Page 589 - for-the-term-of-his-natural-life

drawn himself.
The yard was buzzing like a disturbed hive, and I mo-
mentarily expected that a rush would be made upon us. In
a few moments the prisoner appeared, attended by, rather
than in the custody of, the Chief Constable of the island.
He advanced to the unlucky assistant constable, who was
standing close to me, and asked, ‘What have you ordered
me to gaol for?’ The man made some reply, advising him to
go quietly, when the convict raised his fist and deliberately
felled the man to the ground. ‘You had better retire, gentle-
men,’ said Troke. ‘I see them getting out their knives.’
We made for the gate, and the crowd closed in like a sea
upon the two constables. I fully expected murder, but in a
few moments Troke and Gimblett appeared, borne along by
a mass of men, dusty, but unharmed, and having the con-
vict between them. He sulkily raised a hand as he passed
me, either to rectify the position of his straw hat, or to offer
a tardy apology. A more wanton, unprovoked, and flagrant
outrage than that of which this man was guilty I never wit-
nessed. It is customary for ‘the old dogs’, as the experienced
convicts are called, to use the most opprobrious language
to their officers, and to this a deaf ear is usually turned, but
I never before saw a man wantonly strike a constable. I fan-
cy that the act was done out of bravado. Troke informed
me that the man’s name is Rufus Dawes, and that he is the
leader of the Ring, and considered the worst man on the is-
land; that to secure him he (Troke) was obliged to use the
language of expostulation; and that, but for the presence of
an officer accredited by his Excellency, he dared not have

For the Term of His Natural Life