STRANGE THAN FICTION. A Haunted Ranch.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 249, 24 March 1888, Page 4

STRANGE THAN FICTION. A Haunted Ranch.

" I'm really sick of this, Steb., and I've a good mind to cub the whole thing— go ranching, or something— anywhere out. of this cursed place, where everyone I meet is either a d d creditor, or else an old pal tryinc not to see me." " Cut it ?" replied Mr Stebbings. "Well, not a bad idea, either, for a time. Ranching, too, is fashionable just now, and while you are getting tired of tearing about with cowboys, we may bo able to get you straight." The fiist speaker, who had just expressed himself so thoioughly disgusted with his position was Sir James Forndyse, a young baroucb, who had in a few years gone a» complete a-mucker as even the most inveterate of his enemies, if he had any, could have wished. The Forndy.ses had originally been goldsmiths, and doubtless Royal pawnbrokers, and at the time ot tho Stuarts having ama&sed much wealth and lauded property— the latter probably hypothecated by impecunious client's — the second James made the head ot the house a baronet. For come generations the Foi ndyses lived cleanly, piospcred, added to their foitunc and intermarried with families of undoubted patrician standing, if impecunious. It was left for Sir James however, to topple o\or the golden tabric, and make ducks and diakes of the family pos sessions. o ambling, racing, the gracious J (and costly) fiicndt-hip of a Ron.il personage, a good deal of wine, and not ti little woman, had wrought unutterable ruin. As usual with young men of fashion in diiiiculbics, Sir James had in the caily stage of his downward career sought the aid of Mr John Stebbings. Stpbbings called himself a land agent, \ and if the constant appropriation of prodi- ! gal heirs' landed property' could justify his claim to that distinction, ho wa^ certainly | one ; but plain people were apt to cull him a money-lender, and angry men have characterised him as a Shylock. It was the old, old story. Forndy.se wanted money to save his honour — at any price, so long as he gob it. Stebbings provided it, until at length every rood of the Forndyse estates belonged to the estate agent, and Sir James, when the foiegoing conversation took place, was in the dcs- I perate condition of a man deprived of all j his necessary luxuries, minus ready cash, and despised by many of his former friends. Naturally, he was in a good mood to do anything, and lent a willing ear to Stebbings' proposals They did not take long to strike a bargain, and one spring morning Forndyse was en route to New York. In those days baronets, especially one who had been in a crack regiment and ruffled it with the best, were not so common in the States as now, and the American papers for a time contained full, true, and particular accounts of the doings of Forndyse ab his new home. They had nicknamed him the German Cowboy, and stories of his despeiate fiphts or revolver scuffles at bars, occasionally found their way into the English journals. Old friends shook their heada at "JimV goings on, and one or two sagacious mammas, hearing of the elder bx other's escapades, thought it prudent, to say the least, to include the next brother and heir in their invitation lists. As everyone knew, there was not much chance of Sir James marrying, particularly after the dreadful scandal of a year or two previously, in which his name was on every hand coupled with the beautiful Mrs Danton, \vho?e untimely end by an overdose of j chloral had excited so much comment at the time. Forndyse bad two brothers ; tho i elder, who, in addition to a fair income, derived fiom his mother, was a clever and prosperous barrister, arid Tom, the younger, who, until Jim's smash, had been looked upon as the ne'er do-well of the family. He had been for a short time in the navy, and since tried to pick up a living in various ways — for a time attached to a broker's ollice in the City, then on tour with a theatrical company, and again trying to sell his friends indifferent chaini pagnes or doubtful cigars on commission. A year passed away, during which time some venturesome friends had visitei Forndyse ab his distant home. They had a good, if rough, time of it, but by all accounts he was leading a terrible life. Few were surprised, ihen, to hear that Sir James Forndyse had been Bhot in a bar fight out Wcsb, and that Robert, the second brother and heir, had gone out to bring the body home. It was rumoured that Forndyse's life had been insured for enormous sums, and people were curious to know to whom the money went. Robert, now tho baronet, was on his return extremely reticent on tho subject, and it was understood that very little, if any, of the insurance money would come to him. There was no will, and Mr Stebbings was supposed to bo a large gainer by the late baronet's death. I As that worthy sat in his Bhabby little [ den in Jermyn -street one day, nob long after the funeral ot his late client, he was called upon by Tom Forndyse. After the usual condolences and civilities, Tom, whose manner wasalwayssomewhab brusque began : " Well, Stebbinga, what are you going bo do for me ?" •' If I can servo you in any way, Mr Forndyse," replied Stebbings, cautiously , "you know you can command mo." " Oh, ab ! Yes, that's all right, bub everyone knows you made a lob oub of poor Jim, and the leasb I think you can do is to provide for some of the family. Not for Koberb, he is all right, bub I am not." I " Well, Mr Forndyse, if a tamporary loan is of any use " " It may be, bub I want something more I than that.. lam tired of knocking about, and want to settle down. Now, thab ranch bhab poor Jim had is, from what Robert tells me, nob ab all a bad property. With a little capital and hard work— and I am not afraid of work — I think I could make it pay. I don't quite know whether it belongs to you or my brobher ; anyway, he is quite willing thab I should have a try ab it. What do you say ?" •' Not to be thought of," replied Stebbings hurriedly. w You are quite unfitted for such a life ; besides, think of the awful end of your brother. How could you ever think of living in such a place ?" , " Pooh ! nonsense," interrupted Tom ; " that won't hurt me. I must live somewhere, and the States are as good as anywhere else. I've tried most games over here, and they've all turned oub crabs ; so the ranch is the thing. Besides, you oughb to be only boo glad to geb such a good tenanb," he added, with a grin. Stebbings tried all he could to dissuade tho young man, bub he was obstinate in his determination, and, as the ranch was really as much the property of Sir Robert Forndyse as his, he could not find any good and sufficient reason for denying the request, particularly as the land was virtually lying idle. So ab length Stebbings gave way, and Tom Forndyse departed, the monoy-lender, on favourable terms, agreeing to give him the necessary capital if he showed that he reajly meanb to work. The new baroneb expressed himself to Stebbings as delighted at his younger brother's determination to try and make an honest living — out of the

