A CURIOUS HORSE STORY.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 79, 13 July 1868, Page 169

A CURIOUS HORSE STORY.

neigHborhood of B/ gpl&field, situated in. the Grow |anss district, under rather curious cirthem to this coiony for another country occurred some* thfeefyears ago, and v is as follows:—The two-men referred to were sitting in their hark hut, one , night, injthe May rather disheartened, at the offered them, and especially discouraged at the loss of a valuable horse ; which they had used for. the, conveying! of their swags.. from, one , diggings { to another. Search had been the horse in every direction, but’without avail, andi the mates had Resigned themselves to their ill-fortune, and were discussing the advisability of trying some carelessly worked, ground in the vicinity of th,eir hut, when the sound of horses’ feet at a., quiet, making -towards . their place caused them to open the door, and look out. After waiting , patiently to catch; sight of the horseman whose business, brought■ him to siich an qut-;of-the-way place,, they saw that .the approaching horse wasriderless, and laden with as their own lost steed was wont to be when accompanying them feom, place to place ; strange to say, : a further ex* amination showed that tho animal was indeed their- own,, a cut tether rope tied about his neckVand arpair of filed lock Bobbles, a doubt he had Been stolen.. The animal had evidently suffered usage, for beyond showing a considerable Ming-off in flesh, his fetlocks were raw and sore with the iron links. about his feet, which; showed be had travelled ■ far* The hardens. .were - removed and the horse as carefully attended to, as the resources of the men would permit, and then the contents of-the “ traps” Were examined. What was. contained ,;ini * them the two men never made/ but it is now shrewdly:surmised^-there- - was a quantity of gold, for, from ; the period of the. horse’s return the : c mates announced their intention of ' leaving the colony in a year or. so. To'i thffijS 1 credit it may be said, that they walked three years before they stirred from the place, although they seemed • to meet with persistent bad fortune’ dar* ing their stay. About two months ago, they sold their horse to a man who was -living near them, and made such preparations for departure|as only men with money could make. They told the purchaser of their-horse that he had brought home with him a pretty long purse; that they had buried it under the threshold- of their .tent for nearly three years, ; till the matter would thoroughly blow, over, .and ,s.e v e* ihg no likelihood of their succeeding in this colony,.they, raised the treasure, and by its means were enabled to search. for “ fresh fields and pastures new.”

A somewhat similar circumstance occurred at the Black. Protectorate Station, at Mount Franklin when ithe diggings were first opened. Parker, (brother of a well-known in Blenheim,) eldest son of Mr E. S. Parker, owned a horse called; “ Sable,” that had an iayeterate habit of “bucking off” strangers. Tho mare was stolen, and at expiration/ of three or four days, it parrying back a new saddleahd;)irid(e;tq its. master, and. some ounces x of gold in t the valise which was strapped on iq front. * It is needless to add. that the lost .effects were never asked after. ti ~.