AUSTRALIAN BUSHRANGING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12551, 3 January 1903, Page 10

AUSTRALIAN BUSHRANGING

,':, Bx CHARLES WHITE.

■- ']- '!,- [All Rights Reserved.] ", I' "' •;.' JACK ; '. Prom the very. first of Gardiner's, road adventures in the West -he- associat«l in the police and press reports with another notorious criminal named Picsley, who was also, an old Cockatoo hand.', Piesley had Men sent to Cockatoo,for cattle-stealing, or ; a similar offence, and : had either flscapwl .before his sentence had. expired or been released on a "tieket-of-leave, as was Gardiner. ; He returned^'to where his parents livctl, in the Abererombie' district. During the years 1860-1 many robb'erics (mostly of travellers) 'were perpetrate*! oil the roads in.,the Goulburn, Abercroiribio,. Cowra, and Lambing Flat districts, ; and Piesley_ was generally credited with them. Sometimes the "stick-■ing-up" was done by one man, at-other times by three, or'four, but whether singly or'in company, the- bushrangers always succeeded' in "clearing out" their victims .without meeting violent resistance, as well ■as in keeping, out;' of. sight oE. tho, police. •The' day-after onff.vobbcry they .would be heard of as having committed another scores of miles; awav,. perhaps in an altogether different distriot.- > As- I have already, stated, at the time, of the encounter between Gardiner and the .two. policemen at" Fogg's, the.gcneral im-' pressioii was that Piesley was not far .off, and! that Gardiner had simply left him at a friend's house;- while he went, to have, a yarn with his old partner, so that Hosie's story "found ready acceptance. But; Piesley always denied that he: had anything to do with" rescuing Gardiner, and stoutly maintained that- Fogg-had bought his release by giving -Hosief50 to.let him go. ':So indignant \ns the ■biwhranffer at the rliarge niado. against him that N :from bis bidingplacri in the Abernrn'mbie he wrote'a letter to-the Bathnrst Free 'Prcs emnliatically denying it. This was dated " Fish River, • September i, 1E61," and ran as follows:— To'the Editor of.the Bnthurst, Free Press aud i . • ' Mining Journal. •• ' Sir,—Yon will no. doubt be surprised to receive a note fromHlio (now by all account?) noted Piesley;' but," sirjthrough your A-p'.uable paper I must makn' it known that, if it be my lot to be taken, whether dead or alive, I will )iever be fried for Iho rescue of G-rmlinor, in the light in which it is represented,; nor did I ever fire ot Trooper Hpsie* And such I wish to be known, that it-is in my p;owc r to prove what I here assert, and;that beyond a doubt. I am no doubt n desperado in the eyes of the law, but never, in 110 instance, did I ever, use violence, nor did I ever tue rudeness <o'any of jhe fair sex, imd I must certainly be the Invisible Prino to commit one-tenth of. what is liljd jo my- charge. And, sir. I bee to state that it is throntrh persons'jn high posiiiors'ihat I how make this assertion, and I'trnst I may never have' to allude to it again. I love my native hills, I ,'ovo fi-coinm and deict crnntty to'man,or beast. Trusting you'will publish this, my bold letter no doubt, but you-can be assured it comes from tli'e re?.l John Piesley, and not any of his many representatives. • I am, 111 Editor, your much harassed • .-/... . ■ writer, : . . Jons Pir.si.EV.

