The Gold Hunter's Adventures Or, Life In Australia Volume 2 ( Of 2 ) by William H. Thomes (books to read in your 30s TXT) 📕

Would Be Equally Well Guarded, Then Glanced Over The Excited Crowd, In

Hopes That Dan Would Array Himself On Our Side--But That Enterprising

Gentleman Had Suddenly Disappeared, And Left Us To Our Fate.

"Stand Back," Shouted The Inspector; "It Will Be The Worse For You.

There's Many Of You Present Who Know Me, And Know That I Have A Large

Force Of Policemen On Hand. If You Strike A Blow, Not One Of You Shall

Escape Justice.

"Unbar The Door As Quickly As Possible," Whispered The Inspector, After

Getting Through With His Threatening Speech.

I Lifted The Heavy Gum Wood Bar From Its Place, And Then Raised The

Latch, Expecting That It Would Yield, But To My Surprise It Did Not--It

Was Locked, And The Key In The Pocket Of The Doorkeeper, Who Had Made

His Escape From The Room In Company With Dan.

I Almost Uttered A Groan Of Agony When I Made The Discovery, And To Add

To The Perplexity Of Our Situation, The Ruffians Must Have Understood

Our Case, And Known That The Key Was Never Left In The Lock, For They

Uttered A Discordant And Ironical Hoot, And Then A Shout Of Sardonic

Laughter.

"For Heaven's Sake, Don't Be All Night In Getting That Door Open," Cried

Fred, Nervously, And I Will Confess That I Also Partook Of The Same

Complaint.

"Now For A Rush--Cut Them To Pieces," Exclaimed Many Voices; But I

Observed That The Cries Came From Those Who Were Farthest From Us, And

Out Of The Reach Of Our Pistols, Which We Were Forced To Display, In

Hope Of Keeping The Robbers At A Respectful Distance.

"Is The Door Unbarred?" Asked Mr. Brown, Turning Half Round, And

Exposing His Side To The Knives Of The Crowd, And Quick As Thought, A

Man Sprang Forward To Begin The Work Of Bloodshed; But Sudden As Were

His Movements, They Were Anticipated, For I Raised The Heavy Bar, Which

I Had Not Relinquished, And Let It Fall Upon His Head With Crushing

Force.

The Poor Devil Fell At Our Feet Without Uttering A Groan, Although Many

Spasmodic Twitchings Of His Nerves Showed That He Was Not Killed

Outright His Long Knife Narrowly Missed The Side Of The Inspector, And

For The First Attempt At Our Annihilation, It Was Not To Be Despised.

The Wretches Uttered Yells Of Rage When They Saw Their Comrade Fall, But

None Seemed Inclined To Assume The Leadership And Begin The Attack In

Earnest.

Not One Of Their Motions Escaped Us, And As Long As They Were Disposed

To Brandish Their Knives At A Distance, We Did Not Choose To Carry

Matters To Extremities; But Change Of Tactics Was Suddenly Resorted To

On The Part Of Our Opponents, That Placed Us In No Little Peril.

All The Tumblers, Bottles, And Decanters Of The Bar Were Token

Possession Of By The Savage Scoundrels, And The First Intimation That We

Had Of The Fact Was The Crushing Of A Bottle (Empty, Of Course--They

Were Not The Sort Of Men To Throw Away Liquor Of Any Kind) Against The

Door, Just Above Our Heads.

[Illustration: "Now For A Rush--Cut Them To Pieces!" Exclaimed Many

Voices: But I Observed That The Cries Came From Those Who Were Furthest

From Us And Out Of The Reach Of Our Pistols, Which We Were Forced To

Display, In Hope Of Keeping The Robbers At A Respectful Distance.]

The Fragments Were Showered Upon Our Faces And Shoulders, But Before We

Had Time To Consider On The Matter Another Bottle Flew Past My Head, And

Hit Our Prisoner Upon One Of His Shoulders, Injuring Him So Severely

That He Dropped To The Floor As Though He Had Been Shot.

"Self-Preservation Is The First Law Of Nature," Cried The Inspector, In

A Calm Tone, Cocking His Pistol; And When He Saw An Arm Raised To Hurl

Another Bottle At Our Heads, He Fired. I Saw The Raised Arm Fall

Suddenly, And I Fancied That I Could Hear The Pistol Ball When It

Struck, And Buried Itself Amid Bone And Muscle.

