AFTER THE FACT

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 7739, 20 April 1896, Page 4

AFTER THE FACT

[BY E. W. 110 UN UNO.]

CHAPTER I,

It ia my good fortune to cheriah a remarkable recollection of tho town of Geelong, Others may havo fouad the place quiet, or even colorleaa enough to justify an echo of the cheap looal aneer at its expense; to me, those sloping parallels of low houses have etsll a common terminus in the bluest of all Australian waters : and I people the streets, whose very names I have forgotten, with faces o* extraordinary kindness, imperishable while memory holds her seat. So it is probablo I should think no loss ftSeOtionately of Geelong, even had I voted in it in my time the dull towti that I have heard it styled ; but dull it cottainly waa not during the first days of my visit, whatever may have been tho case bslora or sitice; Ihe period wus in 'act au epoch; and I may say at once that the epoch was none of my making. My oonneotion with the singular events of that weak was a pure aooident, the result of one or. those chance meetings which are tho veriest commonplace of outlandish travel, it w&s a Monday afternoon when I e.rrive". by the boat, to find the street.-: crowded ond the populace greatly eycited by a sudden r".n on banks, tin tL'.e Wodnoaday, another bank, whioh had notoriously received much of the monoy withdrawn i com the Bat'won Bunk™Z Company (limited) was in its turn the victim of a still uglier fate. The Geelong branch or tho Intsicolonial waa entered in broad daylight by a m'sn maakod and armed to the beard, who stayed somo ton minutes and tbeu walked into thin air with no lees a aura than nineteen thoui aad and odd pouuda ia notes and gold.

I wus playing lawn tennis with my then new friends when wo heard tbo news, aud it stopped our gome. The bank manager's wife, a friend of my friends, arrived herself upon the scene, incoherent with horror, and ascompanied by her daughter. <*nd I heard at first hind a few broken hysterical words from the white lips of an elderly lady, and nofred the tearless trouble iv the wido blue eyes ot tha girl, fc afore it struck me to retire. The family had been at luncheon in the private part of tho bank, and knew nothing of the affair until the junior clerk broke in upon them like a lunutic at large. Se, too, had gone out for Mb lunch, returned to find teller and enshier alike iasensiblo, and the safe rifled. That waa all I stayed to gather, cave that the unhappy iady was agitated by a side issue fa? worse to her than the bank's loss. There had been no bloodshed. Ihe revolver kept beneath xhe counter had been used—bat used in vain. It was not loaded. Her husband would be blamed, nay, discharged to a certainty in hie old t,ge. And I, too, walked down tha street with the picture of an elderly couple brought to ruin, and a blua eyed girl gone for a governess, appealing more to me than the immediate dramatic aide of the inoident

I found my way to the Intercolonial bank ; Ihoro was no need to ask it. A crowd clamored at the doors, but these wero shut for the day ii 'id I learned no moro than I already knew, save that the robber ware a black beard and was deciared by some to be a becono Sed Kohy, from the iitrathbogie ranges. A(or did i acquire more real information the rest of that d»y ; nor fcope for any -when lata at night I thought I recognised sn old schoolfellow in the street. ' Deedes major !' 1 cried without pausing to make certain, but I waa certain enouerh when my man turned and favored ni« with the stare or otudied insolence which had made our house-master's life a burden to him some ten years before that night. Among a thousand, although the dark eyes were eursken and devil-may-care, aud the paie face prematurely lined, I could have sworn to Deedes mdjor then.' • Don't know you fiom Adam,' said he, ' 'What do yo want.' 'We we.a at school together,' said I, 1 1 was your fug when you wero in the eleven; I oiled your bat when you made your century against the Free foresters ; I'm proud to meet you again I ' ' Do tell me your name,' ho said, wearily. At that moment I recollected (what had quite esoaped my memory) his ultimate expulsion, aud I stood confused by my maldroiiness. ' Bower,' said I, abashed. ' The Beetle!' oried D?edes, not unkindly ; a moment iator he was shaking my iiamd and smiling at nay .confusion. ' Heng yohooi!" said he. ' Where are you staying ?' ' Well,' said L. '■ I'm supposed to be etayinvjT with son-e people I brought a letter of introduction to ; but they, hadn't a room for mo, r.nri insisted on getting mo one outsica, so that's where I tim.' ' What's their name ? ' said Deedes ; acd when I told him he made no further com•orisut, beyond asking 1 ma whether I would ta,fce him around to my room for a chat. "FThe proposal delighted me; indeed, it caused me a positive thrill, which I can only attribute to an insensible return of tho small boy's proper attitude towards v distioguished senior. We were twenty-eight and twenty-four now, instead of eighteen and fourteen ; but, us we walked, only ono of us was a man, aud I was once more his fag. I was proud when he accepted a cigarette from my oaae, prouder yet when he took my arm. The feeling L-tuok to me until we reached my room, when it suddenly collupsed. .fee had asked me what I was doing. I had told him of my illness aud niy voyage, and had countered with his own question He laughed contemptuously, sitting on the edge of my bed. ' Olerk in a bank,' Raid he. ' Sot tho Intercolonial V I cried.

