Motu Wairua.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 19 August 1925, Page 7

Motu Wairua.

NEW HEADERS BEGIN HERE

A young New Zealander, George Turner, returns from, the Great War to find his previous employer unable to reinstate him, and being desperately anxious to settle down and provide a home l’or Geraldine Connor, a charming Auckland girl, to whom lie is engaged, tours New Zealand in an attempt to secure land under the Government soldier settlement scheme, or procure employment in some capacity on the land. While on his travels he receives a letter from liiis fiancee, telling of a Mr. J ack Chester, a young Englishman, who owns, and proposes to develop, an island some forty miles from Auckland, and is on the look out for a manager. Turner returns poste haste from the South, sees Chester, and to his surprise is offered the billet of manager at a salary of £G per week, and an interest in the profits, and ultimately a share in the property provided lie signs a drastic agreement which, practically puts his movements entirely under Chester's control. Before signing the agreement, Turner inspects the island Motu Wairua with the object of estimating the profits to he made out of the sale of firewood, the island being densely covered with manuka. The trip over is made in a speedy launch named “\Yairua ” til© property of, and designed by, Chester, and powered with engines designed and built by Sandy McAndrew, a dour Scotch engineer who, while relusill (r to show George nis engines, strives to warn him against accepting employment with Chester Turner \iinspects the .islciiul and concludes there is every prospect of making the sale of firewood a profitable undertaking, but while studying the country through his binoculars from a high point overlooking the only harbour giving access to the island, he sees a man whom he recognises as Chester hurrying to the wharf from an adjoining promontory. Following Chester’s movements from idle curiosity, 'George hi in disappear 'behind ooncrete ,stoie adjoining the wharf, and then emerge from the door of the store.. Chester and McAndrew confer, and in apparent haste untie tile launch and sail away from the island, leaving Turner marooned and very indignant at his treatment. He returns to the wharf in search of some ex-

planation of their desertion, and finds a not e from Chester nailed to a post on the wharf. Now read on. CHAPTER. VI. “Dear Turner,'’ he read, “Sandy has just reminded me of a most important appointment which 1 must keep this evening. Clean forgot an out it, old chap. Make yourself comfortable in my digs adjoining the store, the key I have left in the lock, lucker, etc is all there. WilL be bade by

early morning or perhaps before. Meantime i'orgi.ve my apparent rudeness in desorbing mv guest, and believe me, nothing "but “the most urgent business would have induced me to rush oft like this. Cheerio till to-morrow, then. Yours in great haste, J.C. ’ Plausible as this explanation appeared at first glance, George felt that the reason given was far from the truth. In the first place, from has own observations through the glasses he felt that Sandy had had nothing to do with the hasty decision to return to Auckland, also lie felt sure that a man of Chester’s methodical habits would not be at all likely to overlook an engagetnent important enough to cause him to rush off at a moment’s notice on a forty-mile trip. The jxisition. remained, however, that he was meantime marooned on the island, and having still a large part of the afternoon in which to kill time, ho decided first of all to thoroughly investigate the immediate surroundings. To begin with, he turned his steps towards Chester’s crib, built as a leanto adjoining the shed. Here, els lie expected, lie found "tlie key fitted in the lock, and opening the door, entered an extremely comfortable ‘and spacious sitting-dining room. Three or four easy chairs, a chesterfield, a cottage piano and a isma.ll round dining table with high-backed dining chains, comprised the main 1 urni.sliiugs, but the rich curtainings and carpet betrayed the owner as a man of luxurious and expensive tastes.

Opening off this room were two doors, one leading to a small kitchenette. and the other opening into a Uiorb passage-way oft which opened two (small and plainly-furnished bedrooms. It was evident that one of these was in regular use, that being the one at the end of the passage, and nearest the cliff. George wondered why this had been selected by the fastidious Owner as it was not nearly as airy and bright as the oiie adjoining. In this f-oom a door was built evidently communicating with the store, while the whole back wall, next the cliff face, was composed of a wardrobe, or rather a series of wardrobes or cupboards with three doors opening into them. George now returned to the living room, where he mixed himself a whisky and soda and sat down for a few minutes’ smoke before continuing hi«s exploration. Suddenly it istruok him that Chester had descended from the cliff on the side of the shed occupied by the living quarters, and immediately he went Outside to see if he could find the path, and h i fuself mount to the point of vantage on the promontory front which he had seen Chester descending. To his astonishment the buildings butted on to the sheer cliff face, with no vestige of a path of any sort, or foothold Wen for a goat.

Baffled, but convinced that his eyes I Kid not deceived him. George then examined the other ride of the building where he found the same condition existed. .Beturning to the living room, he sat down and cudgelled his brains as to the explanation of this probably trivial thing, which nevertheless puzzled him, and determined him to find the explanation by some means, before his host’s return. Suddenly light dawned on him : Chester had emerged from the door of the store. Chester having emerged from the door of the store, it was certain he must have some means of access to the building from the side on which the dwelling rooms were situated.