• Picsley f,:lt. sn i!»cply ori the subject, that be reiterated his< denial on the' scaffold in Bathurst Gaol in April of the following year, while the .hangman was standing by. In, the latter part of If6o the mail coach was being leisurely *ivcu on iteovay from Guridagai'to Yf-c-s, having only the mail bags and a few pn reels ""on board,"- when thi; driver was startled out, of a deep reverie by hearing a sudden and peremptory demand to ""pu'l un." He obeyed with' alacrity/and .on. looking in'the.direction from which the voice had proceeded raw two mounted.-men.'with firearms presented'towards him. One of'them went to'the heads of the horses while the other -enlled upon, the driver to dismount. This order he'-'also obeyed, apd was promptly covered" bv a pistol, while the other'robber lifted the bags out of the coach and strapped them on his horse. Havintr eneiired all they- wanted —the iling. containing newspapers Vns c««t aside—the bushvanCTrs 'told ihe driver he copld resume his seat, and while hn was j,gathering np the reins 'fl'ev rode off with their booty. The description of one of them answered to that of Picsley.'and the impression that he. and a mate of his were the robbers was s'rcnsthetwt.'when the driver described tlm hordes they'wore riding as "upstanding bnvs." As Won ar'the lopat police were informed thev started.,ivit in puruiit. bn f (ho Tnbhfrs had'..vanished from the locality, carrvini; the''bags" arid thMr content?, away .with the|n. '.A few'days afterwards the two men on bay horses were h»nrrl of ni "l-eopine; the road", between Lambing Flat (n'r."Burr.)rifrit) ar'KCowr.",' ivJiicb'rf Miat! tiroij ivir "elivo' With .travellers nn their' road -'tp '{jfe ".diggings'- or rcfiirning. For a'couple-rif days thev robbed a'l ' and s'undvv who chanced to come within hailing distance. Even bullock drivers were' "bailed up" and made to' hand over whatever money they had. -One of tV*p who Was returning--from (hi .Flat with his emptv dray after havinc delivered a load, of irco'ds m that then (hrivinc canvas township, was eased of all bis earplugs most ously. Carrying in thow davs was a lne.r.itive emnlovnient. and not a fety eases conM be eited of.men. row wealthy, who laid the foundation of t!»"r' fortunes; 03- lnrd. wnrkimr teamsters. This man. bed C4?'>in his pocket, every penny of which h«was enmoelled in band over. Leaving- him tn his sorrowful meditations the robbers passed on, and next' caine a"ro>s a company of six men. hound-fo* the dicrrings. with swags'on their back=. Piesley stood guird over th"m with levelled revolver; whil" bis cimnanion made each In turn empiv his no'clrets, getting about £10 between them.' On the same day a solitary jlraegler. Hi» who 1" nt whose wealthy in money consisted of eighteen., pence, was also stonncd,/ and the robbers took from him every copper. Another' team-itc- returning with' an empty rlriiy io' Bathurst bad a narrow escape of losing ]m monev. He h?d earned between. SW and .f.iO on tlm ,trin ; - and this he wranned un in the folds of'au o'd comfort"r wh'eh he were round his neck: Whon the bnsbrani;er< demandn:! his mon"y he handed over the ko.w silver wln'eh he had in his pockets, protesting'that he had nn other'money, and they did not dream of ..sesvehing• the,■ cre»sy-looking woollen wrap which protected his throat.

One travnller, who was on his road home to *he -Bat'.uirst di«triet. escaped .their clutches, nnd made the best me of his escape. Keeling the conch, 'which' was crowded with 'nwn([er» for the Flat,- he gave warning that bushrangers were, about, and tbe_ passengers at once set about secreting their money and valuables under the seats and in'other narts of the vehicle; but thev were not molested on that journey— perh;ms'because in number they looked too forovidaWe.. For four davs tho two men ■pursued their work of "bailing up," and then the'police arrived: upon .the scene— as "flial, just a day ton late.*

.They now, made back by the old Laehhvn road for the'Abererombie, where one.of f-hem at least .had relatives, sympathisers. and friends. On their way they called at Gheshirels Inn, near O'nloola, ■ for, drinks, and at night, rc-visilcd the house and bailed: up. the inmates,, while, one of ,t.he party searched the premises in quest of spoil. From some, diggers they took two revolvers j. from'a Mr Pnto'n, who had £17. hut managed to. drop £15.nf the s amount whilst being ] e d from the kitchen,to the front part: o£'the house, they got- a poor £?. Another person was there who, it bad been reported, wanted a wife. The robbers took two. shillings from him. but learning y.'ho-it was. thev gave him his money.baek attain; saving that as he wanted'.a. wife they would not deprive him of. the,:rneanß of obtaining, one. He said he "did not w:ant a wife, but he would like a niece of the liquorice that liad been taken from'one of the party. The-rogue who .had possession of the article referred to immediately cut it iio and distributed it among the company. The. robbers' then shouted for all. hands, paid the scor.e, and took their departure. There were po police in the locality to disturb the. roadrhep, and some days elapsed before the police in the Tuenii district heard that Piesley was again in the neighbourhood. . ' .

