BILL RAPSON'S GHOST.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 305, 24 December 1891, Page 3 (Supplement)

BILL RAPSON'S GHOST.

A Story of Pout Waikato,

By E.W.

Tbn years ago there was a small community of Europeans and Maoris at Port Waikato. The boat-builder of the place was William Rapson, known to his by the ehort and convenient appellation o 'Bill. , He was a middle-aged bachelor and lived alone in a Hbble one-rsomed house by the riverside. Near his dwelling stood bis workshed. Rapson was, in the main, a good-tem-pered jovial fellow; bub- one morning he began His day's work in a very bad temper. Tbe cause of this ill-humour was the mysterious disappearance, during the preceding night, of bhe greater parb of aheap of firewood which he had collecbed on the beach, and bad piled up at his back door. Like all solitary bachelors, Rapson loved to sit and smoke ab night by a brighb fire. And now bhe fuel which should bavo blazed and crackled cheerfully bhrough many a long evening on Ms hearth, had been annexed by some unscrupulous neighbour. . * 'It's too bad,' he grumbled, 'and the worst of it is I can'b for tho life of me think who is the thief. Ib won't do for me to go mouching round other people's back doors to see if they've gob my firewood. Ah !' continued Rapson, putting down his hammer as a new idea occurred to him, ' perhaps some of them blamed Maoris took it.' ■■-...-- .. _ At thismoment.alame hump-backed Maori called Turu limped painfully round the ehed, helping himself along by means of a

sbick, whicli he grasped wibb both hands. Reaching bbc sunny side of the building, ho sab down among the shavings wibh a grunc of satisfaction, and pulled out his pipe. Rapson did not stay to consider whether there was any evidence to incriminate poor Turu,- but with the usual contemptuous disregard shown by the colonial paleface for the feelings of the Maori, he exclaimed at once, ' Turu, where te rakau you? Tβ tahao e-ark-why. E-ark-why tahae te rakau you.' Now, Turu did not relish being called a thief. No Maori does. He gob up with an effort, and not forgetting, though he was trembling with anger, to adapt his words to the other's comprehension, said, • Kahore to tobao abau. You know Jim ? Jim be tahae.' Then he sank down in the shaving 3 and scowled, and nodded hia head angrily ab his accuser., 'Jim !' exclaimed the boatbuilder.

• Ai,' said the Maori, ' Jim. I see Jim tahao be rakau. You look oub bo-night. Jim tahae more.' .. Turu bhen filled and lib his pipe and smoked in silence.

' When you see Jim, Turu ?' asked the other. , Bub Turu gazed at the river, and would answer no more questions. Rapson, reflecting that perbapa the Maori might bo right about his neighbour, James Trudgeon, being the thief, repolved to watch thab nighb and try to catch the offender, whoever he was, if ho came again. James Trudgoon was the ferryman of Port Waikato. He was an elderly widowor with a grown-up daughter called Liz, who waa a half-cante, and a very goodlooking girl. He was a surly, crossgrained fellow, much disliked by all his neighbours, and vory much adverse to honesib work—hence the nocturnal appropriation of his neighbours' firewood. lie waa habitually unkind to his daughter Liz, and had lately made her life a burden to her because a steady-going, decent, young' fellow named Joo Spinwoll, bhe storekeeper of the settlement, had asked her in marriage. Liz was not only useful to her father as his housekeeper, but she also required no expenditure in tho matter of l wages ; ana her lazy ill conditioned parent had bho sbronges'b poseible objecbion to her gracing the hearth and home of another man before she came of age and \vas l free bo please herself, Trudgeon told Joe that if he came near the house he would ehoob him, and bhen proceeded to impress upon Liz that if j devalued the life of her lover she had I better not seek his society. The ill-starred young people agreed thab the only honourable course lefbopen to them was to wait unbil Liz was bwenby-ono ; bub they also resolved thab in spite of Trudgeon's prohibition bhey would eeo one another as often as possible. ■ The evening after his interview with I Turu, Rapson pub out his light at bsdbime, and then crepb into his workshed to watch for the thief.-, After half an hours waiting he could see something in theliorm of a man creeping cautiously round the shed. The mysterious prowler went to the woodpile, possessed himself of an armful of fuel/and walked silently away. Kapson followed wibh a stealthy tread that would