"And Are We To Be Shot Down Like Dogs?" Was The Indignant Question Which

Some One Put, And A Loud Yell Of "No," And A Rush Towards Us, Was The

Response.

One Ruffian Struck At Me, And The Point Of His Knife Entered My Shirt

Near The Left Shoulder, And Inflicted A Slight Scratch, Or Wound--But

Before He Had Time To Renew The Blow, Which I Escaped By Dodging, Mr.

Brown Had Singled Him Out As A Victim, And He Fell, With A Horrid

Imprecation Upon His Lips, Dyeing The Black And Soiled Floor With His

Blood.

Three Or Four Pistol Shots Were Fired, And They Were Barely Sufficient

To Keep The Crowd At A Distance, When I Heard A Movement At The

Extremity Of The Room, And Through The Windows I Saw The Well-Known Blue

Coats And Caps, Of The Ballarat Police Force Pouring Into The Room.

We Raised A Shout Of Welcome, And Our Cheers Were Answered By The

Gallant Fellows, Who Kept Crowding In Until About Thirty Were Drawn Up

In Line, With Their Long, Heavy Pistols Presented, And Ready For

Destruction.

The Ruffians Were Seized With A Sudden Panic, And Would Have Fled, But

Their Retreat Was Cut Off, And There Was No Chance For Escape. Then Our

Leader, Mr. Brown, Seemed Endued With The Importance Of A Dozen Men.

"Down With Your Knives," He Shouted, "Or Those Who Refuse Shall Rue It."

The Speech Was One Of The Most Unfortunate That Ever The Inspector Made,

For Our Opponents Were In That Peculiar State Where A Mild Word Would

Have Done No Harm, And A Cross One Much Injury.

The Robbers Were, In Fact, Already Conquered, And A Policeman Might Have

Passed From Man To Man, And Collected Every Knife And Pistol That They

Possessed Without Danger, And With But Few Sullen Remarks; But The Words

Of The Inspector Made Them Think That No Quarter Was To Be Shown, And If

That Was The Case, They Might As Well Sell Their Lives As Dearly As

Possible.

With This Unfortunate Impression, The Ruffians Replied To The

Inspector's Words With A Shout Which Sounded Like The Roar Of A Wounded

Tiger; And Then Commenced One Of The Most Shocking Scenes That I Ever

Witnessed (With One Exception) In My Life.

The Robbers Rushed Upon The Line Of Policemen With Brandished Knives,

And As They Advanced They Discharged The Few Pistols Which They Carried

On Their Persons, And They Made Every Shot Tell, For I Saw Three Or Four

Of The Government Force Give Sudden Springs, And Full Headlong To The

Floor; And Then Came The Rattling, Deadly Discharge Of The Policemen,

And I Could Hear The Heavy Balls Strike On The Partition Behind Me, And

Send Huge Splinters From The Woodwork, And Scatter Them Upon Our Heads.

Seven Or Eight Of The Robbers Fell, Mortally Wounded, And Others, With

The Blood Streaming From Their Hurts, Which Only Appeared To Inflame

Their Courage, Once More Rushed Towards The Blue Coats In Hope Of

Cutting Their Way Through The Line, And Gaining The Secret Passage.

But What Madness It Was To Expect To Cope With Men Who Carried Long

Sabres, And Knew How To Use Them! The Knives Of The Robbers Were

Powerless Against Them, And Once More The Latter Were Driven Back,

Overpowered, And With Half Their Number Disabled.

"Do You Surrender?" Demanded The Inspector.

There Was A Sullen Response In The Affirmative, And Knives Were Thrown

Down, But There Was No Cringing Or Supplication For Mercy; And The

Desperadoes Only Needed A Lion-Hearted Leader To Have Placed _Hors Du

Combat_ One Half Of Their Enemies Present. They Were About As Full Of

Pluck As English Bull-Dogs, And About As Resolute.

The Police, Without Moving From Their Positions, Re-Loaded Their

Pistols, And Then Two Or Three Of Them Advanced And Collected The

Discarded Knives Without Resistance. Handcuffs Were Then Placed Upon The

Robbers' Wrists, And They Were Secured In Such A Manner That Escape Was

Impossible.

