CAPTURING A CONVICT.

Bush Advocate, Volume XI, Issue 863, 25 November 1893, Page 5

CAPTURING A CONVICT.

o " Convict's escaped !" ; •« Oh— when ?" " Last night. Didn't you hear the j guns 5" I had not heard them. I don t think that • Tad had. heard them, cither. We had not ; gone to bed with tho intention of lying awake to listen to guns. We sat down to broakfast, Ted and I, thinking rather of the food in front of ns thanof the unfortunate or fortunate individual -who, acoording to our landlord, had quitted Prinoetown prison, in the small hours of the -morning, without first going through the form of obtaining his host's permission. But the landlord was full of the subject. He went on talking while we went on eating. " They'll catok him, safe enough. I've leen here a few years, and I've Been a few of 'em escape, I tell you. But I've never known one that wasn't brought baok yet. You see, there's five pounds to anyone who gives ihe screws the offioe — they oall the warders • screws, ' them ohaps up here. So pretty near everyone's hand's against them. And thoa Princetown isn't like Millbank. You can't drop over tho wall and find a pal waiting for you round the corner. It's when they're out that their troubles bogin. They don't know their way about Dartmoor any more than they know their way about the moon." Mr Pethiok paused to take in a little broath. So Tea asked a question: "Have _you heard who it is haß got away?" Air Petbick winked. *' They keep that dark just at firat, you know. They like to lay their hands upon .liim before anybody gets to know who it is has tried to slip his collar. But I was told it' was a 'lifer' — a ohap who, if he'd got Jus rights, would havo been hung. I shouldn't be surprised if he made a bit of a fight for it before he lets them lay their hands on him." Ted Lane and I were staying at a certain little inn within two miles of Princetown Prison, whioh is not unknown to brethren of the rod and the line, and of tho palette and the brush. It stands juat at the junotion of -tha tiny stream which they call the River Cowsiok with the River Dart ; in the hoart -of a oountry which, at least in summer, is as beautiful as it is wild. We had gone there ostensibly to sketoh, but wo had done a little fishing, and to tell the truth, I don't think -we had done muoh of either. I was a lazy mau in those days. I don't know that I am muoh moro hard-working now. But that particular day we had planned a ten-mile walk over the moor— ten miles out -and ten miles horne — to Erme Head. And if we felt in the mood, and not too lazy, and that sort of thing, we had vaguo intentions -of pushing on to Red Lake, about a mile farther on. It was good walking weather, a clear sky overhead, and ju3t breeze enough to keep one oool ; and I need scarcely observe that *we did not allow the faot of a man having escaped from the convict establishment atthe top of tho hill to make any alteration in our plans. The man, however, seemed to be running ia Mr Pethiok' s mind. There is not muoh to talk abont at Two Bridges except the -weather, and an escape from Princetown is undoubtedly an event. " You are sure to meet him," our landlord remarked, as we set out. I will only hint that if I had only been as sure of this as our host professed to be, at least one of theso pedestrians would have stayed at home. 4L am not at all sure that tho stay-at-homes would not havo extended to two. I am not athief-catoher. I had no desire to earn five pounds by what Mr Pethiok had termed "giving the 'screws' the 'offioe.".' As for the members of the criminal olasses, Ihave alwaya felt that the less I have to do with them, the better I am ploaeed. I do not know how it is with the other men. It has always been that way with me. And I am ■tire — on that point there oannot bo the slightest possible doubt I— that if I had -anticipated having an interview, in the re- . -motest and most secluded fastnesses of wild Dartmoor, with a gentleman who wonld have been hung " if ha had had his rights," I, for one, should have postponed that little exour*ion sine dis. Indeed, I should not have minded if it had never oome cff at all. Ted l*ne, however, gave me the impression that -be was not of my way of thinking. I am that if you had listened to the remarks whioh be made as we -went along — casnal remarks, as it ■ware — you would have supposed, as I supposed at the time, that nothing would given him greater pleasure than to capture, or recapture, all tha inmates of Princetown Prison single-handed. Nor do I deny thnt I •might have dropped a hint, a distant hint, that under certain