CHAPTER XXXIX. AT THE HALF-WAY INN.

Otago Witness, Issue 585, 14 February 1863, Page 6

CHAPTER XXXIX. AT THE HALF-WAY INN.

For three mortal hours avc rode alonowithout meeting the shidow of a human being. For three dull, weary hours we rode throiignthe almost trackless forest, and for all tne signs of human life we saw, we might have been the last representatives of the human race existing on the earth. For three long and nlmosl interminable hours we rode past the same trees, over the same black stumps and scattered branches, under the same white stiring sky, and with the same harsh crowing of the crows grating in our ears. For three long hours, as far as the eye could reach, we saw the same grand arch of timber, in the solitude of which imagination built many an airy mansion, and around we beheld the same leaden-looking hills and ranges that loomed distantly upon us when nrst we started. If; was a dull melancholy scene. We might have been riding through the Forest of the Dead, every thin* about us was so still and quiet; we might have been ridmginthe Forest of Despair, everything about out was so sad and gloomy ; we mi^ht have been liding in the regions of Dreamland, everything about me was so strange and unreal. ° I had been haunted during the whole of tne day with the prescience of some cominaevent important to myself and my de«tinv Ihe asne«3 of my past life had b^en disturb^ and reminiscences o? the past, long since buried and forgotten, luid come unbidden to my mind. Once more 1 wandered back in memory to the days of my childhood, and lived over again the scenes of my youth, htrange, too. The figure of Mr D-uv— the figure of a man I had never sesn— was flitting in and out thc^e hycrone memories, interweawng itself curiously in my thoughts I putured lnin as a sto.it bluff man, %>lfsuthcunt, pompon*-, like like whom ? ] could not tell, and srrhe as 1 might, I could not (!i- ; co<. or any connection between him and uiysclL So, rousing ur^elf, I as k«l JAWy I rott if we wei c f ,v- from the II il f. Way lv-n Lilly J ran replied that if we put our horses should bo there in an hour .So, pntiing our hor^s slurp to it. we found ours jives, within thai time, approaching sunc «gni of miman habitation. Tne first notice ot this was given by a ravage dog, which, J rushing from behind a small clearing manned ■ aad snarled at our horses' heels until it almost umve th ;ni mad. It was an ill-looking animal, had a rhrty whUc sl.in, no caw to speak of, and a villainous hea J. Jt was a persisj teiuJy vicious ai.imal, lor it did not evince the finest disposition to cease its unprovoked attack, but continued jumpm? up in the horseraces, and snapping at their heels, till Ullv ; irott, sliding on to the j-ro-nd, produced ins life prcsen cr and gave it battle. It had no fear this dog, and jumped round Lilly, ! exhibiting us u-ly iangs, and reviving a casual biow now and then with courageous persistence. It soon had * smashed nost° and a broken leg, and,a bloody sconce, but still it limped round on its three le^s, and bit the air and snarled savagely. It" had not long to suiter, however, for it was presently joined by another do*, who, dashing savagely to the rtscue, vented foul mouthed growls and emitted wicked flashes from evil ej es This dog was in the form of a 'man but was no less a dog for all that. He had a dirty white skm, no nose to speak of, and a villainous head. He had great paws ot hands, strong sturdy limbs, and a foul moutn. This was proved by the language he used. It would obviously not be exactly proper for me to give the whole substance of this language, Suffice it to say that he asked m terms by no means complimentary to Lilly Irott, what the adjective unmentionable he meant by treating his unmentionable do<* in that unmentionable manner. Lilly Trott replied in the same unmentionable terms, and was as unmentionably uncomplimentary to ' the stranger as the stranger was to him i hereupon, in less time than it takes me to write it, a triangular battle ensued between Lilly i'rott and the two dogs, which resulted in the total defeat of the latter. For an instant. For the next moment came a flash of hghtning, a blaze of fire, a report like the letting oft of a gun, and when the smoke had cleared away, the two dogs were gone. r-n BlB l ail tllc devils in hell ' ! " exclaimed Lilly Crott. " I thought I was shot. If ever I come across the adjective substantive a«-ain 111 mark his adjective phiz for him, so help me God !" ' r

And he looked so norribly wicked as he spoke, that I fully believed him. The day was fast wearing away as we approached the Halfway Inn. We could see it a t quarter of a mile before us— a low, strangling building, with one or two tumble-down rickety outhouses, and two or three canvas tents around. A ]&& plot of ground in the rear had been rudely fenced in, and within the enclosure half a dozen horses were pokin* then- noses among the tun-led brushwood that here and there overran the ground, in the vain bops of finding some nutritious morsel The sky grew sombre, and a faint breeze came warmly to our cheeks.

"We shall have a stormy night of it Tom " said Lilly Trott ; " I shouldn't like to bush it to-night."