..But while the news was travelling the bushrangers..were ; travelling also.- They, had cut across country to the southern side, .and caused a, sensation bv "sticking up" the mail■■■ ■ betwocn .Rimdaßai aiicl Yass, ohposihg a .-'.dark nieht for the purpose, They had compelled the driver'to dismount fromf his seat and stand at the roadside with the passengers, and were in the. act of ripping open the mail bass to search for money.letters, when some police rode up, on their way to the station at Yass. As soon as the. bushrangers discovered that the horsemen approaching were not .ordinary travel-' lers they abandoned their spoil, .mounted, their horses, and beat a hasty retreat into the bush. The astonished troopers at once \onk in the position and gave chase, but police'horses'never yet have proved* match foribushrangers' steeds, and the robbers got clean, away. . . ■ ■ ■ ':'/ '. Several highway robberies were committed

on the Goulbum roadyduring'the next few ! days, and then, the ; men appear to have j made back for a' '"spell" among the Aber- j crombie Ranges. They, certainly needed a spell, if'they were; cbnoeriVed'in all the robberies' about this time which the public •put down to them. J r Here is -one, for instance:— ■- ' • "Between 3:and f o'clock two men named Charles Blatner and George -Jones, when about two miles'on this ■ side : of Paddy's River, on their way to.,Gpulburn,- were sot j upon by three men armed with revolvers and en masque. -The tallest of the three called out to the travellers ,' to. stand and strip,' and forced' them 'to take 'off every stitch of clothing. „The. highwaymen thou proceeded to ' possess themselves of the money of their viqtims,. amounting to about' £19; being £12 in notes, £5 in gold, and tffe rest in silver. The robbqrs being appar- . ently satisfied with' their booty, returned the travellers 15s and decamped. The highwaymen are tliirs described liy'Blatner and .Tones: One was about'sft lOin in height, with blue shirt, moleskin: trousers, cabbagetree hat, and Napoleon, boots; the other , two were aboijt sft Bin, and wore the same dress—viz., blue shirt, moleskin trousers, and Galiforiiian'hnt." Within a -fortnight ;th'o Bathurst Free Press contained the following, paragraph:— "Robberies havo now'become of such overy-tlay occurrence that ''we are surprised when'a day passes without hearing that something fresh has' bcchrred.' ! Oni Friday last as two Chinamen were-proceeding from this place 'to the Abererombie they. were stopped by . three moimt,ed highwaymen, who. iobbed them of £12 in gold, two horses, two new saddles,'and a new coat. On the following day as_ a'party of diggers and their wives were coniiii? from the Lambing Plat'they were stopped hear the Sheet of Bark by thtac armed men, who placed tho whole of them\under.'tribute, and then compelled one-poor-fellow to strip, and took three £10-nofes from him which ho was taking to his wife and family. A man named .Tames Newsome-was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for a. robbery at Marooney's inn. On Sunday last as a number of Chinamen were proceeding from the Abererombie to the Lambing • Flat, four mounted men attempted.to stop them for the purpose of robbing-, them ;■ but the Chinamen fired at-them'and the rogues made a hasty retreat. We also heard of several other robberies, but have not as jet heard the particulars,.and although our j constables are always.oh.the alert they have not as yet been able to apprehend any of these bushrangers, and we are much afraid that it will require- some determined steps to be taken by the Government before they are captured." : A-few days afterwards the following appeared in the same 1 paper :-r "On'the night 'of Friday, the. 23rd insf., Mr Charles Bell, storekeeper at Back Creek, received an unpleasant .''and unrercmoni- . ous visit from . two of'. the bushranfrin<r i fraternity. It"- appears, 'that Mr Bell j is ■ in the habit pf, purchasing _ small! parcels of gold from in that', locality, and ho visits Bathurst weekly for | the ptirposo of turning his purchase into ; cash. On the day named Mr Bell had been ! into Bathurst, aud .'it is 'siipurecd that the ! 