A LONG SHOT.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 248, 19 October 1922, Page 14

A LONG SHOT.

(By ALLAN _OARTHO

(SHOET STORY.) [

It :ill happened in so short a. ?pa,o of time that when il was all over Watson ; Lad a dH/.ed feeling. Jt was a? though: a strange scene from a tropic fill" had j been imposed fur a few tragi.; moments i upon his sight, fillcl only a f»?ou<t pru- ; viousiy by the placid Uiml-cupe " f *'"■"; tradiag twach. Now there were brown.; haif-n.ikcd figure? curled up in a variet> ' of posiures, indicative of life's vcho- 1 mont prote-t against death's usurpation; of tho house of its being. Onr man was still twitching a shapely ] leg that, as Watson looked, became limply still. Another, propped again-d him, laj in graceful repose, as though | he were n. lotus-eater iivcrpowered hv sleep, instead of a bloodthirsty savage ' who had been eugaKed. uitli the other. | in a treacherous on-Kiuglit. Watson: stared at him. and reeoiruispd with n. feoling of joy tliat this was t'.ie native whom a few "minutes before lie had menally nicknamed "Norris." because of a fai'vieul resemtlanee to the man whom , he liated more than anybody or anything on earth. This was the native vviiotn lie had shot first, feeling, in taking ««ift aim. a' thrill of absolute !,l<a-ure in killing him. V.c.-aii-c in so doil £ he seemed to be vxritiug "paid" to an old account ajjain.-t that enemy overseas whom t'.nsu wrongly" recalled. lie recovered himself, and mechanically looked at his watch. O.va-ional ', riliijj nut from the bus", where tue men of the trading party were pursiiinjl the !leein« enemy. Before turning he looked again in the face of the dead nativ-. and experienced ill n re-surgent flood all the emotion Inhiid felt a moment ago—a feeling o! exultation that Norris w.is dead and Hilda was a widow. Lie almost groaned a- he realised !"« delusion. This poor wretch, by virtu? of a chance resemblance in fe.nuie am. expression, had become a scapegoat of the real Xorris, who w.is -'.il! alive to tyrannise over and humiliate further the girl who had married him for weal'.h and position. Shouting and lauphinjr. the other* ■were now returning from the chase of the beaten enemy. They came erasVing through the bush. " { He swung round and went down to; •the boat, leaving the dazzling beach., with its background of vivid green.; starred here and there with splashes of I amazing colour, scarlet. purple, and, orange, from flowering trees arid trailing creepers. Ten month? later he back in England, and learnt, through a chance j 7iieeting with Timmy Fellovves. thatj Xorris was dead. i "Uead:"' he ejaculated. "When did he die*" "Xeaxly a year a.so." answered liis friend. "Heart, failure. There was an inquest. He wns found dead in his bed.'" He corrected himself. "'Or. rather, in someone else's bfd. He was paying a visit at the time."' 'What a shock for his wife,' , Jini Wateon forced himself to say. conventionally. I

'"Xo end of a shock,"' Timmy laughed '"Good thing joy doesn't kill."

All the -world knew that the legal luminary had been an extremely bad husband to his beautiful wife, although, fortunately, fen - were aware of tiio latter'a previous engagement to Watson, whiebA she capriciously terminated some months before she became Mrs. Xorris.

But that was old history. Five years old at least, and pre-dated Watson's departure from England for the South Seas by six months or more. He and Korris had beSn enemies long before they became rivals, and the elder man had been suspected of legal sharp practice in connection with the administration of Watson senior's estates. Certain it was that Jim had been obliged In cut short Ms career at Oxford in consequence of his father's death, ancl the subsequent discovery that his wealth hail vanished mysteriously in .-» number of concerns in which Korris had acted as his adviser. The lattcr's rise had been steady. At forty-live, iviien he married Hilda, he had be<'ii a rich man. as eminent i:i hi* profession as he was disliked and mistrusted by many with whom, either socially or in a professional capacity, lie hail come into contact.

When finally, after much hesitation. •Tim Wuteoi* called upon Mrs. Xorris, he recehed. to his surprise, a cordial welcome. Neither the ueath of her husband nor her sad life with him had left any marked traces upon her appear-, mice. She was more beautiful even than slip had been before she had broken her engagement to Jim. Wtttfon commented on this. '-You haven't, changed a scrap," he said. "The years roil back when 1 look at you."' "You have,' , she retorted. '"They leap on almost to middle-age in your face, and yet. Jimmy, you're—let mc see" — ehe calculated—"only thirty-cmo." "Xearlv thirty-two," , he corrected. "Poor .Jimmy." she said, softly. "Little more than a boy, and yet so weatherbeaten and lined. Never mind, have some more tea. and help yourself to cream. Cream is good for wrinkle^." Prom their subsequent conversation an a-tonishinp fact leaped out to stagger the voting man with a coincidence.

Her husband, he learnt, had died in the early hours of the morning of the first of Mn-y. Allowing for the difference In latitude, this would be the very hour when he. had shot the native who ■had resembled Xorris so curiously. From the newspaper reports of the inquest he ■was later able to verify the facts, and diFc-overed, after a short calculation, that the. two events synchronised.

