Then this man jumped at his master, pulled him off his horse, dragged
him to the wood-heap, held his head on the block, seized the axe, and
was just going to chop his master's head off, when another man
stopped him. That is what I had to flog him for, and then he was
sent back to Sydney. So you can just think what a man like that
would do. When my time was up I went as a trooper to the Nyalong
district under Captain Foster, the Commissioner, and after a while I
settled down and married an immigrant woman from Tipperary, a
Catholic. That's the way I happened to be here at Mass with my
mates, who are Catholics; but I'll never do it again; it's as much as
my life is worth. I daresay there are lots of men about Bendigo whom
I flogged while I was in the business, and every single man-jack of
them would kill me if he got the chance. And so for goodness' sake
let me stay here till dark. I suppose you are an honest man; you
look like it anyway, and you would not want to see me murdered, now,
would you?"
Barton was, in fact, as great a liar and rogue as you would meet with
anywhere, but in extreme cases he would tell the truth, and the
present case was an extreme one. Philip was merciful; he allowed
Barton to remain in his tent all day, and gave him his dinner. When
darkness came he escorted him to the tent of the men from Nyalong,
and was introduced to them by his new friend.
Pages:
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155