THE CROOKED TRAIL

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 251, 22 October 1924, Page 15

THE CROOKED TRAIL

By SILAS K. HOCKING. CHAPTER XXIII. After long and patient consideration $c Poldulo Bench decided not to submit the Trebiddy case to the public prosecutor. It was frankly admitted that Jlark's conduct was reprehensible to the last degree. He had done his utmost to slander an honest man and rob him of his character. He had also perjured himself, of that there could be no doubt, hut whether or not he had committed perjury in the strictly legal sense of the. word was a point they coulS not decide. ■ They might, of course, send all the papers to the Home Secretary and leave the decision to him; but they reflected that he was a very hard-worked man, and would not thank them for adding to his already arduous la'boure. Also, they felt it their duty to consider Mark's father. Joshua was a county magistrate, a man of considerable influence and standing, and a large employer of labour. Moreover, if report spoke truly, he was financially ploughing his wny through deep and troubled waters, and it would te a pity, therefore, to add to the old jnan's anxieties. If Jack Lawrence chose to take action on his own account that tras his affair, but the Bench by an glmost unanimous vote decided to leave tlie matter where it stood. Jack was quite satisfied with the result. He was not vindictive, and had no desire to punish Mark any more than he had already punished himself. Moreover, Jack had found a new interest, irhich put Mark and his doings completely out of his mind. On arriving at the office one morning he found Nancarrow chuckling loudly behind a newspaper. / "Found something amusing?" Jack inquired, indift'erently. "More than amusing, Jack," was the reply, and he laid the paper across his knees and chuckled again. "Never had a flutter on the Stock Exchange, I suppose?" he inquired. Jack laughed a little bitterly. "Well, I do occasionally," Nancarrow went on. "And I've just hit upon the result of one of mv flutters." "Yes?" "It's more than a year ago now. I noticed that the Odenezo oil shares had dropped to sixpence a share, so I risked ft five-pound note aud bought two hundred jjjarcs. I thought they couldn't get worse, but they did. In act, I hoard they couldn't be given away. So I cut my loss and thought no more about it. Well, boy, would you believe it, to-day they are quoted at a pound a share, and it is rumoured that they are likely to go higher still. "Good for you," Jack laughed. "I wish a bit of luck would come my way. What i.yi you say is the name of the company?" "The Odenezo Oil Company. Property in Mexico, or somewhere thereabouts, 1 believe. '"I seem to have heard the name before,' . Jack said, reflectively, and then retired to the outer office and forgot all .about it. On his way home to lunch the name occurred to him. "I certainly have heard the name before somewhere," he jmised.: "But where? Now I'wonder where?' , •Then suddenly from out the deeps of Kis subconscious self flashed, a vaguu , clue. When his father's creditors' had all been paid, a bundle of papers had been .handed back to him. He had glanced through them casually—scrip ■ and share certificates for the most part, but having, he was told, no market value, not worth the paper on which they were printed. He screwed his forehead into vertical lines as a vague memory stirred his brain. Then ho set off at a run. When he reached the bungalow he went at once to Enid"s room, and lifted the 'lid of a big wooden chest in which the household linen was kept. Diving his bands beneath, layers of sheets and ■ towels and tablecloths he came at length ■to what he sought— a bundle of papers tied firmly together by a piece of stout string. He dropped the lid of the box with a bang and knelt down in front .of it. With Jus" pocket knife he cut the string and spread out the papers in front of him. I The first related to a tea plantation in Ceylon, the second to a gold mine in South Africa, the third to a rubber concession on the Congo, the fourth to a piece of land in Canada, the fifth . He sat back on the floor and laughed, luck had come his way at last. He was bo excited that he had great difficulty in keeping his hands steady. Again and again he rubbed his eyes to make euro . that he read aright. "The Odenezo Oil Company." There could be no doubt "•about it. He counted the certificates— , ten in all—each representing one hundred shares. "A thousand pounds," he almost ehouted, and jumped to his feet. There *ere papers relating to other matters, lut he did not take the trouble to look at them. He could think of only one tiling at a time. In his hands were papers worth a thousand pounds. It ivas so amazing that he felt bewildered. Here was a fortune beyond his wildest dreams. Wouldn't Nid be excited? Five hundred pounds for himself, and five hundred for her. She would be able to get all the clothes she wanted now, and nest year, if they lived, they would be able to take a long holiday together. His lunch was a mechanical operation In which ho did not feel the least intertsted. He could not have told five Jninutes afterwards what he had eaten. His heart was beating a tattoo all the time, the blood drummed joyously in hie care. When he got back to the office he . found Nancarrow studying the London Stock Exchange share list, which lie had obtained from a local broker. "Jack, my boy," he exclaimed, "Wherry tells mc that the Odenezo , shares have advanced another point sipce yesterday. They are quoted to-day at twenty-one." "Glory!" said Jack. "Do you know il have just discovered that Enid and I own a thousand shares in that company?" "No!!" "Fact. When you mentioned the name this morning it struck mc that I had heard or seen the name before. Well, when I got back to the house just now I looked at a bundle of share certificates that the Official Eeceiver handed back after father's affairs had been settled up. He said they had no market value. Well, .among . them I found a thousand Odenezos." "Boy, I congratulate you," Sam said, delightedly. "But you will not be leaving mc, I hope?" "Not unless you sack mc," Jack laughed. "No fear of that. But, bless ray heart and soul, what a turn of the tide! And that skunk Trebiddy has cleared out of tie :country." I "Not"

