CHAPTER XXXII.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 187, 22 July 1873, Page 3

CHA PTER XXXII.

I am in ca?e to jostle a constable. There was a great gathering that day at Aberhirnant townli.ril. This building stands by itself on a triangular plot of ground between the seashore and the bank The lower part was intended for a market -l-nine, but tin- old \tonien would not desert the street for any of jour market Louies, and the building had finally been adapted into ti receptacle for the parish hearse, which '•food there al bait as it wcie. It wa-> not a popular institution that parish hearse. Wasn't it much more proper to be carried to jour gravo by all your friends and relations in turns, and that you should have the luck that a thower of ram would bring, if it fell upon jour corpse in its passage? Whereas, if you were shut up in n bo\ on wheels, wet or dry would be pretty much the same to you ; and were there ever such a concourse of your friends outiide, you couldn't possibly be the better for them. Time has changed all this, T fancy, and the Welsh are becoming more ahve to the bles-mgs of civilisation and undertakers ; but nt the period of which I write, the ' hear-e' <wns a new institution \n Xorth Wales and in the basement of the court-house at Aberhirant the parish hearse had stood long uncalled for. Curiously enough, the moment that John Jone-> and lv-> two confederates were in the custody of the police, public opinion at Aberhirnant set verj- stronglj' m their fin our; ull, the more stronglj' that their capture had been originally effected by an alien policeman. Consequently, us the whole force of the local police — two constables and a <«ergeanf — Escorted the prisoners to the court-house, a considerable crowd, whose sympathies were entirely on the side of the latter, had gathered about them. The magistrates were supposed to meet at ele\ en, that being the hour for which they were summoned; consequently, at about twelve, or half-past, or one o'clock, it was usually found that a quorum could he mide up. A* tie migistrates were unaware thut there was any caso of special interest this morning, probably none of them weie to be expected jet for an hour or two. Consequently, Con-taWe E\ans vvas directed to engage a ear at ] the hotel, and to drive round to the nearest magistrates, who respectively; lived not more than six miles uistant from the town, and request their attendance with ns much nunctuality as a\J?* regard to the interest of tl.eir health and the exigencies oft eir toileto would allow. 'Oh' we shall get a bench to-day; yes, indeed!' cried Sergeant Jones confidently, in reply to a question from a countrj man. There was a little disappointment felt at this ; the people had hoped that the cage might be adjourned for want of magistrates. With time, pressure might be brought upon the banker to withdraw the prosecution. Such vindictive haste in the punishment of offences was quite inhuman. The police force, now reduced to two, finding the pressure of the crowd upon* them great, and the custody of thenprisoners irksome, placed them in the basement story of the court-house, mounting guard over the iron gates. On two sides, the hearse-house was fenced in by stout iron rails ; but the ends were of stone, supporting the superstructure of the setsions-room. Access to the court-house above was by a staircase outside, at the blank end of the building ; the gate of the inelosure below was at the other end. At this gate, the two policemen mounted guard The prisoners, therefore, confined m a species of cage, had free intercourse with the public outside It was for John Jones that the most anxiety was felt ; against Captain Ellis, the charge was comparatively light, and, indeed, so difficult of proof, that it would probably be eventually abandoned. But in John's case there had been deliberate forgery, and the consequences would be serious. A lengthened imprisonment, death, in fact, to a man of John's habits would inevitably follow a com iction. Couldn't something be done for him 9 At this moment, a messenger hurriedly arrived from the neighbouring parish of Llanfrothen ; the message he bore was this : ' Would the parish of Aberhirnant lend to the parish of Llanfrothen the parish hearse 9' Haste was necessary, as the funeral was 'to conic of at noon, and the Llanfrothen hearse was broken. Ml the authorities of the parish 'were assembled about the cOurt-hou«e ; and an open-air meeting was hastily convened, to consider the application of the neighbouring pari-.h. 