'
"Two men who had been awaiting orders outside the door now entered,
armed with carbines, produced each a pair of handcuffs, and came
towards us. But Jonathan drew back a step or two, clenched his big
fists, and said:
"'No, you don't. If this is your little game, captain, all I have to
say is, you are the darndest double-faced old cuss on this side of
perdition. You can shoot me if you like, but neither you nor the
four best men in Van Diemen's Land can put them irons on me. I am a
free citizen of the Great United States, and a free man I'll be or
die. I'll walk back to Hobarton, if you like, with these men, for I
guess that greasy old whaler has gone to sea again by this time, and
we'll get another ship there as well as at Launceston.'
"Captain Massey did not like to venture on shooting us off-hand, so
at last he told the constables to put up their handcuffs and start
with us for Hobarton.
"After we had travelled awhile Jonathan cooled down and began to talk
to the constables. He asked them how they liked the island, how long
they had been in it, if it was a good country for farming, how they
were getting along, and what pay they got for being constables. One
of them said: 'The island is pretty good in parts, but it's too
mountaynyus; we ain't getting along at all, and we won't have much
chance to do any good until our time is out.
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