have done credit to a black tracker and shadowed the thief to the ferryman's house.. .Then he sprang forward and shouted, ' What are you doing with my wood, Jim Trudgeon ?' The other was co taken aback that he dropped his load and fuced his quesbioner for a moment in eilence. Then, his habibual. bad temper asserting itself, he consigned Rapson with great circumlocubion and varieby of expression bo perdibion. • All righb, Jim,' said the obher.. ' Swear away. Bub I'll have you before the Court for this, as suro as my name's Bill Kapson. And what's more, I'll tell everybody in this place that you're a mean sneak of a thief.' ' Will you lag me before bhe Court ?' ehoubed Trudgeon. 'You won'b geb any good out of it if you do. My word's as good youre if ib comes to a Court case.' 'Oh,, is that all?' But there isn't my word alone, dyer see ? One of the Maoris spotted you stealing my wood last night; and there's.your daughter, Liz, woke up with the noise, for I seen her look out of the window, and she's a witness to your thieving. AH righb, you'll geb a summons soon.' As Rapson. walked off in high wrath, Trudgeon went indoors, uttering a few more charitable wishes relative to bhe former's future prospects. The next day, true to his .word, Rapson wenb across the river in his boat* and leaving the latter high and dry, started off on foob to Waiuku to lay an information againsb Trudgeon for thefb. And now we must return to Turu, the Maori hunchback, who on.this same day came to an untimely end. The Maoris ab Port. Waikafco often goto • bhe coasb near the mouth of. the river to fish for schnapper from the rocks with rod and line, and very good sport such fishing is. On the day of Rapson's journey, the able-bodied Maoris of the kainga sbarbedoff to the Ocean Beach with their rode, leaving Turu fast asleep in the sun. When hs awoke and found whore the others had gone, ho seized his stick and hobbled after them. At bhe boach, he saw hie friends perched on a huge rock wibh their rods in their hands. Before them lay bhe wide semicircle'of the'ocean ; ab the foob of the > rock rolled and thundered the groab waves bhab ceaselessly beat on the We«t.Coasb of New Zealand. The breakers wore- very high that day, for there had been a storm i some hours before. More than once the Maoris had to scramble higher up the rock when v larger wave than usual swept in and : boiled and bubbled and foamed around ib. i Turu clnmbercid with infinite pains to bhe j altibude vi ias friends, and prepared bo ; turn his scali into a fishing rod. The others bold him angrily thab the rock was • not a safe placo for him, bub Turu snarled a < reply and would not budget Ho had fished but a few minutes when one of the party called aloud and pointed to an immense wave that was rushing in, bending over ; more and more each moment, but seeming i to reserve its final crash for tho rock on : which the fishers stood. All the Maoris but Turu quickly scrambled higher up ; and escaped with a wetting, but bhe poor i haunchback, in beginning to move, slipped and fell, clutching his staff to the last, was i covered with the boiling foam and swept i away by the undertow. i The others looked down in dismay, but . as they saw nothing of bheir comrade's i body bhey reburhad to the kainga with the news of his death, not forgetting to take i with them the fish they had caught. i Rapson reached his boat again about dusk and pushed off'to cross the river, not unobserved by Trudgeon, who was collect- i me driftwood—honesfciy this time-—at some ' distance from his house. But bhobide was ebbing- very fast.andßap : son was tired, and though he tried, his utmosb, he could nob get his boab across to tho proper landing place, bub kept drifting ' further and further down the river. .'Suddenly he ran againsb something bhab was floating" clown wibh the fiido. ' Looking over bho bows to see what ib was, be recoiled in dismay. He had struck