'villains knew he had brought home some, monev. About 10 o'clock p.m., just before ' retiring home, Dell went to the door, whero ' ho was met by .two'men, . disguised by «'cartti<? red comforters,around their throats j and faces, and each of them armed with - a revolver. Tlie.men'presented.the revolvers i at Bell's head'and marched him into one i of the rooms, ivlipre ho was.ordered to stav ■ while they vent into the bedroom to search 1 for the money. Jim IMI : was in bed, but i they told her not Jo be-alarmed, as they ! would not injure her. Having found the ': cash box in one of the 'drawers,, thev at . once decamped with I heir booty.' Ear.y , 1 the next morniug' Mr .801 l |irooeeded to ! 1 Mr Koightley's at Pye's' station, and ■ 1 obtained tho assistance of two troopers, who 1 returned with him to Back Creek. Close;: by were d ; ,scovere'l the l trncks of three, J horses, whicli iracfc'Were, followed to a;j barn of Mr E. fjolsby's, where the cash box ] .and certain promissory jiotes, cheques, and " receipts for cash were' found. . It is evident j that the villains, having obtained the'cash : ' box, went to this, ba'rp and •struck a light ' (some matches were found'.oh" the spot) and ' divided the spoil, " leaving the box and ,■* papers, which' wore of no nse to' them, -to | lie reclaimed by. Mr Bell; -Three: men who ' had beon working, for Mr. Gnlaliy for a short ; j w-riod Were not to bo found, next day, nor • have they fcsen since!- The endea- J voured to <fot on the (racks' of ihe villains, ■■ but we believe,they have not succeeded in j c capturing them." ..''.-. ' • a About this time a proclamation appeared 'j in tho Onvrnmont. Gazette offering a re- r word of £100 to' any .person who should s within six months from (hat date give such r information as would leid to'the anpreheii- ; a sion and conviction- of Piesley. ami also a. ' reward of £50. for the apprehension and ' t convie f inn of tho other -offenders associated J « with him. / ' •' ' : •■ i E All this had happened before. Gardiner's j t r°seue from Hosic, and Gard.in.or liad been ' 0 already .named as one of Piec-ley's com-! 0 nanions.' That they were at tins time acting \ c in concert there can be no; doubt, although j they \vm not always 'together. j v Shortly after tho publication . of the [' frovernment proelamn'tion offering.a reward j S Picsley and his .mates again'shifted, quarters I —from the Abererombie. to Careoav, from;' 1 Carcoar to Cowra. from Cowra.to Lambing j f Flat. They devoted'one-day, to tho road \ " between Ciircnar-and liatiiinst. and stopped i n and roblicd seven or. eight persons on a • r ' lonely part of that highway. : Mr Dooley, j ' 1 butcher, of Carcoiir, had- a narrow escape :' j from something worse than robbery. Ho ' !'. was on his Way to Bnthinet'to purchase, cattle, and for .this purpose- carried with 11 him a considerable ' amount '• of. money. 1 V When .Hearing the ' top of "'The Mount'" j " he was accosted by three'men, one of whom 1 p iskod him for some tobacco, and -while he Jl was.-in tho act'of'talcing'somc out of hi* pocket _the men -revealed theiiiseh'es to him ! " in their true eharncter arid, demanded his ] J? money, liut TJoelcv. coidd .riot sei any i rirtue in this method of dealing, and with- " jut a word put spurs to bin horse—he was. -1 'ortunatßly; well mounted—and ga'loped \ lown the bill. The-men'pursued, one of j. hem firing at the fugitive to eliock bis ". light. Tho bullet pa.SFWI 'throntpli the horse's ,„ :ar, but._ Dooiey escaped • unhurt, outdis-i jj aneed his pursuers, and kept lip speed ! t] intil he readied Batlnirst, when lie at once ! a rave information to iho '.police, who rwle j )] 'up the hill and down. ne-ain,". with the j -, usual result. '.While' the ..troopers were „ icouring the bwh - in jbho locality.where the |, obberios had taken place* Piesley, Gardiner, tl oid ' the unknown-, were speeding towards H and the Bathurst newsnaper' of the n lay was saying:' "Truly we livc'in troiibloiis '' imes, and unless, some-steps aro taken to c; irrest