E. J. Brady

“ There had been an inquiry into the robbery, and although there was nothing in the evidence to directly implicate either himself or his manager, the tone of head-office letters was by no means comforting.
George had done his best to clear his superior officer. Truth is good, but it is not always a matter of telling the whole truth in every-day life.
If people were to say all they knew about each other, society would fall to pieces rapidly—as rapidly as an iceberg might melt in a volcano. ”

“ George shook his head. Dan regarded Tom with an air of attention, almost of respect. With returning perception he saw that there was something important behind all this—that some mystery was going to be cleared up, and instinctively he connected the group before him with the bank robbery—the murder, perhaps.
“No,” said Dan, humouring the boy, “neither of us carry Testaments about with us when we go shooting. Couldn’t you swear on something else?”
“Yes,” said Tom, after a moment’s thought. “We might swear on a knife. Gimme that sheath knife.” ”

“ They raced through the lantana, scratching their hands and faces and tearing their clothes as they went.
Their craft was aground in the black mud among the mangroves, and when they tried to shove her off they found the task beyond their strength.
Tom hurriedly led the way into a thick patch of jungle, and they crawled under a low clump of young stinging trees, where it would be almost impossible for a full-grown man to reach them, and held a whispered consultation.
“It’s him,” said Dave.
“Yes,” agreed Tom, “there ain’t no doubt of it.” ”

“ As the scrub drew denser and darker Dave gave over whistling and started talking to himself.
Once he caught his toe in a vine, stumbled, and swore.
Presently he came to the bean tree. Tom was holding his breath.
As Dave passed he jumped out and caught him round the neck.
The red-headed boy let out a continuation of blood-curdling yells, which woke wild echoes in the forest, and frightened the night owl from his perch on Dobie’s fence.
“Shut up,” cried Tom, trying to smother Dave’s outcry by putting his hand over his mouth. “Shut up, you speckled idiot; you’ll have them down on us.” ”

“ He extended a trembling hand and drew forth a single splinter.
“Draw!” repeated Jean Petit, offering to each in turn.
The lots were drawn. The spectres waited, sitting silently, their eyes upon the face of their commander.
“The shortest!” snarled the man with the knife.
Their sallow features were full of anguish. Four men knew that it was the mission of one to die. To die—at once.
For man born of woman death is at all times terrible. ”

“ His breath came and went noiselessly like an animal of the bush. He created no more disturbance than a panther creeping through the forest on the trail of a prey.
The door creaked a little, but Holterman took no notice. A dark figure skulked across the doorway, and, hidden in the cover of the wall, moved towards the open fireplace. But Holterman observed it not.
The shadow of the escapee drifted darkly across the uneven floor. Once, through an opening in the slabs, the light of a star flashed brightly for a second upon a naked blade, as if a fire-fly had gone by. ”

“ George Chard thought of his years of service that day, and of his mother and the girls.
Before midday all Wharfdale knew that the bank had been robbed, and the news had travelled up and down the river before sunset.
Business in the little riverside town was practically adjourned for that day. The citizens gathered in groups or sat on their heels under the shade of a tree opposite the bank door, formulating theories and discussing them.
The religious crank took advantage of the opportunity to address the assemblage upon the state of its immortal soul. ”

“ The youth and presumed innocence of Tom and Dave would not deter a person of his gentle nature for a moment. He would have no more compunction about the matter than he would about the matter of drowning a couple of blind kittens. Had he the slightest inkling of the knowledge possessed by his hostages regarding the murder of his accomplice on the night of the bank robbery the career of the pirates would have ended abruptly the previous day. ”

“ I tell you what it is, Dave Gibson, that girl’s dead in love with that George Chard!”
“Did she tell you that?” asked Dave.
“No,” replied Tom, loftily. “She did not, but I know it. And what’s more, if he don’t marry her she’ll get sick and die of a broken heart.”
“How do you know?”
“How do I know? Ain’t I ever read anything? That’s what a girl does when she’s in love. But I’m goin’ to stop it. I’m goin’ to go to him and put it to him straight. If he’s anything of a man he’ll up and marry the girl, an’ if he don’t, well, I’ll challenge him!” ”

