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themselves, "Their sisters," says Mr. Hare,
"were in debt everywhere," and probably even their sisters were likely
to be seriously influenced by such considerations. Without fresh capital for
investment the concern must collapse.
Under pressure of these circumstances the outlaws
adopted a scheme more daringly ambitious than any they had yet undertaken. Their
objective was the bank at Benalla; but they were well aware that the raid could
not be made successfully in the casual fashion of the raid on Jerilderie. It was
absolutely necessary, at least, to draw off the police at Benalla in a wrong
direction. But they aspired to do more than that. On the line between Benalla and a little place called Beechworth,
lay a small station, at Glenrowan. At Beechworth lived Aaron Sherrit (sic), now
married, though not to Miss Byrne. Mrs. Byrne had, doubtless, ere (sic) this, let the
outlaws know her suspicions of Aaron, and it is even probable that she knew more
of the matter than the police supposed. If Aaron should be murdered at
Beechworth on a Saturday night a party of police would be made up at Benalla and
sent by special train to Beechworth as soon as possible. There were no ordinary
trains on the Sunday, and the special would not stop at Glenrowan. Meanwhile the
outlaws would have taken up the rails at a certain convenient spot just beyond
Glenrowan station. The special would be wrecked, and the outlaws near at hand to
finish off any chance survivors. Rid of the police they could then ride on the
fourteen miles to Benalla and loot the bank there at leisure.
It was an excellent, if desperate, device. Its
failure would not necessitate the capture or death of the contrivers. Its
success would mean not merely the acquisition of fresh capital, but an immense
increase of prestige, a terrible blow to the armour of the police and revenge on
a traitor into the bargain. It was extremely difficult of execution ; but, if
the worst came and the outlaws had to fight for their lives, they were by no
means ill-prepared. Not only were they tolerably well armed; they were armoured
also. Each man had by him a complete "suit" of body armour, rudely
forged out of old plough-shares, and weighing 97 lbs. The iron plates