“The Fortune Telling House”

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIX, Issue 4747, 17 September 1935, Page 3

“The Fortune Telling House”

By ADRIAN DE BRUNE.

SERIAL STORY.

Author of "The Dagger and Cord"; "The Shadow Crook"; Gray's Manor Mystery"; Etc., etc. _

CHAPTER IV. As Sam Laske turned from beforu the. newspaper office building in the direction of the courthouse, from the tower of a nearby church floated down the chimes of the four-quarters of the hour, followed after a short interval by eleven slow and solemn strokes on a tenor bell. The journalist hurried his steps. He had spent more time than he had intended with the newspaper proprietor. He wanted to be in the court room when The Jay Bird made his appearance in the dock. As he strode up Fairfax Street—the principal street of the rising city of New South Wales—he wondered what charge and evidence Sergeant Adson would bring against .The Jay , Bird. Possibly, for having gold in his possession and not being able to reasonably account for it. That wouid be reasonable, for the State does not encourage sundowners wandering through its territory vrtith large amounts "of coined gold in their possession. As he strode purposefully along the street, Sam noted the great stride in development the city of Southbury had made ddring the past few years. In less than a dozen years it had grown from a small border town between New South Wales and Victoria into an important, thriving city, with a large and quickly developing port at Amberley, twenty miles to the east and connected with the main SydneyMelbourne railway running through Southbury. The quick development of the city and port had been mainly due to the discovery of extensive oil fields at Netherways, some two hundred and thirty-odd miles to the west, situated on a low, barren sandy plateau; When the extent of the Netherways oil fields had been discovered, formidable attempts had been made by capital interests to divert the .-inev ! itable pipe line to Sydney, or some near point on the Port Jackson area. Southbury citizens had protested, energetically pointing out that Amberley was the natural port for the fields—that it was a fine, natural port, second only to Port Jackson on the southern New South Wales coastline. Large funds had been raised to support the town's protests, and at the subsequent inquiry the town had an overwhelming victory. Amberley became the oil fields port, and Southbury its business centre. The development of the oil fields had supported the geologists' prophesies of the oil below ground, and in half-a-dozen years Southbury had claimed and been given the dignity of a city. At the time of the Jay Bird's discovery of the hidden cache of gold at Darrington House, some two hundred and twenty thousand Southbury citizens barracked enthusiastically, within and without season, for their native city. Filled with enthusiasm at the rapidly important position their city was attaining in the business of the State, the citizens determined that Southbury should not only be commercially important, but the City Beautiful of the State. The great River Murray, bordered for hundreds of miles by splendid orchards and vineyards, with farmlands that extended northwards into'the State and southwards far into Victoria, they set about erecting noble' public buildings and par?dands. Of these, and next to the City Hall, came the Courthouse and Central Police Station, both situated on Fairfax Street and within a hundred yards of Central Square, the hub of the city. Hurrying up the imposing stairway of the Courthouse entrance, Sam made his way through the building to the Police Court. He found the court in full session. As he entered and found a seat, the magistrate was remanding a prisoner in the dock on an extradition warrant to the Victorian ; police. Then followed a short pause while the prisoner was being taken from the dock and another substituted. During the interval Sergeant Adson> seated within the well of the court, looked about him, caught Sam's eye, and nodded. The newspaper man leaned back in his seat, much relieved. He could have taken his place at the press table, but thought it better not to do so.

the disreputable swaggie that had crowded into the Rainbow Hotel, Barralong, the previous evening, almost hysterical and hugging to the bosom of his dirty shirt the billy of gold coins.

