THE HAUNTED CASK.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 388, 7 November 1874, Page 2

THE HAUNTED CASK.

As the voyage wore on, a new subject of interest began to dispute the supremacy of the famous cask — namely, the competition of suitors for the good graces of its charming owner. This rivalry had now grown more defined and palpable, owing to the fact that (as Colonel Rasper of the — th Plungers elegantly expressed it) ' the pace was getting severe, and the weedy ones were beginning to tail oftV Captain Veriphasb had been ' withdrawn ' by his attachment to Miss Fisher, whose name the young I engineer, His cabin-fellow, gallantly paraphrased into ' the judicious Hooker.' Ensign Naughtie, after a day or two's philandering, had likewise ' dropped out of the running ' — remarking, with the air of a connoisseur, that these very young v omen wei'e not his style ; which, she bein.> only twentytwo, and he fully nineteen, was natural enough. Old Mr Chutney, who at first seemed to be further gone than anyone, found' a salutary check to his passion in ' the unwarrantable way in which he had boen bullied by that abominable cask,' which appeared to have assumed in his eyes the haunting individuality of an evil spirit. But, notwithstanding these defections, a large number of worshippers still remained true to their allegiance, and of those the most conspicuous was unquestionably Major Leyd E. Kyller, of the — th Light Infantry. Rich enough to have no thought of marriage us a speculation, blase enough to care little for flirtation as an amusement, he had at first devoted himself to the charming widow with that quiet, confident, self-condescending ease with which the experienced militahe of ouu time is wont to monopolise the prettiest woman in a company. But he was playing with edged tools. Mrs Errington was just one of those dangerous little creatures whom men pet and protect as children till they suddenly find themselves falling in love with them as women ; and it soon became abundantly evident that the novice was more than a match for the veteran. It was curious to see how this man — the admired wit of Bombay dinner tables, the chosen leader of Simla picnics and up-country gatherings — lost all his wonted fluency and self-reliance as soon as he entered the enchanted circle : and to notice the deep, c irnest look which softened and almost glorified his disciplined face, while he talked with the one woman whom he cared for. The finer nature of the man was aroused, as it always must be, at the first touch of a pure and manly affection ; and, as it awoke, all his apt compliments and well-turned phrases, all the conversional sleight-of-hand which had served him with ordinary women, forsook him one by one. At times he was so absolutely silent in her presence as to make an Irish brother-officer remark 'the Meejor niver spoke a word when he was talking to Mrs Errington.' Perhaps the young lady herself was not wholly unconscious of this ; but only once did sho hazaid any allusion to it. They happened to be left on deck together for a few minutes, and the major instantly beceme so flagrantly tongue-tied that she ventured to rally 'lini upon the loss of his proverbial fluency. 'How very thoughtful you are to-day, Major Kyller : you must be inventing some wonderful compliment for one of the ladies yonder. I suppose they take up so many of your pretty speeches, that you have none to spare for poor little me V Tlio words themselves were not much ; but the tone in which they were spoken, and the look that shot thorn home, might have shaken any man's