circumstances I should do, or endeavor to do, my duty to my •Queen and to my oountry. But when Ted 3L»ne declared, as he since has declared, that I said that 1 should be only too glad, five pounds or no five pounds, to have a ohance of taking the blood-stained villain hy the throat, and •*! scrunching the Ufa right out of him 1" he libels me. I hope and 1 believe, in faot I know, that I would " gorunoh the lifo " out of no man, whether convict or, so to speak, layman. ,We had_ gone five milea, it may be ; perbaps a little mora, beoause we had passed For Tor. VVe were not talking about oon>viots — nothing of tha kind. We wero in the -middle of a discussion about the Whistlerian theories of art, when I turned round, the -better to get a light to my pipe. As I turned I caw, or thought I saw,' someone or •something drop down behind a hillock some two hundred yards a waj. But as I continued to look steadily in that direction and saw nothing and no one, I concluded that I was •mistaken, and that soma chance object had deceived my eye. Having lit my pipe, I rejoined Lane, who had gone on and was a few yards ahead. We resumed the thread of our discussion ; but as wo argued I could not rid myself of the impression that, after all, I might not have been mistaken, and that someone had dropped •down_ behind thb hillock. To make quite mre, l glanced backwards, over my shoulder. .As I did so I crave an exclamation. *' What's tha matter ?" inquired Ted. I had stood still and turnod. Ho also stood still and tamed. "It's very queer," I said, "but I oould "bave sworn that I saw comebody peeping ever tha top of that hillock." . " Whioh hillookr " That one— with the patch of gorse at the aide." Ted looked in the direction in which I •pointed. " There's nothin*? there." It was trno that thero was nothing therejust then; but if there had not been something there a moment before, then I had been ■t-fee victim of an optical delusion, and of an optical delusion of a curious kind. But for .some reason, on which I need not dwell, I 4id not altogether relish the idea of there being someone in tliat wild place who, while ie was anxious to look at us, was oven more anxious that wa ahould not look at him. So I did not think it worth while to inßist that I could searcaly hava been twice deceived in broad daylight, in such a very singular manner. Ted went on talking in his light-hearted •way. "Yon wars dreaming, my dear follow." We recommenced his forward maroh. "In whistler's portrait of his mother " My thoughts wore not with Whistler's portrait of hw mother. They wero behind my back. As Ted went prosing on, I gave •another glance over my shoulder. What I *aw— well ! I do not wish to use exaggerated -language, so I wiU not say that it made my , Wood run oold, but Ido affirm that it did not i increase my sense of comfort. I saw that a man was foUowing us, as it seemed to me, , Hpon his hands and knees. He must have i been on the alert, because directly I | looked roHnd ha dropped down, so that he lay oonoealed among tfie fernß and grasses i Bnt I had seen him, though he might not think it. Upon that point I had no ' •doubt. ' I was at a loss as to what was the best t -course to pursue. lam aware thatit may c rfeem obvious enough on paper. I can only ' •1179}

state that I did not find it quite so obvious in faot, lam not a fighting man, and wh-it , is more, I nev-ar have been. 1 do not know , that that is anything to bo ashamed of, though, to Listen to come people, aud to some ostensibly respectable people, yon would tbinkthatitwas. There is nothing I objeot to so muoh as a row: and iv fact, although I may be an artist, I am a peace-loving and peaoe-abiding citizen. And I defy even a cross-examining barrister to prove that I am otherwise. After a few moments of what I will call inward meditation, I gathereu myself together, moistened my lips, and said, "Ted!" ' ' Yes ?" He looked at me. I suppose he saw that there was something in my faco. *. •' What's up I" " Keep cool, old man." " Keep cool ! What do you moan V I oaught his arm. " Done turn. Perhaps it would be as well not to let him think we ccc him." "See him? See whom?" " Keep cool. Don't get excited, Ted." I dropped my voice to what I have seen described as a " lurid " whisper. " Tlie gentleman who escaped from Princetown last night is juat behind. He's following us." I used the word " gentleman" advisedly ; because, although, of oouree, I knew that he oould not hear what we were saying, still I did not wish him even to think that wo were using towards him the language of discourtesy. I had not imagined that my