BY S. J. ROW.
CLEARFIELD, PA., WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10." 186ft-
VOL, 16.-K0. 11.
EOLD DICK DONAHUE.
Seventy years ago the only free settlers in
New South Wales, one ol the colonies of
Australia, were Government officials, dis
charged soldiers, and emancipated convicts,
together with a springing of "young sons,"
who came out from the mother country to
pursue the occupation of sheep farming.
These "young son," bowever, were not the
sons of the aristocracy, or of any of the
wealthy classes, but of farmers, mechanics,
and leduced country gentlemen, and hfd to
begin the world with a great deal more cour
age than cash.
There are now in Australia five colonies
all important, and some flourishing ; but at
the period from which our narrative dates,
there was but the colony of New South
AVales, a large tract of country on the South
eastern coast of that island.
In the infancy of the colony, New South
Wales was interesting and valuable to the
mother country, as an oulet lor its criminal
population rather than as affording scope for
enterprise or inducements to capital; and
tliither, therefor wa? transported the felon
ry of the three kingdoms. Crime and vice
of every hue found there their respective
representatives from the murderer to the
I irkpocket, and from the gentee! lady shop
lifter to the "pest of cities." To keep such
a population in anything like order strong
detachments of military usually accompa
nied every cargo f felons, so that the colo
ny partook as much of the character of a
garrison as that of an ordinary settlement.
As might he expected in such a state of
society, military domination assumed the
place of law; and there at the end of the
earth, arid beyond the correcting influences
of public opinion, the authorities, high and
low, exercised generally a cruel despotism
over the unhappy convicts. Crime was
sought to lie repressed by violence alone
puni-hnient, an' not the reformation, o! the
criminal was the ruling principle. There
w-re only two elassvs settlers and officials
en one hand. and convicts on the other ; hnd
t'use two social elements were in antagonism
and at perpetual war with each other. The
f--!' It, whose only pursuits were stock rais
ing and wool growing, obtained from the
(i.ivt-rnn;eut as many convicts as they chose
to feed, clothe and house. Those of the
convicts cot wanted by settlers were employ
ed on toxernment woiks, such as making
T'H-is. clearing the forest, or building docks.
It would be presumed that settlers who ob
tained servants on such easy conditions
w.mld have been kind and indulgent, and
that officials whose only business was to su
pcrinteud public works from which ihey
w?re supposed to derive no pecuniary profit
would have been as lenient as possible to j
the workmen yet the case was far other- !
wiie. The settlers punished t lie servants
by ftogeuig. and cheated th.-ui out of their
stipulated allowance of food and clothing;
and ihe officials sold a great deal of the co tu
nicary stores sent out for the use of the con
victs and p-cketed the proceeds. The cou
sc'iucnoe was, that the latter were in a
chronic s!2te of mutiny; and that their
ma'ter, both settlers and officials, from long
babil of unchecked and licentious wrong
d';rc, were too readily disposed to report to
the most violent measures of repression.
Crime and violence were therefore rampant,
and the effect on the colony is as palpable
today as was the finger mark of the Al
luU' ty on the first murderer.
In this congenial atmosphere did our hero
mw up aad flourish. In Lis day he was
litnuus and his fame has survived him ; ior
in the long winter nights, when the thrce
lusged Sre burns brightly and casts its som
bre light on the dusky faces of the surround
ing thick bearded bushinen.the most welcome
wng of the evening is BoiJ Dick Donahue.
I'acahae's early biography would he spe
c:a.!y interesting, I have no doubt, to such
at are curious in tracing the developments
ot that type of genius which our hero pos
wscd to such an eminent degree. Born of
indigent parents in the city of Dublin, he
kd served an apprenticeship to the tiuie
horiured art of picking pockets; but the
precocity of his genius keeping pace with
the Jevcl ipmetit of the physical man. he
rd.n jui.-hed that business and took to the
JTotession of house breaking. As in the
1 er trade he evinced an adaptability and
fertility of genius, coupled with a rapidity
- execution that otten elicited the applause
'd patronizing smiles of his tutors, so in
the higher walk of his profession he dis
mayed slJ0h proruptitudeJ-oIdnesji, and dash
atutiirud his eontetuparies, and threw
h's r.viiis completely in the shade.
