CHAPTER IX.

Observer, Volume 9, Issue 529, 9 February 1889, Page 7

CHAPTER IX.

HE. COPPIN'S QUEST. THE next day, having obtained leave from his employers, and in accordance with private instructions from Coppin, Arthur told the landlady that neither he nor the Senor would trouble her for a week, as they were going on a botanising excursion to ' Guam,' supplying the name on the spur 01 the moment to put the old lady more at her ease. It mattered little. Her knowledge of geography was very defective, and she would have j been content with Timbuctoo or Vancouver's I Island. To her—stout, plethoric, and or the 4 fruirp ' genus—Hertford-street was the hub of the universe. Anything or anywhere beyond the end of the next section was an unknown region, and wasn't worth ' botherin' about.' ' All right,' said she, 'as long as you don't come a-racketin' and a-gallivantin' back in the middle of the night, and throwin' stones on the roof or at the windows, and me at my last gasp with Chinamen and 'awkers, and sewing machine men, all clay. I can't abear to be chivvied out of my bed at my time o' life, a-thinkin' it's burglars and fire, or my sister took bad, and my nerves all on the tremble with the parlour boarder bein' took up, and a-quiverin' with 'orror to thinkof 'irn bein' 'anged ; and them aralgers a-tearin' and a-ackin'. I must ask you to let me know for certing what day you come back, so that I can have everythink all right when you do.' Having satisfied her also upon this head, Arthur departed, and, taking the train, ran j down to Port, where he found Coppin at the appointed rendezvous, got up exactly like a country farmer, and enjoying an exceedingly lively conversation with Miss Polly Winter. Packing up a few necessaries, they were soon on the road in a two-wheeled trap hired by the detective, and bowled merrily along the winding clilx road towards Governor's Bay, passing a gang of convicts at work under the supervision of armed warders. ' Some of those gentry you see there,' remarked Coppin, ' p.re indebted to a paternal Government for food, clothing, and board through my own endeavours. l)o you see that tall young fellow standing up there, with a longhandled shovel in his grasp '.' He has turned out quite a model of propriety since his imprisonment. In about six months more he will be • free—an altered man. It's a sad story. Drink, dissipation, and extravagance in the eld country. Sent out here as irreclaimable. Gambling and debt in this colony started him on to levant with some of his employer's cash, and landed him in Port Lyttelton Gaol. It's a easa of reform, sir. We go in for pretty drastic measures in New Zealand, and I can assure you they will be the making of that young i'tliow. After ' the first shock of remorse and shame—in a good j case—where folly and debauchery are leading to crime and ruin, a little gentls taking in hand like this is productive of an immense amount of good. Eepentance will follow, and lie will be improved vastly in bodily health when he leaves. Men like him take kindly to the good wholesome liteiature provided for their spare moments. They get little news cf the outside world, and concentrate their thoughts upon themselves. Thus he will see the need of moral improvement for his own well-being, and will naturally enough be inclined to lead a better life for the future. The prison warders, too, though you mightn't think it, are a kindly, manly set of men, and if a prisoner is tractable and obedient, generally manage to give him some brief inkling of his real position and a word of advice; and a word of advice or a bit of kind treatment will work wonders even upon the most obdurate, and will soften and give courage to many an ignorant man. But here we are at Euapaki. lam going to leave the trap at a settler's a litlle further on, and then I want you to accompany me to the smaller Maori settlement yonder, at the turn of the road, where I want to get some news about the present object of our journey. There's an old Maori there, who can tell me something 1 want to know. His name is Himi, and he is exclusively devoted to my interests.' Arthur was greatly impressed with the curious formation of this part of the country—the deep indentation of the bay; the tov/u of Lyttelton in the distance, dotted white on the hill-side ; the abrupt tussock-clad mountains behind him, and the dip down to the beach at his feet. Having disposed cf the horse raid trap, they made their way to Little Euapaki, and whilst Coppin prosecuted his enquiries, Somerset, seated on a low, projecting point above the water, conjured up visions of departed warriors flatting all about the harbour in canoes, setting out and returning from a day's fishing or foraging. Old Himi had a great deal to tell, gesticulating and pointing vehemently at times across the bay, where a tall wooded peak shot a dark blue silhouette upward against the sky, contrasting strongly with the yellow tone of the tussocked hills in the foreground. Himi was persuaded to accompany the pair, and after a long, toilsome walk round past the head of the bay, over a yellow spur, and again over another, dipping into a gully running towards the range, they came upon a place donse with supplejacks, thick with undergrowth, and diversified by huge boles of forest trees—a remote, lonely, and almost unapproachable spot, where, close by the decaying structure of an old and deserted whare, lay some human remains and a few shreds of scattered cloth. The wild ■pigs had been busy, and only a skeleton glistened in the light of day. 4 Somerset,' said the detective, ' is my surmise correct, or am I dreaming ? Where is the h-ft hand, that should be there to make this skeleton complete? Is it not in the hermotieally-sealed glass jar that was produced at the inquiry?' 4 You have the eyes and ears of Argus and Cerberus, oh most potent Senor. How did ycu

