JPIGHT WITH BUSHRANGERS: NO QUARTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2199, 23 April 1896, Page 40

JPIGHT WITH BUSHRANGERS: NO QUARTER.

, " I shall not meet/ you again alive," the bushranger captain said, " but I thank you deeply for your kindness. Try not to think too ill of me—if you oan. Good-bye," and be wrong my hand. v i " Good-bye, Calvert." fie waved me a last adieu as he moved off to take up a position near the centre of the' gully, where'some stunted box-tree gave him cover. He only just retched it in time, for two quick reports echoed up the bill sides and told that the work of death had commenced. The hounds were loosed and the wolf at bay. From the position I occupied I could not for the first few minutes see much of what Was taking place, and only heard the rattle of musketry, which rapidly increased from the moment the first Bhofc was fired. Opposite to me, ob the side of the hill where the fcraed police troopers had taken their position, little puffs of grey smoke, followed by reports, would continually burst from the bushes and scrub which covered its faoe; but so far no hand-to-hand'conflict bad commenced. As I stood there In the rooky nook which poor Oalvert bad thoughtfully found for me, it is easily understood that my Very equivocal situation caused me many fears. The firing now flagged for a few moments; ' It seemed to me that the attacking .party hesitated to make a determined assault, and In the comparative quiet which reigned I ■"/•trained my ears to hear the next movement. Not a man was to be Been. The, defenders bad taken full advantage of the scrub for cover, and the gully might have been deserted for all I could see to the contrary. Bat the next moment the revolver of Maurice, the lieutenant of the bushrangers, flashed out. Once, twice, and then below, and facing me, from every branch and tussock, a flash and a report issued. In response, volley after volley was poured in by the troopers, the orack of their carbines soundlag sharper in contrast to the full and louder jreport from the revolvers of the bushrangers. Then I saw two or three of the latter emerge from the scrub, firißg aB they went, and, Stooping, run to other cover farther back. One of them did not reach it, Hit, apparently, in some vital spot, he threw up bis hands, and with a horrible scream full on his face and moved do more. The firing from the police drew nearer, increasing each moment as they steadily advanced. I saw (them now, and, as I did so, drew baok until 1 was; myself unseen. They were fall 20 strong all cUamooHtecL aa<J tbej cams en 1b

open order, pointing their rifles right and ! left, and dislodging the bushrangers as they weltt. There was little use in concealment I for these latter now.' They stood up and ! poured in their fire as quickly as they oould empty their revolvers. It was an exciting moment. Here and there, on both sides, a man would drop wounded or shot dead. Nobody heeded the fallen. Bat, by the faces below me, I could see bow fierce is the passion of fighting, how It can fill men's hearts atad make them callous of human life. ! But one by one ' revolvers and cartouche boxes are emptied, and there comes a lull while fingers are busy with fresh ammunition, and hunters and hunted stand tace to foes' through tha smoke, each waiting for the rush that must oome now. They do not wait long. From a place of concealment one of the bushrangers charges down and surprises a trooper who is wide of the line of attack. I saw a long, bright blade lifted, but before it descended, buried to the hilt in the man's shoulders, there came a wild yell from a score of hoarse throats, and the bushrangers were among the polioe, straggling like fiends. I 8m not a war correspondent, and haw shall I describe what followed, as, with heart beating high, and that spirit of strife — which I am convinced is always bidden somewhere in the -breast of an Englishman — now thoroughly aroused within me, I, the only non-combatant, gasad down on the arena? . . I saw' one pair : the trooper, with his clubbed carbine lifted high above his head, make a heavy - downward stroke with his weapon. Before it could descend on the bare head of bis assailant, with a spring like that of a tiger the latter had him by the throat. The gun dropped, and locked in a deadly embrace they swayed together for a moment and then fell, the trooper underneath. So they writhed and twisted on the ground, the bushranger with his disengaged band groping for his knife. But before he could uosheatb it aid arrived. There was a heavy blow, the dull thud reaching me, and he was stretched lifeless with bis back broken. I saw a man named Candy standing with one foot across the neck of a prostrate foe, squeezing the breath out of his body while he defended bim«elf against two others. The fallen man beld him down by the leg, and, to % prevent him rising, Oandy twice brought* down his heavy boot on the other's upturned face, leaving it a shapeless and bloody mass.-- Then he was cut down and fell in turn. All around, amidst the light woods and stringy bark which dotted the gully, the red blood ran like water. The scarlet correa clinging among the broken rocks scarce looked ruddier than the stream of life which splashed it, I looked about for Oalvert. With his baok against a rook, and the sunlight behind him, he stood, wielding a sabre, which he must have wrested from one of the police, cutting and slashing at his foes as they came on. I could hear the swish and whirr of the blade as it cut the air. He appeared quite untouched, bat why be had not yet succumbed I can scarcely tell, unless it is that orders had been given to secure him alive. By this time the heat of the straggle had passed. One by one the bushrangers had been cut down or secured. The odds proved too heavy for them. Over in the scrub a last encounter was taking place. One of them, Maurice, after, fighting like a wild cat, was at last in the clutches of a trooper. " Bail lup I " cried the man, putting a pistol to his captive's head. He waited for an instant-, and, as the only response was a last heave of Maurice's whole body, he pulled the trigger, and the upper part of the bushranger's head was blown clean away.' j I turned with a sickening sensation from the sight of so : much devilry, hoping the miserable work would soon cease, when my eye again fell on Oalvert. He had moved from the spot where I had last seen him, and was now mounting to a slight eminence where, as I saw, only one man at a time would be able to reach him. But as he sprang upward a trooper followed, harassing him. Oalvert let him approach within a couple of yards, then, turning, with a quick and terrible oat he broaght his sabre down. The steel cleaved right through the man's shoulder at the collar bone and out half througb his body. A moment afterwards Calvert bad reaohed his place of safety. A smile was on his face, but one of such sinister portent that I shuddered as I watched him. Among the fierce ones and death-soreams that rang around, a deep voice now called upon the redoubtable "Starlight" to surrender, and the officer commanding the troop stepped forward. He was rather older than Oalvert, and by his bearing evidently an army man— one of those who had left the service for an app ointment in the colonial constabulary. They stood looking at one another for a few moments, white, to add a fresh horror to the scene, the fearful screams of a wounded man lying somewhere out of sight rang shrilly out. r " Will you surrender 7 " called the officer onoe more. ! Calvert's face was pale and drawn. He shook bis head. " Up there, some of you, and seize him 1 " cried the other, and two of his men started for the ledge.. As the foremost reached him, Oalvert-, with a movement of bis wrist so qaiok that I could scarcely follow it, raised bis point, and the trooper, with a short cry, fell backwards. The other, awed by bis comrade's fate, hesitated. " Oome, this must cease 1 " said the officer, evidently annoyed by the bushranger's determination. " For the last time — will you surrender 2 " II No." " Then " He raised bis pistol and fired. Oalvert reeled, caught at tbe rock, tried to steady himself, and, as he slowly foil, broke into a mocking laugh that went echoing up the glen. That laugh disturbed my sleep for weeks afterwards. Heedless of tbe consequences, 1 left my place of safety and ran headlong down, jumping over dead bodies, to the place where Oalvert lay. — Armiger Barczinsky, in Temple Bar. — Great Britain pays the Continent upwards of £14,000,609 a J«W &X fggftb WKUrowt nab anouncs>