CHAPTER XXXI.—'INFORMATION REQUIRED.'

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 270, 3 February 1874, Page 3

CHAPTER XXXI. —' INFORMATION REQUIRED.'

Lawrencr was nob an eager reader of newspapers. A very superficial perusal of the news from Europe sufficed for him, and, if the Atlantic cable had existed in those days, he would probably hare dispensed with journalistic literature altogether. He could no more hare devoured the contents of tht myriad sheets of news and comment, of cprrespondence and general topics, of novolties and gossip, an the Americans devoured them, than he could, have smoked and chewed as thpy did. Somrtiinea, when there waa news from ■ the Gblden Stale, he went at it eagerly enough, fee ing about it as he had felt, when he and Walter were there, about England, and the old ways of the forsaken world beyond the two oceans. But in general he .was indifferent, and this 1 peculiarity, Deering, whom, few things escaped, had soon noticed. There had been no news of interest for some time, and Lawrence was less than ever anxious to know what was in the papers, when one day, at the public dinmg-tnble, he heard some people talking of great floods w'lich hud done considerable damage m a district at Plucer County. There had been, it appeared, gn-at atmospheric disturbances, tremendous rain, and a sudden swelling of the river and its tributary streams. Oiu of the gentlemen present hsid had a letter, containing particu'ars, and finding D.ily interested in the subject, he detailed them. It was s range an-l pleasant to Lsiwrence to hear again the names and places he had been so long familiar with. In the evening he rend a long and flourishing newspaper version of the occurrence, and sat, looking at the words, with his thoughts far away, amid tho grim desolation of the scene. No lives had been lo*t, but a good deal of damage had been tfoue by the flood, and I)aly would have .liked to know how their farmer claim and the lone hut had fared in the turmoil.' ' I wonder whether it is still standing,"he thought, ' or whether the waters poured into the ravine, nnd tumbled down the face of the old rook there, and swept it away with thorn. I wonder whether the whole aspect of the place is changed. The lone hut i& of tdo little importance to be mentioned here, I suppose. If Deering is right —and no doubt he is —it does not matter; it never could have muttered, in one way or the other j b"ut if Walter really had buried the gold, and really had made a. memorandum of its whereabouts, it would not have availed now, according to thU. These tearing floods efface huge landmarks in a few moments; who can tell hotf this one may have changed all the features of the small space within which his choice of a hiding-place lay.—There I am, trying back on that oil scent again, after all my resolutions, proving to myself, often as I nave protested the onlrary, how hard it is'to get over a downr ght, knock-down blow of ill-luck. I ought to be quite over it by this time, especially as I am turning our dmt over to some purpose, mainly thanks to Deering. He's a clever fellow, and I think a'betterone than Walter fancied him. The Hood did a good,deal of damage in Cobbs Valley, I see : I wonder if it swept over the burying-ground, and tore up the headstones; in that case, poor Spoiled Five's wooden cross—the memorial of him to a whole race of strangers —is gone too.' Lawrence and Deering had a good deal of business in jjoiaiO-OH ju»fc-th<w^iind.when thej mot next day, they began to disouit it at once, and no mention was made of the, news of the great flood in the Golden State. Daly thought of it afterwards, and was glad he Had nbt talked about it. 'I am determined I will not,' he thought; ' it would otily tempt me into talking of that unlucky nugget to Deering again, and lam determined henceforth it shall rest.' ' And so a word which might have availed much, by the decree of fate, remained unspoken. Mr Deering had been' deeply engaged w'th Tiia correspondence before he went to his appointment with Lnwrence on the,day in question. It was not voluminous, and it was not variounVbut it was exceedingly engrossing, and Deeriug had apparently reached a puzzling stage of it. He walked moodily about a room, very different in its decorations from that which he hact abandoned, after prudential calculation, cogitating intently, and turning his eyes from time to time upon the large paper-strewn table at which he h&l been sitting. j i 'It is too soon,'he mutterod —'too soon to tell him, to induce him'to go 'to England. There is a good deal to be done with liim here yet, and the other thing will keep —will b* all the betser for keeping, indeed —until I hive made all there is to be made here out of his resources and my own. Tne prize i» lafo enough ; it will not slip away, but this opportunity might. No, he mu*t not know; he must not g&yetj it is too soon. If the time had come, T wonder whether he Woild' go and put in his eluim, or be magnnnimous, and renounce it. He is fool enough for anvtning of that kind, and that would be a stopper. Let me see ' He stopped beside the table, and took up a large sheet of foolscap, on which certain slips cut from new-papers, in different kinds of type, and varying in length, were pasted. He was perfectly familiar with them, and yet he read them over slowly and half aloud. A thin slip, containing merely the name of the newspaper from which it was extracted, and the date of its issue, was pasted half an inch above each of these "paragraphs :—: — The Times, W>dnesd<»y. Julj —» 186—. 'Information required.—Any person who can give in (b> >- tnation resuecting Liwrence Dalv, who left England in 186-, for New York, it is supposed, with the intention .of proceeding to the Far West, will beiiundsomely rewarded on <-oinmunicating with Monsieur Cnux, Rufl de In Fle-'he Puiris.' The Times, Monday, August —. 186 —. 'Lawrence Daly, who left England in 186—, is earnestly requested to communicate vith his nearest relative. Hewill find cpmpliance with this request very much to his advantage. Address, L. C., cure of Monsieur Caux, Eve de la Fliche, Paris.' New York Herald, September —, 186 —. 'Information concerning the whereabouts, or, if not living tho death of Mr Lnwrence Daly, supposed to have been in the city of New. York, in the summer of 186 —, is earnestly requested, and will be handsomely paid for by Monsieur Caux, Rue de la Fle>-be, Paris.' ITew Ywh Sentinel, September —, 186 —. IL. D. —lf you will let me know where you are you ihnll not regret it. My promise to " Aunt Kite " shall y.-t be fulfilled. Let bygones be bye«ne,'and write at'Ouce to me, under eoter to Monsieur Cnux, Eve de la Fl&che, Paris.' 'A clever calculator, ( no doubt, could tell exactly bow -many to,one the chances ought to linve been in favour of J)ni/» seeing nil theie, and of my no£ seeing (hetivaf of them. But calculation « K*a\«'l^ put aowctiuies. If I '*nd •een the second, and not (lie first, or tlie fourth, and not the 1 hird, it •vonld ,hivto \ntvle a, confute t'tLhte difference to me. A hundred pound* when I place Monsieur Cunt and Laurence Duly in direct communication, And the strutett searesy observed concerning the date of my reply to fche advertisement. After all, it was weak of ra/» to itipulato for that. When I have got all the money th«?re'i to he had out of 1 Daly's dear re jentunt relative over there, and all tho money there's to be had out of D.ily himself here, what doe* it matter to me whnt he thinks of me, especially as I hope he will have been before long mv uncon«cimn benefactor to an extent of which we are at this moment alike in ignorance. The pear is getting rips ; it will soon be time to shake tho tree, but not yet. The repentant relative must suffer a little more, remorse and suspense first, until we see what's coming of Ontarios, at all events. 1 He huddled up tho scattered papers, and locked them in a drawer. Then, struck by a sudden thought, he stood for ft moment with his hand on the key. 'It'» cutting it rather close, this delay: jnst ounpose Walter Clint should see the advertisement in thu Time*. and volunteer (.be required information! By Jove! that would be a crooked turn of mv luck. Howerpr, r>ne mint risk something, and I don't risk money. But there's not much timo to spare now/