J ' That's ii,' he sus-vered, nodding. c ' y.h'.'n you were there to-day. This is f luck; I've been bo awfully been to know i exactly what happened !' ! I was not there,' replied Deedes. ' I was having my luuch. I can only tell you what I saw whon I got baok. 9. here was our cashier sprttwled aorofi the counter, and the toller in a heap behind it, both knocked oa tbe head. And thero was the empty - safe, wide open, with the sua shining into it like & bullaeyo lantern ! No, I only wiah I hud been there; it's such a chance as I ahali never get again.' ' i'ou'd have shown fight?' said I, gazing at his long, athletic limbs, and appreciating the force of his wish as t perceived in what throadbsaringH they were imprisoned. j ' Tea, you'd have stood up to the chap, I [ know ; I can sac you doing it!' . • There would have beon nothing wonder--1 ful in that,'was the odd reply. 'I should L have had everything to gain and nothing to j lose,'

! ' Wot your life f' i ' That's less than nothing.' i 'Nouaeuae, Deader,' »<tid I, although, of ; because I oould boa that it was not, ' i'ou : don't moau a »ord of it!' 4 .1 do every word; but that's neither here nor there,' ho answered. 'Givo me another cigarette, Beetle ; you were asking about the robbery, and if you don't mind wo will confine ourdelves to that. I'm afraid old I'Anson will get the suck. He's the mnuager, aad responsible for the bank revolver heiug loaded. He swears it was ; we all thought it waa ; but nobody had looked at it for weeks, and you ace it wasn't. Xes, th*t'u v rule iv all banks in thia oountry, where »ticking thorn up ib a public industry. The yarn about Ned Kelly'* gog ? Well, there may be something ia it. I've heard there ia suoh a fellow, and ;j chip of the old block, too. But H you i>Bk mo, we must look a little noarcr homo for the mau who stuck up our bauk thia afternoon.' 'Nearer homei" said I. 'Then you think it wus somebody who knew about the tmx upon tho B&rwoii banking Company, t»ud the paymenta intOjtha Intercolonial ?' ' Obviously ; somebody who kctw ail about it, nod pcrhapa puid iv a big lump uiuiee i. 'ihiic wuuid ba a gorgeous blind I' uriod Doodow, greatly sr.kea with bis iden. ■ .c : c;-t-o, old chap, I irish I'd thought of it j myriolf—u:iiy it would havo uii'imt bouing : sho uipUai io bojiiu with ! i strongly [ bu.-:p.'c:i dome of these respectable Gee- _■ iongeto "mi jifccv/ojimjt'H oi being- at tho j bottom oi' tiio whoio shi.DV, though ; they'ro i tio vi Bootic. iiiuru'd bound to ho \ vi;!'iuia itn;on.y 'urn. uy Jovo !' ha iiddod, j gcctii.g i.o his i'ect wit a fctuiater light iv kin j h:iudeomo, tsissipatdd couusoaanco, ' I'll >;,> I soy tho ruviv.-d vjhm they put is up I Fuxi* { fig ur<'3 it oti'i'v; Jail short of; that would b.i I bi't'tr than ju. .!:m oi■(.■kiwg for £8 a year !' J Aud ho wtiik';d up ami down my room } softly to hv.woli'. ' I'll joi.) you !' cried I • I'll go iv fo;r lovo, or hoi.:•'.- ,:.:o:.l g'-G'y, And yoa iihail j poe'roc th<! noimdh, fdutiii.'gs mad ptiicc' ) '"hat bo hanged,? auiu ho, stopping iv j front of mo wish a very penetrating BCKiliny. '■ 3iU look hero, Beutie, you u*ed to bo y woll-pluckcd little ono at school; will you join mo ia coinciding else ?' ' iv whwt'r' stud I. ' In v:li<iiny ;' ho criod. ' In rank, uiadultcruteJ, wholwulo villainy 1' _' A.'oedcß,' aaid I, amiiing, 'what tho diukena do you mean ir" 'M.ou.ui' Wti:rt 1 u''-.r, my dear Boetlc, ' every wot;l of it ! Y/ha'.'H thn use of beitin j ho'u::,i, ? Look at, mo, Look at my shirt- j cult", fljui; !',,,_. , r ..(; f,, trim every moraine; 1 you iouhj-.v.; ■. : \m }ck\ :;.'iv/ Ti>.ci;o bug.-; j ■:... Uiii iv.-.:.:;.i■ ;.]•!• r!',i!i(..sry ; :;n-:. h.'jrjciUy'n s Ti\piK.'.y v'(.iir: : i..,- (!-,,-.j>i th (nigh on im ofliee. < Mti'ie. .;.',,, :v , , f) ,... .j., ~_ ~,i t_ '(.| uU ' M f, (m . ] sr-ity ; r.i.* >.' v<) l, ;l ., f,r.r)ir;'\ of it. Think of j the. Jicil-,.-/ -,-.;.„ -■;,;.!;;,;.! K .{t Vl .] ih t ;,, u twt.ity > *hou. vhiM mcitie,;,,. ;-, ■(.', i.h. m Uiis;'; u f . 'nut \ W>T<]r.'i -ou 1*...- f, : j,,. i.;;, } IIH t kvA:ii? Noj" j My e1.,,1';:, y ( . u t l : .i.,>t ! (!; i,.,v w hf.t it in So live. ; Bcsiai; ho'ii-i!. j''tovK l'!;o us flavor do. But ; I'm voiug to turii it uy. i.'vo bud ocough \ t. of thin. If one cvii piitv ut that K'»«>e. tvvo 1