againsb a human body, the hands of which were grasping with all fcha fcenaeiby of death a long sboab staff. Rapson's iirsb thought was to let this dismal, relic-of , humanity floab out bo sea; then he remembered having once been told thab anyone who found a dead body would gob a reward of two guineas from the Government. Stimulated by the thoughb'of prospective coin, ho pulled the body into tha boat, and then saw bhab ib was ' bhe corpse of poor Turu. Ib had gone up bhe river in the morning with the flowing tide, and was now on its voyage back to the sea with the ebb. Rapson pub the body in the stern of his boab, covered ifc with his own coat to hide ib from himself,and pulled as hard as he could to land. Ho found himself a long way below his house. Ho thereupon determined to leava the boat where ifc was until the bide burned; and forthwith went to tell the Maoris about his discovery. ' It was now quite dark. Trudgeon was walking homesvards 'along" tho beach in a very bad frame of mind, carrying a bundle of driftwood. He was angry at having to collecthisown fuel, a bask which hedetested, and angry wibh Liz, who had told him with some spirit that now she knew where his firewood came from she would not bake one stick from the heap outside the door ; and, furthermore, that if he did nob himself get some firewood from the beach, 6he would not make any tea. Hβ had worked himself into a state of intense hatred againsb Rapson because of the latter's promise to have him served with a summons for bhefb. In facb, he had, as bhe nursemaids say of naughty children, a black dog on his back. Murderous thoughts filled his heart. He began to wish he had brought a piabol to shoob Rapson as ho stepped lrom hia boat. Suddenly he discerned the very boab be wns bhinking of floating a Hbble way from bhe shore. • Wonder wbero Bill is,' Baid Trudgeon. 'Anyways, I'll send the boab adrifb so thab he won'b find ib quibe so easy to go bo Waiuku again.' Putting down his sticks, i he wenc to the beach, pulled the boat close in-with the rope, and dropped the anchor into tho bows. Then he saw the figure of a mnn covered with a coab lying in the stern. • Rapson's been drinking,' muttered the ferryman, measuring his neighbour by his i own bushel. ' He's gob so far down the river with the ebb that ho can'b geb up till the bide turns, and bo's Bleeping his booze off in tho boab.' Then the demon who possessed him whispared, ' Send him out to the breakers on the bar. He won'b trouble you any more, and no ono will be the wiser.' Tho man, with a guilty look around, and a wild throbbing ab hia heart, pushed off bhe boat, which moved away with the faab ebbing bide, and v/as soon lost in the darkTrudgeon picked up his sticks carofully, for fear they might tell tales, and, trembling a* every sound," made the best of hia way home, and turned into his bed without daring bo sbrike a light. Bub this deed, done wibh so foul an inbention, bad nob escaped human observation. When Rapson reached the Maori kainga he found it deserted. The natives \ bad taken their children and their dogs to the kainga at Kohanpa, where the relatives of Turu lived, to toll them of their loss. Of course, ono man alone, instead of the whole population of the kainga, mishthave carried ■ the cad tidings. Tho cause of the general exodus was thegenerul desire to partake of the 'funoral bako-meats' , which the Maoris so largely consume on the sorrowful occaskni of a taugi for a fellow villager deceased. , So Rapson made his way back to his boat to secure her for bhe night, intending to leave the body where ie was until the morninsr. . ~ . ■ he drow near tn the river, walking silently over the t v i:s>try Braes, he saw some one bendiner over the boat. • Whoever ie is, he'll get a scare as aoon

