Show t 18 e t C R el RIM 4 t 4 fin f IN 77 07 W D bev fy by LLOYD OSBOURNE BOUR I 1 copyright by joseph B boales it was the sandfly capt toombs that bro the news to sydne and intercept d her majesty s third class cruiser stingaree as she lay in man Mano of fAar ar cov cove e with her boats hoisted in and a deck load of coal as high as her bulwarks on the eve of a long tri irn into the western pacific it was the ame old story another white man sent 0 his last account in the inhospitable comons acx where it if the climate does no kill 3 ou on the black man soon will thomas biggar commonly krown as capt tom aed 46 british subject occupation trader in conrah place of residence sunflower bay island of guadalcazar Guadal canar murdered by the naties nati es jn u Sept embr 1888 between the i and the twenty fourth and station looted and burned there was troupe in store for sunflower bay they haa han wed colllns collins in 1884 and casseroles the frenchman in 1887 and had drawn upon themselves an rn ominous attention by firing into the meg Mer Merrl rilles lies in the course of the same year murder was becoming too frequent in sunflower bay and capt casement Casein tnt while policing those sweltering seab was vas asked to con act luct an n inquiry into the alleged mur r of a T 11 biggar and take wha unta t me ures he judged 1 be kiece e siar r abc after a roundabout dulse through sue e sant e bips of fiji boo and sar a with little to occupy him save official dinners tennis par ties and an occasional dance ashore t pt casement headed his ship tor for tie wild western islands and pricked out a course for sunflower 14 bay there was no visible beach tor for the mangroves ran to the water waters s edge ave save where it had been partially cleared away by the man whose mur der they bad had come to avenge nor di dl the closest scrutiny with the glass u ray any telltale smoke or the least leas st 0 of habitation capt casement V rested e ed the alace with hia his keen ed d e eves and the ion longer ver he looked e Is less he liked it the desolation i pon his nerves and his heart tell fell a little as the blowhole blow hole burst hoarsely under the ship ships s quarter and the everlasting breakers on the outer reef droned their note of menace and alarm goodness gracious he said in his abrupt impatient fashion as he stood beside facey on the bridge and super intended the tile laying of the kedge 1 I don dont t halt half like the look of it mr facey it s a damned nasty looking place sir sira asked the lieutenant yes said casement you must take and 25 men in the first bake cu cutter I 1 ter send burde in the second with V 20 more to cover your landing and for gods god s sake facey keep cool and neither get flustered nor over friendly don dont t shoot unless you have to and always remember they are the most treacherous savages in the world be gentle and firm and do everything with as little fuss and as great a show of confidence as you car can all right sir said facey hal an hour later facey with 25 well amed men bad had vanished into the mangroves hour after hour passed and brought never a sound from the melancholy woods juat jua as things were looking des perte and all began to fear the very worst a sudden shout roused the ship and the shore party noisy and triumphant were seen streaming down to the beach A few moments later the two boats pulled slowly off oft to the ship facey s company the richer by a black man whose costume consisted of little more than the ropes he was bound with A thundering cheer hailed them as they swept un der the stern and drew up at the star board gangway and facey was soon reporting himself on the bridge briage well how did you make out asked the captain we landed at the traders house began facey koll followed owed a path that led inland and reached some kanaka huts buts not a soul in em ein clean gone every man jack followed along a well beaten path which led us into the next bay bearing north northeast half east keeping the liveliest lookout all the time three miles along we ran into another village chock a block with biggers it looked a nasty go lots of guns and spears and everybody pretty skittish kind of they would and the wouldn t I 1 recollected your or ders and went slow you know what I 1 mean sir worked off the presents and smoked my pipe leisurely by and by they came round tricky as the devil on to make friends or to eat us alive whichever seemed the more promising I 1 let out what I 1 wanted and bit by bit found out that all the sunflower bay crowd were there even to old Jib berik the chief him toombs said was the biggest scoundrel of the lot he looked pretty sick and knew ni gaty well what we were after I 1 talked broadsides to that old man and put it to him that he had better give up the chaps who had killed the trader than waltz back to the ship and be shot instanter himself for somebody ad to go I 1 said and just as soon as pt ot the old codger alongside ot 0 me e him to understand that he was and kept my cocked pistol his belly after no end of lots of frothing and loud things looking precious nd again we ended by corn cora a i top then they dragged pung oung named billy dilly a bomboy from the queens ions tons they said and hand r to me as the murderer done well mr facey said as his lieutenant drew to a I 1 tell