observation would have the effect it did havo upon Ted Lane. He pulled up short. "Don't stop," I said. "Don't let him think we've noticed him." I Ted went on again, as ifc seemed to me, a I little hurriedly. " You're sure it's the man f" " Quite sure." " Where iB he?" '"I don't kno w whore he is now. When I just looked back he was rather more, perhaps, than fifty yards behind us." "Fifty yards? That all? Why is ho following ub 1" " I'm sure I don't know why he's following us. I say, Ted, I wish you wouldn't walk so fast. 1 can scarcely keep up with yon." "I'm not walking fast." I did not ses how he could walk muoh faster, unless he ran. But I said nothing. I did my best to keep at his sido. After we had walked a dozea or twenty yards at the rate of about seven miles an hoar, Ted gasped out : — * ' What sort of a man is he 2" " I didn't see. I only just had a poep afc him." " Look, here he is!" " Then don'tgo tearing off like that." I caught him by the arm, to make suro that he did not walk on and leave me behind. I glanced behind. As I did so I uttered an cxolamation. What I saw was enouah to make any man exclaim. A truculent-looking scoundrel, apparently about eight feet hieh, attired in ths hideouß costume of a conviot, was striding after us as if ho wero in possession of the seven league boots, and was wearing thorn just then. My exclamation oaused Ted to look behind him. When he saw that murderous-looking monster hearing down upon us in a manner whioh inevitably suggested a bloodthirsty pirate bearing down upon an inoffensive trading oraft, Ted tore his arm out of my grasp, and, without giving me the slightest hint of what his intentions were, made off as fast as his legs wonld oarry him. When that conviot saw that Ted had taken to his heels, ho took to his, and, of course, when he took to his heels, I also took to mino. "Stop!" I cried to Ted. "Don't run away from the man." I protest that I shouted thii: with tho full foroe of my lungs, although— in this way is history told — Ted denies that I did so to this hour. I had no idea that Ted Lane could run so fast. He simply flow over the ground. AU I did was to try and catch him, and 1 need soaroely observe, I had to strain every nerve if I wished to have a ohance of dome that. As for that conviot, no sooner had the procession started, than that audacious villain gave utterance to an ear-piercing yell, which must have been audible all the wayto Princetown. When* that sonnd fell upon Ted Lane's ear, he stood, if possible, still less upon the order of his going, even than before. He tore offi the_ light knapaaok whioh held hia sketch-book, his palette, .and his lunch, and oost it to the winaß. When he let his knapsack go, of courae I let mino go, too. But, merely on that account, it is absurd to suppose that I was running away from theman behind. I repeat tiiat my sole desire was to aateh Ted Lane, who was in front. And how could I expeot to be able to catch him if I was mote heavily weighted than he was? That conviot, instead of pausing as he might have been expected to do, to see what the knapsacks contained, oame on, if anything, faster than before. He moved sa much faster than I did that I already seemed to feel his outstretched hand upon my oollar, which is a sufficient refutation of tho ridiculous suggestion that, in the true sense of the words, I was running away from him. So, as it was ploinly a case of at onco ot never, I increased my already almost superhuman efforts to catoh Ted Lane. I gained upon him, perceptibly, iiich by mch — though seldom was a man more winged by fear than he was then. I almoßt had him. In another second we should have been side by side, when my foot caught against some obstacle on the uneven turf, and I fell headforemost to the ground. Whafc is the most natural thing for a man to do whon he finds that he is falling ? To try to save himself by catohing hold of something. No matter what— anything that is within his reaoh. That is what I did. And therefore I soy that, under the circumstances, Ted Lane's simulated indignation is simply nonsense. When I felt myself going, I did the most natural thing in the world— l made a snatoh at something. I suppose it is not my fault if Ted Lane's leg was the only thing there was to snatch. I presume that even Ted Lsne himself will not venture to suggeßt that I put hia leg where it was. Nor, when I touched his leg, if he chose to go sprawling forward on to his faoe, was that any affair of mine. Anyhow, he did go forward. And there we both of us lay. • " So I've Rot you !" This observation was made in -**. tone of voioe