GREY DISTRICT DIAMOND JUBILEE

Grey River Argus, 1 March 1928, Page 6

GREY DISTRICT DIAMOND JUBILEE

(Continued from Page Five.) only Wu Hoy could get that package. E\ en now Ah Joe was sleeping with his hi' i l pressed against it. Only his head! His Head! What \\ ,-i - thut to prevent Wu Iby from g.-ii ii i ng his hen rt s desire. Bone! That would splinter am! break. Flesh’ That would pulp and bleed, (.’out emptibl • barrier. Yet it stood bet wei i Wu H< iv and CT: i na. Two hours later, a glare of flames fl nn the roof and bides of the little hut stayed the hooting of the-night owl and set ilm forest birds uneasily at wit tering. In the hut th' smoko was thick and choking, lieat intense, but Ah Joe did not waken or stir. The flames licked around the handle of a gleaming p.j< k that lay on th i floor ami gradual ly a ruddy, glistening stain on its silver surface turned black. Holin weeks after this Mounted Constable O’Grady’ came upon the ashes of the hut. Fossicking amongst them he su Ideidy bent inferestedly ami picked up a white human skull. Awhile he gazed at it, turning ii over and over aml . measuring with his two fingers a hole that gaped in the left temple. The i , .... ; mrs, placed ll skull i . his kn.np suck and went hi-- ■ Th lie 1 Police Office in Hokitika pi,.-' 1 it before Sergeant Mclntyre. •‘Another Chink outed Chief. I found t.’iis amongst the ashes of W u Hoy’ ] t '■ peg. Looks like lie' other one polished him <dl for liis . ■; i and then cleared. Tin difficulty is. I i m’l know whether il is Wu Hoy or Ah Joe.”. Anyway whats a chow more or less?” Sergeant Mclntyre was wise in hi? generation, lie did not like trouble' ••ome official enquiri s and fuss over un important matters. In the gold fields a Chinaman was r mat ter of very minor importance in d<‘od. lie pondered: and as a resull Headquarters iu Wellington receivei ihe follow ing report — “Whils’t on patrol duty in the dis ; id west of the lif I eon mile peg, Con stable O’Grcady r found the remains m an unknown Chinaman. An investiga tioii has convinced mi' that death w.<due to natural canscs. Out ward bound from Lyttelton i < ;yd ik-v He n .nil clipper “ For. ■- Home.” ran before a tearing, searinj ioiih-rly gale that drummed throng! ei 1 ouds and kept the deck awash '.ii passengers were ordered below am i; th< ■: ( rage eonditions were nausea; ing. . .ot a passenger who wasn’t hor ril Iv seasick but not one who ■ -i> sic]; ;is a Chinaman lying in tin darkest bunk aft. Once Cockney Joi the steward paused in his duties am peered into the bunk. •' ‘ Hiinii y. ’ ’ he mut i ere<l aloud, ‘ ‘ Tha 1 ;. < n in Chink looks as if ’e might poj ahi any minute. Hoy 1 1 but id thing bly t hi ' . Lis fingers touched a bulging belt tha was hidden by a dirty, loose laundry ... . • . . ■. 11 H i is a man of great importance. Ti hin b longs the finest house, the pretties wife, and his servants and porters ;in more than can be counted upon Ho lingers of both hands. In the eveniiq when the sun is low he loves to sit oi his wide porch listening to the tales o the village story tell")-. Always at tin mid of the stories the virtuous man i triunqihanf and always the man of evi ways is brought to book. It is thei il.al W'p Hoy removes his pipe from hi lips, clears his throat and resume smoking, eyes inscrutable, lips wit! just Hie tiniest sardonic twist.