An opinion in which both Lone Tom and myself cordially acquired. We found the interior of the Halfway Inn to ba little better than its outward appearance betokened. Ia reply to my inquiry the landlord stated, in a gloomy kind of voice, that he could not accommodate us, but that he would place one of the rickety outhouses at our disposil, with winch we were fain to be content. Lilly Trott and Long Tom appeared to be perfectly iiuliuurcnt a^, (o kind of accommodation they got, provided they had some sort of a roof to cover them, and in a few minuted h;ul spread their blankets on tho ground, and uerc standing at the door smoking their pipes. There were evidently not many people hanging about the place, not anything like Mifficient to warrant the bcl'cf that the Halt way Inn was a profitable speculation. There were the landlord, a small, horse y-looking man, in knee-breeches and a cabbage-tree hat; a handsome yonnowoman, with a very fat infa-sl in her arms'a dirty trollop of a servant ; and a second edition of the landlord, also bound in kneebreeches and a cabbage-tree hat. I must confess to being considerably puzzled now I was here, how to proceed. Even if I succeeded in dropping upon D.iw, what should I say to him— how should I cbmracncj? He might [ooh! pooh! me, ami walk quickly away. What co ;ld Ido then? The two companions I had with me were not law officers and were perfectly powerless except a breach of the peace was to be committed.

I Wi'.s debating these nutters in my mind when Lilly Trott addressed me : —

'■ This is a desperate-looking place, governor," he said. "It would ba an easy job to cut all our throats, Avithout any one twi<vo-i n <r it." oo * "Why, my lad," said I, considerably startled, "what should they cut our throats for ?"

v I don't know," he replied slowly, as if he was considering the point. * 4 They're desperate fellows hereabouts, and they wouldn't stick at much to do it. It was near this place the two hawkers were missing last year. Nobody's never heard nothing about them since and I'll take my adjective oath I saw one of their horses sold a little while alter at the sale yards."

"And you never sajd anything abouUtl'* sssiflpetf, virtuously indignant,

"Why, you see, mate, it worn't no business of mine," he said, looking up at me curiou«ly out of the corners of his eyes. "Many's the better man than me been knocked on the head for meddling with what don't concern him. v Gome along, mate," he continued, addressing * a figure in the distance, and working himselt into a fiery rage ; " Come near enough, you adjective substantive, and fight it out like a man."

I saw by this time that it was the same man whose dog had worried us a few minutes before. As he approached, holding the animal by a chain, it fumed and fretted, and wanted to get at Lilly, who was defiantly waving bis life-preserver, and daring them both to como on. The man, however, contented himself with giving us in evil look from beneath' liig bushy eyebrows, and dragged his dog away by main force. We had much ado to keep Lilly Trott from following, and it was not till Long Tom took him in his arms, and threatened to tie him up, that he desisted. I question much if Long Tom could have achieved this feat, but Lilly Trott was somewhat more passive under his dominion, and submitted with a good grace to the hugging he received from the arms of the brawny Welshman.

A suggestion that we should light a fire at a little distance, and camp for an~hour or so, was instantly acted upon. We selected a tree about five hundred yards from theinn, and firing it, stretched ourselves lazily upon the ground. The air was quite still, and extremely oppressive. The dark clouds hung over us threateningly, and although no sound could be heard, the influence of the coming storm impressed itself strongly upon us. "It will hold off for two hours yet," observed Lilly Trott, " and then the Lord have mercy on the poor devil caught in it." 1 have noticed in Lilly Trott's language a remarkable discrepancy. When not under the influence of passion he would express himself intelligently and well; at other times he would mnke me shudder at the violence of his speech. As we lay on this evening in the shadow of the huge fire, which, blazing bravely, encompassed us in a circle of fierce ilame, 1 thought what strange tales could be told by one who had led such a life of vicissitude as himself. His contorted figure was coiled up into a ball, and by the side of the huge lanky Welshman he looked as unlike a human being as possible. tw lilly," observed I directly, " yours must have been a queer sort of life." lie smoked on in silence, and merely replied with a smile. I saw it in the flicker ot light that blazed up as I spoke. " You may say that, matey," said Lon»Tom, '• he could tell you some queer yarns could Lilly. "Why yes," said Lilly Trott, presently, ' it is a queer life mine. I know you want to draw me out, my lad, and I don't see much objection myself. What sort of a story would you like ? I can tell you lots of 'em about all ssrts of people — from pickpocksts to murderers. I suppose you don't much care which. Just hold on a bit, and I'll spit one out.

(To lie continued. )