as he sees whab's in the stern,' chuckled Rapson softly bo himself, and ho thereupon lay down in bhe grase and peeped bhrough a bush to enjoy the fun unobserved, Ho was greatly-taken aback'to see the other man push.the boat out into the river. His first thought was to rush down to bhe beach bo save bhe boaS, bub in a momenb bhe truth flashed upon-him. 'It's. Trudgeon, , ho said to himself. ' He thinks I'm sleeping in bhe stern, and thab he's senb me out to drown on tho bar. If I bry to save the boat he'll see me, and, after what he's dono, he might shoot me, for all I know, bo keep me from telling tales. I'd beat be quiet. Bub I'll servo him oub for bhis trick. I know what I ? ll do. I'll play off a ghost on him first, and give him a jolly good scare, and then I'll tell every soul in the place what he done, and then he'll have to clear oub fox , shame, and a good riddance, too. , By this time, Trudgeon had picked up his sticks, and was walking home. Rapson followed him silently, to make sure thab it was bhe ferryman, and was satia- ! fied when he saw bhe obher step quietly into the house. Rapson went home, and pondered various schemes of revenge. The ghosb idea seemed one of bhe mosb attractive, of these schemes, and he determined to put it into execution thab very night. / A reminiscence of his boyish days gave him the clue. Ho took a box of wax mabebes, removed the heads, put them on a plate, ar.d pouring* some oil over bhem began to mix the phosphorous and oil by means of a knife. "With this compound he smeared hie face, neck, and hands. Then with the candle he eeb tiro to a piece of wood, placed the lighced end between his teeth, and breathing with a series of short jerky puffs, kept bhe end glowing in his moubh. Hβ tried the effect in the lookingglass, and, finding ib quite satisfactory, removed the stick from his moubh, and pub a mabch or bwo in his pockeb, in case bhe glowing end wenboub. Then he threw a cloak over his head, and went unobserved to Trudgeon s house. Ib was midnight. He walked in at tho back door, which always stood open, and made his way to his enemy's bedroom. Aβ ho peeped in lie could jusbsee Trudgeon stretched on his bed with his face to the wall. 'Jim,' said Rapson in a sepulchral voico, and ab once pub his firesbick bebween his teath. The guilty man started up. He had nob slept, as may well bo imagined, afber the deed he had done in intent. Then he saw a horrible tiling by his bed. Ib wa3 bhe figure of Rapson with a coab bhrown over his back. The face and hands gleamed with an unearthly light, bub . more awful still was the open moubh. Ib shone with a red glow which mado it seem as if the whole of bhe inside of the apparition were red-hob. Mosb dreadful of all was bhe noi3e which the spectre made. It was the sound of a drowning man choking, gasping for -breath. Trttdeeon was an ignorant and wicked man. Conscience makes cowards of us all, and this accumulation of horrors was too much for the ferryman. He gave a loud and fearful yell, buried his head in bis bedclothes, and kicked convulsively. The noiso woko up Liz, who. screamed with fright. H'ipson slipped from the house and 6oon gained hh own. 'Confound'the girl 1' he said. 'I did not want to frighten her. I forgot all about her.' Bub as he 1" yon his bed, thinking over bho events of Lhe day; he laughed again and again ab the fright he had given Trudgeon. ' It is such a yood joke, , he thought, ' I must give him another close tomorrow night. I'll lay quiet bo-day, so thab lie'li still believe I'm drowned.' The next night about ten o'clock, be put his phosphorou3 oil in a bottle, and pocketing "this, hccravvlert along the ditches and crept past tho fencee to Trudgeon's house. 'I know, 1 lie reflected, 'that Liz sometimes slips out for a walk with young: Joe when fche old man's gone to bed. That's my Lime. I'll creep in and scare him again.' As he lay boMde a large log watching for j Liz's appearance he became aware that a man was stealthily approaching the place. t Nearer and nearer he came, and ab length j lay down quietly on bhe other side of the r log where Rapson was. The latter hardly ' dared to breathe for fear of beingdiscovcred, but the damp ground and the - night air , made him feel thab he must sneeze. In an j agony of mind lesb bhe noise should bebray "him, he sbruggled silently with the ( approaching explosion. But; ib waR no use. j An involuntary choking gasp betrayed j him. The man on the other side of bhe log sprang up, and, bending over, pinned poor Rap.