The Gold Hunters' Adventures Part 110

"Make for the door," whispered the inspector, and grasping the prisoner by his right arm he arose, an example which we followed.

Then did the ruffian, who had insisted upon our drinking with him, find his tongue, for with one spring he cleared the rude bench upon which he was seated and rushed towards his comrades shouting a word, which, above all others, was most dreaded by thieves.

"Traps!" he yelled; and at the sound every thief started to his feet, and even those who were lying in the corners of the room, sleepy and overpowered with drink, sat up and rubbed their eyes, ready to fight in self-defence, or to make an escape, just according to the chances which presented themselves.

"Traps," once more repeated the frightened ruffian, and a dozen voices demanded where they were, while three or four men opened the shutters of the windows to see if the building was attacked on the outside. Two or three of the most timid disappeared from the room through a small door, which we afterwards learned led through a subterranean pa.s.sage to a deserted mine, and from thence escape was easy by means of the shaft.

"Where are they?" roared a dozen voices all at once; and as the ruffians asked, we had the disagreeable pleasure of seeing long knives unsheathed and two or three pistols drawn; but even during the confusion we managed to approach the door through which we had entered, and which we prayed to leave without a severe wound.

"There they go--we are betrayed--down with them," were the cries that we heard; but to our satisfaction a man whom we had not counted on rushed between us and the crowd, his voice, clear and ringing, being heard above the din.

"Put up your knives," he shouted, "or you'll bring trouble on me and my house. Let the gentlemen go--it's nothin' but a fadlin' cove they've got, and not a bushman. For the honor of the 'Cricket' don't spill blood here," pleaded Dan Brian, the proprietor.

"Move on," whispered the inspector, "and don't relax your hold of the prisoner. Keep your pistols in your pockets, and don't use them until I set an example."

"It is selling us, Dan Brian, you are," cried half a dozen voices, and there were shouts and oaths of rage at the thought.

"'Pon my honor, I'm not," reiterated Dan; "I never sold a pal in my life, and, by the blessing of G.o.d, I won't. It's a poor devil they've got now, of no account to any of us."

"He's a thief, and in the hands of 'Traps,'" shouted one, "and if we let him go without a blow, none of us will be safe."

"That's so," yelled the crowd, and the most violent pushed Dan aside, or attempted to, for the purpose of getting at us.

"We will listen to nothing," roared the ruffians, "until the poor devil is free, and then we will talk until daylight, if it will please the police."

An almost imperceptible signal was exchanged between the inspector and Dan, but to no purpose, for our party continued to retreat, and the others advance, with many menacing gestures, and the only thing that surprised me was the reluctance to use firearms on the part of our enemies. This, I afterwards found, was owing to the fear of bringing a squad of mounted police to the spot, large numbers of whom were constantly patrolling "Gravel Pit Hill" during the night, and the signal for a disturbance would have been the arrest of every one present, simply by surrounding the house and searching the underground pa.s.sages.

By the time the last demand was made, we were at the door and all ready to take down the bar, when a rush was made towards us, and by the rather dim light I saw a dozen long knives, such as the stockmen of the plains wear in their belts for the purpose of killing cattle, flash from their sheaths, and grasped as though business was intended.

"Keep your backs to the door," cried the inspector, calmly, not at all dismayed by the formidable array against us, "and don't let a man approach within a yard without getting a good shot."

We covered our prisoner in such a manner that he could do us no harm, and then formed in a triangular manner, so that our fronts and sides would be equally well guarded, then glanced over the excited crowd, in hopes that Dan would array himself on our side--but that enterprising gentleman had suddenly disappeared, and left us to our fate.

"Stand back," shouted the inspector; "it will be the worse for you.

There's many of you present who know me, and know that I have a large force of policemen on hand. If you strike a blow, not one of you shall escape justice.

"Unbar the door as quickly as possible," whispered the inspector, after getting through with his threatening speech.

I lifted the heavy gum wood bar from its place, and then raised the latch, expecting that it would yield, but to my surprise it did not--it was locked, and the key in the pocket of the doorkeeper, who had made his escape from the room in company with Dan.

I almost uttered a groan of agony when I made the discovery, and to add to the perplexity of our situation, the ruffians must have understood our case, and known that the key was never left in the lock, for they uttered a discordant and ironical hoot, and then a shout of sardonic laughter.

"For Heaven's sake, don't be all night in getting that door open," cried Fred, nervously, and I will confess that I also partook of the same complaint.

"Now for a rush--cut them to pieces," exclaimed many voices; but I observed that the cries came from those who were farthest from us, and out of the reach of our pistols, which we were forced to display, in hope of keeping the robbers at a respectful distance.

"Is the door unbarred?" asked Mr. Brown, turning half round, and exposing his side to the knives of the crowd, and quick as thought, a man sprang forward to begin the work of bloodshed; but sudden as were his movements, they were antic.i.p.ated, for I raised the heavy bar, which I had not relinquished, and let it fall upon his head with crushing force.

The poor devil fell at our feet without uttering a groan, although many spasmodic twitchings of his nerves showed that he was not killed outright His long knife narrowly missed the side of the inspector, and for the first attempt at our annihilation, it was not to be despised.

