarrek with many handsome ,-x- - apology and confidence, shaking hands at leas; a dozen limes. Poor Ned. he was chumming with a vilkin who ev.ni then hud begun to plot hi* "in. Aaron She.riii was a man who n.-voi forgave an Indignity, nnd I believe lie hid "ade tip his mind ... bring Ned f> the gal >°*s from ihe moment of his downfall a' Sen's bauds in the rough and tumble a' ** Taller. Aftei making a hearty meal al iron's hut we proceeded to Mrs Byrne'. ho »se, where we were received with ope: >rm s by th,- whole family. There fo'.loweil • repeiitiou ~f tac happenings at Urein "•liin an bom- or iwo the Kelly sym Wthiser* and connections In the distri-' •Bumbled to pay Ih.ir respects io ihe bush 'angers. The rvcniiu: passed in fcislfn. •"n Bpeeclimakaig We dau.-c.l ;he hour«darkness aw,.v. and when morning br.di. ln >l w-e saddled up ... leave \.-.| glorilie, tie "Docli and l.„rr;s" i.y dNtribming al remain,■<] ~f .. ;r g,,:,| :ll ~->-; th, clansmen, their ...d ti.dr wives *«<mlttedthepla.-e"«'.,!, begg.-.r'cl pock-IS ta ' with enough ~r -v -: ,■„ -.. ;.,.. f,„- ,„-,„• * C! te: and w ,. ■~,-; ,„. ;;i; .,, „. , ~,,„,,,;,' * f srmpatbi s „i,, >-nP- ■ ~,,,. . x.-.-pt' ,i """"M n„. have 1,,-..,, ;.-.-!■", ,<..,! -~' p.'-r,' »«ft all the ivr:. th ii -he public ;-.-, »nry. J w » lays afr.-, ,~- dcp.ni.rc , larg »"« ba„ a ,,oi, 1.-l ■~ ,■»■,.,., = „ S.-,.„ler a., *W«en.l,,„ Ni,|,.',,-. r ,i. : ..,| ~„. <„„• 5wW.1,.|,,.w, of ~',r visit throng ~-.„ ,!,.. birds ,„,,, „.«.. a: Seb,s ; ..'., M 'we'were ivin- ' *° r «>verns:r„r,-'„.r„'- ... W,-bv P.nV f er *on November M-i, \., r ,- nne to , Sh««w4 news The .lovlrnmen, hn i? 5564 » special Act of Parliament to mal fe!oT laWS ' T> " Sn^ ronri of '' SI had issued a warrant in pursuant

d the Act, calling upon -us to surrender | : ours, lies lo the law on or before the B.lh I ~f N..\cn,hcr; aud on the preceding day a s [~••..-'.au.a'.i.ui had been promulgated declar- - n:g ns 1..-y.,„,l .he pale or the law, em- 1 1 .wring 11.-r Majesty's lawful subjects to ! si.. ~| .:- ~n fight with,mt previous -'demand ' ..f s.irr. leler"; and calling upon the Queen's ' lieges, n In-:her police ..r civilian, to appre- ' held or take up—"dead or alive." ! CUAI'TKU XVU, ' ' HK.MUII.sE, 1 ;,.- new-, ~.f course, was no more dreadfill ...an w had expected, bin it was not ' possible lo read the tlaxiug proclamation .Aaron had brought copies for our enter- ' tail.im-t.:. without a deep thrill. It contained proof positive that we were now set ..par. from the rest of humanity and re- , j-anbd by all save our relatives and clansmen as deadly pirates- wolves to be hunted iihwu .-..id osier..limited iv the b.v-t interests , of n,,- public weal. The document, how- • i-v.-r. which most disturbed us was the • ..••veniiue.il notices offering JChio reward ; f...' cadi ~f ~.ir heads, and £">»»' reward • : for such information as would lead to the . capture ~r destruction of the gang, (,'oufi-: den; as we fell in the good faith and;, uffctioii ol our friends, we could not but; r.-alisc that those great rewaris would excite the cupidity of the more distant and lukewarm of our associates, aud tempt many to endeavour, either openly or coven- , ly, t,, betray us. Aaron sherritt, when asked his opinion I ■ •n .to- ina.ter. emphatically agreed with Ibis view, and he forthwith named several I I hi. ii as likely traitors. He was so anxious '~■ ii.l'eel us with doubts ..f ihe iutegrity ; of certain persons—in particular Isaiah Wright, a man I trusted absolutely— that my old suspicions of his own good faith ! awakened. From that moment 1 watched him narrowly, and carefully weighed his Words and deeds. One thing struck mc as peculiar. He s.rongly counselled us not on any aeeonnl !,. quit the shelter of our present hidiim. ...id he reiterated ihe stratrgieal advantages ~f our position so long and so earnestly ih.it Ned. Joe. and Steve finally gave him a sort of promise to take his advice, and detli.iiely agreed to remain iv Hie cavern at leas; until his next visit. Aaron was »,, evidently pleased at this decision. although he strove to appear Indifferent, thai I felt certain that he had an undisclosed motive. As soon, therefore. I ns he bad departed I communicated my suspicions to my companions, and begged leave to follow in his tracks and see where! he went. My fears, however, were laughed lo scorn, and Ned refused to sanction my proposed expedition. Nevertheless, before [ another twelve hours hail elapsed we were, al! in a fever of restlessness. Ned and Joe j still trusted Aaron, but 1 had made a convert of Steve Hart; and Ned's trust had be-' gun re. waver. Seeing the state of affairs,! and being genuinely alarmed lest Aaron in-; tended to set the police on our trail, I came forward with another proposition. It was j i that we should make a tour of the district I through the ranges, visiting as many out-1 lying selectors, pub lie house keepers and storekeepers as possible, aud everywhere we ' ■went we pr.x-lnime.l death to traitors—as a j counterblast to the Government proclamations. This plan appealed instantly to all. j .