«on to tho ground., ' W ho are you V whispered the stranger. i Bub Rapson gave no answer, and , struggled bo'geb ffeo. The obher held him - down with one hand, and with the other : lib a match in bhe simplo but effective " manner peculiar bo colonials. Then, shading ib with his hand, he held ib close to , Rapson's face, at the same time revealing his own. , 'It's Bill,'cried the one. ] ' It's Joe, , said tho other. ( The match was blown oub. ' What are you doing here.?' whispered ; each ab the same moment. 'I thought you was drowned, Bill, , continued Joe Spinvpcl], for ib was Liz's lover. ' Some Maoris coming along the coaeb boday found your boat smashed up on the beach, and I myself seen you last nighb sebbing oub from the other side when tho bide was ebbing." ' Well, I'm nob drownded, as you see,' said Rapson ; ' bub don'b tell anyone you seen .trie.' • Why ?' asked bhe obher. Hereupon Rapson told his story, with certain reservations, and then said, 'I suppose you're waiting to pee Liz ?' ' Yes, , said Joe ; ' bub she can'b come oub till the old man's asleep ; tind after what you've told me, I don't think he'll sleep tonight, so I may as well-go homo. You can't go in to scare Jim, you know,-while Liz is awake, and so you'd best come away with me;\ ' Now, look here, Bill, , continued Joe, as they walked away together. ' you might do me a good turn if'you'd only keep quieb a lew days longer. I'll hide you in tho lotb of my barn, and lock you in. I can easy bring your grub to you. They'll all think you're drownded, and if I tell Jim thab I know a little more than the other folks I'll frighten him into letting me marry Liz at once. Now do, there's a good fellow. , Bill Rapson was quite willing bo fall in with this plan. In bhe first place he did not mind lying perdu and losing a few days , work for the pleasure of making hio enemy emdure the uncomfortable reflections that crowd the mind of a murderer. In the nesb place he was nob at all sorry to be tha means of forcing the unwilling Trudjieon to allow i his daughber to be married. Ib was park of bhe revenge he was persuading himself he had a right to exact. So that night Rapson slept soundly on the hay in Joe's loft. Trudgeon, however, did nob sleep, for reasons we are acquainbed with. Joo did not sleep becauoe he was turning over in his mind a plan for marrying Liz ; and Liz did noc sleep, first, because, poor girl, f<ho had been disappointed in nob seeing Joe that evening, and nexb because she could nob tell what had happened bo her father, who was so sbrange in his manner that he seemed to her to be going mad. Joe was. up beforo daylight and off to Waiuku to consult the registrar about his marriage. He returned towards evening, and after dark brought Rapson's tea to the lofb. Tho latter was lying very comfortably in the hay reading the "New Zealand Graphic " by the light of a lantern. 'Look here,'said Joe. 'there is a paper for old Jim to sign. If he pubs his name to ; this, me and Liz can get married to-morrow,

so I'll filip oub and tackle him at) once. . Now, Bill, you lie quieb till after tlse wedding, or else he'll come and stop it. Will you promise, Bill ?' 'Oh yes, I'll promise. Wish you joy c Joe.' Liz's lover went toward the ferryman fl house feeling that he had a difficult taafc before him. Bill Rapson lay for a short time laughing softly to 'himself afc the horror Trudgeoa would feel when he found" that his dreadi secret was known. At last he was seized with an irresistible desire to witness thu . interview. Hβ crept, oub of his hiding- ,- place, which Joe in his trepidation had leS& unlocked, soon softly entered Trudgeon 8 housso and stood listening in the kitchen. He was in time to hear the whole conversa* tion between the two men. Liz, who had been partly leb into the secret, had gone ta a neighbour's house so as to bo out of the way. • Jim. Trudgeon,' said Joe, 'may I coma in?' The other inquired with his usual objurgations what .Joe wanted, and then told him that he had better take'himself away before he (Trudgeon) did him a mischief. ' Beet keep quiet, Jim, and let me in, , said Joo. ' I know something that might be awkward for you if I was to say ib about.' ' What doyou mean ?' said the other in an alarmed voice. ' Come in, confound you, and speak out like a i!nan. You don'ti know anything agin me, that I'll swear. , ' Jim,' said Joe, who had resolved upon going straight to the point, ' where'a Bill Rapson ?' The other's jaw dropped, and he stared blankly at his visitor tor a second. Them lie tried to recover himself by the use of a little emphatic language, bub his white face and trembling , hand betrayed him. 