"Fact all the same. The Trebiddy girls have given out that he has gone abroad on business. Old Joshua by all accounts will say nothing. He appears to be madder than a hatter." "I don't wonder." "But look here, boy. Don't sell your shares just yet. Wherry believes they will go up to fifty, possibly higher. I'm keeping my eye on them. Wherry gets a -wire twice a day from London, and he has promised to advise mc." ' "All right," Jack laughed. "Since we are both in the same boat, I'll be advised by you. But now I want to talk to you about another matter. It has been in my mind, for months, and I think there is money in it. I may be wrong, of course. Anyhow, since I see my way to a thousand pounds, I feel inclined to have a shot at it, and since you have my friend, and gave mc help when no one elso gave mc anything but sympathy, I would like, if there is anything in it, for you to come in." "Kind of you," Sam laughed. "But fire away and let mc know what it is." "Well, you know that Porth St. Mary is one of the loneliest spots along the coast." "I do. I wouldn't live there if you ■were to crown mc." "And yet it is one of the most beautiful," Jack went on. "It only needs developing, and it would become one of the most popular places in the county. Houses are scarce, as everybody knows. Hundreds and thousands of people are on the look-out for quiet seaside resorts. Cornwall is noted for its equable climate. Every year more and more visitors come from London and the Midlands and the North." "Go on, boy," Nancarrow laughed, seeing Jack hesitated. "You may think my idea is a mad one, of course," Jack continued. "But I have thought about it hundreds of times. The land all about the porth is practically worthless, will. scarcely feed a few rabbits, will grow nothing but heather and furze, and not much of that. Old Penrose, I am told, would be only too glad to sell it if he could get anything like a decent offier " . ■_ "That is very likely true, I should say." . "Well, suppose we bought it?" "What? God bless your simple heart! If it's of no use to Penrose, what use would it be to us?" "We could develop it," Jack" replied, seriously. "Lay it out in building plots and advertise it. People' don't know the place. So it -would be our business to make it known. 'One of the most sheltered spots on the coast, sheltered from the north and east winds, abundant water supply, safe butting, a delightful winter resort, building plots on long lease and on easy terms. Apply, etc' Why, I see people tumbling over each, other in order to get a look at it, and once they ccc it they will be as eager as the Hendrys were to get a house there." Sam shook his head dubiously and grunted. "I am assuming, of course, that we get the land for an old song," Jack went on. "The first thing to do would be to make a map of the place. Lay it out in roads and terraces, all. the roads radiating from the beach like the spokes of a wheel. Every house detached. A sea

view for every dwelling. A miniature garden city. The worst of our Cornith villages is that they are 'without form and void." They have never been planned, Like Topey they have ,'growed.' .Everybody has built where he liked and how he liked, with the result they have attained a measure of ugliness unsurpassed in any other part of the country. My idea is to avoid that. I have a vision of a little city slanting- up the hillsides in the shape of a crescent moon. Trees would grow in time, and shrubs and flowers." Sam slapped his leg and laughed. "Boy," what a dreamer you are!" he said. "Most things begin in dreams," Jack retorted. "Brunei dreamt the Saltaih bridge before he built it. We must ase things in our minds before we can thape them with our hands. The pnu>.t.ißa.l things of to-day were only dreamt a generation ago, and so the dreamers are in reality the practical people. And I claim to be practical., We could create ground rents enough to compensate tit twenty times over." "In twenty years' time, perhapt." "In less than five. With a little judicious advertising the plots would go like hot cakes, and when it began to grow some company would come along and build a hotel. Man alive, with a little courage and enterprise I tee % fortune." "A. company might be floated to build the whole thing," Sam said reflectively. "I've thought of that also," Jack replied. "That's the second string we have to our bow. Think of this for an advertisement: — TORTH ST. MARY. 'THE GAKDEN CITY OF THE WEST." , "You certainly have imagination," Sam laughed, "but I'm a bit afraid it has run away with you." "Perhaps it has," Jack smiled, "or it may be that the Odenezo oil has loosened the cranks and bearings." "Anyhow, go home and talk to your sister about it," Sam advised. "That girl has a wise head on her shoulders, and a woman's intuition is often better than a man's judgment." "I believe you. But won't Nid be excited!" (To bo continued daily.)