CONVICT DAYS.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 26, Issue 63, 3 August 1915, Page 2

CONVICT DAYS.

,{ Copyright.)

i : » ft » > VIVID AND REALISTIC # # PICTURES OF THE PAST. * * * « THE LIME PIT GANG. A STORY OF NORFOLK ISLAND, (Complete in Four Allotments.) PART TWO. -t=-

Next morning the lime gang, in charge of Overseer, Clarke, were set to work with a doubled guard. Price placed several reliable men at posts where they could watch l 'the convicts, in the hope that some clue might be fohnd which would lead to a solution of the mystery.

Like every other gathering of men there was one in the pit gang whom the rest tartly regarded as their leader. This vSas a felon named Rushall, or “No. '89,” as the oliicials knew him. He was a heavily built fellow, dark in features and silent in manner—a characteristic which his long imprisonment accentuated. It was this man who, within an hour of reaching the quarry, set out to investigate what had happened the day previous, for that the pits had been examined they concluded by the fact of their .being kept locked up. Rushall first made for the tunnel leading to the “plant.” The men were craving for tobacco, and they were eager to know if it had been discovered. The searcher soon reached the point where the passage branched off, and as he saw it walled up a muttered oath escaped him. For a few moments he fully believed the officers had found the tobacco, anti then he began to wonder why the gang had not been punished. He knew the commandant too well to imagine the convicts would escape scott free, and then he cursed the stupidity of himself and mates for not more effectually concealing the stuff.

He had traversed the tunnel without a' pick; but, determined to make sure, and impelled by his own desire for tobacco, he quickly retraced his steps and whispered his suspicion to one of the gang. Within a minute all of them knew, and, as if by magic they wore transformed from patient, if sullen men, into fierce and dangerous mutineers. The work instantly reased, but Rushall, quick to grasp the situation, sent another message along the line that he was not yet certain the tobacco had been removed and he was going back to make sure. 'Phis stayed an open outbreak, and, with the best temper they could assume, the bondmen continued their toil.

Rushall lost no time attacking the barrier which blocked the side passage, and in a few moments he made an opening large enough to pass through. With an anxiety almost ludicrous considering the cause, he reached the chamber, and, flashing the light around, at once discovered the much-prized tobacco. Hastily securing a quantity he got back to the pit and distributed the stuff amongst the men, whose faces brightened when they received it. As some of the watchful guards might notice a prolonged absence, Rushall for an hour or more showed himself conspicuously at work, but about noon he again made for the tunnel. His brooding brain had been revolving the situation, and arrived at a conclusion that something was wrong, and a trap lay somewhere.

This time he made a closer examination of the chamber, every feature of which was familiar to him. Very seldom were any of the other felons Plowed to enter the place, for the

gang had selected their loader to take charge of the plant. It was not long before the peering convict noticed that the limestone had been clisturbed on the west side of the chamber, and his suspicions were instantly aroused. For a few minutes he stood, and flashed the lantern around the spot, and then, placing it on a heap of stone in. the chamber, he set to work with his pick. The badly packed limestone soon fell away, and ns he dug in the pick struck something soft. Rushall was a callous man, with nerves of steel, to whom death had no terrors ; and though he half realised the truth of the grim discovery about to be revealed, he continued calmly at his work. In five minutes the knowledge of Turnham's disappearance was no longer a mystery to him. After making certain of the identity of the body, the convict quietly began to put back the disturbed covering, and he was thus busily engaged when a deep hoarse whisper reached him :

“Cut, quick ! the commandant is coming !” he heard, and, extinguishing the lantern, he ran through the passage into the tunnel, where he caught a glimpse of Larry James passing out to the pit. Half a

minute later he was in the quarry, and saw Captain Price, with twelve soldiers, standing on the summit.