The wretches uttered yells of rage when they saw their comrade fall, but none seemed inclined to a.s.sume the leadership and begin the attack in earnest.

Not one of their motions escaped us, and as long as they were disposed to brandish their knives at a distance, we did not choose to carry matters to extremities; but change of tactics was suddenly resorted to on the part of our opponents, that placed us in no little peril.

All the tumblers, bottles, and decanters of the bar were token possession of by the savage scoundrels, and the first intimation that we had of the fact was the crushing of a bottle (empty, of course--they were not the sort of men to throw away liquor of any kind) against the door, just above our heads.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Now for a rush--cut them to pieces!" exclaimed many voices: but I observed that the cries came from those who were furthest from us and out of the reach of our pistols, which we were forced to display, in hope of keeping the robbers at a respectful distance.]

The fragments were showered upon our faces and shoulders, but before we had time to consider on the matter another bottle flew past my head, and hit our prisoner upon one of his shoulders, injuring him so severely that he dropped to the floor as though he had been shot.

"Self-preservation is the first law of nature," cried the inspector, in a calm tone, c.o.c.king his pistol; and when he saw an arm raised to hurl another bottle at our heads, he fired. I saw the raised arm fall suddenly, and I fancied that I could hear the pistol ball when it struck, and buried itself amid bone and muscle.

"And are we to be shot down like dogs?" was the indignant question which some one put, and a loud yell of "No," and a rush towards us, was the response.

One ruffian struck at me, and the point of his knife entered my shirt near the left shoulder, and inflicted a slight scratch, or wound--but before he had time to renew the blow, which I escaped by dodging, Mr.

Brown had singled him out as a victim, and he fell, with a horrid imprecation upon his lips, dyeing the black and soiled floor with his blood.

Three or four pistol shots were fired, and they were barely sufficient to keep the crowd at a distance, when I heard a movement at the extremity of the room, and through the windows I saw the well-known blue coats and caps, of the Ballarat police force pouring into the room.

We raised a shout of welcome, and our cheers were answered by the gallant fellows, who kept crowding in until about thirty were drawn up in line, with their long, heavy pistols presented, and ready for destruction.

The ruffians were seized with a sudden panic, and would have fled, but their retreat was cut off, and there was no chance for escape. Then our leader, Mr. Brown, seemed endued with the importance of a dozen men.

"Down with your knives," he shouted, "or those who refuse shall rue it."

The speech was one of the most unfortunate that ever the inspector made, for our opponents were in that peculiar state where a mild word would have done no harm, and a cross one much injury.

The robbers were, in fact, already conquered, and a policeman might have pa.s.sed from man to man, and collected every knife and pistol that they possessed without danger, and with but few sullen remarks; but the words of the inspector made them think that no quarter was to be shown, and if that was the case, they might as well sell their lives as dearly as possible.

With this unfortunate impression, the ruffians replied to the inspector's words with a shout which sounded like the roar of a wounded tiger; and then commenced one of the most shocking scenes that I ever witnessed (with one exception) in my life.

The robbers rushed upon the line of policemen with brandished knives, and as they advanced they discharged the few pistols which they carried on their persons, and they made every shot tell, for I saw three or four of the government force give sudden springs, and full headlong to the floor; and then came the rattling, deadly discharge of the policemen, and I could hear the heavy b.a.l.l.s strike on the part.i.tion behind me, and send huge splinters from the woodwork, and scatter them upon our heads.

Seven or eight of the robbers fell, mortally wounded, and others, with the blood streaming from their hurts, which only appeared to inflame their courage, once more rushed towards the blue coats in hope of cutting their way through the line, and gaining the secret pa.s.sage.

But what madness it was to expect to cope with men who carried long sabres, and knew how to use them! The knives of the robbers were powerless against them, and once more the latter were driven back, overpowered, and with half their number disabled.

"Do you surrender?" demanded the inspector.

There was a sullen response in the affirmative, and knives were thrown down, but there was no cringing or supplication for mercy; and the desperadoes only needed a lion-hearted leader to have placed _hors du combat_ one half of their enemies present. They were about as full of pluck as English bull-dogs, and about as resolute.

The police, without moving from their positions, re-loaded their pistols, and then two or three of them advanced and collected the discarded knives without resistance. Handcuffs were then placed upon the robbers' wrists, and they were secured in such a manner that escape was impossible.

The victory was won at the expense of three mortally wounded policemen, and four who were only slightly injured, while on the part of our opponents six were dead, eight badly wounded, and four slightly.

During the battle both Fred and myself had abstained from firing a single shot, for we looked upon the affair in the light of a ma.s.sacre, yet we could not condemn Mr. Brown or his men, for they had acted according to the best of their judgment, and under the sincere impression that our lives were in danger; and so they were; but we felt as though we had rather cut our way through the villains, or have given up our prisoner, than to have caused so much blood to flow, and so many deaths in an affair that interested ourselves alone.

But the battle was ended, and the wounded required attention. We left our prisoner where he had fallen, when knocked down by a bottle, and as he did not move, we supposed that he had fainted from the effect of fear or pain, and that he would soon come to his senses.

We were picking our way across the floor, endeavoring to avoid the pools of blood, when the rough hands of policemen were laid on our shoulders.