(THE ISLAND OF SPIRITS )

By H. BRERETON

Author of “The Luck oj Old Horry.”

Certainly there wins the door leading from Chester’s own room to the store, but to make use of that he had first to gain entry to his bedroom, which appeared to be out of the question. The logical conclusion therefore was that there were two doors in the side of the store: one opening into the bedroom, and another communicating with the path leading up the clill. George decided that he could at once verify this, as what windows were in the store were (situated on the other tide of the building, and would give him a clear view of the wall where the door was located. Investigation, however, showed only one door, and George was again at a loss until it struck him that one of the wardrobe doors might be a dummy, opening light through the wall. Being now keenly interested m his inevstigations, George determined, in spite of his natural .aversion to prying into other people’s affairs, to carry the matter through until his suspicions Svere justified or proved groundless. Making his way once more to ('Lester's room, he turned iiis attention to the wardrobes, finding, contrary to his anticipations, that all the doors wore unlocked, and that two opened on to well-filled wardrobes, while the third cupboard contained a supply ol house linen.

About to give up his investigations in this direction, lie noticed on the floor of the wardrobe occupying the centre of the wall a. small piece ol damp clay. Not having set loot ill the wardrobe himself, and being unable to see the necessity for anyone else having to do so, George carefully felt the walls at the back for any door which might be hidden behind the clothing, but without success. heeling sure, however, that he was on the right track, he carefully took measuiemeuts of both the inside anti outside, and to hi* surprise discovered that, the inside measurements were some, two teet less than the outside, showing that some space between the wardrobes was not accounted for. Immediately he turned his attention to the possibility of a door in the end ol the wardrobe, and was soon rewarded by discovering ** cunningly constructed trap-door winch, when he had located the catch, swung inwards, laden a.s it was with numerous clothes on hooks, exposing a small cupboard-like space from which another door apparently gave access to the outside world. Convinced that Chester would not have gone to all the trouble of construetiug this (secret means ol exit without having good reason for it, George groped round in the dark until his hand came in contact with the knob oi a Yale look, which turned easily in Lis lingers, and, the door sw riaging outwards permitted him to step into a small triangular enclosure some twelve feet by lour at its widest point, formed by the curve of the cliff on one side, and the concrete wallln of the buildings' on the other two side.*. From this enclosure a- short ladder suspended for a few feet, connecting with a steep path leading towards the cresit of the promontory, and so constructed as to be completely invisible from below.

Feeling rather like a naughty schoolboy in a forbidden orchard, George pressed on up the well-defined path which, when it reached the top of the hill, entered some stubbly wind-blown manuka scrub, but here, on the hard rock-strewn surface, all trace of it was lost. Feeling that some mystery lay ahead he now pressed on, keeping mainly to the top of the ridge where the going was easier, though no sign of a path was apparent in npite of the fact that the land fell away on each side, rapidly assuming the steepness of a cliff, where the making of a path would be impossible. Beaching a high point., lie now found he had an uninterrupted view of both the open ,se,a. and the cove, a panorama which at any other time would have claimed all his admiring attention, but Which now was' of interest to him merely 'because he could assure himself that no boat of any description was in sight, while only the dismal orie.s of the wheeling gulls and the muffled boom of the surf far below, broke the stillness of this windless afternoon. Retracing hits steps, George zigzagged from side to side of the crest, thus being able to assure himself that no path, however, infrequently used, led in this direction, and at fast, sorely puzzled, lie again readied the spot Where lie had first surmounted the revealed to him, that in his hacrio to reach the prominence from which lie height. A careful examination here revealed to him that in his ha-ste to reach the prominence from which he thought Chester had been making his way, lie had overlooked a faint track ’leading down the opposite, or seaward (slope of the peninsula • this he now followed carefully, examining the path every few feet, that lie might not Ugain lose it. Some thirty or forty feet down tlio slope the path turned abruptly to the •right, and rounding a bold bind, ended ti.tr the mouth of a small cave, excavated front the ..soft sandstone strata which here mingled with the harder •formation surrounding it. From along the face of the cliff and leading into the wive, came a heavily insulated wire,- anil little imagination was required to ioa,luse that within lie would iiml a- mtxlei'ii wireless set.

Feeling that time pressed if he was to learn all he could ere dusk fell anil made dangerous 1 the descent to one unaccustomed to the path, George made his way into the tunnel, which, a few feet in, opened out into a roughly excavated cave approximately -six feet by eight in size, where on all sides, on rough stone shelves cut from the living rook, were rows upon rows of cells, forming a battery which, George felt sure, would be capable of transmitting a message over a considerable distance. In one corner, where a rough table had been erected, the various electric cables converged, anil here all the fittings and appliances for a complete wireless transmitting and receiving plant hail been installed, but being absolutely ignorant of the manipulation • -I’ a wireless plant, the intruder refrained from touching anything. Fmei'ging into the open, .George now followed the liable which lie had at first noted. A. few feet ol scrambling brought him to a rocky prominence, ■and here a large iron ring with insulators attached had been firmly embedded in the rock, and from this point a thin copper wire was suspended, close to the face of the cliff, invisible alike from above and below. Satisfied with the result of his investigations, but mystified as to Chester's reasons for keeping the installation such a profound secret. George (Continued on next page.)

now returned over the path to tho Hied, and having «n>tely descended the ladder, approached the door leading to Chester's room. The door, which lie had left open wide, was now closed and immovably locked.

