MYSTERY of the STOLEN MAP

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21940, 14 November 1936, Page 5 (Supplement)

MYSTERY of the STOLEN MAP

This story of adventure has been written by pupils of Form 11. C, Shirley Intermediate School. There are 13 chapters . and each member of the Form has contributed a share.

CHAPTER I. The Prospector A man silhouetted in the evening and growing darkness outside his small camping tent. He was tall and massive, with gnarled hands and a wrinkled face, with a shagg> beard and drooping moustache. His name was George Whall; his age about 50, and he was a man capable of walking many miles without tiring, one who could keep going for two or three days without food ° r ßorn P in the small village of Kowai Bush, he, as a boy, was the rine-leader of a group of mischiefmakers He and his band were daring and courageous, anddehphted in raiding orchards, b: reakmg windows, and getting up to prank, they could think of. -.c p Once, when he was about 15. he ,W a°nd°^Ttht C bS They

tion. They lived quite happily for a while, shooting birds and rabbits for focd. However, one morning George found his comrades had disappeared, taking rifles and everything else they could lay their hands on. George wandered about the bush for days, living on berries, wild fruit, and any birds h£ could catch.

It was the deer stalking season, and one day as young George was wandering about the hillside a bullet whistled past his ear, “Gee!” he exclaimed, “that was a lump of lead. Who’s there?” he shouted. “It’s only me,” answered a voice, “I saw a fawn and fired.” A man in hunter’s garb broke into the clearing in which George stood. This man. John Fairburn, a deer-stalker from the West Coast, took George under his care, and taught him how to prospect for gold. About 30 years later George Whall was an experienced prospector, but he had not “struck lucky. Often he had hod great hardship. He had even been lost in the wilds, sleeping out in torrents of rain, or trudged along in blinding snow. As he could not carry much provender at a time he had often to retrace his steps to Greymouth or to the nearest village. This was rather disheartening as it meant that he could not prospect very far into the wilds as he could only carry a week’s supplies, (which he often madf last a fortnight) on his back ■Rut he was stubborn, like most prospectors and , , as ll lol^ H as n o t e care in quest of gold he did not care whether he ate or not. One fine February morning George decided to take a short cut Wk to his camp, and as he was scaUng a cliff he lost his footing

BUT DANGER WAS NEAR AND GEORGE HAD ENEMIES OF WHICH HE DID NOT KNOW WAIT TILL NEXT WEEK.

and grabbed a shrub for support. If he had not done this, his fall would have been fatal. As it was, he fell 10 to 11 feet and landed in a cramped position. Picking himself up a little bruised, but otherwise unharmed, he found that he was still grasping the shrub in his hand. As he was about to throw it away, he noticed something glint in the roots. Pulling this off he rubbed it and found it to be a tiny grain of gold. Looking eagerly round the roots for more, he found two grains and a little dust. Thinking there might be a pocket of gold in the hole that the shrub had made, he climbed up to the place and, lo and behold, there was a large nugget about two inches in diameter and a large quantity of grains and dust lying on the upturned soil.

Digging excitedly down in the hope that his find was a mine and not a pocket, he came across a small nugget of gold. All day long he dug like one possessed, sometimes moving his position a little, but always finding plenty to prove that his find was not a mere pocket. By nightfall he had enough to keep him comfortably for the rest of his life. Carefully placing the nuggets into a canvas bag and the dust in a tin he sat down and made an accurate map of the country surrounding the claim he had just discovered. The vicinity was very picturesque with its bracken and colourful shrubs, the rata standing out vividly amongst the rest. He departed for Greymouth and reached there a few days later, staying at a hotel for the night and intending to leave for Christchurch the following day to. register his claim there.