“ It is the act of a lunatic, he had often explained to his fellows, to do otherwise. Why make evidence against oneself without reason. The career of the true professional was a game in which he played his life and liberty against Society and the Law. He could not, therefore, afford to throw away a chance. But if any of his crimes had been discovered—if these strangers in the boat were come to arrest him—of course there would no longer be any need for caution.
He questioned Tom with a threat. ”

“ The animosity of Pagdin, senior, to men and things was chronic. His grievance was general. The world was against him, as it is against all puntmen, and, like all puntmen, he was against the world.
In the first place he proclaimed loudly that the Government gave him no chance—the yearly rent exacted by the Department for the right of the crossing was too high; it was an imposition, an outrage, a robbery. The victim wailed cursefully at the windlass from morn to eve. ”

“ The officer who was paid, not too liberally, by Government, to act either as assistant pathologist or undertaker, as occasion required, jumped upon the after grating with the end of George’s shark line in his hand.
A human head could be seen bobbing gently up and down with the swell and fall of the tide. ”

“ Tom went to sleep at once and snored; but Dave, who was younger and less hardened, lay there thinking.
The more Tom snored the more restless and lonesome Dave got.
There is nothing so trying as hearing another person snoring when you cannot get to sleep yourself. ”

“ In Australia you cannot expect to talk very long to any distinguished person without shouting for him.
The excitement remained at fever heat for some days, during which the movements of the police were watched with absorbing interest.
The police did their best, but the mystery of the murder remained as it was at first. The people began to get impatient for developments. On the advice of the authorities, the Government issued a proclamation offering £500 reward for the conviction of the murderer, adding a free pardon to any accomplice who would turn Queen’s evidence. ”

“ The roots of the fig formed an excellent hiding-place. It was there that the runaways had decided to make a temporary camp.
The boys landed their bundles, pulled the boat up again to their original starting-place, tied her to the log, left her hidden among the reeds and started to trudge back.
They headed the creek, crossed out through the grass paddocks, where the dairy cows were grazing, skirted the maize and sugar-cane patches until they arrived at the last farm opposite the island. Then Tom stopped.
“Whose place is this?” asked Dave.
“Ole M’Dermid’s,” replied Tom. ”

“ The next minute the other boy was holding the muzzle of a smoking rifle to the prostrate convict’s ear, and inviting Dan and George to get up and bind that person, and making all sorts of statements and charges against the prostrate man’s history and character.
“Get the painter out of the boat!” cried Tom to Dave. “Move as much as an eye-lid,” he observed to Petit, “an’ I’ll shoot the top of your skull acrost the bloomin’ river!” ”

“ The knife in his hand was sufficient termination for the sentence.
Tom understood.
“Yes,” said the latter, looking right into Petit’s eyes. “I know ’em both. One’s name’s Joe Saunders, an’ the other cove’s Dan Creed. They’re duck shooters.”
“Vat?” exclaimed Petit.
“Shooters,” interposed Dave, with a quivering lip and an exaggerated expression of veracity. “They go shooting ducks in the swamps for the market, and pigeons.”
“Yes,” observed Tom, “they come up the river a piece. That cove in the nose of the boat, he’s got a bit of a farm up there.” ”

“ There was a kerosene lamp on the wharf which threw a dim yellow light over the water astern.
George dragged the line around over the rail so that he would be enabled to see what he was bringing up.
“By gosh, it’s heavy,” he soliloquised. “Dashed good thing this line is strong.”
[92]
The line was strong; it had held an eight foot grey-nurse shark.
Foot by foot the first mate hauled in.
“Here it comes!” he ejaculated, “what the devil is it, though!”
“Why, my God!” screamed the horrified deck-hand, “IT’S A MAN!!” ”

“ As a matter of fact, the boat was, by a little series of coincidences, in which the ocean sometimes indulges, carried round into the mouth of the Clarence River to fall at last into the hands of Tom Pagdin. She was first picked up by a fisherman near the Heads. He sold her to a dealer, who had a little trade steamer running up one of the creeks. She had broken adrift one night from the stern of the steamer, and the tide brought her into the Broadstream, where a farmer found her with her nose stuck in the mud next morning. ”

