| Show A FELONS LOVE BY HENRY W NESFIELD CHAPTER VIII what horse horae was waa that I 1 heard galloping about in the night I 1 inquired ur mr hall flail on the following morning did any break out of the paddock no sir it was baynes replied one of the hands I 1 ile he rode up in the might eight 11 claynes It aynes what did he ha come back for ile he sald said they m were ere all drunk and fighting down at sullivan a 9 and he could find no place to sleep in so eo he rode home ile he must go hack back at once then I 1 cant have those pack horses hanging about down there for days daya together he fie has baa geue air ile he started off at cayll daylight gh t that it a all right then said mr hull hall when the men who slept in rob bob lukes luke a hut got up that morning they noticed that ho he had already gone out 1 I wonder what made luko luke turn out so BO early I 1 one tit df them remarked but no further notice was waa taken of his big ab sence lence until breakfast time what a become of luke luhe asked a stockman tt as aa there was no sign ol of him when alion that meal was waa nearly finished you had better put that stew blew on the lire to keep hot tor for him maybe be Is out oat after some borne of the horses dinnertime dinner time came but no I 1 uke like and shortly afterwards mr air hall happened to want him no one has hag seen him tills this morning sir air was the answer he received we cant think bats become of him no one has seen been him repeated mr hall I 1 na hat do you mean lie he slept on the station last night I 1 suppose 11 ile slept in my hut 1 replied the man and turned in re aa usual last night flight I 1 noticed that in particular because he was the last in bed and had to put out the light when we awoke this morning he was already up and out but we dian didn t take much notice of that 11 had hla his bed been slept in 1 I suppose so air I 1 never looked ire I 1 went to bed I 1 am sure bure as I 1 lay la wake awake for a good ten minutes after I 1 turned in and I 1 never heard him go out come with me to the hut and show me hla his bunk continued mr hall the bunk that luke was waa in the habit of sleeping in had bad evidently been MCI but tho the blankets had not been turned flown down there la Is his hat cried a man and alere are hla his boots on the ground odd anyhow perhaps he put on another pair suggested the squatter no air dob bob luke had only this one pair which as an you see are pretty well worn morn through lie he was waa saying only the other day that he wished the drays would hurry burry up as aa he N wanted anted a new BW pair it certainly la Is very singular mused mr hall 1111 lie he badria hadn t been drinking had he be no sir ilea he a never had a drop of since he be it been on the station that I 1 know of did he be over seem queer in hia big head or strange in any way I 1 never a bit sir air rather the other way on theres nothing wrong with bob ile lies a no more chanay than I 1 tin sm well some borne of the men had better go out at once and have a look for him it if we do not find him by sun flown don 1 I will gend bend over to mount glipps ipps and inform the police sergeant there ore lire black tracklis trac koia keis there who will mill soon trace him men bien were accordingly sent gent out in fery every direction and the country m was as scoured for several miles around but to BO sign of dob bob luke could be dincov red mr hall began to feel uneasy wondering a hat could line lime become of the nan man and when evening approached am cached lack jack hall started off to inform the police at mount capps some alty miles may aay towards nightfall the pick horses arrived with toni tom bianes front from vans public house mr dilall met them as they pulled up tip at the store this Is a very strange affair about bob luke it tom lie re marked yei air replied dan es busying himself in taking off sonie bome of 0 t t the he pecks back 1 I heard of it doa down a at 91 hullt lit vans Tans front from one of the chaps I 1 afton onder fler where he be can have got to I 1 you camo back to the station in the night I 1 suppose ou saw nothing of hla him no air but I 1 dian didn t look about me pinch as it was all I 1 could do to see the track you galloped fast enough up past tho the huts I 1 heard ou fi aiom oni the house housa and thought it vas vaa a horse broken loone looms from the paddock yes sir the old mare started off with me when she got near home and I 1 couldn coulden t hold her in I 1 and you saw nothing of luke hia big master again asked no sir nothing I 1 what made you come back from gullivan a mr hall had already been told th tl g reason and wynes cieply was wag 1 confirmation he had bad heard the men man of 04 U dubli bublin h 1 nao wore ajl aji more or less leaa drunk and fighting and he could find no place to sleep in the old mare was handy as he had laft her in the stock nid at d ith a good fee leej 1 and he thought he would bo be able to find ills hla way arty back to tho the station elation and return early to the drays dras the next morning nir mr hall became more anddore and more per alexe I 1 about lukes luke a disappearance it he had bad been drinking heavily I 1 he said to hla his wife no one would feel in the least surprised dut but the man was sober enough and showed no signs of so BO far as ae I 1 cin find out it bents beats anything I 1 ever experienced experience peri perien ence ced perhaps he will turn up in the morning and we shall find a very simple solution to the puzzle after all the morning came and went ent and day after day passed by but no robert luke appeared the mounted violice follic with the black trac beis scoured the country for over thirty miles around and loft left hardly a rock or a patch of scrub una parched every building on the station had lieen been examined and there only remained tom baynes hut to visit ihnen nes mas ft as the first to suggest that it should be searched theres been a lot of talk I 1 know air bo be said eald about my wife a shutting herself up so poor thing she cant help belp that I 1 wish she could get rho about ut so I 1 should like the sergeant to satisfy himself that luke tan t tri in biding there nobody would be foolish enough to suppose he be was as dames replied mr hall smiling at the soung mans anxiety but we had bad better as on say look everywhere while we are about it I 1 mr hall had bad really a secret desire to behold this hidden treasure in the way of a m wife ife who was so persistently sheltered from the vulgar gaze accordingly he made one of the party