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

Is In Good Spirits, And Says That He Never Felt So Well In His Life As

Since He Was Married."

"Married?" We Repeated, In Astonishment.

"Yes, Smith Has Married Becky Lang, And A Good Wife She Will Make Him.

The Lady's Father, The Convict, Still Remains On His Cattle Ranch, And,

For Some Strange Reason, Refuses To Move To Melbourne, Where Becky Has

Taken Up Her Residence. The Ceremony Was Performed At The Latter Place,

And I Was One Of The Witnesses."

We Could Readily Understand Why The Old Man Refused To Move. The Banks

Of The Brook Near Which He Resided Were Too Rich In Gold Deposits To Be

Given Up Until A Competence Was Acquired. We Wondered If Smith Revealed

The Knowledge Of The Money Which We Had Dug Successfully For, And Which

We Had Shared Between Us. We Feared That He Had, And That Murden Would

Consider We Had Acted Unfair In The Transaction. But As He Said Nothing

On The Subject We Were Not Disposed To Introduce It.

"How Is My Old Friend Brown, And How Does He Like The Duties At This

Station?" Murden Asked, As He Rose From The Supper Table, And Steel

Spring Took His Place.

We Gave A Favorable Account Of The Inspector, And While The Lieutenant

Was Listening, A Sudden Thought Entered Our Heads, Which We Were

Resolved To Carry Into Effect, And Thereby Get Square With Mr. Brown,

Who Had Played Us A Trick Some Time Before. Murden Was Anxious To Speak

With The Inspector And Deliver His Letters, But He Wished To Do It In A

Secret Manner, So That No Suspicions Should Be Awakened That He Was On A

Government Mission, Or That Government Was Preparing To Strengthen Its

Force At Ballarat. The Authorities Knew That A Struggle Must Occur

Between The Miners And The Police, And It Had Been Considered Advisable

To Hasten The Conflict Before The Miners Gained More Strength, Defeat

Them Badly, As The Council At Melbourne Supposed Could Be Easily Done,

Hang A Few For High Treason, And Afterwards The Mining Tax Could Be

Collected Without Any Difficulty Whatever.

Such Was The Programme That The Governor-General And His Council Laid

Out, And They Supposed That It Could Be Executed; And Even Murden

Labored Under The Same Impression Until We Convinced Him Of His Error,

And Advised Him By All Means To Keep Out Of The Conflict If Possible, As

Which Ever Way The Battle Went The Police Would Be Blamed, And Obtain No

Credit For Their Exposure Or Bravery. The Sequel Showed That We Were

Right In Our Premises. As I Said Before, The Lieutenant Was Anxious To

See The Inspector, But Did Not Care About Visiting His Office; So We

Despatched A Note By A Passing Policeman, Requesting Mr. Brown's Company

Instantly, And Advising Him To Come Alone, As We Had Two Suspicious

Persons In The Store, And We Thought That A Reward Had Been Offered For

Their Apprehension, Which We Were Desirous Of Obtaining. We Got Murden's

Consent To Act In The Plot, And By The Aid Of A Wig His Disguise Was

Complete. As For Steel Spring, He Was To Remain As He Was, Without

Disguise, But Was To Vehemently Deny His Cognomen, And Puzzle Mr. Brown

If Possible.

The Instant The Inspector Got Our Note He Loaded Himself With Pistols

And Started For Our Store. By The Time That He Arrived It Was Dark, But

We Had A Candle Burning That But Dimly Illuminated The Room, And

Prevented Him From Distinguishing Objects.

"There Are Some Lodgers That We Have For To-Night," Fred Said, Pointing

To Murden And Steel Spring, Both Of Whom Sat With Their Faces From The

Light, As Though Not Desirous Of Attracting Attention.

"I Am Sure It Gives Me Pleasure To Meet Friends Of Yours," The Inspector

Said, With A Grim Smile; And He Rubbed His Hands As Though Already The

Capturer Of Two Notorious Robbers.

"Who Are They?" Mr. Brown Asked, In A Low Whisper, Watching Every Motion

Of Murden And Steel Spring, As Though He Expected A Manifestation Of

Hostility On Their Part.

"Don't Know," Replied Fred, In The Same Tone, "But I Suspect That They

Are Bushrangers."

"Ah, Ah, I Have No Doubt Of It," The Inspector Said. "Have Your Pistols

Handy, For They May Resist When I Arrest Them."

Mr. Brown Took A Seat, And Every Opportunity That He Could Get He Would

Scrutinize The Half-Hidden Faces Of Murden And Steel Spring; But Owing

To The Light Being Bad, He Was Unable To Gratify His Curiosity. Fred And

Myself Conversed On Various Matters, About The Yield Of Gold For The

Coming Year, And Whether The Prices Of Goods Would Decline Before The

Wet Set In, But Mr. Brown Was Too Anxious For A Capture To Join Us, And

Had Not The Spirit Of Evil Actuated Steel Spring, We Should Have Kept

The Inspector In Suspense For An Hour Or Two. Steel Spring Was Too

Mercurial To Remain Dormant For Any Length Of Time, And With A Desire To

Stir Mr. Brown Into Activity He Said, In A Careless Sort Of Way,--

"By The Vay, I 'Eard That These 'Ere Mines Vas Paying Wery Vell."