The charge preferred against the prisoner by Sergeunt Adson, as Sam had thought, Was of being in possession of a number of gold coins and unable to properly account for their possession. Sergeant Adson, in deference to Sam's representations that morning had withdrawn from the charge the word " unlawful." Supporting the charge against The Jay Bird, Sergeant Adson stated that on the previous evening he had been called by a telephone message to the Rainbow Hotel, Barralong, where he found the prisoner in possession of a billy-can filled with gold coins. In answer to his questions, The Jay Bird had stated he had found the coins hidden at Darrington House, an old colonial building on the outskirts of Barralong parish. The Jay Bird, in reply to questions had stated that he had dreamed of the hiding place of coins the previous night and that he had partly forgotten his dream, so that it took him the whole of the day to locate the cache. The billy-can contained exactly five hundred sovereigns. The prisoner had refused to give any other name than that under which he was charged—The Jay Bird. He had made no attempt to conceal his find and had answered other questions clearly and fully. At the end of his evidence the Sergeant asked for a remand for eight days so that the police could finalise their inquiries. It happened that when Sergeant" Adson concluded his statement and stood waiting in the witness box for the magistrate to question him, that Sam Laske happened to look toward the bench. He found the magistrate staring at the prisoner, his eyes wide, his face pale and drawn. The news-, paper man wondered; here was a fresh puzzle. He saw at once that the man on the bench had recognised the man in the dock, and that the recognition had disturbed him. He leaned toward the man on his left and whispered : "Who's on the bench? "

" Mr Frederick Getthering," replied the man in a low whisper. "He isn't the magistrate. One of our justices; a town councillor, and deputising for our regular magistrate who is away on holidays. •Mr Gordon is our regular magistrate," he added, informatively. t Sam nodded his thanks for the information and returned to his scrutiny of the man on the bench. Mr Getthering had not replied to Sergeant Adson's request for a remand. He sat staring at the prisoner. In a silence ijhat became almost a suspense, the court waited. Sam grinned. Sergeant Adson, waiting in the witness box, was allowing his chin to drop, in open-mouthed amazement. After a time, and possibly feeling that he must do something to ease the tension growing in the court room. Sergeant Adson repeated his request for a remand. Again the man on the bench appeared not to hear him. The newspaper man, quicker of understanding than those surrounding him, decided that something had to be done to relieve the situation. He did not understand what was happening; he could only guess to where this unnatural silence would lead. He glanced at The Jay Bird. The man was watching the magistrate, the broad grin he had worn on entering the court stall on his face. It appeared to Sam that The Jay Bird was enjoying the situation and that, Sam considered, might interfere with his personal plans. Rising quietly to his feet, he went into the well of the court, to the side of the Court Prosecutor. He whispered a few words in the ' man's ear. The police officer rose quickly to his feet. "If it pleases your honor!" the sergeant spoke loudly. "A gentleman who has just entered the court says he might have some evidence on the case. Will your honor hear him ? " Sam felt he could have patted the man on his back for the very tactful manner in which he handled the situatdon. He was still more glad when the magistrate turned quickly from his long scrutiny of the prisoner. "You say you have a witness, sergeant? " A hopeful note appeared in the level voice, visibly held in restraint. He turned sharply to the witness box: "You may stand down, Sergeant Adson. I will hear this witness and then give my decision on a remand."

A slight stir in court heralded the appearance of The Jay Bird in the dock.

Someone, during the morning, had suggested to The Jay Bird that a wash and brush up might not be amiss, and might possibly gain for him some consideration from the bench. Possibly some memory of former days, before he became the down-at-heel Jay Bird, had caused acquiescence to the suggestion. Anyway, The Jay Bird came into public gaze outwardly clean and respectable, and with a broad grin on his well-bearded lips. Sam smiled to himself at thoughts of

" Decision! " Sergeant Adson grumbled in Sam's ear as he passed him on the steps of the witness box. "What's the matter with the old boy?" Sam shrugged and shook his head. He mounted into the witness box and took the oath. At a nod from the

Prosecuting Sergeant he told his story of what had happened at Barralong, starting from the moment the Jay Bird first appeared in the hotel, and confirming Sergeant Adson's account of what had happened after tjhat. " You are sure the prisoner stated he found the gold at Darrington., House? " questioned Mr Getthering " Is Darrington House inhabited ? " " No, sir." Sam answered promptly. This was the exact line he wished the magistrate to take. " I believe it has been empty for many years."

"Is that to your personal knowledge, Mr Laske? " "No, sir. I was so informed by Sir Archibald Skirlington, who is the licensee of the Rainbow Hotel, at Barralong." " Then you have no' personal knowledge of that fact? " " No, sir. I have never seen the place." Mr Getthering looked puzzled for a moment,. He looked at^Sergeant Adson, hesitated a moment, then spoke:

" Sergeant Adson, do you know Darrington House ? Is it occupied ? " " I know the house well, sir." The sergeant rose to his feet from a chair beside the prosecuting sergeant. " To my personal knowledge it has not been occupied for the past tien years, and Mr Jess Markham, the owner of the surrounding land has informed me that it is about twelve years since he built his new house and left Darrington House."