these daylight marauders and uut a P top (0 their proceedings if will vorv shortly j w w unsafe to travel any distance from the „i own. The|" daylight marauders" were not ar-, tli •estcd, however, neither was a stop put to B heir proceedings. A few days' afterwards ' 01 he Cowra correspondent of (ho same, paper, y( intler a heading said: \J) I have again to record .several exploits; nt if this nature that, have taken place between j ye ,owra and Tiiirrangong.; Oho. oeeitrrcfl at. j K Jang Bang. Three.men—two of'whom wore th nountcd. the third man on foot—stuck up a th loor fellow, robbing hiin - of, his blankets.! dc oa, sugar, and to, all the money he had. ! : bc Phe same day another man wa» served the : -r £ amo way, and £33 taken from him. A few! sa lays afterwards a hut near-Bland was at-1 in empted. Olio or two men wore in this ! H mt, when the door was.burst open, and tho ! lif isual salutation • took place—' Stand! ■our brains,' etc.,, etc.' One of the. men in I r, c he hut sang out,' Take earo, Gardiner, j of rhat yon are about, for I-rim armed!'' 'So j'hi m I,' was the reply,' a. shot being fired on ' B( ho.mstant. The'.fire.was.iTjtiirried. and tho to ;ssai!ant was observed to reel back with a I M kgger as if\ shot, 'arid shortly after made j he 11s escape without further" molestation to he"brave inmates of the but; so you see, j pc s T. said in my last communication,' the : a oiks out that way (Bland). are' not to be ' wl rifled with. Our six. police 'left Cowra | tr; jst Monday, apparently with sealed orders, an Vhen last seen they'were in company, out '■■ Br 0 the north-west, '.Cowra astern, bearing ! ar nuth-east by compass; ' weather squally; \ w j aen and horses'somewhat,'.down in the , nc lpulh. Signals were exchanged with a' Tin toekmnh bound', tp,Cowra,-"arid"'the convoy ■'so poke the Condobolin. mailman, two days; lai nt. all well;". .:; / ,-'.. .-■ . . . G: Tlio bushrangers now appear to have made | retreat in the. Weddin Mmuitain~a place ■ " ( ;hich subiequently became famous as the : he lding-place of the.es'eort.-robbers, mid the : mi esort of Gardiner; Gilbert. Hall, and Co., \to\ [hoso exploits will -bo fully narrated m\ th hapten) to' follow. ' ; Here a fourth man j eh; lined• the gang,.'probablv .Tnhnnv Gilbert: I be nd it was from this point that tho full 1 fit ido of bnsbranging set in: One morning, j to liortly after the affair at Baiig Bang, a or lesscnger rode' into.;' Cowra and . reported on liat tho bushrangers wereout in the neigh- pr ourhood of Bogolorig aritV'Wli'e'ogo, there ail eing four, in tho. gang.-They had bailed up P and. robbed MiGw're's station at tho Ar innacle, near Forbes/taking all the money cb icy could find,"".stripping'-?the men about of 10.place, and 'dragging them in that conltion two miles into the'bush, Another jan they, stopped on the mail, stripping im also, and leaving him in that state. ( : ■ — —r- : till

! Alter this, Piesley separated himself from j the gang and started to revisit his old haunts j at the Abercrombie; but he could not resist the temptation, even when alone, to indulge his freebooting inclinations. Singlehanded ho stopped the Lambing Flat coach early one morning, shortly alter it had 1 started from Cownt. There were eight passengers in the coach, three of whom were females, and about three miles from-Cowra on the Carcoar side, Picsloy, mounted and ! armed, and with a piece of crape over his face, rode up to the coach, and presenting a revolver, called upon the coachman to pull up or ho would inalce him. The highwayman immediately jumped off his horse., which ho left standing in the road, saying, "You see he is used to this sort of work" • ' he then colled upon Mr llinchan, of Bathurst, who was one of the passengers, to . leave the coach and deliver up his cash. Mr M., fortunately, dropped his money in the coach, and the robber found only a few shillings' upon his person, which were speedily appropriated. The other passengers wero invited to follow tho example ; of Mr Minehan, ani wero ordered to " shell out," which they Bid, to the amount of about £15 between