'Look here,'said Joe, ' it's besb for ma not to say what I know. Walls have ears.. But'—here lie sank his voice to a whisper —' how did Bill Rapson drift down to tha bar ?' The other trembled more than before, stared at Joe, and in vain abbempted to speak. 'Now,'continued Joe, 'I've gob a paperhere. If yon sign tfc I can marry Liz. If I marry Liz, I'll koep quieb about Bill Rapson for the sake of Liz. Now, nereis a pen and ink. Sign the paper, Jim. You'd best.' But Trudgeon had made up.his mind that Joe did nob know very'much of his, secret, and was only trying bo frighten him, and having recovered something of hia. usual facility for profane speech, he warmly: invoked the diresD penalties upon his own eyes and his visitor's body if he signed any. paper whatever. ' You'd besb sign, Jim, , said Joe.,, ' Here's the place.' ' Sign, , said a deep and terrible voice,,,, somewhere near the men. Tho effect was electrical. Joe started. , and grazed round in momentary terror. Bub Trudgeon's hair stood on end. His teeth chattered, and seizins? the pen he quickly wrobe his name ab bhe place where Joe still held his finger, and then flung himself facedownwards on the bed. Joe ruehed from the house with his cious paper, and first imparting bhe goodly news of his success bo Liz, made his way. bo the lofb, where he found his ally calmly' reading the paper again. ' You frightened mo as well as poor Jim,*i; said Jog. Kapson throw down the paper, and both men laughed long if note.. loudly. " On the morrow Joe and Liz left for* Waiuku, swimming their horses across tha, river behind the boat. Trudgeon did nob,, make his appearance all day, and the ferry?; service was left to take care of itself. The neighbours had long before this* entered Rapson's house, and themselves thab he was not there,.bad de-i spabched amessageto Waiukutoinformtha<j constable of his disappearance.- Rapson,..;;. from his hiding place, could hsar thai: customers at the store, and their lamenta*. tations over his unfortunate end : and. highly enjoyed the praises he received now*; , , he was supposed to be (lead. In the evening, judging that Joe and Lizi- ' must be firmly secured in bonds by that time, Rnpg.on sot out bo find! Trudgeon,' letting himself down from the/ window of the lofb. for the door of the barn, was padlocked. He was tired of hiding^; , and his bebter nature had asserbed ibself. ■ He felb sorry for Trudgeon, and determined: to set his mind ab resb. He walked with-*; out ceromony into the ferryman's room, andS| found him lying on bhe floor with his face it*" his hands. ■ ~ ' Jim,' he said. Bub ab this sound Trudgeon groaned. _ *-■' Rapson stooped down and shook him.; •. ' Jim, , bo said, ' get up. man. it's nob Bilfc, Rapson's ghost. It's Bill Rapson It was poor Turu's dead body you sent downs,; ■ to tho bar.' Thus re-assured, Trudgeon sab up looked at his visitor, but did nob speak. 'Jim,' continued the other, 'shake hand%' and leii'a be-frionds. Wβ won't cay thing more about ib, and I'll withdraw thaj' charge about bhe wood. Ibs Christmas*-: and so we'll forgeb bad feelin's all| round.' ♦Bill, , said Trudgeon, slowly and wibh, v effort, ' I thank tho Lord you're alive- I've, had a taste of the tormenta of hell Lhese last# few days, and it's taught me that I be a" better man, if I'm to keep from there some day. I see now, Bill, thab yoiri done me a brick the last two nights, but Tsdon't say nobhin' about it, for 1 deserved ! 'Jim,'said a voice in the doorway, 'ma j and Liz is married. Will you be friends ?' , I 'Come in, Joe,' replied Trudgeon, 'I'lL bo friends. 'I've not been a good to Liz, and it's but fair that she . leave mo. Treat her better than I've done,,,'} Joe.' ' Ab this speech Liz came sobbing to tha . side of her father, who kiseed her, probably for the first time in hi- lifts, and with a con-) siderable amount.of awkwardness. 'Come over to my house,' eaid Joe to Rapson and his father-in-law, ' and we'll all spend the evening together.'