HIDDEN GOLD

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20279, 23 August 1937, Page 4

HIDDEN GOLD

BEBIAL STORY.

CHAPTER IV. John Soton’o Mall. II wa» five months before John Seton returned to Machado. He had sent in his full report on the Mammoth by a second runner, and then he had gone away to the north, far out of touch of oivilisatlon and postal arrangements. A severe dose of fever had delayed him considerably; and, after that, flooded rivers had held him up for weeks on end. When, at last, he did reach the township, his first visit was to the Post Office. The European mall had come In a few minutes before, and the clerk In oharge, an unwholesome Goanese half-caste, was sorting the letters on the counter, whilst beside him, helping him with his task by reading out the English names he could not pronounce, was the Senhorlta. Half a dozen men were standing close to the counter, and the girl did not notice Seton until the latter held out his hand and said quickly: “That Is for me, I think.” A large, bulky envelope had Just been put on one side, but he had reoognlsed Mrs Drake’s bold, heavilyscored handwriting on It. The Senhorlta started, "I had no Idea you were back, Mr Seton. Yes. this is for you. Our reglJinr postmaster Is 111, so I have to act rfs temporary assistant.” Then she went on with her task, though, now, her hand was not qulttf so steady as It had been. John Seton waited quietly until the sorting was over. The other men left, and the girl herself came round to the front of the offloe’. "Don’t forget your promise to call on us,’’ she said, "I still remember that most welcome and delicious cup of tea you gave me out on the hills. As she left, Seton turned to the Goanese. "Give mo any other letters, will you?” The man stared at him. "Other letters, Senhor?” he’ asked. “There are none. Your name Is strange to me, quite strange.” "No letters! What do you mean? There must be scores. Look In the' pigeon holes.” There was no mistaking the annoyance la the Englishman’s voice. The Goanese yawne’d. "Come and look for yourself, Senhor.” Ten minutes later, Seton left the office and walked slowly up towards the hote'l. For the first time in his life, he felt absolutely at a loss. The only letter for him was that, Iherc was not even so much as a postcard. He knew of course, the' vagaries of the Portuguese postal system, and he had reckoned on some letters being lost, but that six months’ letters should have disappeared—it seemed inconceivable. As soon as he was In his room, he' tore open Mrs Drake's envelope, glanced eagerly at the sheets to see if there was an enclosure from Jocelyn, frowned when he saw there was none then began to read the most bitterly worded epistle he hud ever received. Mrs Drake was ruined, ruined through him. She hud believed in his honour, believed what he had told her; and, when the prospectus of the Man:moth had appeared with his report on it, she had applied l'or ten thousand shares, expecting to receive a thousand—and had had the whole number allotted to tier. Everything had had to go to meet the calls. They had sold their home, and were living in ••heap lodgings. And now, to crown 1L all. another mining engineer, a man with a very great reputation, had written to the papers, denouncing the Mammoth Company as a fraud, stating that he, himself, had inspected the property a year ago, and he would stuke his professional reputation on the fact that there was no payable copper In It. Within a few hours, the shares had become unsaleable, a Jest for those who had left them alone, a tragedy for those who had bought. Never In any circumstances, the letter went on, would Mrs Drake speak to John Seton again. He was a scoundrel, a brute, a thief, and moreover, his professional career was ruined. Ho had reduced hundreds to beggary; now he, himself, might become a beggar. Seton foided up the letter carefully. lie seemed suddenly to have become very weary. Then he turned to the prospectus, a copy of which was enolosed. There was his own name, a florid account of his qualifications and career, and after that, heavily-leaded, a cable message which ran; “ Mammoth mine exceeds expectations. Most valuable property. Full report by mall.—John Seton.” John Seton read the forged telegram through, then laughed harshly, and glanced at tho wriltcn report which followed. This was very long and utterly untruthful. To be sure, they had not dared to put his signature to that, in fact there was no signature at all. but, so cleverly had the prospectus been complied, that only those who read it carefully and suspiciously would notice the omission, lie would get the blame for everything. For a long time, he sat very still. I Util that day. he' had never realised fully all that Jocelyn Drake meant to him. to what an extent tils hopes and ambitions wore bound up in her-. They had loved one another from their tlrst meeting; he had proposed and been accepted only a mouth later; ami the sole trouble of any sort had been Mrs Drake's opposition; but oven that had never worried him greatly, lie hud felt absolutely certain of Jocelyn's constancy, and, although tie had feared that her mother would use her utmost endeavours to break off the' match In tho interests of Lord Whyman. ho iiad never dreamt of the possibility of those endeavours sueYet Jocelyn had not even sent him a single letter, not so much as a lino of farewell. She must have forgotten him the moment he left England, or something must have happened there, long before this wretched Mammoth notation, to make her change her mind. She' was alive, Mrs Drake’s letter showed that; otherwise, lie would have assumed that some disaster of a different kind had occurred, ..nd would have suspended judgment until ho was certain. Now, however, the e was n | dllty of doubt. Sh< had jilted him in an absolutely callous 9«y.