them. Tho robber (lid not attempt in any way to interfere with the females, but with his revolver presented and with his finger upon the trigger,. told the male passengers they were to deliver up all they, had, or if he found anything upon them afterwards he would make it a caution to them. Ho ordered Mr Ford, one of the coach proprietors who was prosent at the time, to deliver up the mail bags, which order being complied with,' ho asked Mr T. Cnmmings, another passenger, for a knife, with which he Eoon opened the bags, and selecting such letters as ho deemed valuable he left the restto be gathered up by the coachman whilst he made his escape. One of the parcels thrown aside from the mail bag as useless contained a largo sum of money addressed to a gentleman in Carcoar, and several of the passengers managed effectually to* secrete their cash and valuables cither in the coach or upon their own perrons. Tho highwayman gave back some silver to some of the passengers to assist them in paying their expenses on tho road. ''The passengers had no arms," said Taylor, the coachman, afterwards, "and did not make any resistance; one of the passengers said that it would have been very easy for them to disarm*him, but they j did not' attempt it." The police euperinJ tendent, who was at Carcoar, with all tho available troopers and conMables, started out to catch the robber, but they had their trouble for nothing. Piesley had made his way past Carcoar and was again among the Abcrcrombie Kanges, where he evidently intended to remain quiet for a time. And now we come lo the crowning act of tin's wretched man's life. On ?.7th December, 1861, after having : spent Christmas with some relatives in tho I locality, Piesley nicked up an old acquaintj ancc named James Wilson, who kept a etoro on the Abcrcrombie, and went with j him to M'Suinness's nublichoupa at Bigga, I where they remained all night drinking pretty frooly. Next morning, with a bottle of liquor each, Piesley and Wilson started away to a farm kept by a man named Benyon',' at no great distance from Bigga. Between 9 and 10 o'clock in the morning, when the men at tho farm were busy with the harvest, they rode up to the house and asked for Bcnj'on, Mrs Benyon directed them to the barn, first supplying them with something to drink, and learning from Wilson that his companion—about whom the was curious, doublets through seeing him carrying firearms—was a stranger in the district. The whole party spoilt the morning amicably-'together, but about dinner timo Piesley challenged Bcnyon to run, jump, or fight him for £10, and then tried to provoke him to fight. During dinner time he said, "I have a down on you, Benyon: when I was a kind, 17 years ago, you swopped a horse with mo which was no good, hut I am no kid now." This talk naturally led to a rough-and-tumble fight between the bushranger, Benyon, and Bcnyon's brother Stephen; and a littlo later in the afternoon Piesley was seen galloping off to the barn, where the Bcnyons had gone to work. Iu tho. skirmish which followed Stephen Benyon got a bullet in his'arm, and the mr.ster ofthe house was shot through the throat and spine. " The strange part of the affair is that none- of the' men about the place attempted to arrest Piesley, although they saw that poor ficnyon had received his death wound. Tho murderer stayed in lie house for a couple of hours afterwards, " looking at Mr Bcnj'on," said the poor wifo afterwards, " with a revolver in caeh hand." 'fhero were 10 reaper." on the farm, and not one stirred a finger against Piesley. . His victim lingered for six day?, much to tho surprise of his medical attendant, and then died in great agony. Meanwhile Piesley had disappeared from the locality, knowing that tho police would now pursue him with renewed vigour. And so they did, but all their watching and tracking was of no avail. He had " cleared out" of the district, and nothing was heard of him for a- month. Then came the welcome news that he bad been captured at Tarcutta, in the • Wagga Wagga district, while making his way towards the • border, with the intention