-Hid within an hour we were mounted and j away. The expedition lasted four days. IMitln:r ili.it lime we rode m-ore than a hundred j and fitly miles, and we visited about thirty I h.i.s and stores and inn houses. At each I place we visited we made a noisy demon- ' siraii.m. swearing dreadful oaths to track I down and kill any man who dared to assist I Hie police ..gainst us. So grim and desper- ■ aiely determined an appearance did we pre- j | sent lh.it we carried mortal terror inio [ every place we touched at, and beyond all doubt thai wild ride did more to establish our sovereignty iv the Kelly country and defend us from the machinations of informers than any other course we could have taken. As we learned afterwards, -moreover, it temporarily cheeked Aaron Sherritt's contemplated treachery. Ho had ridden I straight from our cavern stronghold to Beechwor.h. Intending to supply S-upertn- j tendon I Nicholson with all the details! necessary to procure our apprehension, but hearing from a hush telegraph that we were i out and what we were doing, he turned aside and made all speed to his own house al Sebastopol. On our return journey to our stronghold in the Warby Ranges, we sighted no fewer than four different police parties, and we passed quite close to two armed camps. On each occasion we avoided our would-be , captors with the utmost ease and passed I them unperooived. ~ur superior busboraft i enabling us more than once to steal close enough to listen to the policemen's conversation without permitting them to suspect . our presence in the neighbourhood. These j experiences showed us plainly that from ; the police themselves we had little to fear, > I and that our only real danger lay iv being '- | .betrayed by those who knew our haunts * j and habits. "Our reign," said Ned, as we ' I left .he police camp, "must be a reign of ' | terror commingled with bribery. We must 1 make those we cannot fully trust afraid to I betray us. and we must make ihose we do ■ trust and must trust so confident of our " bounty that they will have no great Inclination i" betray us." I "An excellent idea." commented Byrne, but how are we to bribe and be bounteous "We must get money," said Ne<£ II "Ah! And how?" "I'.y robbery!" * I "Hurrah for Dick Turpin!" cried Steve. ! But Ned smiled contemptuously. "Tkere are no fat bishops and aldermen to p'stol " of their purses in these ranges." he der dared. "No. my friend, the Dick Turpin act won't do for us. We'd starve on It in a week." "Whirl do you propose then?" 11 Ned drew up his horse on the crest of a 1 spur and pointed over the hills. "Down * the.--.' said he. "are several thriving little :1 towns. Each town has a bank. Each '' bank has a stronaroom full of gold and '' silver. In a little while we are going te '■ ride down upon one of those towns—stick I i. up- seize the bank and take away everj '■■ copper we can lay our hands upon. Weill" 'I'll,, daring of the idea left us all breath •s |e S s for a moment. Houses we had "stud ~' „,'," hcfo.c. one nt a time-- but a town .1 Presently .in ex.-ited discussion was raging II i,,,| ii did not last long. Ned curtly ie informed us that he had made up his mim s. and rode or,. Joe Byrne and Steve liar s loudly protested acainsl such autocrat!. v tr, a linen t. but when 1 reminded them tha c N|..l was the captain and that we had a! ,' v vowed lo obey him. they swallowed thei v resentment and the journey was resumed '.' I--,,,- lh" rest of that day we were a silen ~,.,,,y. Ned held himself aloof from us alwiivs keeping far in the lead, and b« se ; '' '„ ~..,,.,, that did i" l ' Fllil with conversation We re-iclieil the cave at dusk and foun. ' mv married sister. Mrs. Skillian. awailim "' :i ..in- arrival will, a large bag of fresh bake : '" i. read which she had brought on horseback '" She told us that she had paid two visits i " ih- civ* while we had been away, and tha '■*' she had b.-'-n dreadfully afraid lest we ha "* be. r, e,ipt"red. She lemiined to take te "•' with ..<= and impar'cd a considerable bur kfl ger of news. All over the Kelly ronntr h e the police had been doubled, and in som cc 1 places trebled in strength Supeiltttwulen