'Diaoul!' "aid Edward Jones tl.e church-warden, if we lend Llanfrothen the hearse, thej T will be putting the tax on us for it.' ' Dear no ! ' said the Llanfrothen man. 1 1 tell you, jes. It was at the last peil-mecting the commissioner said, that as long as the hearse earned a parishioner, dim dale, nothing to pay ; but if it poet, out of the pari«h, then it will be a pmatc carriage, and will he put under the ta\e< ' ' JJpuds anwy! '* cried he of Llanfrothen, 'but he need never ii.ow ' ' Tru>t him ; he'll find us out. Diaoul! we'll do fliis with him : we'll put the donkey of Griffith Crjdd into the shafts, and then we can swear that it was never drawn out of the parish by a horse.' A burst of applauso, and cries of ' Yah, yah l ' followed this suggestion, which solved all difficulties. Captain Pugh, hearing the result of the meeting, slipped round to where the parish clerk was standing, and asked him for the key of the hearse ; having obtained this, he ran quickly to the court-house, where John was standing looking disconsolately through the bars, like a caged jackal. ' John, quick ! ' he whispered ; ' the police arc not looking ; open the hearse, and jump in ' John opened the doors at t he back of the hearse, and crept In. Everybody, including the police, had been attracted by the discussion at the parish meeting, and the court-house was deserted for the nonce. The moment the discussion \va9 satisfactorily ended, the people ran down to the court-house to drag out the hearse, the police unlocked the gate, and the hearse was run out into the street, where the donkey of Griffith Crjdd was harnessed to it. But here another difficulty occurred. The weight was too much for the donkey's estimate of his own powers — he steadfastly refused to go. But to a body of men swayed by one impulse, everything is easy. Four stout fellows took each a wlreel to urge it for•ward ; otiier four lifted the doutev h-odilv from tlio ground ; amongst them all, the vehicle moved slowly and steadily on. But coming to the declivity leading to the sea-shore, the hearse began to acquire considerable momentum ; and the donkey, finding further resistance useless, took to his legs, after a violent struggle and a few vicious kicks, and galloped out of the village, prancing, and braying valorously. This episode had so diverted the minds of the crowd from the prisoners al the court-house, that tliej' had not perceived that the third constable had arrived, bringing with him two magistrates. 'Come, Jones ' Jones' Jones!' cried Colonel Lloyd (of the Koyal Caerinion Fencibles, and not noted for military punctuality). 'Don't keep the magistrates waiting all day. Ifow is it the people are not in attendance ?> ' Beg your pardon, sir,' said Jones, touching his hat ; ' they've been waiting here two hours ' ' ' Then they o ight to be ready to begin. 'Pon my word, Jones, it's disgraceful wasting the time of the magistrates m this way. — Ah ! here comes Rowland* ; we shall geton now ' T'le whole crowd surged into the court-house, nnd" ranged themselves in front ot the bench, Lawyer Jones the clerk came bristling up with his papers ; the magistrates took their seats ; there was » lane made through tlie mass of people for the advance of the prisoners ; everybody craned over his neighbour's shoulder, to get the first glance at them. \}p this lane Sergeant Jones came running w hite and breathlov>. ' Your worships, he's gone ! he's escaped ! ' ' Gone ! ' roared Colonel Lloyd, bangtug his fist on the table — 'Gone! Then what are wo bi-ought here ffopr p I leave my breakfast untasted ; most important affairs neglected, on purpose to come and *ry this prisoner, and then I'm told he's gone! It's disgraceful ! ' 1 I'm very sorry, colonel,' cried the sergeant; 'but perhaps I'll find him for you by to-morrow.' 'I shan't, come to-morrow,' cried te CDlonel ; no; I'm hanged if I do. I'll never sit on this bench again, if I'm to be treated like this ' ' Wouldn't it be well if somebody went after him ?' suggested the Birmingham policeman. ' It's no use,' said Sergeant Jones. 'We don't know which way he's gone. But stop' 1 he cried, brightening up ; we've got two other prisoners for your worships to try ; so j'ou won't lose your time altogether.' ' Shan't try 'em in detatchments,' cried the colonel ; ' no, no! wasting our time like that ! Kemand 'cm — remand 'em for a week ; and mind you have 'em ready for us by that time, serseant, or I'm hanged if I sit on this bench again !' The colonel banged the table once more vigorously. But as the court was about to adjourn, there was heard a rush of feet up the stairs. ' They've found him— they've fjund him!' was cried on all sides.