you the story shan t report it to the admiral go now and get your added facey jumped to his feet I 1 am sure I 1 am awfully obi ged to you sir he said ugh that s all right said case ment in his testy way what have you done with the prisoner 7 turned him over to the sergeant tor for safekeeping sir returned the of aicer leg ironsh ailed ca ement Leg irons handcuffs and a dog chain returned facey with a grin he ile s cost too much to take any chances of his getting off the first thing next morning old lk was brought aboard with his two companions he was a disgusting old gorilla of a man with a hairy chest and a bold leering ee a mere scarecrow scared scare clow ow of humanity of a type in credibly cruel and debased four bells was the time set for the court martial at nine clock casement sent tor for facey and told him he must prepare to defend the prisoner burder will prosecute for the queen he said wil will act as clerk sennett poche and I 1 will compose the court the first lieutenant was vas overcome I 1 dor I 1 can sir he said fp jr I 1 never did such a thing in my life I 1 wouldn t know where to be gin or to leave off tor for that matter you can leave off when we hang your prisoner casement returned with his bull air of course its it s all a damned farce he went on somebody s got to act for the nig ger it its s printed that way in the book billy said facey they are going to make judge and jury for aou ou by and by and I 1 am to talky talky for you all same queensland returned billy may the lord have mercy on your sinful soul facey was stupefied where in thunder did you learn thata he demanded oh me savvy too much said billy now see here said the lieutenant you kill that trader yes I 1 kill him said billy cheer fully you dida cried the other white fellow no good I 1 kill him said the prisoner if you tell that to th tb captain he hell 11 shoot you said facey it if the pris oner was to be defended he was go ing to give him all the help he could the black boy looked distressed and nodded a forlorn assent you 11 be a big fool to say that said facey white fellow no good I 1 kill him repeated billy you unmitigated idiot you 11 do for yourself cried the lieutenant angrily the good of my talking tor for you it if you cant can t stand up tor for your self at ten 0 clock the court martial was assembled on the quarter deck the captain with his brawny shoulders thrown forward and his hands deep in his trouser pockets had all the air of a man in the throes of 0 indigestion on either elther side of him were sennett and koche roche and in front beside a R table with a flag was pick thorn with a clerkly outfit and a bib 0 billy stood in chains beside a couple of marines looking extremely depressed the old gorillas their filthy kilts bulging with what they had begged or pilfered were in charge of the se geant who had all he could do to prevent their spitting on the deck facey was the first one sloin he deposed a to the capture and identity of the oner then billy was led up to the table and tild told to plead kiss the book buck and say whether y yo 0 murdered the trader or not said the captain 0 white fellow no good I 1 kill him quavered lua vered the prisoner pleads gu ity said casement to ahe he clerk what did 3 0 i do ao it fora demand ed the court billy dilly reiterated his stock phrase take him away said the captain Jib berik was the next witness he kissed the book as though it were nvere his long lost bretl er and looked almost unabashed enough to beg it of pick thorn I 1 shall not weary the reader alth mith his labored english that lingua franca of the isles which in fhe the west ern pacific is known as beach fla da mar he told a pretty plain story bill and the trader had always been on bad terms one night crazy with palm toddy billy had sneaked down to capt toms tom s house and shot him through the body as he was reading a book at supper As to the subsequent burning and looting of the station the old savage was none nong so clear shelter ing himself in the unintelligibility of which he was a master then rose burder tor for the queen he was a cheeky youngster with pink cheeks a glib tongue and no end of assurance I 1 don t propose to waste the time of the honorable court he began but if ever there was a flat footed self confessed murderer I 1 would say it is the dusky gentleman in the dock the blood of biggar cries aloud for vengeance and it would be a shame it it cried in vain be he said stick to the prisoner cried the court I 1 bow to correction sir went on B arder I 1 say again this is no time tor for halt half measures and I 1 say that sun flower bay will be a better place to live in without mr air billy I 1 leave it to the honorable court with every conal dence to vindicate justice in these islands by condemning the prisoner to the extreme penalty of the law the case for the queen is closed antie men I 1 believe you appear for the de tense mr air facey said casement as the queen queens s prosecutor took his seat I 1 do sir returned the first lieuten ant nervously I 1 should like to say first of all he began that I 1 will not cross amine these diffy old savages who have given evidence against my client I 1 quite agree with everything my hon arable friend has said regarding them and I 1 cannot think that the court will attach undue importance