'K :a!uic had a long and brilliant career,
an-1 1 e unremitting industry and persever
ance had worked himself at last iuto the
wholesale business. In this line he went
oto a large speculation not leas, indeed,
tbaa that of undermining the Bank ot Ire
land, with a view of "settlirg its accounts."
He had a peculiar talent for finance in gen
era,, but evinced a decided taste for settling
the affairs of banks, and of jewelry shops in
I a-ticu,ar. In this speculation he succeeded
l:ii'.rab!y for ticht or nine months ; be had
t ;nne!ed his way through till he had got
under the very floor on which was deposited
the iron safe containing the coin of the in
'iitntiin.and next night would have brought
his enterprise to a happy and successful ter
mination by sawing through the floor and
appropriating the contents of the coveted
sa-e but that the fates were not propitious.
Tie -Blues," aa Donahue sarcastically
termed all policemen, "pinched" him on
the very night he was to have reaped the
reward of his honest toil and laudable per
severance. He was offered a free pardon if
tt would turn informer and "peach" on bis
eompacriota ; but Donahue was made of
trner stuff, tod preferred honor and an
unsullied reputation to liberty and freedom.
He was therefore sentenced to pass the re
mainder of his days in the penal colony of
ew South Wales.
Carter's Barracks, in Sydney, was in those
days the depot, great reservoir and recepta
cle of British felonry ; and here our hero
was regularly installed in due time. Here
he was assigned bis cell, his plank or mat
tress, and his blanket.
"At home for life I" exclaimed Donahue
jocularly, as the turnkey ushered him iuto
his "furnished apartments."
"No insolence, sir!" retorted that impor
tant personaee.
"Insolence 1" exclaimed our hero, really
surprised at the novel interpretation. "Bless
yersoul, sir, I'd be the last in the world to
I'm the pink of modesty, I am."
"Silence, sir!" interrupted the important
personage aforesaid, giving Donahue a shove
which knocked hira over against the wall,
and after which little act of courteous hospi
tality he slammed the door to, locked it, and
left him.
"If I had you in Dublin, my sweet boy,
I'd teach you better manners in a brace of
minutes," muttered Donahue. "That's
more than the best man in Dublin would
dare do," he soliloquized; "but everything
is changed here, it seems. I forgot that I
am at the andri andti what's this they
call them? The andti the and tip-o days.
Yes, that's it; the and tip o-days, where
everything is topsy turvy, upside down, and
where a mnn is half the time head down
ward, heels upward, and fancies himself
standing on his perpendiculars all the time.
There ain't uo fancy about this, tho' ! Here
I am, caged up like a theif, just the same as
if I was a common pickpocket, no better,uo
worse. The door bolted and locked can't
see the blessed daylight. And look here
this is pretty treatment for a gentleman I"
and lie held up the ghost of a blanket, thro'
which he counted the iron bars in his cell
window, and then dashed the spectre down
upon hi.; mattress the hard plank. "There
is bed and bedding, if you like ! This is the
and-tip-o-days, is it? Me.who used to have
my boots polished by servants, boys to run
uiy errands, and Nancy Dawson to daf-ce
attendance. Aud-tip o-days, eh 1 I'm
thinking I'll tip th bedding out of the win
dow one of these days, and the mattress
well, the mat'ress I'll leave to the next
lodger, with my bletsing to boot."
"That's a rowdy coon!" observed the
turnkey to Mr. Crewel!, the keeper or gov
ernor of ihe jail.
"Which is he?" asked Mr. Crewcll.
"Him as I have just put into the blone
jug." replied the turnkey.
"That Dubiiu chap."
"Yes."
"O. we'll soon knock that out of him
cure him in less than a week:"
Next morning the cargo of felonry, of
which Donahue was an item, was inspected
in the yard, and the invoices or sentences of
each one read over. The barbers were or
dered to cut off the hair and whiskers of
each, aud when these hirsute appendages
had been chopped off. including a few slices
of chin and cheek, the noviates were put
under the pump, well scrubbed, and then
labeled with the motley prison clothes of
gray and yellow. They were next leg ironed
with a chain of twenty five pounds each, in
which they ate and drank, and worked and
slept. After which they were Lreakfx'ted
on "Skilagalee," (boiled corn meal), bo thin
as to run down a given declivity with a ve
locity of a mile a minute. This sumptuous
repast finished, they were taken out to work
in gangs, some in the quarries and some to
hew trees in the forest, guarded in all cases
by soldiers armed with loaded muskets and
fixed bayonet".
