"I feel sorry for them." "Just what a young gent like you would do, sir.

Pity's a good thing, but you must not waste it." "But it seems a terrible thing for these men to be sent out like this." "Seems, sir.

But is it?
You see, they needn't have been sent out.
They only had to behave themselves." "But some of them may be innocent." "Yes, sir," said the warder drily; "but which of 'em?
Look at that fellow coming round here now, slouching along, and never looking at anything but the deck.

He'll never look you in the face." "Yes, I've noticed that." "Wouldn't pick him out for an innocent one, would you ?" "Well, no," said Nic; "one seems to shrink from him." "And right enough too, sir.

He got off with transportation for life; but I'm afraid he deserved something worse." "Did he kill anybody ?" said Nic in an awe-stricken whisper.
"Yes; more than one, I believe, sir: sort of human wild beast.