country ; but the money-lender dictf nob j seem .so pleaded. He appeared to have some forebodings as to the result of the. venture, and was evidently ill ab ua«e. From time to time, Stcbbings heard regularly from Tom Forndyse. He was doing laiily well, and certainly going straight. Then came a change. Thelebteis bucamo briefer and more disjointed, and I finally the secieb was out— the ranch v;at haunted. . " You will think me a fool, 1 ' wrote E'drndysu, " but I have come to the conclusion that this infernal place is haunted. For some time past, there have been queer noises at night, .sounding for all the world a.s if someone had D.T. , and was knocking, the furniture about in the next room, amli once I could Ihiao sworn 1 &aw joor Jim't* face ab the window. lam really quite jumpy with my experiences theso last few nights, but i mean to nncl oub the mystery,, if 1 bum the place down in doing so." The reading ot this epistle had a curious effect on btobbings ; ho paled visibly, and toro the paper deliberately to pieces. When Htcbbings ai rived at his office one morning a few weeks after h« had last heard Irom b'orndybe, ho Jound a beaided indi\idual sitting in hin waiting-room, and nuni ly tainted on finding tliat it was Tom himself, who gieeted him with a cheery good morning. '• Stubbing-*," began the young man, when they were ensconced in the agent's piivatc room, " I have found you out. ' "What- do you mean." gasped the a iron t. "1 7n can that my brother Jim is not dead ; ho is alive, very much alive, and he it is who haunts the ranch.'' " Well, what has that to do with me?' "K\ery thing, my dear sir. I believe you drew a pretty consideiablo sum from the Continental Insurance Company, a tidy bit fiom the World, and something heavy fioin the Universal." « Well " "Well, shall I go and tell them whafc 1 know? They grumbled a lob, if you remember, when they paid ib over. Wanted the coiiin opened, didn't they? Come, be reasonable. " •Stebbingd evidently was rea«onable, a Toui ne\er returned to the ranch, and ha now quite a .string of huntcis ab Melton lives uncommonly well "when in town,, and last season thoio was some talk of his-, marrying a Californian heiress.