HALIDAY’S HORSE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3783, 14 September 1926, Page 81

HALIDAY’S HORSE.

* By

Ted. M. Gerrity.

(Copyright.—For the Witness.) Writhing storm clouds settled upon the range and large drops of rain began to fall upon the long, winding road that led through some of the loneliest bush country on the West Coast. Haliday pulled his tired draught horse to a halt and looked up anxiously at the darkening sky. “Brutus, ole chap,” he said ruefully, patting the animal’s broad shoulders, “ M e can’t go no further to-night. Maybe we’re near a farm, but likely we ain’t; so, tukin’ no risks, we’ll hunt round for shelter.” Slowly he dismounted. . “Gosh! me ankle’s painin’ some!” he groaned, as his foot, which had been badly hurt in a sawmill accident, touched the ground. “It ain’t got no better in a month,” lie muttered, leading his horse off the road into the seclusion of the bush, “an’ I don’t suppose it’ll ever be right again now, which means that I couldn’t work, even if I had it to do.” He had been following a disused track, but suddenly his progress was checked by a mountain stream flowing over it. “Gosh! Brutus,” he exclaimed, peering eagerly across the stream into the dusk. “There’s a hut or somethin' over there. I reckon we’re in luck to-night!” Haliday crossed the stream and came to the hut. Tt Mas a single-roomed, old stone building, with big draughty cavities in its face, which at one time had contained glass window's and a door. “It won’t be a bad place to camp, ole chap,” he said, unstrapping his swag. “It’s the first bit o’ luck that’s come our way for weeks.” By this time it Mas almost dark, and Wind and rain Mere furiously lashing the dark forest trees. Haliday lit a stump of candle which he had taken from his pack, but a cold gust of wind from the doorway quickly extinguished it. “Gosh!” lie exclaimed. “We’ll have to build a fire. It’s going to be mighty cold.” Brutus made himself comfortable in the big room and began contentedly to nibble pieces of straw that occasionally caught his eye. Haliday, limping badly, went out into the rain to search for firewood. From liis position on the bank of the creek he espied several pieces of bleached driftwood which the stream liad washed on to the shingle. But in attempting to descend the slippery bank liis foot dislodged the boulder on which it had rested, and before lie could regain liis hold he lurched backwards and landed 011 liis back upon the stony bed of the stream. Dazed, and with blood issuing from a cut on the side of liis head, he tried to rise, but a sharp, agonising pain in liis back prevented him from doing so. It Mas quite dark now, and the cold scuth wind lashed the rain furiously into Haliday’s upturned face. He began, then, to revise wliat exposure to the elements Iwoiild mean. With slow and painful efforts he succeeded in crawling along the bed of the stream till lie reached the ford, where there was practically no bank to be negotiated. At length, cold, exhausted, and sick with pain, lie crawled into the hut and collapsed on to liis improvised bed of straw. Brutus, bewildered by the strange actions of liis master, whinnied softly. “Brutus, ole chap,” groaned Haliday. “Jus’ me damn luck. I reckon I’ve broke me back, or somethin’.” He drew a pair of dirty, thin blankets over his cold body. “Me cursed ankle caused it!” he said with a bitter laugh* “Wot’s goin’ to happen next I dunno, but I suppose the blanky walls’ll topple down on us. I don’t care much if they do!” Haliday stared helplessly ahead at the slimy, cold Malls of tlie abode, and wondered when tlie end would come. Brutus, standing apprehensively on the other side of the room, blinked into the darkness, failing entirely to understand the situation.

“It’s cornin’—Brutus!” Tlie timid horse snorted and threw back his head with a startled jerk. There was a strange, shrill note in Haliday’s voice. “Three days more o’ this an’ I’ll be humpin’ beyond the Range. Maybe me back won’t hurt then, ole chap.” As the hours dragged by, Haliday became hot and clammy, and his 1 bloodshot eyes glared insanely into the impenetrable blackness that enveloped him. “The creek! the creek!” he screamed. “Listen to it—roaring! It’s going to sweep us to—eternity! Me an’ you!” The old horse shivered in terror, and naliday raved on till the first streaks of a cold, grey dawn filtered through the gaunt window cavities, revealing a disma, picture of swirling rain, dripping forest trees, and a river of rushing, foaming, yellow water Shortly after this the fever-stricken man ceased hie ravings and lapsed into an exhausted slumber, tortured by horrible dreams and laughing, flitting, ghostly figures. Then lie awoke with a throat as dry as dust, and a tongue swollen and Jom. With an effort he licked his cracked lips and said in a voice barely above a whisper: “Water! I wi»nt it, quick!”

The thunder of the rising creek grew louder, liulidav heard it, a hundred times louder than it really Mas. It seemed to mock him, and drowned his hoarse, choking cries. It Mas very near and alluring. He wanted to reach it, throw himself into it, and drink, drink, forever. As the dismal day dragged on he lapsed into another sleep, and Mas awakened ® some time later by a soft pressure upon his cheek. He looked up and saw Brutus standing over him, whinnying softly. As he stared up at the big animal a plan came to him. He laid his hand upon the cold stirrup, which dangled about two feet above him. Jt Mas a mad plan, but Haliday Mas past sane thinking now. With botli hands he clutched the stirrup, and painfully and slowly raised himself off the floor, working his hands up the stirrup leather, till lie Mas standing, swaying dizzily, grasping the pommel of the saddle for support. With all his remaining strength he slipped his left foot into the stirrup and with a great effort drew’ himself into the saddle. “To the creek! To the creek!” he shouted hoarsely, digging his heels hard into the horse’s ribs. “I want—to drink! Quick!” Wondering, but obedient, the old horse lumbered out of the hut and trotted towards the creek. Dazedly, Haliday Matched the yellow torrent coming nearer. He shouted in delirious exultation, and urged the horse to faster effort. Brutus halted abruptly at the edge of the flooded creek, wondering, and afraid to go further. “In, in—Brutus!” screamed Haliday. “Quick! quick!” With a frightened snort Brutus obeyed the command. Haliday laughed derisively as the cold Mater crept up, up, and roared all round him. Then reaction from the last few minutes of painful exertion came over him, and he knew no more. * * * When Haliday regained consciousness he found himself in bed, swathed in bandages, with pleasant sunlight streaming through a big M’indow in the room, on the other side of which stood an elderly lady. “Ah! you are awake?” she exclaimed, coming quietly over to him. “You must lie very still.” “Where am I?” Mas Haliday’s first query. “In a farmhouse,” replied the lady. “You’ve had a bad time. The doctor gave orders that you must rest. If you do not, he says you may never work again.” Haliday laughed bitterly. “I can’t work, anyhow,” lie said. “Even if I never got these Mounds, me foot's been busted, an’—” “The doctor has attended to that also,” broke in the lady, with an assuring smile. “And later, if you wish, you can work here on the farm. My husband wants a man badly.” Haliday Mas grateful. He lay contentedly back on his soft .pillows and smiled happily. .Suddenly he made another query. “Who brought me here?” “Ginger!” replied the lady. "Our—your horse. He used to belong to us. He knows this country well, and a M eek ago he came here, dead tired and wet, with you lying unconscious upon his back, Mitli one foot in the stirrup, and—gracious, I thought you Mere dead!” “Brutus!” whispered Haliday a while later, and there Mas a large lump in his throat. “You’re the best purchase I’ve ever made for a pound, ole chap!”