"If • I may add, sir. . ." Sam spoke suddenly, before the magistrate could frame further questions for the sergeant. "If one of the court orderlies will bring me the book I left on the chair I was sitting on in the public portion of the court, you may gain from it some further information. It is a recognised guide to Southbury and district. I bought it in the city this morning, but I am sure Darrington House is described in it, with its history." The acting-magistrate pondered a minute, then nodded. While a constable was searching for the guide book, Mr Getthering spoke again, addressing Sergeant Adson. " Sergeant Adson, you slated that the owner of the house is Mr Jess Markham. Who is he??"

"Mr Markham is a farmer, sir." The police officer spoke briskly. " Farms quite a lot of land in the district." "Is M,r Markham in court ? " continued the magistrate.

ment to allot what proportion of the gold in currency it deems fit to the finder as a reward." Getthering paused a moment, then added: "I remand the prisoner for eight days." "Will you grant bail, sir?" Sam asked quickly. A look of surprise came on the magistrate's face as he turned to face the newspaper man.

"Can the prisoner find bail?" he asked, and Sam thought he saw a glint oi' almost hope in the cold, tired eyes.

"If the bail is not large," replied the journalist boldly, " I believe the police will be willing to accept my security."

Again fell one of those queer, long silences that had happened again and again since The Jay Bird entered the dock. Frederick Getthering leaned forward over his desk, staring at the. newspaper man.

" You ? " Again Sam wondered whether it was surprise or hope that lit the cold eyes. " I understood you had never seen the prisoner before yesterday." He paused, to continue: " I think you should reflect, Mr Laske, before giving way to any impulse of generosity. The prisoner is a tramp —a sundowner, I believe, is the correct term—and is unknown to the police of this district. Like all his kind, he is here to-day and gone to-morrow.'-Again Getthering paused, to add: "You understand, Mr Laske, if you give your bail I shall exact it if the man is not available for the inquiry when I continue it in eight days' time."

Sam felt he was in a difficult position. He knew exactly what he required an<* what he intended to do, but he could not explain his reasons and probable actions in regard to The Jay Bird to anyone, least of all in open court, before the gaping throng of idlers. He tried to think of a reasonable excuse for his offer, but thoughts would not come. Sergeant Adson suddenly came to his rescuer For some moments he had been whispering to the prosecuting sergeant, and they had evidently reached some conclusion. He moved forward before the bench.

"No, sir." Sergeant Adson took the guide book from the constable and brought it to the bench. " Here is the guide book Mr Laske mentioned, sir." Mr Get,thering took the book and turned the leaves hurriedly. He found a paragraph which attracted his attention and for long moments read carefully. Sam noticed that he did not turn a leaf, and wondered if he was camouflaging some indecision of mind. He wondered why. Surely the magistrate did not think he could release The Jay Bird without any further explanation of the finding of the gold. That would be absurd, and excite comment. Standing in the witness box, awaiting the outcome of the strange situation, Sam shivered with something approaching excitement. Why did not the magistrate remand the swaggie, as the sergeant geant had requested. That would be logical, and, as the journalist admitted to himself, just what he desired. " I think I may take the statements in this guide book as supplementing the evidence I have had from Mr Laske, supported by Sergeant Adson's answers to my questions." Mr Getthering spoke slowly, now looking directly before him, and not at the man in the dock. "I am also prepared to believe that the prisoner found the gold at Darrington House, but I cannot believe that the hidding place of the gold was revealed to the prisoner in a dream. I want better evidence of the finding of the gold than that."