nerve. The strong soldi3r .shivciecl iiom head to foot, as he had never done in nui chiug up to the muzzles of the big guns at Sobraon. 'So you think I'm nothing but a flatterer !' he ( said bitterly. ' Well, perhaps lam to others; but to you it is different. I can't look in your face and insult you by stringing pretty speeches such as I'd repeat to any woman I met by chance in a drawing room. In your presence I must speak the truth, come what may.' She had the tact to [change the conversation, and to break off there tete-a-tete as soon as possible ; but there was a &hade more of kindness in her manner toward him from that time. Let small wits sneer as they will a; ' the power of flattery over women,' simple manly earnestness has it weight, nevertheless. All this time our friend Bill Sawyer (whom we have neglected far too much of late) was anything but easy in his mind. He had indeed, in common with everybody else on board, abandoned the theory of Mrs Errington's taste for liquor ; but this only whetted his cuiiosty with respect to the mysterious cask. It haunted him like the recollection of an unfulfilled duty. He felt himself humbled, both as a man and a sailor, by the existence of a secret which he could not penetrate, and a supply of liquor which lie had not shared. He became silent and meditative, as if absorbed in the elaboration of some > great project ; and, one evening, after a silence so prolonged as to make Jem Blackett, the wit of the forecastle, hint that ' Bill must ha' run his tongue arqund 'twixt two 'o his back teeth,' he suddenly began as follows : ' Tell ye what it is my bo's — I can't get that 'ere cask out 'o my head ! ' ' Which on 'em, Bill ? There's a many casks got i into your head since you fust cum aboard.' ' Stop your chaff, and listen to me. Fust goin 1 off, I was fool enough to think as how that 'ere blessed little hangel meant to drink it all herself, but now I knows better.' 'In course yer does, Bill, now that you wants some on't yourself.' ' Just hold yer jjarw r and listen to me, will yer 1 If there ain't no liquor in that 'ere cask, why, then, there ain't ; but if there be, why, then, yer know, liquor's liquor. Now, that's just what I wants to find out, afore I'm a day older.' ' And how are you agoin' for to do that, Bill V 1 1 knows what I knows,' answered Bill, oracularly. ' I warn't born at six o'clock yesterday mornin,' I warn't. Just you wait a bit.' On the following evening, Bill appeared before his congregated messmates with an air of conscious merit. ' Well, my hearties, I told yer as I'd find out, and I done it !' ' Long life to yer, Bill ! you're the boy. Howdid yer do the trick ? • Well, I goes aft, so as to come close past where Madam Herrinton was a-sittin', and says I to Sam Jones : " Sam," says I, " If this 'ere holds on much longer, some of them spirit-casks ull be a-bustin,' for sure." My eyes ! yon should just ha' seed the face as madam -put on, for all the world like a landlubber when he begins to feel the up-and-down o* blue water. That 'ere cask's chock-full o' liquor, I'll take my davy ; and if I don't have a taste on't afore ever we sights Old England agin, I'm a Dutchman.' 'But, hark ye, Bill,' struck in Jem Blackett, who was beginning to be jealous of Bill's sudden rise to distinction, 'if yer goes and takes some uu else's grog, ain't that rather like thievin', somehow? 'Jem,' answered Bill in the tone of Socrates ' shutting up' Protagoras, ' you talks like a fool. Answer me this, will yer 1 Ain't liquor made for to be drunk ¥ Unanimous agreement on the part of the assembly. ' Secondly,' pursued Bill with a logical air, * if you grants me as how liquor's made to be drunk, don't it stand to reason as it can't be drunk if there ain't nobody to drink it ¥ Fresh signs of assent to this incontestable proposition. ' Well, then,' concluded Bill with the calm triumph of a great reasoner who has succeeded in descending to the level of his audience, ' it's as. plain as the compass that if somebody's got a lot o' liquor, • and dont drink it, somebody else must. If folk will misuse the gifts o1o 1 Providence that 'ere way, I feels it my dooty to prevent 'em. Now, hark, ye mates, , I promises, and vows solemnly, here, afore yer all, as I'll have a swig out o1o 1 that 'ere cask afore the end o' the v'yge, if I dies for it ! ' In this wise did Bill Sawyer, bravely as any Knight of the Round Table, undertake this new Quest of the Sangreal. (To bo continued.)

The Court of Queen's Bench, London, decided, in the case of Ogden v. Benassri Ling, that the drawer of a cheque may recover the amount from bankers not being those on whom it was drawn, who have discounted it as a forged endorsement. It was ruled! that the 16 and 17 Vic, cap. 59, sec. 19, did not extend beyond the banker on whom the' cheque was drawn. The principal inn at Windermere for many years bore the sign of the " Cock ;" but a new landlord coming, and the Bishop of Llandaff taking up his residence in the vicinity, the sign was altered, and the " Bishop " substituted for the " Cock." A neighbouring hotelkeeper took advantage of this, and adopted the sign of the " Cock," and drew much of the custom from the "Bishop," much to the landlord's discomfiture ; so to remedy matters, and at the same time not to give offence to the Bishop, he put in large glaring letters, under the portrait of the Bishop, "This is the Old Cock."