can; why not three? Come on. Beetle; tcake a third, aud we'll rob another bank to-morrow." 'You're joking,' staid I, returning hia emile. ' Still, if i was going in for that sort of thing, Deedes, I don't know who I'd rather have on my aide than you.' He. was grai?o and eager in an instant. 'Will you go in for it?' he cried. ' I'm joking far less than you think. My life's a sordid failure. I'm sick of it, and ready for a fling. Will you come in ?' •No,' said I, 'I *on't.' And wo looked each other steadily in the eyes, until he led me back to laughter, with as muoh ease as he had lengthened my faoa a moment before. ' All right, old Beetle,' said he. • i won't chaff any more—not that it was all ohafl by any means. I sometimes feel like that, and ao would you in my plaoe. Bunked from school i In disgrace at home ! Bent out hero to be got rid of, thrown away like a broken oup! The things I've Abut for a lifisg' auriiiß theso ten years—this is the most reopeotable, 1 can tell yoiJ that. _ And it's tha respectability drives me mad ! : Hia bitter voice, tho linea upon his face, his griy hairs at 28, all appealed to me with equal a?>d irresistible force; my hand went out to hiai, and with it my heart. ' I am so aorry, Deedes,' said I, nervously. 'If a fiver or two—yes, you culst let me i ■ For the sake of the old school.' He shook hia head, and the blood rushed to mine. I offered him a handsome apology, but he cut me short. 'That ia sirigut, Beetle. It waß well meant, and you're a good chap, We'll foregather tomorrow, if thin wretched bu'aineaa leaver ua a aparo tiiomeiii; in the bunk ; meanwhile, good-night—acd thanks.' And he crept down the atairs at my request ; for I waa not in the position of an ordinary lodger; and having followed and closed the door noiselessly "behind hira, I returned aa stealthily to my room. I did not wish ir-.y hotnitafclo friends to know that I hid used lodgiaga placed at my disposal as their guest as though I had engaged them on my own account. After all, I was a guest, not a lodger, yet I had behaved aa the latter, introducing a man at midnight and eitting up in conversation with him until 2 o'clock in the morning. Deedes, moreover, aa I auspected from hia manner when I mentioned them, wna most probably ao friend of my friends; indeed, I had no clue to hia reputation in the town, and ehould have been surprised to find It a good one. He had been a ricklesa boy at school; at the very Jeaat he was a, reckleaa man. Other traits in him, too, must have developed with hia years; he had been expelled, for example, for certain gallantries not criminal in themselves, but sufficiently demoralising at a publio school; and, despite his olothea, .t could have sworn those darir, unscrupulous eyes aad that sardonic, insolent and yet attractive manner had done due damage in Geelong. For there waa a fascination in the raan, ! iuoommunicably on paper, and my despair as I wiite. He was a strong, aelfleh I oharaoter, one with whom the will and the I way were synonymoua terma; yet there was that in him for whioh it ia harder to find a name, which nttraoted while it repelled, whioh enforced admiration in its own despite and strangled critioiam at its birth. At school he had been immensely popular and a bad influence; at once bugbear aud au idol from the respective pointa of views of masters and boya. My own view waa still that of the boy. I cou>d_ not help ii; nor could I aleep for thinking of our singular recontre and interview. I undressed, bat I ahirked my pidow. I nmoked my pipe, but it did me no good. Finall I threw up my window, and, as I did 80, I heard a sound that interested and another tha* thrilled me. The first was a whistle blowing in the distanoe ; the second an answering whistle which made me jump, for it came from beneath the very window at whioh I stood.