track the possessor of the severed hand from New Brighton sandhills to this lonely spot ?' 'Tis a story that needs some telling, my Arthur Himi supplied the details of a supposed suicide. That brought me here in the first instance. But we must leave word with the local constable, and adopt means for the iit and proper disposal of the relics, which mil be subjected to a " crowners quest/ and a deuce of a lot of red tape -documents and parases upon the deceased, and the cause of death-will accumulate before the burial.' _ It was late next day when all this was accomplished, and the remains placed in the morgue at Lyttelton to await inspection. It had been a black north-easter all day, and the fleecy clouds were driving overhead in misty columns, completely obliterating the extreme toos of the hills: The 'gloaming' was sombie, but the air was balmy, fresh, and free from ram, though rather threatening, as Somerset ana Coppin mounted the range at the back of the town, and sat down, well out of ear-e^ot, at tne side of a gully, to follow out the thread oi the new discovery. _ . j 4 It is a varied conundrum, said the detectivp, astutely, fanning himself vigorously with his hat 'Loss of hand. How did it come to happen ? First theory, done by Os'oorne, wno has fled to escape consequences. Second theory, done by deceased himself; improbable, but not impossible. Third theory, done by neither one of them, in which case we are at fault as to homicide. In the latter caso the man would have gone to a doctor, and I should havo known of it before. Himi came across him whilst pigeon-shooting. What prevented him going to a doctor ? Fear of consequences, no doubt. If he had been an assassin or robber, he would have* avoided observation as much as possible.' ' 4re you aware that a sailor has deserted from the Northampton?' continued Coppin. 'Description, reddish-brown hair, eirongly built, blue eyes, wearing blucher boots, billycock hat, grey tweed coat, moleskin trousers, carried a swa^. When last seen, was on the Stunner road. Last, not least, finger on left hand dislocated. Now, which of the men on board answered to that description?' ' Eawliugs,' replied Arthur. 'He was a drunken sweep — would steal if he got .1 chance. He was suspected of broaching cim;o on the voyage out, and the captain _ was compelled to put him in irons on one occasion.' 'Eight,' said Coppin, 'that's the _ man. I came down here the very day of the pieiiic after him, but was completely mystiihd and thrown o!Y the scent. He couldn't have born heve then. He must have been lurking in the New Brighton sandhills, where he mes Obborn, who had a large sum of money on him. Kawlings demands charity. Osbern, a generous man, prcbably complies, thereby disclosing the fact of a wellHlled pocket-book. They for the moment. Sawlin;?s follows, an.t trios J.) murder Osbern, with a view to robbery. Tht-re is a hnichet used. Eawlinss g'.-t?^ hi.-; hand chopped oil' ; rushes away in ra.ge auo terror. Osbcvu i-: injured in the iiglit— lies insensible in the f-:and-hills— eventually wanders ay.-.iv at p.ighs— dies, perhaps is killed on the spot. by i\ stoop Sandhill. His fall brings down t b « ; . whole side, lie is sniothavKl aiul burieO. awn ii hi; is unconscious, and not wholly Cifiul. U is a mysia-y, whichever way ycu look at it. 'And where on earth is Usher.i .' Sued! we find him, dead or alive."