Sir Bartemus Bothamley

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 196, 16 May 1936, Page 27

Sir Bartemus Bothamley

(Continued From Last Week.) Poor Tamiti, he had just won a small fortune, and now it looked as if he was going to lose every penny of it. The men, however, did not seem to be worrying over ’ the money as much as they should if they were real highway robbers. When they were not looking Tamiti bad time to slip it into one of his tremendously capacious pockets. But Sir Bartemus could not get over his indignation at being stopperl in this rough manner. ‘•What,” he demanded in his grufiiest and grandest voice, his whiskers bristling with rage, “is the meaning of this outrage?” One of the men laughed and made a joke about his whiskers in Maori, anil it was just as well Sir Bartemus had never learnt the language or it might have made him angrier. They simply ignored his query, and turned to Ngene. A wild conversation followed. Sir Bartemus could not understand a word of it, and Tamiti simply ' stood there dumbly, but he gathered that Ngene was certainly getting the worst of it. “Stop!” he shouted, stepping forward. But the men went on. "Stop, I say 1” lie bellowed, thrusting himself between the rogues. His elbow caught one of them a nasty crack, and the man turned on him fiercely. “This is . . ..” began Sir Bartemus indignantly, but he got no further. The man flung himself at the poor old . baronet and tipped him into the ditch , without any more to-do. Then he leapt down after him and, before Sir- Bartemus had time to rise, he bad bound his legs and hands firmly with a flaxen rope, and stuffed a dirty handkerchief into his mouth to serve as a gag. The baronet struggled in vain. He listened to the shouting going on for a while, and then he realised it was gradually going further and further away. 'Was he going to be left to freeze slowly to death in this awful ditch? At last there was complete silence. Unfortunately this road was one that was not much-frequented by the crowd who had gone to the races. Once a trap rattled by. but he could do nothing to attract its attention, and he was settling down to the prospect of a bleak night in the ditch when something slithered down the bank and landed with a bump at his feet. . “Help!” Sir Bartemus groaned to. himself, “animals, and I suppose there will be frogs, too, as soon as night falls!” But the “animal” proceeded to cut the bonds that bound the baronet’s legs, and when the dreadful gag had also been removed and he was able to sit up, he found that his rescuer was none other than Tamiti. “So you didn't desert me after all." exclaimed Sir Bartemus, rather needlessly, when he could get his breath, and Tamiti grinned. “I just waited until they bad completely , disappeared,” explained Tamati signifies cantly. “I was glad they left the horse and gig, or we might have had to walk home.” “What was the idea holding us up tike that?” Sir Bartemus asked, as Tamati half-hauled and half-pulled him out of Ihe ditch. Tamati said nothing for a while. Then, “I’ve got the money safely," he said, patting his pocket. Sir Bartemus grunted. “Bother the money,” he exclaimed. as they climbed into the gig. “What has become of Ngene?” Tamati started the horse off into an easy confer before he replied. (To be continued.)