Our hero was put in the forest gang. As
might have been expected, his hands blis
tered, his wrist got strained, and he became
quite nnable to operate on the stubborn
trees. He put down the axe.
"Go on with your work," said the soldier
on guard.
"Can't," said Donahue ; "my hands are
blistered.
"Go on with your work, I say."
"Can't do a tap, sir. Wrist clean out of
joint."
"You won't work, then?"
"Impossible !"
"Very well ; Mr. Crewel: will cure you, I
dare say."
Donahue was thereupon escorted before
the governor of the jail, who heard what the
soldier and he had got to say respectively.
"My poor fellow !" began that potentate,
"you were tenderly brought up. Had high
rearing on your mother's back, when she
was begging from door to door in Dubiiu.
Your delicate hands have been used to
gljvcs, and the ugly work of felling trees
don't agree with thciu. What a shame it is
for government not to send out gloves with
axe handles, and so save those delicate
hands which have done such execution at
picking pockets."
"Never picked a pocket since I was a
kid,'J sail Donahue.
"My poor fellow ! you're too honest for
such work ; your honesty has ruined you."
"Not a bit of it, I robbed many a man,
but I did it in a manly way ; never sneaked
behind a man's back to do it."
"My poor fellow, let me see your mittens.
Donahue showed his hands.
"They're very sore. Are your hands the
only sore part about you?"
"The only sore spot on my blessed body."
"My poor fellow! your blessed body won't
be long so. Ho, flogger 1 Here, you jackal,
here is a nice little job for you. Not every
day you get a Dublin cracksman to practice
ia. The poor fellow has sore hands and
can't work. Let's see if we can't cure him.
Take him to the triangles and give hira fifty.
"And now, flogger," he said with a scowl,
"do your duty, or I'll have your own flesh
cut as fine as mince meat."
"All right, Governor," said the flogger.
"I'll make skin and flesh fly skin and flesh,
sir ; that's my motto. There's not a man in
Carter Barracks can handle a cat-o-nine tail
with this child."
"All right then ; go to work and give this
young gentleman a taste of your quality."
Donahue was tied to the triangles in a
half standing posture.
"There's a bit of lead for you," whisper
ed the flogger, as he was tying Donahue's
hands. "Take and put it between your
teeth, and keep chewing it while I'm flog
ging you. That is all I can do for you.
There, now, don't cry out.or the rest of the
prisoners will be laughing at you."
With these friendly admonitions the flog
ger stripped off his jacket, tucked up his
shirt sleeves, and commenced his bloody
work. The first stroke sent a stinging pain
through every nerve and muscle of Dick's
body. He did not cry out, but he writhed
like an excoriated eel, and bit and crunched
the lead between his teeth, ft was then he
felt the value of the flogger's friendly pre
scription. The first blow left great blue
blisters behind it, bti't sdid cot draw blood.
The disciplined flogger, preparing for his
second, slowly and deliberately drew the cats
through hi3 fingers to unite the thongs and
to give the greater force and pungency to his'
blow, when again down cams the cats like
drops of molten lead a secoLd time on his
flesh, !eaving,like its predecessor, great blue
bli.-tcrs behind it. This was what the flog
ger technically termed "chalking the track,"
and on this "track" the remaining forty
eight stripes were dealt with astonishing ex
actitude, till the blood streamed like red hot
lava down his limbs, while not a scratch was
made on the adjacent part3, It having been
the executioner's standing boast that he
could flog a man to death on a space not lar
ger than a butter plate.
The fifty lashes having been administered
at the rate of a lash per minute, Donahue
was set loose. The medical officer of the
prison then walked up, felt his pulse, and
pronounced hiui fit for work.
Donahue had scarcely been untied, when
t'iree more of his fellow prisoners and ship
mates were marched into the yard, tTcd to
the triangles,and made to undergo a similar
ordeal of fifty lashes each for being unable
to work one of whom fainted under the
infliction when the Doctor, after the usual
serio comic interlude of pulse feeling, order
ed theiu back to work. After these another
batch, and then another, a&d so the - horrid
work went on till eighteen were flogged
w fh out intermission.
Most of these men, it may be observed,
were brought up through sheer wantonness,
it having been customary to subject newly
anived convicts to the lash on the least pre
tense of provocation, to give them g lore
tjste of what they might expect in the event
of their becoming refractory in other words,
to punish them by anticipation.