"I believe the police understand Mr Laske's attitude, sir," he said when he caught the magistrate's eyes. "Mr Laske has informed you he is a journalist attached t(o one of the big metropolitan newspapers. In conversation with me this morning he stated he believed there was a big story behind the prisoner's statement tjhat he had found the gold in Darrington House." "Yes?" inquired Mr Getthering, when the police officer paused. "l! have known Mr Laske, personally, for some years," continued the sergeant, " and. on my advice the police are prepared to accept him as bail for the prisoner." "Then the police believe The Jay Bird really found the gold in the manner he is said to have stated." Surprise shone on Getthering's face. He turned directly to the dock, addressing the prisoner for the first time: "I shall have to ask you to go into the witness box and give evidence on the finding of the gold." The Jay Bird shook his head, smiling knowingly. " Not on yer life," he said. " I'd just as soon stay in th' coop. There'll be food and drink there, anyways." "Damned fool!" thought Sam. On impulse he turned to the magistrate. "I am willing to take The Jay Bird's word that he will surrender to the police on his bail, sir," he said boldly. Then added: "I understand that the police agree with me thai? it was quite possible for the man to have found the gold as he stated. Anyway," he concluded, somewhat lamely. "The police have the gold and it doesn't look quite fair to keep The Jay Bird locked up while they are making their inquiries."

A wry smile came on the magistrate's thin lips. For a moment he glanced at the -still figure in the dock, then hastily, directly down the court. Sam wondered for a moment if the magistrate was about to ask the sundowner to go into the box to give evidence on his own behalf. If he did that he might create an awkward situation/—a situation that would put a period to the journalist's carefully laid schemes. The Jay Bird would certjainly refuse to give his real namo. That would irritate the magistrate and possibly cause him to remand the man in custody.

"You don't think it quite fair!" The magistrate bridled. "I am afraid I cannot accept, your beliefs as being of value to this court, Mr Laske."

Something had to be done to guide matters in the line he wished them to tjake; yet Sam wondered what he could do. He straightened himself in the witness box and opened his mout to speak, when the magistrate anticipated him. " I think a remand is in order, and I shall rule that the prisoner be detained during tfie police inquiries. I may say that under no conditions can the gold become the property of the prisoner. I do not believe he can establish any legal claim to it. If the police cannot find the owner, then I shall have to declare it treasure-trove and the property of the Crown. It is then in the discretion of the Govern-

Sam's hopes sank. It looked to him as if in a few words he had destroyed all the good he had previously done. The Jay Bird would be locked up and he would have to make his investigations without the involuntary help he had anticipated from the mail. He cursed himself for his impetuous speech. Almost he commenced to make a very humble apology for his impetuous words, when Mr Getthering spoke again.

"I am willing to believe you spoke without thought, Mr Laske," he said quietly, " and give you credit for your

championship of the prisoner. As you have said, there may be a certain hardship to the man in keeping him in detention for the next'week, though he apparently does not think so. Still .. . " He hesitated. " Yes, I will remand him for eight days on a bond of ten pounds and will take you as security,' Mr Laske. Next case, please." During the small confusion while The Jay Bird was being escorted from the dock, Mr Getthering beckoned to his orderly and whispered a few words and then looked up impatiently. " Next case, please, sergeant? " "There is no further business.this morning, sir." Sergeant Walters looked up from the papers he had been shuffling together. ; " The court stands adjourned. The magistrate spoke machanically, rising from his chair and moving to the door behind him.

"You've done it now, Mr Laske!" Sergeant Adson met Sam as he stepped down from the 'witness box. " What on earth induced you to go bail for a bum like that? Getthering will escheat your bail if The Jay •Bird doesn't turn up next Thursday—,, you. can bet that ten : pounds and all else you have on that! "

The newspaper man grinned. " A sudden impulse to emulate a boy scout, sergeant. At the same time I have a better opinion of The-Jay Bird than you express." ' Sergeant.Adson shrugged. He was about to reply when the court orderly drew Sam's attention. >

" Mr Getthering's compliments and he would like to see you in his room, Mr Laske."

Sam was startled. He looked at the man questioningly, but could not observe anything strange or significant in his expression.

" All right," he replied. " I'll come immediately I- have signed the bail bond."

"Better get to the old man right away," interposed Sergeant Walters. " It won't hurt The Jay Bird to remain with us for an extra half-hour. More than likely he looks upon a police cell as home from home." The newspaper man nodded and turned to the Court. orderly: "Lead on Macduff!" he said.

"This way, sir." The man led uft the steps of the dais and through the door by which the magistrate had left the Court. _ *>

(To Be Continued.)