Mr. Brown Started, As I Knew That He Would Recollect The Voice, And He

Hastily Glanced Towards Us To See If We Did Not Mark It Also; But We

Appeared To Pay No Attention, And Continued Our Conversation. "You Have

Never Been In Ballarat Before?" The Inspector Said, Addressing Steel

Spring.

"No, I Can't Say That I 'Ave. My Time Has Been So Much Occupied Vid

Other Duties That I 'Ave Not Been Able To Visit All The Places I'd Vish

To."

Perhaps You Would Have No Objection To Inform The Company Of The Manner

In Which Your Livelihood Is And Has Been Obtained?" The Inspector Asked,

Nervously Handling A Pair Of Pistols In His Coat Pocket.

"O, I've Been In The Travelling Line," The Long-Limbed Wretch Replied,

With A Grin.

"Then Perhaps You Will Have The Kindness To Travel With Me, Mr. Steel

Spring," Cried The Inspector, Suddenly Starting From His Seat, And

Covering The Persons Of Murden And His Servant With A Pair Of Horse

Pistols That Carried Sixteen To The Pound.

Neither Of The Parties Moved Or Showed Surprise, But We Were Astonished

When We Heard The Inspector Utter A Shrill Whistle, And Before It Died

Away Half A Dozen Blue-Coated Policemen Rushed Into The Room, Armed With

Pistols And Swords.

"You See That Resistance Is Useless," The Inspector Said, Addressing

Steel Spring And Murden; "I Know Both Of You, And Bigger Rascals Never

Went Unhanged."

"If You Know Me, Pray Tell Me My Name," Murden Said, In As Gruff A Tone

As He Could Assume.

"I Can't Mention Your Name At Present, But From Your Looks I've No Doubt

That You Are Some Murdering Scoundrel. Any Jury Would Convict You

Without Hesitancy."

Fred And I Exploded With Laughter, And Even Steel Spring, Fortified As

He Was With The Protection Of Murden, And A Full Pardon For All Past

Offences, Roared With Glee.

Mr. Brown Looked Astonished And Indignant, But He Did Not Give Up His

Hostile Attitude. Even His Men Lost Their Savage Glare, And Waited For

An Explanation, Which We Were In No Hurry To Give.

"Put Up Your Pistols, Mr. Brown," I Said; "You Have No Use For Them

Here."

"But What Is The Meaning Of This?" He Demanded.

"Send Your Men To The Station-House, And We Will Explain."

"But These--"

He Pointed To The Supposed Bushrangers.

"We Will Go Bail For Their Appearance To-Morrow Morning," I Replied.

The Inspector Made A Sign To His Men, And They Rather Reluctantly

Dispersed. They Were As Anxious To Know The Secret Of The Mystery As

Their Chief.

"Now, Gentlemen," Mr. Brown Said, With Some Severity, "I Am Waiting To

Hear An Account Of Your Strange Conduct."

"Do You Recollect," Fred Asked, "Of Being Disguised As An Old Man, And

Of Asking Two Americans What They Thought Of The Annexation Question?"

"Pshaw, That Was A Joke," He Returned, Pettishly.

"Do You Recollect That You Laughed Quite Heartily When We Promised To

Retaliate, And 'Sell' You On The First Favorable Opportunity, And That

We Were Defied To Do It?" Fred Continued. Mr. Brown Nodded.

"Well, Then We Are Even," I Said.

"I Don't See That You Are," The Inspector, Cried. "Here Are Two

Notorious Criminals Who Should Be Safely Locked Up, And Yet You Ask Me

To Spare Them Until Morning. I Know Them Both, And Will Pledge My Word

That They Have Stolen More Gold Dust Than Any Other Two Parties In

Australia."

"And I Will Pledge My Word That I Can't Begin To Prig With The Head Of

The Police Force In Ballarat," Cried Murden, Who Could Remain Silent No

Longer.

Mr. Brown Sprang To His Feet With Indignation Stamped Upon Every Line Of

His Face, But Before He Could Proceed To Extremities, Murden Threw Off

His Wig, Unrolled His Coat Collar, And Stood Before The Inspector As

Lieutenant Of The Melbourne Police Force, And Consequently One Grade

Lower In Rank Than Mr. Brown.

"Murden," The Inspector Exclaimed, Extending His Hand In Astonishment.

"That's Me, Brown, And I Beg That You Will Forgive Me For My Share Of

This Plot. It Was To Retaliate, I Believe, For Some Joke That You

Perpetrated A Few Days Ago."

"Yes, But This Matter Is Serious," Mr. Brown Muttered.

"I Grant That; Especially When You Spoke About My Stealing. Faith, I

Began To Think That I Should Be The Inmate Of Your Town Prison, Before

Long, Unless I Confessed."

"Well, Perhaps I Was Rather Fast In My Charges; But You Know That Your

Wig Altered Your Face, And In Fact, Seeing You In Company With This

Notorious--"

Mr. Brown Pointed To Steel Spring, And That Worthy Individual Grinned

With Delight At The Excitement That He Had Created.

"Yes, I Rather Think That We Have Met Afore," He Said; "Don't You

Remember How You Ran After Me And My Pal Ven Ve Vere Goin' To Sydney?"

"You Scoundrel," Replied The Inspector, With Some Warmth, "I Only Wish

That I Had The Custody Of You For A Few Months."