by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XX.
THE ARM OF THE LAW.
That was a sad night at Stokebridge. Seven of the lads were terriblyinjured, and in two cases the doctors gave no hope of recovery. Thirteenof the other party were also grievously hurt by the blows of thepitmen's helves, some had limbs broken, and three lay unconscious allnight. Most of the boys had scalp wounds, inflicted by stones or sticks,which required dressing. Worst of all was the news that among thetwenty-five uninjured prisoners were eight who belonged to Stokebridge,besides five among the wounded.
Very few in the village closed an eye that night. Mothers went down andimplored the pitmen on guard to release their sons, but the pitmen werefirm; moreover Mr. Brook as a magistrate had placed the two constablesof the place at the door, with the strictest order to allow none of theprisoners to escape. The six o'clock train brought twenty policemen fromBirmingham, and these at once took charge of the schoolhouse, andrelieved the pitmen of their charge. The working of the mine wassuspended for the day, and large numbers of visitors poured into theplace. So desperate a riot had never occurred in that neighbourhoodbefore, for even the attack upon the machinery of the mine wasconsidered a less serious affair than this.
Not only did curiosity to learn the facts of the case attract a crowd ofvisitors, but there were many people who came from the pit villages nearto inquire after missing husbands and sons, and loud were the wailingsof women when it was found that these were either prisoners or werelying injured in the temporary hospital.
Strangers entering the village would have supposed that a greatexplosion had taken place in some neighbouring pit. Blinds were down,women stood at the doors with their aprons to their eyes, children wentabout in an awed and silent way, as if afraid of the sound of their ownvoice, many of the young men and lads had their heads enveloped insurgical bandages, and a strange and unnatural calm pervaded thevillage. The "Chequers" and other public-houses, however, did a roaringtrade, for the sight-seer in the black country is the thirstiest of men.
It was soon known that the magistrates would sit at Mr. Brook's at oneo'clock, and a policeman went round the village with a list of namesgiven him by Mr. Dodgson, to summon witnesses to attend. Jack Simpsonhad strongly urged that his name might not be included, in the firstplace because above all things he hated being put forward, and in thesecond, as he pointed out to the schoolmaster, it might excite a feelingagainst him, and hinder his power for good, if he, the leader of theyoung men, was to appear as a witness against the elders, especially asamong the prisoners was Tom Walker, with whom he had fought. As Jackcould give no more testimony than his companions, and as generally itwas considered an important and responsible privilege to appear aswitness, Mr. Dodgson omitted Jack's name from the list.
There was some groaning in the crowd when the uninjured prisoners weremarched out under escort of the police, for the attack upon young womenwas so contrary to all the traditions of the country that the liveliestindignation prevailed against all concerned in it. The marquee used thenight before for the theatricals had been hastily converted into ajustice room. At a table sat Mr. Brook with four other magistrates, witha clerk to take notes; the prisoners were ranged in a space railed offfor the purpose, and the general public filled the rest of the space.
Jane Haden was the first witness called. She gave her evidence clearly,but with an evident wish to screen some of the accused, and was once ortwice sharply reproved by the bench. She could not say who were amongthe men she saw gathered, nor recognize any of those who had used thethreatening expressions which had so alarmed her that she went round toarouse the elder men, and then ran off to warn the returning party.
"Mrs. Haden," Sir John Butler, who was the chairman of the magistrates,said, "very great praise is due to you for your quickness and decision;had it not been for this there can be no doubt that the riot would haveled to results even more disastrous than those which have taken place.At the same time it is the feeling of the court that you are now tryingto screen the accused, for it can hardly be, that passing so close youcould fail to recognize some of those whom you heard speak."
Mr. Dodgson then gave his evidence, as did several of the lads, whoproved the share that the accused had taken in the fray, and that theywere captured on the spot; while two of the pitmen proved that when theyarrived upon the spot a desperate riot was going on, and that theyjoined in the fray to assist the party attacked.
