Show 1 frelack BLA 4 0 4 j GOLD I 1 aoi v V I 1 ra ia by f A ca 8 s beatrice grimshaw Grims liaw illustrations by irwin myers ii 1 ai I 1 JV copyright by hughea J fe lassie co y 3 service y 1 THE STORY fon on S pleasure trip in eastern raters philip amory english horld war veteran now a trader n the th island of papua new guinea plunges overboard to lve the life of musical comedy c letress tresa Ki cnown k as gln gin sling almory becomes interested in pla laurier AUr ler member of a wealthy new N ew south wales family he ha ells her of his bis knowledge of a ond erfal gold field on th the Is aland find though he be does not disclose the he name of the place gin allne S ing tells him pia Is engaged alto to sir richard fanshaw amory Jf however JhO wever Is in confident that the pearl Is not indifferent to him his holiday ended he arrives bak back ft at daru lie he meets an englishman spicer there on develop ment business busl ness tor for a syndicate ot of ill i fl which ranshaw fanshaw Is head fan I 1 shaws name recalls to amory a yi along lone forgotten incident in which he witnessed the escape 0 of fan shaw haw from a leper colony he 0 tells tell his friend bassett about it IL CHAPTER IV continued oits ita not what you yoi would call ma 4 etal to the evidence I 1 answered adsett but you can take it so if lu like very well do you know where her brents arents are could Coi ild find em I 1 suppose athe the only thing to do is to tell hem pem mind they may not believe ou on the storys thin and I 1 daresay hey know you are gone on the girl yourself yourself four self I 1 the mother does and shed poison i ine if she could was my reply what if the marriage Is coming off 1 it pointed out cassett bassett lt if hes going on this trip but it if you av any uneasiness on that point you can ian go to thursday island and send a wireless i I 1 11 for all australia to read I 1 cross to cape york lork and get the iland land line 1 I dont mind said I 1 thoughtfully fe lt I 1 do you see it at may seem foolish but I 1 cant help fearing she abe might bs cN attracted to the country ashes sead nuts cuts on hearing bearing about it wyont dont forget black sheep said eald bassett and I 1 knew by the nickname fot that he wanted to say much be would w certainly leave unsaid much kindi Y ness iness much consideration for that 4 i I 1 which could not be helped or con dont forget that theres such a thin thing as a law of libel if you yon make mistakes baj tl e you yo u may have to pay tor for them very dearly ill pay anything and everything I 1 said rising ill 1 11 pay my life if I 1 have to thanks ill do as you suggest the sooner I 1 can get to T I 1 there I 1 stopped halting g in the dle die of my wall walk to thu the door A sound had bad checked me tp what was that I 1 said to the R keln KM min ln a low voice I 1 had thought I 1 maheard heard a noise just under my feet a H sneeze suppressed yet audible not coming from outside we stood two figures turned to stone and listened I 1 dont know what it bassett thought I 1 had heard maybe the beginning of a revolt among the ti if in ma aneater neater and murderer prisoners 2 lightly confined in a wooden jail some alfew few score yards away maybe the 4 movements of some halt half craze crazed d native A oppressed with the strange vailala madness KA that has hia fidorf filled a a favo few hurried graves la in west ff theres nobody n said bassett it I 1 did not answer him I 1 made a sudden dart tor for the steps down the 14 steps Bt eps under the house where el eight bt oot foot high plies piles made a little forest of i darkness and an d secrecy beneath the floors there was nobody etere there but in the garden the peering f T i waterlogged water logged moon showed me a spray or two of the hibiscus hedge in sud 6 i den agitated motion I 1 jumped the hedge find and came down i unexpectedly on something large and dusky that heaved beneath my feet and threw roe me off as a bucking buckin g on outlaw blaw throws its rider I 1 tell fell recovered my self and saw down the croton avenue a man running away ile he was tall and thin and he be ran in a flat footed heavy plunking manner that instantly suggested to me two large flat eat feet I 1 had seen earlier la in the evening spicer Spi cerl I 1 I 1 said to myself and gave i cense it had bad begun to rain a gain again the slippery and the crash of paths were vere and down drenched falling water on noise enough to made P