The Civil Commandant of Norfolk Island had spent many years among the convicts in Van Diemen’s Land and the “hell of the Pacific.’’ There was no man living who knew more about their schemes and methods than Price. Pondering in his office over the remarkable disappearance of Overseer Turnham, he suddenly decided to pay a surprise visit to the lime pits. He had no definite plan in his mind in doing so ; but fate works in a mysterious way at times, and this occasion was one of them, and Rushall her agent. When the leader of the felons ran

out of the tunnel and saw the party on the, brow of the pit, he at once concluded that Price was going to make a search.; With the open side passage and the half-covered body of Turnham in the chamber the result of the examination would in all probability mean hanging for at least some of the gang. Justice was decidedly Wind at the penal station, and no explanation the convicts might offer about the tobacco and its grim companion would avail. On the impulse of the moment Rushall ran among the bondmen and hurriedly whispered the information ho possessed to them. “It’s a musket ball or a rope for us,” he exclaimed to a group of the men, “and ' I’ll die fighting.” The sharp eyes of Price had observed the hurried exit of Rushall from the tunnel and the suppressed excitement which followed among the bondmen. At once all 'his suspicions nature was aroused, and he decided to strike at once. There was n standing order that neither guards nor soldiers should enter the quarries while the convicts were at work, and the commandant was not a man to break regulations, He at once ordered Clarke to take the men out of the pits—a serious mistake, as it turned out.

In response to the call the convicts formed into line to march up. and the brief time It occupied was used to the utmost by Rushall and three other momhnen, named Williams, Thompson and Crowley, The story they whispered along the lino roused a desperate resolve In the hearts of the bondmen to make a hid for liberty and life.

When they reached the top, Price ordered them to be taken back' to the prison, and, full of impatience to discover what had caused the suppressed excitement among the gang while below, he bade the file of soldiers and two of the constables to follow him down. This only left three soldiers and two constables with the overseer,, The former, of course, were armed. Th.se three men, quite unsuspecting danger, paid more attention to the party below than to the convicts, with the result that they fell easy victims to the sudden and daring rush of the felons, headed by Rushall. They wore seized, the weapons torn from them, and they flung into the quarry.

Clarke made a courageous attempt to quell the mutiny as, calling on Price for help, he sprang upon Crowley, who was in the act of striking a constable on the head with a lump (• limestone. Better for him had he run, for, as he seized the convict, Rushall struck him to the ground with a blow from the heavy musket. At the first sign' of the conflict the other constables took to their heels, and almost before the commandant realised what had occurred the convicts were running for the dense scrub which lay to the east of the quarries. When ( Price and his men had hurriedly climbed to the summit nothing human could he seen but the still form of Clarke on the ground and the constables racing towards the station; For a few moments Price hesitated; then he gave a sharp order to hismen to pursue the runaways. The words had scarce left his lips when a shot sounded from the scrub, and a soldier standing at the commandant's side dropped, with a cry of pain, shot through the right leg. This unexpected attack threw the men into momentary confusion,; for, expecting further attack, and not caring to needlessly expose themselves, they broke for cover. Price for a few seconds stood exposed, cursing the cowardice of the soldiers ; but a second bullet whistling past his head caused him to get into shelter. For several minutes the men lay peering from behind blocks of limestone, vainly endeavouring to catch a glimpse of the foe ; but, after a time, as no further attack developed, the commandant ordered an advance, and Iqd it himself, The delay had been fully taken advantage of by the escapees, for when the soldiers made a cautious but careful search of the belt of undergrowth none of the mutineers wore to be found, ■

Meanwhile the alarm was given at the prison by the constables, and Captain Flynn quickly headed a party for • the lime pits. Price waited for him, and then, leaving the pursuit to the military commandant, he went back with half a dozen men to continue the search in the quarries. He naturally started with the tunnel he had seen convict Rushall coming out of, and soon found both the plant of tobacco and the body of the missing overseer. The cause of the unexpected outbreak of the gang then became clear to mini. Yet ho was greatly puzzled about the death of Turnham. He could not possibly conceive how the pit gang could have compassed the overseer's end ; and yet their desperate action gave colour to the belief that they were at least cognisant of it. Having the tobacco—necessarily stolen —would mean punishment for them ; but, as punishment was the daily routine of the station, that would not explain the mutiny.,

In no enviable frame of mind the commandant returned to the prison, where he was somewhat relieved to

find twenty of the missing convicts lined up in the mu.ster yard strongly guarded. These men had voluntarily r.turned to the station, explaining that they did not take any active part in the uprising, and had no intention of escaping. This left ten at large, and news soon came to Price that this party meant deadly business, and woidd have to be reckoned with. After the second shot hud been, fired at the commandant the convicts, in response to a call from Rushall, broke through the undergrowth and made eastward to flie hilly and forest-covered part of the island. The four leaders soon found that most of the gang had de-

serted them, but that fact troubled

them but little. Indeed it was an advantage, as it Would have been impossible to long provide food for so many. Knowing they would be pursued, the felons ran across the open plain, and soon reached the fringe of the pine forest, where they slowed down.

