A TALE OF TWO BROTHERS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume IX, Issue 25, 18 June 1892, Page 629

A TALE OF TWO BROTHERS.

By A Youth el l Contributor. It was a lovely evening in the splendour of summer, when the sun shot a broken and discoloured light through the masses of rata which had grown wildly up the great lofty kauri trees. ’Twas then that two persons might have been seen sitting by a brooklet that had found its way from the lofty mountain ranges of the south, and many an evening while the sweet warbling of birds could be heard, the merry couple sat wooing together. The young man was George, the youngest son of Mr Nelson, an early settler of New Zealand, the young woman being May, the eldest daughter of Mr Young, who was a shipmate of Mr Nelson. Mr Nelson had also an elder son called Samuel, but who at some early period had gone away to sea and left his father and brother to manage the farm. While he was away his father died and had left no will. The young brother thought as he had stayed at home and worked with his father he had most right to the estate, so he married, and the place being well stocked managed to live comfortably with his wife. It happened one Christmas time the elder brother returned, and when he found that his father was dead, and that his younger brother had taken possession of the place, he went to interview a lawyer. The lawyer told him to send his brother down to bin. and he would see if he could make it right. Sam went at once to tell his brother Giorge to go to the lawyer, and George, after spending a merry Christmas with his wife, went to the lawyer as his brother had told him. The lawyer began speaking to him, telling him that it was very wrong to cast his elder brother away from the house, and that he should have more respect. The young man softened by the lawyer’s kind words, explained all matters to him, stating that his brother had gone away at an early date and left him to work with his father ; then the lawyer said he could do no more. The elder brother, Sam, on hearing this, got very sulky and independent, and wandered away and coming in contact with some Maoris, he told them that he had come to dwell with them. The Maoris being very glad to get a white m&n in their tribe gave him war arms and treated him very kindly, they thought that the pakeha knew everything, so they got him to be their chief. His brother all this time had been working on the farm and did not seem to care about Sam. By-and-bye however, the Maoris began to get very troublesome, and the natural consequence was war. The white people in the land were called out to go and fight against the savage and dark skinned race, and young (leorge Nelson went and joined Major Von Tempsky’s regiment. It happened one day as they were marching through the forest, they were suddenly attacked by Maoris among whom was a white man. The Major slew them on each side, the white man with loaded pistol in hand was about to fire at Von Tempsky, when a soldier rode past, and with a flourish of his sword, severed his head from his shoulders. When the fight was over the Major’s army was looking around to see how many Maoris they had slain, and came across the head of a white man. Attention was drawn to this, and the young man that had cut it off recognised it to be his brother. He was sorry he had done this, and so lifted his dead brother on his horse, and carried him away to bury him where he thought no savage Maoris would eat him, ami erected a kind of tombstone as a mark of affection, and after the great wars with the Maoris were all over there could have been seen an aged couple roaming over the fields, talking together about affairs, and who were no other than Mr and Mrs Nelson.— T.W.F. Auckland.

A gardener who had predicted rain for the day thus gave his reason for doing so. ‘ Most always when I don’t expect it to rain, it does rain. To-day I don’t expect it to rain at all at all, so I know it’ll rain.’