It will be easily imagined that these con
victs were now much less able to work than
they were before bfing flogged. Yet because
they refused to work, they were locked up,
tho sore parts rubbed with salt and water,
and were again brought out to work next
morning. Still unable to work, they were
again brought to the triangles, received fifty
more lashes, and were again brought out to
work.
"This is a terrible life they're leading ns,
Dick," observed Smith, a Liverpool mags
man, as he and Donahue crawled at the foot
of a tree, endeavoring, or rather pretending
to cut it down,
"Horrible!" wa the rejoinder. "They
want to kill us ont of the way, and the soon
er they do it the better for us."
"Though in terrible agony," said Smith,
"I don't feel as if I should die."
"So much the worse," returned the other.
"The longer we live the more flogging we'll
get."
"They say," continued Smith, "that pris
oners sometimes cast lots as to which would
kill the other in order to get ont of pain.
Will you and I cast lots as to which of us
will sink his axe in the other's skull? Who
ever does it will be hanged, and then the
two of us will be ont of misery. What do
you say?"
."Never!" replied Donahue, "I never
killed a man in my life, and I won't stand
like a calf in the shambles and let auother
man kill me, if I can help it."
"Well," returned the other, "I'll get
some one else to do it."
"Don't," remonstrated Donahue, "while
there's life there's hope, find who knows but
we might live to take revenge on some of
these tyrants yet." j
While Donahue was talking and pretend
icg to work, but in reality watching the sen
tinel, Smith slipped from his side through
the neighboring thicket, proceeded to a
gang of three or four men who were work
ing close by. The next instant a crash and
a groan were heard. Smith had sunk his
axe into another convict's skull to earn the
happy privilege of being hanged !
This is not an isolated instance of such
murderous desperation. Scores of similar
cases could be cited from the convict chron
icles of New South Wales.
Whether on account of his robust consti
tution, which seemed to defy all at tempts at
breaking it, or our hero's comely exterior or
the jauntiness of his deportment, Donahue
at any rate became obnoxious to his keepers,
and they flogged him and flogged him, un
til the doctor at last was forced to admit
that he was uot able to work, and had him
sent to the hospital.
Being now a patient and almost dead
though the fates ordained that he was not.
to be killed with flojging his manacles
were taken off, and when able to go on
crutches he was permitted to walk in the
yard. He remained in the hospital for two
weeks, at the end of that fime he was as
convalescent as convicts are allowed to be
come before being sent to work, and to work
he was accordingly ordered for the following
morning. In a few minutes after this pleas
ing intelligence was commcnicated to him
he walked into the closet, and the next tid
ings heard of him was that he was a bush
ranger in the Bathurst Mountains. He ef.
fected his escape, as some enterprising gen
tleman in San Fiancisco contemplates achiev
ing fortunes, by exploring the sewers of the
city.
Havicg achieved his liberty in this ro
mantic fashion, bis first exploit upon gain
ing open air in the dusk of evening waa to
go into a house on Brickfield Hill, take a
guu from the mantelpiece and a flask of pow
der from a shelf, and when, with this scanty
equipment, he was proceeding on his way,
the mistress of the house, who happened
to be the only inmate at the time, freely fur
nished him, in addition, supper and a suit
of her husband's clothes.
"The die is cast," he soliloquized as he
proceeded on his way. "Life is a lottery,
and 1 have made a draw. There is nothing
for it now but courage and resolution. I'd
sooner be hanged a thousand times over
'.ban live a life of such, horrible torture.
Halt ! your money or your life," he roared
as a horseman caiae galloping towards hiaa.
"What! so near the town," was the ex
clamation of the astonished equestrian. "I
am aid-de-camp to hi excellency."
"Dismount, sir, ou the instant, or you're
a dead man !"
He dismounted.
"Put down on the road your purse.watch,
and such valuables as you've got," ordered
the brigand, leveling his gun at the officer's
bead, "and turn your back and walk off.
You shall be unharmed."
The gentleman obeyed, the brigand mount
ed and galloped away. The former natural
ly very much crest-fallen, walked to his
quarters, reported the "casualty," adding
that he had been set upon by six armed
bushrangers and had escaped death by a spe
cial interposition' of providence. In corrob
oration of which narrow escape he showed
several bullet holes in his goli laced frock
coat, which said ballet holes had been in
flicted on the unoffending froekcoat by his
own pocket pistols after Donahue had gal
loped away on luj horse.
