The continued
impounding of his cattle meant ruin to him, and when he returned to
Gippsland he found his hut burned down and his cattle gone on the way
to the pound. He took a double-barrelled gun and went after them.
He found them at Providence Ponds, which was a stopping place for
drovers. Next morning he rose early, went to the stockyard with his
gun, and waited till McDougall, who was manager for the McLeods, came
out with his stockmen. When they approached the yard he said:
"I shall shoot the first man who touches those rails to take my cattle
out."
McDougall laughed, and ordered one of his men to take down the
slip-rails, but the man hesitated; he did not like the looks of
Mason. Then McDougall dismounted from his horse and went to the
slip-rails, but as soon as he touched them Mason shot him.
Coady Buckley spared neither trouble nor expense in obtaining the
best counsel for Mason's defence at the trial in Melbourne. He was
found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to nine years'
imprisonment, but after a time was released on the condition of
leaving Victoria, and when last heard of was a drover beyond the
Murray.
After the departure of Glengarry, Dancer could find no profitable
employment in Gippsland, and lived in a state of indigence. At last
he borrowed sufficient money on a promissory note to pay his passage
to Ireland.
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