It was an amazing discovery. Xorri* had died at the very moment when lie —his mind filled with hatred reawakened ■by tin? absurd likeness— had fied at and killed the native, wishing at the same time, with all the force of his nature, that Xonis couhl receive the fatal shot; in fact, for the moment, the brown man had aefhully become Xorris In SVutson's imagination. AV&a it a mere coincidence, or was theiw tonif deep, unfathoniable and insult connection between the intensity uf his liutred for Norris and Xhe hitter's dentil, coincidental as it wm with the di-ath of the native who resembled him? Cuuld that hatred. o|A'rating over a tlivusaud league of land =ert. comuiiuikate. in sulne mvstfiiuiis fasliion, U.e shuck of the 1,u11,-t i,, tl,,- man tiledTγ'" 1 '" l 1"' "''"'' '"' I,im " h " It .*.-med a ridu-ulous suggestion, but he nmawng cutmirlem-e remained to 1., in- speculation time and agnin. At Ust he determined to .■all upon 'he lady who-had been NorrU' ho.W on thp fatal nipnt. -■.•--- She had removed twice in the intervals but ai te ng t h i, e ran her to "^

in a flat in Shepherd's Bueli. and. tnllin; her as much as he thought advisa ;>'<•>. b-»----sought her fur details of his Piicmv's jdeath. i It appeared that after Xiirrw liml .retired she had heard sounds as though ;iic had fallen into ti deep sleep and \v'u-« i-iioriny. Suddenly the deep breathing i-caM-d. and .-!>- heard him .all out a name, ur all inquiry, and immediately aft.-r aive a deep 'jrruan. Ui< eyelid's iww -till twitching when she ran into the n>, mi. Up inadv mi fiirilu-r «<>iiiul. ; and wa-. dead before the doctor, hastily Watson pressed her for the name uiienvl in Hip ]~-, ;,,„! „!!«. told liini that at the ini|iiest -ho had stated thai the shout had seemed to her to lv "What'- on':" Inn that subsequent rc-fl.-.-i i<Mi hail i-roti-h; her to tile conchi--ion that what in- really had ejaculated had been the name "AVaUson!" "It nib yoi-r name. Mr. Watson. Had he any rca-on to he tiiiiikinii of yon V" >he ji.lk.-il. her nc- blinkili;,' rapidly hi her lineiider-po.vdered fare. ■llaidh l-kfJy." he a*>imd her. "We were never— \\ hat you would cull- clo-e friends. And I hadn't seen him for year-." "It \va- very aukwar.l hi- dying thiv." she commented, sadly, wit ii a sijjh. "lV,i;.le talked. 1 had to leave I in . Hat. We wore o!d friends, you know." Sin , paused, and then added: "I never met his wife. 1 jjntliered l.iiy v.eie in it happy together." Wai-on It'll, and nil his \\uy home gave liini-elf over to re-umeil conjevtllie a- to wii.ii coulil have caused Norris" death, lucking "ii to it speculation as to what nia.ie him iT.V out ■"Watson" in liie moment of tii-'ziirc. Had .-ome tele- i |i.ttllii- ~i-:on of tlie -a on the b;:ieh ( 0.-ci-rred to him. and had he uctuully j sloi.d tiieie in the spirit ut the lmiir'nt • n Ikmi i:V. Wai-on. Inning him iutenselv. had liml at hi- donUeV Had that J latie.i drawn him. somehow, into focus. I and litlil lie. in spirit form, received the | «imt". And had tuo cord of life. eon-| li-e.-t iHμ I '■«i • with the far-olf liOi'y. .id n -nndoT'd in the moment of Miock '. Tie gave it n;i. and when finally h<? | marrieii Hilda he resolved never to j s;,ak to her of her Inte husiiaml. [ I!:; Hilda \'u* communicative and not inclined in be reticent.

"He hated you," she confessed. "Hardly a week went by but there was a scene in which he brought forward your name. And I found out that he laid the foundations of his fortune, in your father's ruin."

"We'll forget him." said Watson. ''Once, "T>n an island in the tropics, 1 shot a man. a native, who resembled ilim, and who was about to spear mc. 'Somehow, since then, I've had a feeling that we're quits. Anyway, if 1 wasn't then. 1 am now."

".Inn, dear," she whispered, subsiding into the proffered arm. "It's so wonderful that 1 jilted you once—and tor him! And now it's as though in Hying lie has brought us together ajiain. Isn't it strange how things work together and bring about the unexpected?"

With this Jim Watson tlioroiijjhly n£reeil; but lie did not dismiss the mutter from his mind until he had dis-i-iitised it with Tiinmv Fellowe.?.

'I'd like to know what you make of it." lie said, and narrated details. "Kow 1 learn that Xorris died at the very moment that the savage fell," he wound up. "In dying he shouted my name. Why?"

"It's a curious case." answered Timmy. "in the dim past, you know. • Mutiny, if you hated a chap and wanted him out of the way. you made an imajre of him in wax and stuck it through with pin* and put it where the heat would melt it. And in duo course the chap jjol nnr-ty sta'bbiliß pains, and as the wax melted hi" j_ r ot worse anil worse. And at last, wlien the image had melted to a shapeless lump of wax, lie died."

""I know all that." said Jimmy; '"but how does it lit. tlic case?"

•"You can wash out the .pins and the melted wax part of the stunt." answered I'ellowes: "h-ut you can leave in the ha tret! and the wish to kill. In tliis casp the native is the equivalent to the waxen imajre-. His likeness to Xorris is an important part of the business. That's the connecting link. By means of it you transferred his death in just the same wav ns fhe imajre did in the past. There's more *n these Dark Ages than meets the modern eye.' , "You" really think that is a possible explanationY" asked AVatson. "1 think it's an explanation. As to it* being a 'possible' one, I don't know. Anyway, old son. why worry? The world is well riil of it roller. Have it drink. *uy when." "When,' , responded Watson, uml a moment later, "lli-iv's huk, <,],! man."