Before ten o'clock that night both man
and horse were beyond the Ncpean river in
the Blue Mountains, forty miles from the
city of Sydney. Dismounting, he patted
the arched neck of the proud and panting
steed, and aid : "You've done bravely.
And now I must introduce myself as Bold
Dick Donahue, and you I will christen De
liverer." He rose with the sun the next morning,
viiited Deliverer, and groomed him with a
handful of long grass. He heard a noise
that sounded like a musket shot. He lis
tened again. It was the crack of a bullock
whip. In an instant he was by the roadside
in command of the position. He heard the
bullock teams and their drivers coming to
wards him.
"Halt !" he cried, pointing his gun at the
foremost.
"Dick Donahue!" exclaimed that worthy
in a jubilant voice.
"Who are you? What have you got?
Who is your master?
"Smith hungry Smith of Mudgee is
my master," said the driver.
"Where is your master?" demanded Dick.
"On the road behind us, coming from
Sydney.
By this time the rest of the teamsters
had come up, and one and all urged the bri
gand to rob their master's drays and take
themselves as companions.
"As to taking you for companions, I shall
think about that part of the business.
Meantime, unload the drays and take the
goods into the bushes."
Ilaviug showed them his hiding place
aud ordered them to mount guard over the
booty, he started off to meet Smith.,He
hadn't proceeded far before he encountered
that gentleman and another squatter riding
in company. He ordered them to "stand
and deliver," they obeyed at his command,
he bound their hands, -and marched them
to his place of rendezvous.
"There gentlemen," he said, "these drays
are emptied by my orders. I do not rob for
riches, but to teach those who have them
how to use them properly. Might is right
all over the country, aud a3 long as I am
king of the highwiy I shall insist upon jus
tice being done to my fellow convicts. For
you, Mr. Smith, I stall inflict no corpora
punishment on you this time, but if I ever
hear that you flog your hands, or don't give
them sufficient food, I shall visit you, and
flog you with your own can-o'nine tails.
Having made this interesting announce
ment, and tied the two settlers to the drays,
he went to his hiding place, where he found
the goods safely depositee1., but one-half the
sentinels quite drunk. These he rebuked,
taunting them with their ambition to be
come bushranger while lacking the para
mount qualification of vigilance, that a
drunken man was good for nothing, far less
the hazardous work of bushranging.
"Go to your drays," he said, "you shal
be no companions of mine ; you would soon
bring us all to the gallows. For you," he
said, addressing those who kept sober, "you
Bhall be my companions if you wish."
"I am yours," exclaimed one.
"And I," repeated another.
"And I," added a third.
"Right!" aaid our hero and they all
walked up to the drays. "Three of your
men, Mr. Smith, have voulenteered to join
me. The others are too honest to become
bushrangers. Take them back and treat
them well. I shall keep you two horses ;
and now, gentlemen, I wish you good morn
ing." Returning with his new associates to
their hiding place, he caused them to swear
allegiance to him as their Captain, which
they readily agreed to do.
From them he obtained a great deal of
useful information. He was strange to the
customs of the people and to the character
of the principal settlers in that part of the
country, and his companions made hiui ac
quainted with all these essentials in a fash
ion of their own. The greater part of the
settlers, thy informed bin?-, were tyrants
who should be either flogged or shot. They
starved their Iiands,made them go barefoot
ed and almost naked, aud for the least mis
demeanor had them severely flogged a
statement which was in great partcfuite cor
rect. He need not be alarmed, they as
sured him, of being betrayed, far all the
workmen in the couutry would be his friends,
as they were all convicts or freed men.
Secure in the fastnesses of tbe Blue
Mountains, and with more Drovisions and
eveu luxuries than they could consume in a
year, the freebooters were in no hurry to
decamp. On tho contrary, they matured
their plans of operation, put themselves in
communication with the working hands for
miles arouud, and obtained ali necessary
information concerning employers. The
Captaiu uow felt himself free for executing
other dashing movements. Therefore, act
ing upon information which was every day
pouring into his camp by trusty scouts and
faithful employees, he broke up for an ex
cursion. About nine o'clock, one fine summer's
morning, several horsemen appeared ou the
Bogolong sheep -station, and enquired for
Mr. Robertson, the proprietor. Mr. Rob
ertson was in the court-yard engaged in
business of importance ; but if the gentle
men would proceed thither the servant had
no doubt that his master would see them.