to examine the hut when the troopers knocked at the door it was standing a little way open come in said a low voice half sitting half reclining upon mhd bed which occupied one corner of the ons one room the but possessed dressed in the ordinary printed calico gown of a working woman a shawl over her feet and some needlework on which she was vaa engaged upon her lap was mrs mra daynes baynes her jet black hair was neatly smoothed emoo thed in front and braided at the back and her pale face and nervous manner denoted the invalid she wore colored spectacles very sorry to intrude mrs arra baynes I 1 am sure said mr hall but we are compelled to search everywhere tor for this lost man your husband has no doubt told you about it yes yea yes yea replied mrs baynes it seems vely strange that lie he should have gone on like what a nice mice woman thought mr hall and a good looking one tool too its a thousand pities that she should be broken down no wonder baynes Is careful of her 1 I then he be said aloud it we were only certain that he be had gone off somewhere Bome where it would be batis satisfactory is but we can find no traces ot of him akym anywhere here resides besides a man does not run off in the middle of the night without hla his boots leaving two or three months wa Ps ca behind him unless be has baa a very important reason for doing so BO there was very little for or the sergeant to inspect in the hut but a deal table two rough benches the bed upon which mrs baynes reclined and which aid 0 aa hangings hannings hang ings or drapery upon it that could conceal anything and one or two small boxes containing clothes these articles made up the entire fuin furniture iture 0 of the apartment the walls which were ere of roughly hewn slabs nailed to tile the frame of the tha hut were carefully papered over with old sydney morning while the two small window frames were mere covered with alth calico A hut which Is built for or the dual purpose of cooking and sleeping in gen bially has a large I replace which en ethely occupies one end of it such a one had bad this and pon upon u the tha hearth there blazed a log fire beneath a kettle which hung front from an iron bar altogether the visit to tile the hut did not occupy above five minutes tile the sergeant declared himself satisfied and mrs haines rising from the bed be b bagged aged mr hall to baay and accept of some tea irhe the kettle to Is already on tho the boll air she said pray fray do not disturb mrs daynes baynes the squatter answered as she stood up we ate aie too sorry for having rad ad to come at rill all wren the search party had bad withdrawn the sergeant remarked to mr hall that a s the woman moman I 1 suppose ive heard fo BO much talk about the one people said was nas mad and shut up here 1 I dare sa replied nir mr hall people say any all sorts of things shea she i the tha cooks v wife ife and Is a hopeless invalid but she Is very good at her needle and my wife ito Is uncommonly glad to have her here poor thing she looks very tory white and 1111 the di of dob bob luke remained a complete enigma the colonial papers under the heading of 01 1 1 I he mysterious disappearance on the barrial ranee rance suggested all sorts ort ot of solutions to the riddle oddle and penny a liners found in it a scope cope for their imaginations all the remarkable disappearances disappearance that hid ever been recorded were brou brought slit to light again and as ft a last loophole out of the difficulty it wm was suggested Buggea ted that the roan man had for some borne urgent reason determined to lose logo bis big identity and so BO had gone off leaving hta his boots behind him in order to throw people off the scent like most other mysteries this athla soon became a thing of the past the subject at last grew monotonous and in a very few months people had ceased to think any more about it what after all was as a bushman more or lesi of whom no olie obe knew anthlny and for whom nobody cared chaner rr IX I 1 sullivan a public house the thorn in every squatters side for rilles miles around nas mas a small wooden shanty consisting of four or five rooms at the brick back was a building containing ten or twelve sleeping bunks bunka this was as called the dead house as aa it was used chiefly for putting customers into when they were dead drunk outside the house f icing the mall mail track was a verandah if a continuation of tile alia shingled roof by rough posta post stuck into tile the boic baio earth could be ba by tile the nanie name beneath the tha shade of this rough verandah one hot afternoon lay two or three drunken wretches ret ches overcome by the fumes of the lightning rum inside the bir were five or six bushmen ishmen bi busily engaged in throwing ing dice for drinks odd man out I 1 was the game and at the rate of one shilling per the amusement could hardly be considered a cherip cheap one especially when the aftereffects after effects ot of the lightning upon the consumer were taken into consideration very few station hands on their way down to town ever succeeded in getting past sullivan a some had attempted it a score of times and failed even before the unhappy pigeon had arrived the news was vas bi ought brought that long jim I 1 was going down to sydney with a big cheque let we me see jim must have been over two years now on the station since he had his last burst the bloated looking ruellan of a landlord would remark 1 I dare say he hes s got OT oner a hundred pounds and when long jim hove tn in sight he be was sure to be ba hailed balled by halt half a score of loafers and pressed to stop the night nohe no he had bad determined to push on to t the next stage ills his horse was fresh and he was anxious to get on well he would mould stop and have a plate of soa blip and a bite no he had got coln somi tucker with him at any rate ion ou 11 have a drink some one would mould cry no he was on the teetotal tack well you aln ain t a coln off like that without sh shout ln jim one of the loafers would suggest shout the pigeon would cry thus probed in his big weakest part of course ill theres there s nothing mean about me an how NN hat are you all going to have drinks all round and one tor for youre yourself elf sullivan I 1 you must have a small drain too jim lutt just to show that there a no III will you know the landlord would suggest oil not tor for me sullivant I 1 know your game of old well just to show there aln ain t no animosity give me a small drop of what hat you ve got here I 1 better luckl luck to be continued |