beaten leaves using my torch I 1 cover any re retreat treat caught a glimpse dimpse of the fugitive lost him thought I 1 saw him again and i finally pulled up on the beach road near ct ar the trad trader er Mald stoneS alone i we arent aren t formal in western I 1 went at once and all d knocked who chos a at maidstone Mald stones door y who it la is wag waa his big query amory I 1 answered nobody sick filch Is your boarder in iles hes not a boarder we dont take boarders was Mald stones answer if you mean the nut who blew in today hes in bed sure Mald maidstone stone disappeared well now its a queer thing he commented coming back and standing an odd PaJa pajamas mad figure on the soaked veranda boards which reflected hla his bare feet like lee ice iles hes riot not there eh what are arc you d nang him for he done 1 I dont know what he done 1 I 1 answered furiously for now I 1 was almost sure this spicer the creature of fanshaw had overheard every word I 1 said to bassett break his neck when lie comes in or chuck him to the ho alligators its the best thing you yon can do with him well now the wife like any ruden rudeness cs answered maidstone placidly 1 I suppose hes got cot a right to go in the house or out of the house as lie he likes lou IOU go back to your store phil amory ought to be in bed goodnight good night I 1 did not go to bed I 1 went back to bassetta bassetts Das Bas bassett Bas sctt I 1 said bolting boiling up the staircase that brute of a spicer chap was underneath the house you go to bed amory and let other people go he answered youre fanciful 1 I saw him I 1 tell you was my angry response Ru away among the manezes mangoes mane man goes oes and malmstone Mald stone said lie he there tackle him yourself tomorrow morning counseled bassett arent aren it you going to let anyone on the island go to sleep be off black sheep or ill arrest you 1 I can tell you this was my parting in shot theres no power in papua will get me to thursday island now nevertheless when morning came I 1 began to think differently I 1 went to Mald tones as early as possible spicer was lounging on the veranda in mrs Maid stones special chair with a tin of Maid stones special cigarettes at his elbow mald maid stones boy was busy fetching him matches soda water another cushion tor for his head a magazine to read mrs maidstone in the background was flying about busy and energetic as usual slim blue eyed pretty in a belated schoolgirl sort of fashion this middle aged woman of the outback was waa a constant wonder to me she had seen and done almost all that the hardest cases in west papua had seen and done run risks in earlier days that made ones heart stand still to think of nursed many a man through accident or fever laid out and dressed for burial some of them she had taken in houseless strangers until the small profits of the store were eaten into almost beyond bearing she had lived hard and known no luxury for years faced danger like a man and done a womans comans work withal she was the merriest thing in western papua and but for a une line or two and a gray hair or two you yon mi might have given her five and twenty years I 1 jumped straight into the heart of things which habit Is one of my most cincu incurable rable faults but life Is short rd id rather jump into now and then a hidden swamp than spend days painfully walking round dusty roads do you mind telling me I 1 said what you were doing under the IL II M s house last night I 1 expected a plain denial more or less angry cut but spicer was too clever tor for that oh come now he answered with a man ot of the world air and something like a wink you cant expect me to give an account of my wanderings about tills this very fascinating island after dark no black sheep I 1 cant let you ban baa baa at me leave that to the missionaries I 1 could have knocked him off the veranda with the utmost satisfaction I 1 am not sure that I 1 have done it in spite of mrs Maid stones presence it if something had not told me to move carefully keep a lookout look out for red herrings trailed across the track my name Is amory I 1 said what were you doing ile he made as if to dig me in the ribs with a white ahlie splayed forefinger I 1 think the look in my eyes made him draw it back tor for never without actually doing it was I 1 nearer to smashing in any mans face in my life naughty naughty was what be said ladles ladies present mrs I 1 dont know how managed to melt