whioh induced me, after a short interval for reflection, to look round. The speaker was the gentleman— but why should I write ' ' gentleman ?" I will write it plainly. The speaker was the unmitigated ruffian who had escaped from Princetown Gaol. I sat up, feeling a little out of sorts. In my sanguine way, I imagined that the time had not yet passed for peaceful overtures. So I spoke to the fellow as I would have Bpoken to an ordinary Chiittian. "Good-day! Warm weather for walk--IDgt , " I'll make it warmer for you before I've done.'' That was what the crime-stained wretch replied. Yet, suoh was the extent and fulness of my Christian oharity, still I did not wish him to look upon us as his natural enemies. • '\Y° a nee< * no * k* 3 afraid of us, my dear sir, ' I remarked, in that friendly and affable way I have. "AVo havo a fellow foeling for a fellow oreature in distress, and rather than re-consign you to the dungeons .which you appear to havo so recontly quitted " " Afraid of yon !" ho "yelled. He cave a whoop which would havo done credit to a Red Indian on the war-path. He also bounded about four feet from tho ground. "I am Jim Slim, the Camden Town murderer. I havo slain nine people with this right hand — seven womon, three men, and a boy." His arithmetic reminded me of a dining-room waiter's but that is what he Baid. " And why should I not add you to the number of tlia slain 1" This inquiry waa suoh a peculiar one, even proceeding from am csoaped convict in the middle of Dartmoor, that I was induced to look more carefully at tho spoaker. He was •juita worth looking at, from tho point of view jf the people who derive satisfaction from gazing at the ladies and gentlemon in the " Boom of H-srrora.

A more horrible and malignant-looking scoundrel I never saw. lam not prepared to state what wore hiß exact measurements in inches, bat he was certainly head and shoulders taller than Inm. I should say, if ive had beon placed rear to rear, that the top of my head would have reached somowhere about tho middle of his back. And, what is more, ho was moro than broad iv proportion. But he was not only a dreadful object as regards his physical configuration, but, if the thing was possible, his attire lent to his appearance an added charm. He was, ot course, clad in convict's clothing, but, although one does not expect that ylothing to be " cut in Savilo Row, ono certainly does expect to see about it some sort of a St. For instance, one does not expect to sco a man 01, say, seven foot in a suit of clothes which would not be large enough for a man of thtee foot six. The hideous miscreant in front of us had been crammed into garments which bad apparently boen intended for his iufant brother. I don't know, but I had always supposed that they provided even convicts •with boots or shoes. This individual hud neither. He had on a pair of stockings, tlio whole of which was scarcely large enough to contain his feet. His knickerbockers stopped short about ten inches abovo his knees. Thoy looked more liko curtailed bathing dra-.vors, of novel dosign and pattern, than any othor garment I ever saw. Ho had apparently cut them open at back to induce them to meet in front, and the result was singular. He had cut his jacket open at tho seams to enable him to get into it. Between the bottom ot that garment and tho top of his knickerbockers was a vacant space of about two feefc. This was pcantily covered by the ragged remnants of a parti- colored shirt. No waistcoat was visible to the naked eye. As for hat or cap, perhaps the gentleman had come away so hastily that he had forgotten to bring that with him. I fob, that if that is the costume in which a grateful country attires her criminals honesty may bo tho hotter policy, after all. Whilo Ted and I recarded the guiltsmirched scoundrel with eyes of wonder and admiration, he plunged his hand into the bosom of what, 1 presume, was intended for hii shirt. When that hand reappeared it held what I have Been described as a " shooting-iron.'' A revolver was flashed in our faces. It only needed that to make the situation perfect. " What shall I do with you?" he dej mandtd, in a manner which, so far as I was concerned, required no reply whatever. j Ted, however, seemed to think otherwise. I "I haven't brought much monoy with me : , but so far as half a sovereign is concerned " Half-sovereign mo no half-sovereign !'' Ted ducked. He appeared to be under the impression — which, I am bound to own, I shared — that the ideal candidato for Falataiffl ragfjedre.siment was about to "take a shot" at him. Our new acquaintance, however, restrained his zeal. "My dear sir," oried Ted, " don't fire! I assure you that my sympathy is yours. 