'I got just twenty pounds and no more—the twenty pounds that Drownlands contributed, and that I put into the box with the rest.'
'And not my ten?' exclaimed Zita. 'That is a falsehood. My ten was with his twenty. Thirty pounds in all, in gold.'
'There has been cheating,' shouted two or three.
'That is what comes of jaw and preaching.'
'Mates,' said Aaron Chevell, 'we must not let this pass. Let us have judge and jury There has been robbery of the common fund. Mates, I vote that we arrest Pip Beamish, and try him at once.'
'Have him up in the cart,' said Tansley. 'Comrades all! light some more straw wisps. There has been a case of roguery. There has been our chief officer taking the money that was contributed to the Union, and pocketing it for his private use. I charge Ephraim Beamish, and vote that he be deposed from his command, and be tried for felony.'
'I second it,' shouted Isaac Harley. 'And what I say is—like enough. He who wants most has taken it. A chap as hasn't a house to call his home, nor an honest employ in which to earn his living.'
'It is not what I calls respectable,' said one man, 'that we should march under such a rascal.'
Then ensued a chorus of voices.
'Up into the waggon with him, and try him there.'