Headed by Crowley, a tall, powerful and active fellow, whose intellect was much superior to Rushall’s the ten fugitives passed swiftly on for several minutes. Just ahead of their course a belt of magnificent pine trees stretched, and this was almost reached when Crowley stopped and held up a warning hand. Even as he did so tire sound of woodchopping distinctly reached them.

“It’s the pine gang,” hoarsely whispered the leader. Then, as an idea entered his mind, he added “You follow a little way behind me and bo careful.”

Taking advantage of the cover, Crowley, in a crouching attitude, pushed forward until he came in sight of the party. it wa>s a large gang, consisting of fully fifty convicts, heavily ironed, as the opportunities of escape in the forest were many. Six armed soldiers formed the military guard, while an overseer and several constables directed operations.

“We must get those muskets, oven if somtl of us go under,” spoke Crowley to the groped convicts arouncl him.

“It’s an easy enough job too, as the fools haven’t given the alarm yet,” added Williams, As the soldiers had no idea of attack from behind, all their attention was fixed on the bondmen labouring at the pine logs. Even the watch they kept on these was perfunctory, for the day was steaming hot and drowsy. The corporal of the guard sat on a log with his back resting against a tree right on the edge of the dense undergrowth which encircled, the place. The soldiers had also got right up to the scrub in search of shade. , Crowley did not hesitate many seconds. He khew every moment was precious, and, with a silent hand signal to his mates, he crept round towards the soldiers.

The surprise was complete. Each of the men had armed himself with short heavy sticks, which made effective bludgeons, and the somnolent guard scarce made a show of resistance. Crowley dealt with the corporal, and simultaneously tjhe other nine convicts struck down the soldiers. Even as they did so the alarm boll at the head station clanged out its deep tones of warning, notifying an eseir e. In a few seco the muskets were in the possession of the fugitives, with six rounds of ammunition tor each. Everything worth taking -from the stunned men was also rifled, and Crowley ordered four of his lollowers to strip them of their uniforms. Rushall and Thompson hud also been busy. They threatened the unarmed overseer and constables with death if they attempted to interfere. Then the first-named ordered some of the pine gang to bring forward their axes, which "might be useful to the escapees. Some food was also secured in the soldier’s knapsacks, and, well satisfied with the result of their enterprise, the articles were gathered up and the convicts again turned towards the hills. Nona of the leaders asked the .pine gang to join them, though many of the latter would gladly have done so. Shackled with the legirons as they were, the men Would only have been an encumberance.

Not ten minutes after the daring felons had- made their successful attack Captain Flynn appeared on the scene, and not a moment too soon. The overseer and his unarmed constables were powerless to control the agitated gang, and the situation was ugly indeed when the military commandant came up with a file of soldiers.

Further • pursuit at the time was prevented, for the timber getters were in an ugly mood, and it was necessary to escort them back to the prison, where Captain Flynn made his report to the infuriated Price. “I’ll have the lot of them hanged !’ the latter exclaimed. “We will have to catch them first, and now they are armed it will not he an easy job,” replied Flynn. “What about the Cascades ? Have you sent word ?” he added. “No. Get one of your men to go'. I’m not done with the lime pit yet. We found Turnham there, or wtoat’s left of him,’’

“Dead, of course ; but these brutes could not have killed • him. They were under lock and Key, you know,” exclaimed the Military Commandant.

“Whoever worked the tobacco plant is at the bottom of the overseer’s death,” responded Price. “I don’t think so. One or more of the sailors from the sloop must have smuggled l the tobacco, and the boat was gone before Turnham disappeared. It must have been one of the hutkeepers,” spoke the military commandant.

“How about the soldiers ? Can you rely on your men V” queried the Civil Commandant.

“I wouldn’t vouch for any man on this accursed island. The sooner I’m ordered away the better I’ll like It,” angrily answered Captain Flynn, who resented the innuendo against his men. “Anyhow, what are you going to do about the mutineers ?”

“Give them time to reflect—and to starve,” bluntly replied Price. “And meanwhile they may slay and plunder.” “There is no one to slay but the hutkeepers, and dog doesn’t eat dog. The stores are either here or at the other station, and they are both safe.” explained the chief civil officer. (To be Continued.)