to any evidence they may have given weve been told that the banakas are losing all respect tor for whites and that if we dont don t take some strong measures there will be the deuce to pay in these islands perhaps there will be but Is that the british justice were we re so proud of or Is it fall fali play gentlemen to the unfortunate wretch who ao is trembling before youa from what I 1 ve seen of the whites in this group I 1 can say emphatically that I 1 in in a line with the banakas now as to this billy what Is to there against him but his own confession 7 and that I 1 beg leave to point out ought not to be taken as conclusive As like as not he is the scapegoat for the whole bay and has been coached up to tell this story under the screw just look one moment at old jib there and see how his friends wither when his eyes fall their way for all we know to the contrary his gibberish and click click may be to the tune of billy you son of a gun cut you into 40 pieces or flay you alive it if you don t stick to what I 1 ve told you after all what have we learned from billye nothing more than this white fel low no good I 1 kill him Is that what anybody would call a full con coil fes bession sion does it give any clew or any details as to the motive or the carrying out of this murders it maa ma be indeed that billy is a monomaniac with a confirmed delusion that he has killed biggar the court may smile but I 1 think I 1 am right in stating that such things have occurred and have even led to miscarriages of justice in the past I 1 tell you gentlemen I 1 believe it was the whole blooming bay that killed biggar and that billy dilly was just as guilty or just as innocent as rest and there is one thing I 1 I 1 mortal sure about that it if we take the pr outside the heads we will soon get the gag off his mouth and learn a good deal more about this ugly business busin evs under old jibs jib s searchlight he s got to keep a close lip but take him out to sea and I 1 answer tor for it he won t be so reticent A dead silence tell fell upon the court when facey drew his case to a close and resumed his seat nothing could be heard but the scratching of pick thorn s pen and the rever brating growl of the blow hole as it fretted and fumed within for the screaming blast which was soon to follow case ment rammed his hands deeper into his pockets gnawed his tawny mus tache and protruded his chin at last with a start he awoke from his reverie and barked out mr sennett as the youngest mem her ber it is for you to speak first I 1 think he s guilty sir said sen nett casement turned his quick glance on roche same here said the doctor the finding of the court said the captain after another pause is that the prisoner billy is guilty of the mur der of T H his big gar at sunflower bay on the blank day of september 1888 and is con damned to be shot as an example to the island sentence to be deterred deferred until I 1 get the ship back from new ireland where I 1 i e to look into that carbutt business and the outrage at maccarthy MacCar thys s inlet on the chance of the prisoner making a further confes tion mix and implicating oth others rs in his crime the court Is d smissen beg deg pardon sir said looking up from his writing as the others rose to their feet what am ani I 1 to call the case the queen versus billy billy nothing said the captain savagely call him Ni illiam lliam pick thorn it if you think it sounds better fhe rhe verdict of the court was ex to Jib berik and the old rogue and his pair of friends were landed in the cove the boat returning to find the ship with anchor weighed and the loosened sails flapping on the yards in a few minutes she was steaming out to sea and every one grew conal dent that billy billys s tongue would soon wag as he saw sunflower bay dwindle behind him but the dogged savage 10 91 A vt 1 6 HE WAS A CHEEKY YOUNGSTER stuck to his tale be he had but one reply to all inquiries to all probing and pumping tor for further particulars of the murder on his side the con began and ended with white fellow no good I 1 kill him on other topics he could be drawn out at will and proved himself a most tractable sweet tempered and tar far from unintelligent fellow the men got to like him immensely keeping him in perpetual tobacco and provid ing him with more grog than was quite good tor for him in the to fo castle it was rank heresy to call him a mur derer or to express any doubts re garding his innocence he became at once the pet and the mystery of the ship and his canvas cell the rallying point for all the little gazettes gay atles ettes on board he played cards well was an apt pupil on the accordion and at checker checkers he was the master of the ship and he not only beat you but he beat you handsomely shaking hands before and after the event like a prize fighter in the ring billys dillys artless ways and boundless good humor had won the whole wardroom to his side and his grim determination to die at once bewildered ana exasperated every soul on board the strange spectacle of of a hundred mn icon at work to persuade their prisoner to recall his damning confession and on pins and needles to save him from froia a fate he himself seemed not to fear white fellow no good I 1 kill him then old quinn got after him wild eyed tangle haired old quinn the gunner |