1 have always boen oonseious that a gentleman in your position may be, it all woro known, a better man " " Sympathy mo no sympathy !" (Another duck from Ted.) " What I want," yelled the stranger, aa if he were addressing a meeting in Hyde Park, " is clothes!" I felt that this was true ; indeed, we both of us felt that this was true. But none tho less, Aye were not prepared for what immediately followed. " Take off your coat !" Ted choße to take the request as being addressed to him. " I am afraid you will find my coat too small foryou." "Tho two of you take off your coats. I will sow them both togother." The proposition did not commend itself to me as being of a practicable kind, nor as one whioh was likely to lead to a satisfactory result. I did not sco how ho proposed to provide himself with a well-fitting garment even whon the two coatß wore sewn together. Howevor, as Tod took off his coat, of courso I took oil' mine. I had always regarded that mau as my friend, and I was not going to desert bim then. l hare some consideration for claims of friendship, whatever other men may have. " Take offyour waistcoats," was tho next demand. . Here Ted made a stand ; not such a stand as I should have made — still, he made a stand. " You roally must excuse me, my dear sir, but if you wouldn't mind " " Scrip !" roared the stranger. And— woll, I may say, in fact, I do say it, without tho slightest hesitation, that if Tod had not stripped first, I should not have Btripped ; I should have remonstrated with that ruthless ruffian. I should havo pointed out to him that there areciroumstanoos whioh an escaped convict ought to consider oven in the centre bf Dartmoor. I should have dono this in a manner which would have commended itself to his sense of what was rieht and what was wrong. But, as I have already pointed out, I am not a man to desert a friend, especially in the hour of his need. So, when Ted stripped, I stood to him, shoulder to shoulder, and I stripped, too. I must confess, though, that I did not understand why ho would not allow us to keop our cocks. Even if he had sewn the two pairs together he would not have been ablo to get into Ihem. And as for our shoes, the idea of his over being able to wear them was simply ridiculous. But no, ho would not even allow us to koep a pocl;othaudkerchief. He would only allow us to keep our hats. And that was absurd. A man cannot do muohintheway of outdoor exeroiso if ho only has a hat on. The thim? would make the absence of the rest of his apparel more marked than ever. " " Take six steps to the left," obsorved the stranger. Wo took six steps to the left ; or, rather, Tid took six steps to the left, and, of course, I followed him. I nevor would desert a friend. When we had taken sax steps to the left, the stranger tucked my clothes under ono arm and Ted's clothes under the other. He turned iiway. Ho disappeared among tbe heather down a winding path which led, wiih a -sharp descent, to some lower ground upon the right. I will not attempt to describe the feelings with whioh we watched him disappear. We waited for him to reappear. But we waited in vaiu. We saw nothing more of him, or of our clothes. We spent tho greater parfc of that day, in the heart of Dartmoor, with "nodingson" except our hats. And what is oven a Lincoln and Bennett wben you have no other garments with whioh to keep that article in countenance f

n. " Stand ! or we firo I " This was tho agreeable observation wbioh was udilreifccd to us from the rear, whon wo bad become moro than a littlo tired of wandering about a rough and a ruggod and a thorny country in a state of arcadian simplicity. Our lirst impression waa that the gentleman -who bad replenished hiß wardrobe at the oipenso of oura, aftor carefully considering tho matter, deßired the pleasure of our further acquaintance. Perhaps ho had corae baok aftor our hats. Cut our first impression was a mistaken one, as wo perceivod when wo looked behind us. A little distance off stood a small group of warders evidently a search party from the prison. Their (--ans were ra j se a t __ 0 _ T Bhouldars, uud the muzzles were pointed in our direotiou, with evident and obviom intent. J3ut we had no objeotion to " stand." Not tho slightest. We had already boen standing for some time, chiefly beoause we had experienced a difficulty in sitting or lying on tho pricldy turf with " nodings on." Ab the warders advanced they stared at us with unmistakable and increasing surprise, whiah conduct, on their part, was not altogether without excuse. In front of thorn walked a superior offioer, perhaps a " chief" warder, or something— l don't know : I have myself notyst " done time." At his side was an individual who, as he was attired in tho ordinary costumo of every day lifo, was apparently, a civilian. When he had oome close enough to make quite sure that our attire was