of leaving the colony for good. The following letter, written.at tho time by James Campbell, ono of t!:e parlioi; concerned in the arrest, will show exactly how the capture was effected:—"On Vednosday night, 291h January, I was in bed reading, when Mr M'Kenzie came into my room and asked me if I knew the man in the kitchen; I replied that I did not know him. Mr' M'Kcnzie then said that he. thought, the man was- a • bushranger, and would like to have him taken. I said I was no conelable, on which Mr M'Kcnzie said lie could act an a constable on his own promises, and that . lie. thought tho man wafl Piesley. As soon as I heard him say that it was Piesley, 7 got tip and dressed- i myself, and went inside the house. 'In the passage between it and the kitchen, it was arranged how we worn to take the. man. Mr Beveridgo was to rush, on him, and I wa«s to take the revolver from his hand; Mr M'Kcnzie. was to stop insido the door ; with a revolver in case of danger. Mr U'Kcnw'c fold me he had soon a revolver with the man in tho evening, stuck in the ivaistband of his trousers, but it turned out io be a pistol, caoped. When we. went into the kitchen, Piesley was having his tea, and i man wan lying drunk beside him, nearer the door. Piesley caught hold of the man Hid shook him, and asked him if ho was ;oing to sleep ail night, telling him to get something to eat and he would bo all right; ■ the man said 'Who is that?' when Piesley replied, 'It is me.' The man said 'He is i —— rogue,' on which Picsloy asked Who?' tho man replied 'Why he who :amo in the evening with the bay horse.' Piesley replied,.'ls Hint it, you dog; vould you come it?' The man then got ip off the form and challenged Pieeley to , ight for a pound. I found out afterwards ;hat the man had been at work for Mr iiovcridprc. Ho pulled .out eight shilling*, ' ui which Piesley said, 'you dog, do f rou. know how you came by that money? ' ?id I not give you a pound this evening, " ind now you are going to turn on me; ! 'ou would hang a man.' Mr Beveridgo \ ward sorn'o conversation between them in ho evening and we'wero in hopes "that '■ hey -would quarrel and tight. Had they ! lone so, a good opportunity would .have ; icen afforded to take Piesley. I began to * ;efc tired whilo they wero wrangling, and at down on a form beside Piesley, thinkng about the safest way to catch him. 5 lo had his left hand on the 'table, and was J ifting the cup of tea to his mouth, when ° put my two arms under his arme, and a lotting my hands together, at the back if his, bent his head downwards and cocked J lis arms out.. Mr M'Kcnzie and Mr '• Sovcridgo then rushed on him. I told them J o take the revolver from him, aud Mr I'Ketisio put the handcuffs on him, and ' e was thus secured." -^ Piesley was now handed over to the j iplice, brought under a strong escort by ■' . long and wearisome, road to Carcoar, i! 'hero he was charged hoforo the local magis- i rate? with tho murder of William Benycn, ' nd by them committed for trial to the ■•" lathurst Assize Court. The news of his '' l'rost spread through the country like wildfire, and people assembled at different t ioints wero he was' expected to pass, all f' nxiour, to see tho man to whose charge b o many outrages on (he road had been b lid, and who had been tho associate of a lardiner. a Ho-waip tried on March 13, 1862, and found g Guilty." On the scaffold, 12 days later, ° o tried to give his own account of the n nirder, asserting that they were all drunk " ugothcr, and Benyon was the provoker of o lio wholo quarrel. With reference to the ri liarge which had been made against him, of, b cing concerned in the rescue of Gardiner' p .'om the hands of the police, ho called God u d witness, that the charge was utterly roundless, as he was not near the spot n that occasion. He knew that Fogg had romisod Hosie £50 if ho would Tot Gar- I' inor go free, and the money being made «' p. the sum of £50 10s vm given by Fogg, a; L mong the money paid lo Hosio was a w lieque for £2 10s, and that waa the reason s< f his receiving 10s over the £50. gi (To be Continued.) ' > —J. P'