“ Tom put his hand secretly down under the table cloth and let go the top button of his trousers.
“Poor boy,” reiterated the farmer’s wife; “poor boy.”
Two great womanly tears gathered in her eyes and slowly overflowed.
Tom, conscious that he was playing a star part, choked down a few more morsels of food; then he laid aside his knife and fork, wiped the perspiration from his forehead, and sat staring into vacancy with bulging eyes.
“Could you eat a piece of pineapple?” asked the woman. ”

“ Dave waited patiently at the fence until Tom came back with a huge melon on his shoulder.
“We’ll take it acrost to our island,” he explained. “It ain’t safe to do it in here. You don’t want never when you’re out on a pirate cruise to leave no more evidence be’ind you than you can help.” ”

“ An impressive, significant stillness hung over all Nature. The night animals and birds, which ordinarily filled the bush with noises, seemed to have retired to their lairs and nests. No morepoke called, and no scrub-wallaby hopped through the undergrowth. ”

“ A pool, which would in daylight have glowed angrily [126] red, was slowly spreading around it, darkening the slabs of the floor as if someone had overturned a bottle of ink.
Jean Petit studied the position narrowly. He first of all picked up the tin and removed the lid.
There was certainly some money inside rolled up in a rag. Petit undid the rag, using his teeth to loosen the knots, and turned out a handful of pence. Again a curse of disappointment escaped him. ”

“ We got to get right down the river to-night after those other coves come back with out boat. We got to get right down far as we can before daylight. There’s lots of islands in the river where we can make a headquarters camp, an’ if we don’t get an island we kin get in the bush on the mainland. There’s all sorts o’ bays an’ creeks an’ lagoons, an’ we’ll explore ’em all. We’ll go digging for buried treasure, an’ lookin’ fer gold, an’ we’ll have an all-right time. But, first of all, we got to organise things. You got to organise things if you want to make this piratin’ game pay. ”

“ No Australian bush boy likes to have his courage called into question.
“Well, if you ain’t afraid, why don’t you come?” demanded Tom with Jesuitical cunning.
“All right,” said Dave, throwing prudence to the winds, “I’ll come.”
[16]
“Be there at dark, then,” ordered Tom, “an’ bring yer clothes an’ as much tucker as you can git an’ we’ll fix things.”
“But what are we goin’ to do?” asked Dave.
“We’re going,” said Tom, “to be pirates.”
“Pirates!”
“Yes. You leave me alone; I’ve a plan in my head, Dave—I’ve got a dead, all right plan. You’ll see.” ”

“ Leastwise, this cove gammoned they ought to do it. Then—keep quiet, Sour Krout; you’ll do that onct too often—then we seen——”
Tom paused to admonish the Frenchman once more.
“We seen him do it!!”
“Yes,” said Dave, solemnly; “we seen him do it! Both of us!”
“What?” asked Dan. “What was it he did?”
“Keep yer eye on him,” said Tom. “He’s a cold-blooded murderer an’ a robber, an’ worse! He killed his mate with a knife, that’s what he done!”
Petit’s face was a study in hate and rage.
“Keep cool, Sour Krout,” observed Tom, grimly. “You’ve had your innings. Yesterday we was your prisoners. ”

“ I ain’t frightened of thunder, are you?”
“No,” replied Dave, “thunder can’t do you no harm unless there’s lookin’ glasses about, but it’s gettin’ awful dark.”
“Come on,” cried Tom, “we’ll go up an’ hide in the lantana. We won’t get wet there, even if it does rain.”
By the time they reached the creek where the boat was moored it was pitch dark, excepting now and then [50] when a great flash of lightning lit up the whole jungle in weird bluish light, and made everything visible for a short second, even to the water shadows of overhanging trees. ”

“ Then Dave spoke.
“Don’t you think we better give up piratin’?” he asked.
“What for?” queried Tom.
“Well it don’t look lucky!”
“Of course, it ain’t lucky. It never is lucky; not at first; but after you get properly goin’ it’s all right. When we get a proper pirate ship an’ a crew——”
“Crew!” exclaimed Dave, “where we goin’ to get ’em?”.
“You leave that to me. Dave Gibson; I’m runnin’ this show; you just got to do what you’re told, and don’t you talk no more about goin’ an’ giving’ evidence in this murder case. When the time’s ripe I’ll be there, and you kin come along an’ back me up.” ”