The equestrians without dismounting pro
ceeded as directed. There they found a
man tied to an extemporized irianglc, aud a
flogger prepared to flagellate him, while Mr.
Robertsou, seated in an easy-chair in the
shade of an umbrageous Eucalyata, super
intending the philanthropic ceremonial, re
peating his injunctions to the executive of
the "cats" to spare neither whip nor mus
cle in the opperation on hand. He had, he
assured that official in his happiest vein of
humor and good nature, plenty of hemp to
make new "ca!ts" when the old Ones were
worn out, and lots of pickle in which to
season them ; and he therefore exhorted
him in the most persuasive accents "not to
be over particular its to'a few slices of skin,
or a few ounces of flesh' or a pint or so cf
'claret' assuring him that if he ahould be
tray any weak compunction as to the skin or
flesh or 'claret' he (said official) should take
the culprit's place." Mr. Robertson was
very funny that morning.
"Hold !" shouted the captiin, most un
ceremoniously interrupting his f acetiousness.
''Don't move an inch, any of you, at the per
il of your lives? Untie that man, flogger
untie him instantly. Mr. Robertson, come
forward and take bis place."
Mr. Robert fori was thunder struck ; he
hesitated, turned deadly pale, aud shook like
an aspen leaf, lie had heard of "Bold Dick
Donahue," and surmised that it was he.
Seeing he betated, Deliverer was prancing
at his side in an instant.
''To the triangles, or take this!" shotted
the brigand, holding his pistol at Mr. Rob
ertson's ear. "Decide, and quickly ; I
have no time for parley."
Mr. Robertson half dead with fear, totter
ed to the triangles and stripped.
"Bind him, flogger bind him tight,',
continued the brigand; "and do you see
this? Do you see this pistol ?" he added,
holding that convincing reasoner in rathef
unenviable proximity to the flagellator's
head. . "Do you see this pistol?" Oh, yes !
There was no doubt about it. The flogger
saw the pistol never, perhaps, Baw any
thing plainer in his life ; but it was rather,
if anything.too close to his ear. He saw it,
however, and accepted the fact.
"Well," added Donahue, "the pistol is
loaded with powder and ball. The ball will
pass through your head, unless you make
skiu and flesh fly !"
"How much punishment shall I give him,
sir?" asked the executioner, with a smile of
fiendish joy.
"Fifty," was the laconic answer. "This
is not much, considering the many fifties hs
has himself given to others."
Mr. Robertson was bound according!y,and
the first lash from the willing and powerful
arms of the flogger extorted a loud cry of
agony from the sufferer.
"Give it him!" shouted the brigand.
"There is no fear of a man who bleats."
And again the "cats" came down with ter
rible force ; and again a load cry for mercy
escaped the victim. Here a respectably
dressed female rushed from the house into
the yard, attracted by the cry for mercy,
and supposing it to have come from the
wretched man who was doomed that morn
ing to suffer.
"I insist upon it, George," she uttered,
with passionate vehemence, "I insist that
you do not punish that or any other of the
hands in such a manner. If you do, I shall
take my children and leave the house."
The flogger suspended his blog, and all eyes
were turned to the pleader for mercy. It
was Mrs. Robertson. But when that lady
saw that it was her husband that was suf
fering, she stood petrified, scarcely believ
ing her own eyes.
"What's the meaning of all this?" she
exclaimed, rushing frantically to unbind
him.
"One moment, madame," interposed the
brigand ; "I am Donahue, and your hus
band is being flogged by my orders."
"Donahue!" shrieked the unhappy wo
man, clasping her hands in the agony of
despair; "oh do not kill the father ot my
children !"
"You have not pleaded so, madam, for
the unhappy convict whom your husband
would have mangled this morning."
"I have I have! Heaven be my wit
ness that 1 have !" urged the lady in pas
sionate entreaty.
"Enough, madam !" rejoined the brigand,
politely lifting his hat. "A less worthy
man should be spared at your request. Un
tie Mr. Robertson." And thi tyrant was
released, while hi amiable wife melted into
tears of gratitude.