represented by a minug quantity, he addressed j lis : — " Who are you ; and what are you walking about like that for ? " We told him who wo were. We also told him why wo were walking about_ like that. Wo explained, with a certain dignity, that wo had encountered the gentleman ho was in search of, and that lie hai relieved u-j of what wo would charitably hope ho had supposed to be our superfluities. That officer's surprise, for somo occult reason, appeared to increaso rather than to diminish. \ " You don't mean to say that you two men allowed & littlo man like that to strip you both stark-naked V" Littlo man ! I don't know what he called j a little man. I pointed out to him, with sarcastic and even cutting emphasis, that a man seven foot six could be only called "littlo" ie a land tf giantfl. " Seven foot six ! Why, ho scarcely tops fivo foot." Searcelv topped five foot! Then that was the most "liberal five foot I over yet encountered. 1 said so. Tho individual who was attired in civilian costume interposed ; — " If the man thoso gentlemen are speaking of was unusually tall, it is possiblo that it was Mr Mogford. and if so " He got no further; because jußt then there came sauntering out from among the gorse and the heather " Jim Slim, the Camdou Town murdere* ." Hia appearance created a sonsation. Hia costume, in particular, soemo.d to occasion almost as much surpriso as ours had done. He carried under each arm a bnudle of clothing. Ted Lane aad I recognised those bundles without a moment's hesitation. The fellow had been wise enough not to attempt to clothe himself with our belongings. With an air of tho most perfect tranquility he approached the group of warders. Then ho stretched out, his 'arm, letting Ted's garments tumble to the ground, and he shook the civilian by the hand. "How do, Pierce?" ho observed. "I'm Jim Slim, the Camdeu Town murdeier." Ho said he was— but he wasn't. There have been moments since then when I have utmost wished ho had been. The man was a lunatio — in a legal, not merely in a colloquial sense. His name was Mogford. He was residing, for tho benefit of his health, in a cottago, somewhere— l cannot say exactly where ; I nevor knew,_ but somewhere upon Dartmoor. The individual in oivilian clothes. Mr Pierce, was his keeper, Mr Mogford had risen at a very early hour that morning, and unknown_to his keeper, gone out upon the moor, ne had not been heard of sinoe. Mr Pierco was looking for hira when he had encountered the search party from the prison. That lunatio, Mogford, had met that conviot, who was probably then in the first ardor of his flight. The chaste beauty of the flying convict's costume had filled his lunatio soul with longing. He had insisted upon a change of clothing. What that conviot thought of the transaction hißtory does not record. Although the fit must have left something to be desired, he probably needed but slight coeroion. Mr Mogford, having got himßclf in— and very muoh in — his new garments, somehow, felt himself bound to aot_ up to his attire. Comin? upon us he had insisted not exactly upon another exchange, but upon rank robbery. I have heard it whispered sinco that my oonduct on that oooasion did not exactly merit the cross for valor. I havo'even heard it insinuated that it showed rank cowardice for two men to allow one man to strip them to the skin. That sort of observation merely denotes inexperience. If you go to tho United States, that great country, you will iind that a couple of mon with "shooters" can, and do, " hold-up" a whole train full of passengers, aud among them mon ot' valor. I beg to observe, with emphasis, and without hestitation, that it is only when ton milea away from anywheroyou meet a bloodthirsty, blood-guilty, gigantio, murderous, truculent, rockless ruffian, who haß everything to win and nothing to loso, and wbo is in possession of a revolver whioh he ahowß overy intontion of using on the slightest possible pretext, that you lrarn what force of persuasion there is in a certain kind of argument. Ted Lane may have been a coward. I wish it to be understood that I cay nothing to the contrary. For myselt, I spurn the palty suggestion with the withering contempt whioh it deserves. — "Strand Magazine."