I leaned out, A white helmet and a pair of whits legs flashed uuder a lamp and were gone. My wiudow was no impossible height from the ground, but I did not stay to measure it. With the whistles still in my oaw I lowered myself from the sill, dropped into a flower bed and gave chase to the helmet aud the legs, myself barefooted and in pajamas. I saw my policeman vanish around a corner. I was after him like a deer, and even ag I ran the position amused sue. Chasing the polioe ! fie could not hear my naked feet. I gained on him splendidly, and had my hand ou his shoulder before ha know me to exist. Bis face, aa he stopped and turned it, feeling for his pistol, I shall remember all my life. •All right,' £ cried, 'I'm not the man you're after. Hcrry up, I'm coming along to see the fun.'

He, swore- in my teeth and rushed on. I stuck to him like a leech He tried with vaguj throats to shake me off, but it waa not to bs dene. All this time the first whistle was blowing through the night. We had reached the outskirts of the town, end were nsaricg the sound ; and suddenly, on turning a corner, we came upon another drill-trousered, pith-helmeted gentleman in the gatewuy ot an empty houae. 'That's about enough of ua,' said he, pocketing hia whistle. ' I've got a man tsireadv on the 1-twn at tho baok. 'Ahe house is smpty aud he's in it like a rat in a trap- But who's this you've brought along with you, mateP' ' A volunteer,' amd I ' Oome, you won't refußa to let me lend a hand if I get a ohanoe ? Who is it you're after ?' * You'll get your brains blown out,' replied the constable who had given the alarm and on whose sleeves I saw a sergeant's Btripes. ' You'd better go home, though I won't say but what we want all tho men we can get. The town's asleep—as usual. Oan you face powder ?' ' I'll see,' suid I, laughing, for I scarcely suspected he was in earnest. • Who is it you are after ? Somebody very dangerous ?' ' The Intercolonial Sank robber,' replied the sergeant, grimly. ' What do you say now ?' I said nothing at all. I knew not what I had expected ; but it was not this ; and for tho moment my own density concerned me bs much as my fears. ■ 'Oh, it's all right.P said the sergeant, with an intolerable sneer. • You cut away and send along a grown man when you see one!' My reply need not be recorded ; suffice it that a moment later one of the men, both of whom oarried firearms, had handed me his truncheon, and I was on my way to join the third constable on the lawn behind the houae, while those two effected an entranoe in front. (To be continued.)