Having then charged' Mr. Robertson. on
the peril of a second visitation, to treat his
servants better in future, he once more lift
ed his hat to the lady and was ptepsrring to
take his departure, when Mrs. Robertson,
with genuine Australian hospitality, asked
hi u and his men to take some refreshment
an invitation which Donahue accepted
in the same fraak spirit with which it was
offered.
Thus for four years did tfyis formidable
brigand hold paramount sway over the
whole north-western portion of the colonv,
and had under his absolute control nearly
six hundred miles of territory. He had col
lected under his command sixteen of the
most reckless aud daring spirits in the coun
try, each of whom were under ban of death
so that desperation lent still greater dar
ing to their depredations.
Donahue was a bold and judicious leader.
By liberality almost princely in its munifi
cence lie conciliated the working classes,
and dealt severe punishment, as we have
seen, upon those who became obnoxious by
their avarice or erae'ty. Very many of the
wealthy colonists also favored and even re
spected him on account both of the severe
justice rude and lawless though it had
been with which he vinited some of the
heartless tyrants of those days, and the uni
form and unqualified respect with which he
treated females in all cases and under al!
circumatatnees. He was never himself
known to offer the least disrespect to a wo
man; and if any of his followers ever trans
gressed the rigorous discipline he had in
this respect established, the offender was
punished by scourging or death, according
to bis guilt:
The Government of the colony was in
timidated by his daring, and at their wits'
end how to put a stop to it. In this dilem
ma the Governor convened a meeting of
territorial magistrates. The meeting was
held at Carter's Barracks, where official ex
perience in the treatment of refractory crim
inals could be made available.and Mr. Crew
el's peculiar knowledge brought into requsi
tiori. After anxious deliberation the magis
trates decided on sending the military to
fight the bushrangers. After this they
dined. After dinner they drank. After
drinking they speechified. The bushrang
ers should be shot thst was the substance
nf the speeches. They were all very brave,
ks people are apt to be after dinner. Col.
StanSeld, a gentleman of seventy, said that
when he was a young man he would shoot
or capture the bushrangers in a week, and
this with only half a do:en troopers. It was
eleven at night. The gentlemen adjorned
all except the Colonel, who wished Mr.
Crewel and Dr. Savage, both of Carter's, to
accompany hirn to his hotel, because well
because it was after dinner. Mr. Crewel
and Dr. Savage prepared to escort the Colo
nel home. When the three gentlemen got
outside the prison gates, the ywere set upon
by a party of men who were lying in ambush
in the dark shade ot the high prison walls.
The Colonel, . bowever, managed to make
his escape ; but the Doctor and Mr. Crewel
were pinioned and gagged. The captives
were marched off in the direction of Brick
field Hill, where they were met by a gay
cavalier in toop-boots and a coat of New
market cut The cavalier peered into the
faces of the captives.
"Do you know me, gentlemen?" he said.
They looked and were confounded it was
the terrible "Bold Dick Donahue."
"My poor fellows !" be began, simulating
the tone in whioo he had once been address
by Mr. Crewel. "My poor fellows, you
recognize me, I see. Oar circumstances
are altered. Where have you left Colonel
StanSeld? Ha, ha!" The truth flashed
on the minds of the wretched captives.
Colouel Staufield and Bold Dick Donahue
were one!
"Never mind !" said the brigand, "we
shall have an explanation by-andby. Mean
time," be continued, addressing his men,
"take your prisoners to our camp between
Penrith and Paramatta. There we shall
have something to say to them." The
brigauds, who had everything in readiness
for the successful execution of their project,
harnessed a pair of blood horse to a dog
cart,int which they put the captives. guard
ed on both sides by two of their fellows, and
and then drove to their place of rendezvous
with lightning speed.
They were now in the dark recesses of the
forest, thirty miles from Sidney, and many
miles from the nearest resident. The wretch
ed prisoners, seeming more dead than alive,
fully realized their terrible situation.
"Untie them," commanded the leader.
"They may now rave and roar as they like.
The echoes alone can hear them."
The prisoners were unbound.
"Oh, for heavea's sake" began Mr.
CreweL
"Hush,you blasphemous wretch," hissed
the brigand. "How dare you invoke that
solemn name ?"
"But I," asked the Doctor, "what have
I done to you ?1"
"You f you are more cruel, if that were
possible, than your brother tyrant. You
are both colu-blooded,but you are the worse
of the two."
"What do you intend doing with us?"
asked the wretched jailor.
