The Complete Inner History of the KellyGang and their Pursuers (41)

full text

CHAPTER X

continued

The Welcome Home

The feelings of Senior Constable Devine were so grieviously wounded by the indignity of being locked up in his own prison cell at Jerilderie that he disliked to hear any evidence to the Kelly Gang and their visit to Jerilderie.  He afterwards went to West Australia, and obtained the position of racecourse detective.  He remained in this position up to his death in 1927.

He was a spirited man, and was generally regarded as a man who would rather fight then run.  It was because the Kellys recognised his courage that they did not take him out of the cell to parade the town.  On the other hand, Constable Richards was much more docile, and would “go quietly” rather than take risks.

The gang met, as arranged, on the banks of the Murray, where they had left the publican’s boat in the early hours of the previous Saturday morning.

To their dismay, the boat was gone.  They were unable to get across without a boat, and were forced to camp in a bend of the Murray all day Tuesday, February 11.  They had six horses and the custody of £2300, and, therefore they had to be careful.  Joe Byrne strolled up the river, and discovered the boat used by the Boomanoomanah Station.

This boat was booked for their use, but it was not safe to commandeer it until after dark.  Joe returned and reported his discovery.  It was arranged that, after night-fall, Joe would go up for the boat and bring it down to their camp.  The outlaws were anxious not to disturb or terrify the police, who were watching the crossings over the Murray.

During the day (Tuesday) Ned Kelly took a walk down the river,.  He met a hawker who had camped there, some distance from the outlaws’ resting place.  Ned entered into conversation with him, and, as is the usual custom among country people, inquired if there was any news.  The hawker instinctively took Ned to be a constable, and talked freely, especially about the Kellys, and replied, “Yes, the Kellys have been to Jerilderie, and robbed the bank, and terrified the people by threatening to shoot them.” He said that he knew the Kellys well, and knew how they could be caught.  He would go into their camp, he said, with two bottles of whisky, one bottle containing poison, and the other—the one the hawker would use—would be all right.  Ned said that was a very good idea, but he, himself, could not give him permission to use the poisoned whisky.  It would be necessary for him to get that from the sergeant at Mulwala.  The hawker then went on to denounce the Kellys as a bad lot, and even said that their womenfolk were no good, either.  Ned’s blood was now boiling, yet he tried to restrain himself.  He thought of putting a bullet through the head of this traducer of his family, and then tipping the hawker’s cart into the Murray.  Ned asked him if he were married.  The latter said, “Yes,” but that he had lost his wife over a year ago.  He had, he said, six children; the eldest was a girl 14 years old.  “A little mother,” Ned thought as he decided that he could not deal with this slanderer in the drastic way that at first occurred to him.

At first Ned represented himself as a plain-clothed policeman, but now he decided to make known his identity.  The hawker stated that he regularly visited Glenrowan, and bought cheese from a well-known dairyman in the district.  He therefore enjoined Ned not to mention a word that he (the hawker) had said about the Kellys, because if the Kellys knew what he had said about them they would follow him up and murder him.  Ned now told the hawker that he was “Ned Kelly,” and that at first impulse he had intended to put a bullet through his head for slandering him and his people.

The hawker was visibly affected on account of the seriousness of the position in which he found himself, and begged for mercy.  Ned said it was because of his little children, with that “little mother,” that he had decided to let him go.  He would not do anything that would make their lot harder than it was then.

Ned cautioned the hawker not to say a word to anyone that he had seen him there, and never again to speak disrespectfully of his family.

The hawker felt thankful to escape.  The thought uppermost in his mind was that Ned Kelly was not such a bad fellow, after all.  Ned returned to his camp, and related the above news to his mates.  After tea Joe Byrne went up the river for the station boat.

The Kellys got the six horses and themselves safely across the Murray, while the police of New South Wales and Victoria watched the public highways and bridges to intercept them.  Before daylight on Wednesday morning, 12/2/1879, they arrived at Greta.

It is not possible to actually describe the heartiness of the welcome that greeted the Kellys at Greta.  Their friends were illegally imprisoned without charge or trial, and some, who were not even known to the gang, were also illegally imprisoned as sympathisers.  The satisfaction felt at the coup at Jerilderie and their safe return home was general among their friends and admirers throughout the North-Eastern district of Victoria.

The imprisonment of sympathisers did not prevent the successful operation of the Jerilderie bank by the Kellys, and the police were now more than ever subjected by the public generally to ridicule and contempt.  The money was required to help the sympathisers and friends when they were attacked by the Government through the police.  The gang went out to the hills for a few days’ rest after their trip.  Then they prepared for their accommodation at the old home, where, in spite of the army of police on “double pay,” they rested in peace for over twelve months.

See previous page / next page

This document gives you the text of this book about the KellyGang. The text has been retyped from a copy of the original. We have taken care to reproduce this document but areas of the original text may been damaged. We also apologise for any typographical errors. JJ Kenneally was one of the first authors to tell this story from the KellyGang's point of view