The Victory Was Won At The Expense Of Three Mortally Wounded Policemen,

And Four Who Were Only Slightly Injured, While On The Part Of Our

Opponents Six Were Dead, Eight Badly Wounded, And Four Slightly.

During The Battle Both Fred And Myself Had Abstained From Firing A

Single Shot, For We Looked Upon The Affair In The Light Of A Massacre,

Yet We Could Not Condemn Mr. Brown Or His Men, For They Had Acted

According To The Best Of Their Judgment, And Under The Sincere

Impression That Our Lives Were In Danger; And So They Were; But We Felt

As Though We Had Rather Cut Our Way Through The Villains, Or Have Given

Up Our Prisoner, Than To Have Caused So Much Blood To Flow, And So Many

Deaths In An Affair That Interested Ourselves Alone.

But The Battle Was Ended, And The Wounded Required Attention. We Left

Our Prisoner Where He Had Fallen, When Knocked Down By A Bottle, And As

He Did Not Move, We Supposed That He Had Fainted From The Effect Of Fear

Or Pain, And That He Would Soon Come To His Senses.

We Were Picking Our Way Across The Floor, Endeavoring To Avoid The Pools

Of Blood, When The Rough Hands Of Policemen Were Laid On Our Shoulders.

"Put Out Your Digets, And On With The Darbies," They Said, Meaning That

We Should Suffer Ourselves To Be Handcuffed, Evidently Thinking That We

Were A Portion Of The Gang With Whom They Had Been Fighting.

"Don't Hinder Us, Mike," I Replied, Addressing The Officer, Whom I Had

Seen A Number Of Times, And Who Know Both Fred And Myself.

"By The Powers, It's Hinder Ye'll Get Wid A Rope Round Yer Neck. Out Wid

Yer Digets, And Don't Keep Us Waiting."

I Saw That The Man Was In Earnest, And I Was Surprised--But Suddenly I

Thought Of My Disguise, And The Mystery Was Explained At Once.

"Don't You Know Your Friends When You See Them, Mike?" I Asked, And

While Speaking I Tore Off My Wig, Revealing My Natural Hair.

"O, The Devil! I Axes Yer Pardon; But Who Would Have Thought Of Seeing

You Here? It's Funny Ye Are Going From Place To Place, Where The Hard

Knocks Are To Be Had, And No Pay For It."

We Did Not Explain To The Celtic Gentleman The Interest We Had In Being

Present, But Passed On To Where The Bodies Of The Wounded Bushrangers

And Robbers Were Lying. Mr. Brown Had Already Sent For The Surgeon Of

The Police Force, And A Squad Of Men Was Removing The Wounded Soldiers

Who Could Go On Horseback To Their Quarters, While Litters Had Been

Ordered To Carry Off The Remainder. No One Appeared To Care Whether The

Injured Robbers Were Attended To Or Neglected.

The Poor Fellows Were Suffering The Most Excruciating Pain; But They

Bore Their Pangs Without A Murmur, Although Two Or Three Of Them Did Ask

For Water, And When It Was Brought Drank Eagerly, And Appeared Thankful

For The Favor, Slight As It Was.

Fred And Myself Made An Attempt To Examine Their Wounds; But Before We

Could Strip Off One Of Their Shirts, We Heard A Crashing And Roaring

Beneath Our Feet, And Up Through The Floor Streamed Clouds Of Smoke,

Black And Suffocating, As Though Produced By Pitch Or Tar.

"The House Is On Fire," Cried A Dozen Voices; And In An Instant There

Was A Rush For The Doors And Windows, And Policemen And Miners, Who Had

Been Drawn From Their Beds By The Tumult And Confusion, Were Mixed In A

Dozen Struggling Masses, All Striving For Escape.

"Come Back," We Shouted, "And Save The Wounded;" But Our Words Were

Unheeded. The Fire Seemed To Increase Every Moment, Fanned As It Was By

A Strong Breeze, Which Blew From The South.

The Materials Of The Building Were Dry, And Easily Ignited; And We

Judged That In Less Than Fifteen Minutes The House Would Be One Mass Of

Flames.

We Expected To Hear The Robbers Moan And Shout For Assistance; But To

Our Surprise They Maintained A Stoical Silence, And Disdained