away really I 1 said 1 I have my reasons which I 1 dare say bay for I 1 was beginning to think be h hoard heard anything you know nothing about I 1 saw you if not under the house certainly close to the IL M s in the middle of last night anil and when I 1 chased you you ran away you bet I 1 did said spicer with a giggle thought you were the enraged husband for a liver fiver bassett marr married led I 1 told him the warder la is he triggered ered very pretty wife too now this bewildered me for I 1 did know galuna the wife of the native warder and I 1 had seen been her only a week before brought up in court by her husband in connection with a charge of stealing her which lie ho was wai making against another native galuna was no saint and tor for a papuan she was unusually good looking it was also true that the warders house was within a stones throw of the place where I 1 had stumbled over spicer I 1 know what hat to think mrs lira maidstone malmstone Mald stone came back at that moment with a tray of 0 glasses interrupting I 1 fancied deliberately the conference she offered us whisky I 1 took two lingers fingers of it spicer took some more soda water it added to my dislike of him I 1 have always held that theres as likely as not to be something wrong about either a teetotaller taller or a nonsmoker non smoker it if not wrong halt half baked granted that there are exceptions spicer I 1 did not take to be an exception I 1 knew that bassett who was shrewd enough thought I 1 had bad been wrong in supposing spicer to be listening under the house I 1 knew too that he be did not tell me that a matt man who Is overwrought excited and begins to fancy himself spied upon may be in rather a bad way perhaps it was mary maidstone Mald stone who gave the final stroke to my suspicions are you two done quarreling the she asked gaily as I 1 put away the tray I 1 had taken from her hands and it if you are can I 1 ask you phil when youre going across again I 1 want you to do me an errand across meant the trip of miles from this near point of papua to australia it depends I 1 answered her on mr spicer salcer how on me asked spicer brusquely 1 I heard I 1 answered him evenly that you wanted a number of boys recruited I 1 have a good cutter and know the villages id be ba glad to make you a price it if he heard me my thought ran it if he be knows that im oft off as fast as I 1 can go to put a spoke in fanshawe Fan shaws cheel hell heli try and keep me here nothing simpler but spicer it seemed did not want me to stay theres no hurry he be said patronizingly ly take your time I 1 shall stay here another three weeks 1 I saw mary maidstone Mald stone make a fa face of dismay behind his back im waiting for the papuan chief to bring the th rest of the members of the expedition along of course I 1 am leader next nest to sir richard and I 1 have all the organizing in my hands it if you yon want to run across dont mind me mal thursday island thirsty island every one knows it he laughed rudely and looked at my emptied glass now I 1 am not a drinking man if U I 1 do once in a way shift a glass before the suns over the yard I 1 felt once onca again exceedingly inclined to pick a quarrel with this spicer once again remembered that I 1 could not afford to do so if I 1 wished to make sure of certain things very well I 1 said watching hta his face ill start across today anchor at cap and get in early tomorrow mrs maidstone Mald stone if youve ani any commissions ill be delighted to attend to them right you are answered my hostess cheerfully with something ol of her gay schoolgirl manner coming bade back just a see sec and ill give you my list she went off into the store and spicer who had not altered by to so much as a line the expression of hla his large flat countenance took the cigarette out of his mouth to remark good trip to you it was a dismissal somewhat in the tha royal manner I 1 held myself in from answering him as I 1 wished and followed mary maidstone malmstone Mald stone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 hotels la in thursday island of which there are a surprising number are never the same twice visited proprietors prie tors managers and manageresses manage vary almost as the seasons go the tha grand cosmopolis Cosmo polls where I 1 put up looked much as usual there was a desolate big dining room with a pilot eating his lunch slowly and contentedly as pilots do alone TO BS BE CONTINUED |