# Robbery by Chloroform. -Taradnle and Us environs have fur Jong been tbo resort of a rten of thieves' who o nocturnal plundering-? are creating quite a sen* sition in the neighborhood. Th y are evidently a lepts-they never fail of success. The most ferocious (log 3 become tame and unfaithful at their approach JSo doubt they reside in our midst as they know the weak and assailable parts of every building in the district, also the hiding- places of the most valuable property, no matter where concealed. It is high time the aufcuonfcies should entertain the matter, and obtain for us more efficient protection to life and property ere we become a bye won! in the colony. After stealing: the trooper's horse from the camp, and victimising various unprotected females by the use of chloroform, the other night the robbers entered the tent of Mrs. Darling (whose husband is on Sandhurst) in winch was sleeping her widowed mother, and after puttmg the old lady under the influence of chloroform they took from the tent a watch formerly presented to her deceased husband, several family ikeepsakes hnen, and sundry other articles, with £14 in money --Mount Alexander Mail. Navvy's Love Letter— The following letter was received by a girl from the Highlands from her sweetheart— a navvy on the Perth llailway. Thereis no date :— « Der Alary, I writ you this in lines tolet you no that i am am in good helsh at the presint tonne except a sor leg hopping that this wil find you. in the same. I don no whats kep the stamp of theleter 1 put a penny to the post offis. You Nena Be anger to Meiored did is nob My fait at al i have a. fine weathir hear now since a wick the potatia al away in evry place hear you no rodrick Macintosh and Kitty Mikferson My Mother sending his be<* compliments to you i think you was not for horn this winter At al your father and Mother quit will ia ueaWi i got letter from Mr gun aud them all will Am going to be Alwes writin and do you the same. Wehave no Muich Nuse to tel you this tonne. Write soon when Ml git everything in order am goin to the railway and black Tom no More » —Forres Gazette. Bapiisit Hefused.— We understand that application was made to the Rev. Mr. Minims to baptise the child of a resident in this district, who i 3 about to leave for New Zealand, and that the application, was met with a positive refusal. —Murray Gazette. Shake Kacing.— On Tuesday morning last, at dayhgnt, four men were riding through Linton in a hurried manner, and dm ing the day it transpired that they were share racing to Ballarat, the Robin Hood Company, Happy Valley, having struck the gutter proper, and fouud the dirt highly remunerative. It appears this is a new trick to obtain shares at alow rate, and profit by a rise on the value of the stock. The company has been driving about forty feet through a barren gutter on the fl.it reef, and on Monday night drove np to a bar of sandstone reef which was soon broken through, and the real payable u-a>Jidirt struck, on the edge of the gutter which wa<j rapidly dipping. Snake Hunt at a Funeral.— The Albnry correspondent of the Wagga Wagga Express, writing to tint journal, says : ■' The other day, on the arrival ot aiuneral cortege at the narrow house appointed for nil llejh when this mortal coil is shaken off. it was fjimd that a large snake had ensconced himself at fie bottom of the f ppulchre. The consequence was that the clergyman, and relatives of deceased had to wait at the grave's mouth whiie an interesting snake-bruit was conducted and the unwelcome intruder decoyed .Somewhat Strange.— A man was on Wednesday m»ht, at Randy Greek, savagely attacked by two others, who nearly sett'ed their victim, threw him down a hole, and were covering him up with dirt, whni Mr. M'Jlillan, storekeeper, who Imd heird smothered civs, came t j the rescue, and, with assistance, secured the two ruffians and bound them, and gave information to Mr. Inspector Cockin, who refused to hive the men apprehended. Dr. Hardy saw the ill-used man yesterday, and describes him as very much cut and bruised. We hopa, as the doctor $3 also a magistrate, lie will do something towards ascertaining whether the above tale is exaggerated or

noi.—Tarranrjo'.cet Times, Jan. 30. Outrage at Uoaio.— The following communication lies been sent us (Galignani) .—"lt is not without reluctance that a well wi-her to Italy be^s room for the following; lines. When other redress is denied lvcouise must be had to publicity. Jf impunity is left to crime, and the use of the dagger not opposed, the L ke of Oomo will sorai ba as unsafe a midenco as Naples. Most travellers are acquainted with the Vina d'Este, but the neighboring village of Moltrnsio ■ has only a provincial fame, liising oa the side of a slaty mountain, its environs abound in grots, where nfter the old Norman fashion, modern Lombards Jove to cool their wine. Bel lasgio is n lovely spot anci we cm scarcely blame the English family which* for sonic years past, lias fixed its residence there • A month ago, during his master's absence, one of the servants was stabbed on the public road, and no redr&s nflotded. The gardener, a quiet elderly man. without an enemy in the world, was standing at Ws daughters door, when he saw four ruffians from U»mo, who, it seems, were augi-y at a mule in their » ny, knocking its driver's heau against ft wall. As ue expressed Ins indignation at this brutality, two ct the «an{y came up, and he felt himself stabbed in Uieside, feehng: a second thrust, lie ran into the cottage, ami a gush of blood soon showed that lie had been seriously wounded, but the assassins were on taeu- way to Como. Had he been killed on the spot tlio authorities would perhaps have bestirred themselves, but as he has recovered, the culprits will prabanly escape punishment. One of them, who was on the point of going to America, has nlrea'ly sailed, and the others are now paradiupr the streets of Como. It must not be supposed that Ireland is the only asylum for assassins, for Como enn fairly match Killamey. Tiie individual, a miller, whose beating was the cause of the mischief, does all he can to exculpate the ' " guilty parties, and affects to make litrht of an affair *' * which might have cost him his life. lie perhaps mt\v • not be so fortunate on another occasion as to find any -.' < one to interfere in hi* favor." A' Vijteitahd Company for Beechforth.— Ar- " ranjrements are in progress for getting up a vine- " ' growing association at, Beechworth. It is intended to select a suitable site clo^e to the tpwny andto'apply - i for it under the regulations t gra,nting pre-emptive" -■ "-' lease|foy ( new <nda«t!^W(«i]p^«i}w^^«^ "..