Nicholson had taken supreme control of the opeiatious, and every day fresh constables arrived by train from Melbourne. Not a member of the Kelly clan but was held under strict surveillance. There was a police camp near our home at Greta; and police parties led by black trackers were scouring the district in all direciions both night and day. She said that the public-bouses and provision stores were driviug a roaring trade owing to the large police requirements, and that even such small storekeepers as were disaffected towards the Kellys hoped for nothing so much as thai we should continue to evade arrest for ever in older that they might continue doing such excellent business. She further told us that there was very little c danger ..f the police venturing far into the mountains in pursuit of us. The fate of Sergeant Kennedy had instilled into their hearts such a fear of being ambushed that r they were not likely lo leave the foothills, and their policy was to wait until we I should be driven by impatience or starvation into the open country. In other words they aspired to besiege us. The idea of a f force no more, at ihe outside, than three L huudred strong hoping effectively to besiege and guard all the countless outlets of * the wild chain of ranges which we occupied appeared so ridiculous that we were all moved to mirth. l'.cf.u'e my sister departed Ned carefully instructed her in several matters of concern to the gang. He wished the idea to be fostered throughout the district that Sergeant Kennedy and his party had been killed in fair fight. He dir.-c.ed her. how- ' ever, to let all ihe more distant fnimers and settlers know that as loug as they | kept still tongues about the Kellys, and refrained from giving information to the ' police, their cattle aud crops would be respected and held under the protection of, the sane: and he also told her to set all ' the bush telegraphs in the elan ai work warning the count.yslde that Ned Kelly had sworn to be the death of any civilian ' who might try. however secretly, to assist ' in our arres. for the sake of the Government reward. llis linal man.late made us all stare. "Tell everyone you meet, my girl." he said, "that the Kellys are the friends of the poor, and that any man in sore need of money who takes ihe .rouble to lei Kale or yourself know of his 'oondilion will have his wants relieved before one month from date." My sister was the only person who did not seem surprised. She nodded gaily and declared it was the I best message of all. and that she knew It was a promise Ned would keep. "And how do you expect him to keep it?" I demanded Byrue. I "By sticking up a bank, of course." she flashed, and a moment later she was gone. Ned turned to ns with a smile. "You i sec. even the women expect us to do somej thing big." he said, drily. We had nothing Ito reply. We turned in. Ned sat before I the fire smoking and thinking. About the j middle of the night some noise woke mc. llt was the howling of a dingo. Sitting up : 1 saw that Ned had not shifted his posii tlon. His pipe was still afume. but 1 could I not see his face. "Ned." I whispered, "aren't you going to rest at all to-night?" jHe beckoned mc over the lire. 1 got up softly and approached him. but he rose . and retreated into the darkness, still j beckoning. "What is it. Ned?" I whispered, when He jat length stopped. I "It's yon." he muttered, huskily. "I've i led you- into this. I'm responsible for it all. and you're only a kid. You're hardly seventeen." "Ned," I gasped, "you are crying. Ohl Ned!" He broke down completely. "I've made a murderer of you," he sobbed. "I've set the hangman's rope around your neck— ime that nursed you as a baby. Oh, God: oh. God." It Is a pain to recollect the ghastly little tragic farce that followed—the long vain struggle to excuse by self-accusing; the agony of remorse that racked us both, our futile attempts at consolation, our final despair, and out resolve to die iv order to avoid further crimes. We drew lots and Ned lost. We kisspd each other solemnly and he pnt the muzzle of his pistol to my brow. "God forgive us both." he I said, and pulled the trigger. The cap | flashed and I thought myself dead, but the cartridge had failed to explode. I sank back half-swooning against a rock. Once | more Nod raised the pistol, but my courage had gone. "No. no," I gasped. "Let us live—l can't, I'm not fit to die." And Ned was for once a coward too. He found a sign from Heaven in the ill-made cartridge, and with a hand that trembled he flung . pistol and cartridge down the gorge. Then Iwe realised the dawn had come and were >! ashamed; and we crept nack to the sleepi ing camp, afraid to look upon each other, :; for we knew that we had shrunk from a ~ task we should have carried through (Continued weekly.)