"Nothing more than yeu both did tn
me," was the gloomy reply. "You have
given me, in" all, two hundred and fifty lash
es and pickled my sore back with salt and
water till the marrow, I thought, burned in
my bones. The same treatment you shall
get to-night. In case the worst should hap
pen, and you do not survive your punish
ment, you shall be allowed ten minutes to
make your1 peace with God, whom we all of
us have ted' much offended."
There was no appeal The sullen demean
or of tho judge, who evinced neither anger,
nor pleasure, nor ottered ribald jest, nor
uncouth expression, but too plainly toll the
fixedness of his terrible detenninatkm.
They knelt, these wretched men, and in si
lent prayer besought Him. whose assistance
in the season of prosperity they had neglect
ed to invoke, to sustain them dow in the
hour of their extremity. The brigand heM
his gold watch to the light, and when the
ten minutes had elapsed he gave the order.
"To the triangle!"
The prisoners were led to the place of ex
ecution, made fast, and the dreadful work
began. Before half the punishment had
been inflicted. Doth fainted. Cold water
was thrown over them, and they revived.
The flogging resumed. And thus from
fainting fit to fainting fit the punishment
went on until the two hundred and fifty
kuhes were administered. The morning's
sun found the brigands ia the tnoahtains
and tbe captives stiffened eorpses.
ine rooters were aware of ih Ur-;.
nation of the government. They therefore
reparea, like desncrate men tn col! f"K:-
lives dearly. When the military took tho
field Captain Donahue sent a challenge with
Dis compliments to the officer in command.
He mentioned the circumstance of his pres
ence in the council and the frat of kidnap
ing the officials, and their punishment. He
said ho was determined to fight, not to skulk;
and thereore, provided he, the offieor wo.nli
accept the challenge, ho, Donahue would
fight tho military on a certain day on tho
plains of Bathurst, and decide tho tesoe.
The challenge was accepted1.
The day came; they met the Govern
ment forces cambering thirty men, the
brigand and his comrades seventeen. They
fought, on one side, with bravery; on tho
other, with desperation and frenzy. At the
end of a two hoars' conflict, Donahue fell
mortally wounded. His men, most of them,
were killed; the remainder, dangerously
wounded, were taken and executed. And
thus ended the career of as bold and popu
lar brigand" as ever wa monarch of the high
way. Old Squire Jack.aa he was familiarly call
ed, was for many years a Justice of the
Peace in B , and in addition to issuinf
warrantsand executons, was freouently called
upon to perform the marriage ceremony.
One cold winter night, about twelve o'clok
he was aroused by a knock at the door. In
no very amiable mood, he jumped from his
warm bed, and throwing up the window,
called out:
"Who's there?"
"Halloa, Sq uire ! "We want to get mar
ried," was the reply.
"You're one! and now be off with you!"
roared the Squire : and bringing down tho
window with a crash, he hopped into bed
again.
"They are living, man and wife to this
day," the Squire always added, when ho
told the atory.
"
An exchange youcbes for the truth of tho
following curious circumstance, which re
cently came under the observation of the
editor. A clerk, after washing his hands ia
the store, left a gold ring on the wash etand.
The next day he went to get it, remember
ing that he had left it there, when he dis
covered that a large spider had spun kit web
through it and had actually lifted it a frac
tion of an inch above the stand, and was
gradually working it up to the ceiling.
Mr. Margrave.a citizen of Jefferson" coun
ty, Tenn., is in his ninety seventh year.aoj,
has net tasted animal food for fifty years,
and, as he believes, has not eaten as much
as one pound in hi life. He is temperate
in his habits, using no spirits of any kind,
and uses tobacco moderately. He is a baoh-
Some old pilgrim, who ought to be in let
ter bixainess,is writing articles for the papers
cautioning young meo not to marry pretty
firls, claiming that they doB't make oed
wives. He can't fool the boys with such
nonsense, and pretty girls need not borrow
any trouble.
Mrs. Abraham Lincoln is still at Fraak
fort, Germany, living in great retirement,
anc in very unpretending quarters. She
sees but few persons, and these generally
American ladies whom she knew during
Mr. Lincoln's administration.
Who can imagine a greatSr lump of earth
ly b!'a, reduced to a finer thief, &an Lie,
ing the only woman on earth ia tho garden
of Eden?
Indianopolis claims to be the greatest
walnut lumber market in tho wocli