"PEACE, PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY" 227 



placed under charge of Hart standing at the door with two re- 

 volvers. Every person who entered the hotel during the day 

 was added to the crowd of prisoners. The brothers Kelly and 

 Byrne then went to the Bank of New South Wales, surprised and 

 captured the manager and two other officers, and after compelling 

 them to open the safes, relegated them to the custody of Hart at 

 the hotel. Having secured all the cash, about 2,000, they visited 

 the telegraph office, transferred the three clerks there to the 

 hotel dining-room, and after leisurely examining all telegrams 

 received during the day, they cut the wires and destroyed the in- 

 struments. Incredible as it may seem, the whole town was so 

 cowed by the name of the Kelly gang that the people either locked 

 themselves in their houses or fled to hide in adjacent creeks and 

 gullies. About six o'clock in the evening two of the outlaws rode 

 off, each leading one of the local troopers' horses, whereon they had 

 packed their plunder. The other two ruffians remained a short 

 time longer, riding up and down the main street, flourishing their 

 revolvers and singing boisterously. Having locked up the two 

 constables in their own station-house, with threats of what would 

 happen if they were released within two hours, they granted leave 

 to the people at the hotel to go home and dramatically departed. 

 The same spasm of excitement which had followed the Euroa 

 outrage again spread over the community. The same carefully 

 planned but resultless night vigils of the police ; the same sneering 

 charges of incapacity, and, what was worse, open contention between 

 senior officers of the force as to the responsibility for failure. The 

 Government of New South Wales added another reward of 4,000 

 to that offered by Victoria for the capture of the outlaws. The 

 magnitude of the reward was so dazzling that more than one 

 associate of the criminals was bought over to risk his life by 

 giving information. It seldom resulted in any material benefit, 

 for the outlaws had so many sympathisers throughout the country 

 that every movement of the police was anticipated and every action 

 frustrated. A man named Aaron Sherrit, who was rightly suspected 

 of being in communication with the police, was marked for venge- 

 ance, decoyed and shot on his own threshold. A rumour spread 

 abroad that a special train was coming from Melbourne with a fresh 



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