CHAPTER, V 11. Eor a dreadful moment George •visioned his hosts return during his absence, the discovery of his niqmsitive .prying® into Chester's a,Hairs, and the impossibility o-f Nnttslaetorily explaining lijs actions. A moment s consideration. however, convinced hint or the impossibility of the launch being at the wharf or in the cove, as ui would have been seen by him as ho descended the hill. The problem now was how to get, out of Jiis present plight, and\as daylight wais now fast failing into dusk, he realised that lie must take steps at once, ia,s it was possible he might have to find a round-about path to avoid the cliff which here skirted the cove for some considerable distance. Again ascending the ladder, he scrambled on to the root of the shed, and examined the possibilities of a descent, but a straight drop of some fifteen feet on to very mi attractive looking boulders, induced him to try what tha hillside further along might offer. , Again he climbed to the ridge, anu making inland, forced hi.s way thiongh the tangled, \yiml-blown scrub, _whic.ii gradually merged into the mixed timber which clothed the hulk of tho island. Dusk had now descended, making progress slower and more difficult, hut feeling.confident that his wisest course 'was to follow the ridge for mmo half \nilo or so before descending, he pushed oil, scratched and torn, by projecting boughs, which in- daylight would have given him no trouble, and Stumbling over countless obstructions Which seemed to George almost ns though they were vicious animate objects striving to repay him tor his unwarranted investigation of what was solely Chester’s -affair. Many times Turner felt that he Would much have preferred to make a tamp in some sheltered spot, and await, daylight for the completion of his journey, but always the dread of his host’s l;eburn and discovery of the open wardrobe and trapdoor drove him on. stumbling and cursing at his illfortune. - Ait last George felt lie must surely have passed the end oit the cliff and Could now with safety intake down to the water's edge, so, changing his direction, he descended rapidly for some ■ Here, as in the valley when on lii>s 'first exploring trip, the growth became more dense as lie reached the lowei levels, and many detours were necessary to avoid tangled masses of lawyer Und fallen trees which barred hi.s path. Hie supply of matches, too, was last coming to an cud, and without light, ho felt it would bo an extremely dangerous proceeding to try and descend n cliff face, should, lie find that lie had not circumnavigated it completely. •• Slower and slower he pushed on. Carefully feeling hi.s way for the most part, while on every side tho mysterious rustlings of the night life ol the bush, increased the eeriness of hi.s journey. The descent to the shore seemed lar greater ■than George had .anticipated Would be necessary, but ait lust lie was delighted, though puzzled, to hear, from out of ' the felaeknesrv below him, the sound of trickling water. Surely he lrad not come .sufficiently far to have reiu-.hed the valley up which, lie had pushed hi.s way earlier in the day. and yet he remembered no stream between the wharf and the valley. However, ho would, soon know now, and carefully feeling fits way through the -blackness of the night, he .scrambled down to a tiny rivulet.

Striking one of hi.s last matches, George bent down a,ml examined the stream. It was running in the wrong direction, away lrom where lie imagined the cove to lie. The lull realisation 1 of his predicament took some moments to burst upon ■him. Then for the first time he Realised. that he was completely lost. Honrs later, a pale light in the east heralded the dawn of a new day ais a man in soiled and torn clothing, hardly -recognisable as Turner, emerged from the bush and stood, with weary haggard eyes, scanning the -waters of tire co.ve. No sign there of the launch Laving returned, bat from the spot where ho now stood the wharf and shed were hidden by a. point which jutted out into the bay, and that point must be reached before his fears could be set at rest.

How he bad passed the night, George hardly knew. He remembered having. for what seemed like long hours, siat beside a smouldering fire, till the growing cold had forced him to some action to restore his circulation. Then aeons of wandering through interminable bush, every effort at extricating himself from- his plight .seeming to plunge him further into his difficulties, until even the dread of being exposed to Chester paled into insignificance beside the longing for food and rest and shelter.

Exhausted, though still stumbling oil, it was only a .supreme effort of will power that kept him on lii.s feet. Had the launch returned during the night, and - his escapade been discovered? Would , his inquisitiveness (arrant foolishness as it now appeared to him) lose him this opportunity of the successful start which he coveted so much, both ion - his own and Geraldine’, s .sake? The next point: He must reach the point and know! This suspense would soon drive him mad ! Only a few steps; a few more moments and the vantage point was reached. There lay the “Wairua,” mi ugly tied to her berth 1 (I'o he continued.)