The examination lasted for four hours, at the end of which the whole ofthe prisoners were remanded to prison, the case being adjourned for twodays.
Before these were passed, both the lads whose cases had been thoughthopeless from the first, died, and the matter assumed even a moreserious appearance. Before the next hearing several of the prisonersoffered to turn king's evidence, and stated that they had been incitedby the young women at the feast.
Great excitement was caused in the village when ten or twelve youngwomen were served with warrants to appear on the following day. Theywere placed in the dock with the other prisoners, but no direct evidencewas taken against them. The number of the accused were further swelledby two men belonging to other villages, who had been arrested on thesworn evidence of some of the lads that they had been active in thefray.
At the conclusion of the case the whole of the male prisoners werecommitted for trial on the charges of manslaughter and riot. After thesehad been removed in custody, Sir John Butler addressed a severeadmonition to the women.
It had, he said, been decided not to press the charge against them ofinciting to riot, but that they had used expressions calculated to stirthe men up to their foul and dastardly attack upon a number of youngwomen and girls there could be no doubt. The magistrates, however, haddecided to discharge them, and hoped that the inward reproach which theycould not but feel at having a hand in this disgraceful and fataloutrage would be a lesson to them through life.
Trembling and abashed, the women made their way home, many of the crowdhissing them as they passed along.
When, six weeks later, the assizes were held, four of the prisoners,including Tom Walker, who was proved to be the leader, were sentenced toseven years penal servitude. Ten men had terms of imprisonment varyingfrom two to five years, and the rest were let off with sentences of fromsix to eighteen months.
Very long did the remembrance of "The Black Feast," as it came to becalled, linger in the memories of the people of Stokebridge and thesurrounding district. Great as was the grief and suffering caused aliketo the friends of those injured and of those upon whom fell punishmentand disgrace, the ultimate effect of the riot was, however, mostbeneficial to Stokebridge. Many of the young men who had most stronglyopposed and derided the efforts of their juniors to improve themselves,were now removed, for in addition to those captured and sentenced,several of those who had taken part in the riot hastily left the placeupon the following day, fearing arrest and punishment for their share inthe night's proceedings. Few of them returned after the conclusion ofthe trial, nor did the prisoners after the termination of theirsentences, for the feeling against them in the district was so strongthat they preferred obtaining work in distant parts of the country.
A similar effect was produced upon the young women. The narrow escapewhich they had had of being sent to prison, the disgrace of beingarrested and publicly censured, the averted looks of their neighbours,and the removal from the place of the young men with whom they had beenused to associate, combined to produce a great effect upon them.
Some profited by the lesson and adapted themselves to the altered waysof the place; others, after trying to brave it out, left Stokebridge andobtained employment in the factories of Birmingham; while others again,previously engaged to some of the young men who had left the village,were sooner or later married to them, and were heard of no more inStokebridge.
This removal by one means or another of some forty or fifty of the youngmen and women of the place most opposed to the spirit of improvement,produced an excellent effect. Other miners came of course to the vi
llageto take the places of those who had left, but as Mr. Brook instructedhis manager to fill up the vacant stalls as far as possible withmiddle-aged men with families, and not with young men, the new-comerswere not an element of disturbance.
The price of coal was at this time high, and Mr. Brook informed theclergyman that, as he was drawing a larger income than usual from themines, he was willing to give a sum for any purpose which he mightrecommend as generally useful to the families of his work-people. Thevicar as usual consulted his valued assistants the Dodgsons, and aftermuch deliberation it was agreed that if a building were to be erectedthe lower story of which should be fitted up as a laundry and wash-houseupon the plan which was then being introduced in some large towns, itwould be an immense boon to the place. The upper story was to befurnished as a reading-room with a few papers and a small library ofuseful and entertaining books for reading upon the spot or lending.Plans were obtained and estimates given, and Mr. Brook expressed hiswillingness to contribute the sum of eighteen hundred pounds for which acontractor offered to complete the work.