“You have killed your wife,” shrieked the sergeant; but Jimmy made no answer to this charge, he simply tried to ward off the hard blows he was getting. Suddenly the sergeant broke the stick over Jimmy’s head, which fortunately ended this inquisitorial part of the trial. The sergeant, who in the meantime had become heated by his exertions, then turned and said in a faint voice: “There is no doubt that he is the culprit, but let us now hear what the blacks have to say.”
One or two of them were called in, and made the same statements as Jimmy, insisting that he had not killed the white man, but they all testified unanimously that he had murdered his wife, Mólle-Mólle. As she was a woman, they saw no peril in making this admission. Jimmy, too, confessed this crime.
“That is quite sufficient,” muttered old Walters.
“Take him down to the river and wipe him out,” said the sergeant to his men.
“And throw him into the water, then there will be no smell,” added the postman.
In a hesitating manner the troopers began to execute the order of their stern master. One of them, David, suggested that the prisoner ought first to show the body of the dead man, a pretext for getting the matter postponed and thus saving Jimmy’s life, for the police were anxious to do him and his friends a service in return for the women they had sent as a bribe.
Meanwhile the sergeant gave orders that they should bring the culprit to the camp and make short work of it. When Jimmy discovered that the sergeant was in earnest he became literally pale, and went with them as one having no will of his own. The natives, who at first were utterly perplexed, followed slowly and silently.
The keeper of the station had during the trial suggested that the matter ought not to be reported to any white man. The fact is, the police had no authority to carry out the sergeant’s severe orders. I found upon investigation that, no matter how clearly the murder is established, the English law does not permit the shooting of a criminal in this manner without a regular procedure. The prisoner had not confessed the murder, nor, as was remarked by David, had the corpse been produced. I was anxious that the proceedings should be in all respects regular and legal. I therefore at once went down to the camp and explained my doubts in the matter to the sergeant.
Here all was quiet. The police were taking things easy, and the prisoner, who had received something to eat, seemed very comfortable.
The sergeant informed me that the prisoner had now made a full confession. When he got sight of the guns he became very communicative, and had given a number of details. He had attacked the white man at Dalrymple Creek, had given him a blow with his axe on the back of the head, and had thrown his body into the water. He was also willing to show the place where he had committed the murder.