By STANLEY. PORTAL HYATT.

“Remember you are leaving Lord Whymad at home ” —the words of that voioe on the telephone came back to him with renewed force. How muoh the owner of that voice must I have known I How thoroughly he or she—he had never been able to decide whether It was a man or a woman—must have been acquainted with the ! moves, not only of Lord Whyman and : j Mr Lawson, but also of Parke'r and j the Senhorita. He had been Jilted, probably In fav- ! our of Lord Whyman. He went hot ; at the thought; for, bitter though he j was against the girl, he could not i i efface In an hour the' memory of their | dead love. | His professional career was ruined, j Even If he could clear himself In the i eyes of other mining engineers, and i this was not likely, the Investing pub- 1 I lie would never trust Aim again, would j never understand, or forgive. ! He had lost his love, his reputation, j j his means of livelihood. Ho had become suddenly a broken, desperate j man, and like most desperate men his first thought was of revenge. " I will go Home,” he muttered. | "Go Home and face it out there. If J only I can find the owner of that voice, j I will make some of them sweat blood for what they have done.” CHAPTER V. The Little Tin Box. Seton got up wearily, and entered ' the bar, where he had a couple of stiff brandies. Usually, he was distinctly an abstemious man, but on this occasion lie felt that a whole bottle would not affect him. Then he made his | way down to the sweltering little tela- j 1 graph office in the railway yard. The , clerk who had bee'n in charge on the , j former visit was lounging there, his [ j feet on the table, smoking rank Portu- j 1 guese cigarettes. He acknowledged ! the visitor by a wave of his hand, but ! he shook his head in answer to Seton's j questions. i "The tele’grams you sent six months 1 ago? You want to see the originals?” he repeated. " Sorry I can’t help you there. We had a fire soon afterwards —no one' knows how it happened—and all our papers got burnt—a clean sweep. Besides, you only sent one cable. I remember well enough, because' the boy who brought it had far | too much money. I’ve been keeping the balance here, waiting for you to : turn up and claim it.” An ugls look can\e Into Seton’s j eyes. | "To whom was It addressed?” he j ! asked very quietly. | The clerk yawned. Really, it was far too hot a day for one to be botli- ' ered with questions, and, as everybody j knew by now. Ston was either a knave ! or a fool. j “To the Mammoth people In London,” he answered, “ I refnember 1 that Loo, because, a fortnight or so later Gerald Parker wanted me to i show it to him, and got mad when I refused. The next day the Senhorita came down on the same errand, and got the' same answer. My word, she was in a fury. I thought sho would have have hit me with her sjambok. We had the fire two nights later, so they couldn’t worry me any more.” , j Seton thanked him and went oat. He' could never prove now that the telegram had been a forgery; whilst, incrossing a flooded river, .one of the * carriers had been drowned, and the letter case containing the draft of the 1 full report lost. He had absolutely [ 1 no evidence to support an assertion of I innocence. j But why had the cable to Jocelyn ■ jneve'r reached the office? Who could possibly have an interest in tamper- i ing with that? The whole affair * seemed to be growing more mysterious,- more horrible’, more— I “Mr Seton. Aren’t you going to recognise me again?” | He looked round quickly to see the Senhorita. She had changed now into a soft white dress, and seemed if possible, more radiantly handsome i than ever. j "Come up and see us, Mr Seton, 1 1 ; shan’t rest until I have returned your I hospitality. Come to-morrow afternoon, will you?” I Formerly, he would have hesitated; 1 now, the bitter thought that he owed allegiance to no woman flashed through his mind; whilst, by going into the ; very camp of the enemy, he might ob- \ tain information. So he accepted, ; and was rewarded with a brilliant smile. j “Don’t forget, now," Eunice said as I she shook hands. "I shall be quite I alone.” j At the entrance to the hotel, the barman met him. j “Old Daddy White wants you, Mr Mr Seton. ’He’s pretty sick —In fact, I think he’s going to peg out. You’ll find him in number twelve, the last , room but one along that verandah.” ! The old prospector was barely conscious. Exposure and lack of nour- : islilng food had. reduced him In a , skeleton, and malarial fever was doing | the rest. He was barely conscious, I though lie certainly knew who his i visitor was, and let it be seen that be j wanted the visitor to slay. Seton remained by the bedside hour after hour, expecting any moment to see that life flicker out. But towards mid-night there was a change. Daddy seemed | to rally suddenly, and his speech became clear and coherent. (To he continued.)