JOHN DORY’S YARN

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 20, 19 May 1909, Page 36

JOHN DORY’S YARN

A TALE OF BYGONE DAYS

By

TE MATA

©L’R day's work was done, and we camped by the edge of the bush. The old piebald horse was unyoked from the "tu. ker-eart. and the dried fern bunks prepared for their weary occupants, in and around th? vehicle. The wants of our dumb com panions had been attended to: the dogs had been fed and sent off to their night dutv. that of preventing any misguided sheep from wandering beyond the outside limits of the flight —no light work, eon sidering we had eight thousand or more. Tethered to convenient stump-, our long suffering horses were munching their evening's allowance. M hat a soothing effect the continuous. steady munch, munch, of a feeding horse has on one's nerves! 1 love to cast off all care, to forget everv trouble, great and small, and to lie with my feet to the tire, my head resting on my saddle, list *ning t > the munch, munch, munch! It makes one feel so comfortable, somehow. Everything seems to be peaceful and just as it should be. More logs were heaped on the tire. "Froggv." the French cook and comman-der-in-chief of the tucker-cart, was stowing away the last of his tin plates: everybody else was stretched in comfortable, if not elegant, attitudes around the grateful blaze, and all our pipes were in full blast. The rabbit stew had been thoroughly appreciated, and. together with the dampers and billy-tea. made us feel quite satisfied with ourselves and with the world in general. 1 felt so. anyway, and my mates looked it. 1 was putting away, and noticing, in a lazv fashion, how the blue tobacco smoke rushed up. straight over the fire, there to mingle with the darker smoke of the manuka. Some one proposed a song, “(Ain't be bothered!" growled out Williams, our Sims Reeves. "Too tired!" said another aspirant to musical fame. "Too confoundedly lazy, you mean!" mumbled old John Dory. "Look here, you chaps.” he added, after a pause, "if nobody objects. I'll spin you a yarn —a short one. but true. By Jove! yes, it s a true yarn, boys—straight." "Who said as it wasn't? But go ahead. Fishy." "Let’s have it. mate!" These and similar encouragements intimated to the volunteer that his yarn would l>e acceptable. Poor old John Dory! He is dea l now. il wouldn't publish this were he alive.) A better-hearted old towser never cracked a stock-whip. I never knew his right name: 1 don't think anybody did. He had a peculiar mouth —a mouth slewed sideways, somehow. It made him look like a fish: hence his piscatorial nickname. I give you the yarn as he told it. to the best of my remembrance. "I wouldn't tell you about it. boys." old John began, "but that 1 fee: sorter sentimental to-night. Tell you why—see that bit of a rise yonder ( pointing to a -mall eminence close by. an I within range of the firelight', that hill ami its —nations are stamped on my memory, branded on my heart, as —er —Mary Queen o' Scots (wasn't it?) said to somebody about Calais. 11l never forget the little affair that happened on that hill." " In '4'.'. when 'fore the mast in the old Clan Ma farlam-. 1 was one of the crew ashore cutting this here re 1 timber. Tim Maoris were friendly enough: gave ----- - ids, and we gave ’em t whirl: tlre\ smoked and pretended to like as the. -at around wslewing u- cutting. Lazy beggars, those niggers. Well. I’ll 'lit this yarn short, boys, as the thoughts of it make me feel queer: taut somehow. 1 '-ari't keepi from telling it. as that is the " 1 fell in love with a black gal! Quit lour grinning. Mr. William-: a man downright in earnest love- th- woman, not her -kin. What's beauty, anyway, with ut -oa; '•be wasn't like the rest <>f 'em. always a’grubbing about, sneakylike. -pittin' and smoking. She was a real pretty gal. graceful as a Mood mare. I an't describe her good looks. I'll tell

you the good points in a moke, now, or a dawg, or a sheep, but when it conies to gals, I miss stays, and run aground. She was as good a- she was beautiful. 1 don't know why; her old dad was no beauty, her mother was dead —killed and eaten, 1 was told, by a neighbouring tribe. 1 used to see her helping the old man carry his load of pippies and other shell fish, for he was tottery on his pins but. contrary to custom, would bear a hand. She liked me, too, from the very -tart, because 1 treated her different to the others, 1 think. She got into the habit of sitting near me when I was chi pping, and began to teach me her lingo. 1 taught her English as well as I could, and she taught me Maori. We got very fond of one another. My name among her people was Ron; she called me Korero because I talked to her so much. I called her Mary, after a gal 1 went with in Ply mouth. She (my Maori Mary. 1 mean) didn't like to hear of Plymouth or England after 1 told her that. 1

began to love her. and to feel 1 wouldn't quite like the time when the ship turned her head to sea again. " An idea seized me. Why not get left behind, marry my gal. and settle among the Maoris’ The thought gave me a bit of a shock at first, but I had no home, and no relations living, that I knew of. Why not stop here, and lead the comfortable lazy life of the natives’ I proposed the plan to my Mary, and she seemed quite taken aback. I nave often wondered since whether that was put on or not. because women are women all the world over, be they black or white. A gal is - quite unprepared.' or ‘dreadfully - rpri-ed' when a chap proposes to her. when perhaps -he has been shyly bringing him up to the point for months! Aly gal raised all sorts of objections, which were soon overcome," Here the speaker hesitated, as if a-aamed of showing what we might have

thought to have been emotion. On being invited to “ wet his whistle,” the old man took a good pull at a pannikin of rawrum handed to him, and then started again on his extraordinary tale of sheer downright pluck and forgetfulness of selt. If ever a heroine breathed in Maoriland, John Dory's " Mary’’ was one. "To make my long story very short, I won't tell you the ins and outs —just the straight yarn, without any frills," continued the narrator. "1 managed matters so that the Clan Macfarlane went off in a light south-easter with all her canvas shaken out. but—without the skipper of the third watch forward. AU sorts of queer things 1 thought of while lying in my hiding place as 1 watched her scudding away —of my mates, of the grizzly old chief's rage wnea he would dis cover my absence. He’d have turned back again to look for nte. but 1 knew that he had a good lead up the eoast, and wanted to mak-- Sydney before the Mary Marner barque, leading a mile or two down to th? south’ard of us. "It was well for me that my gal Alary was in high favour with the village tohunga. lie married us. native fashion, on the quiet, and hushed up the row started among her relations, they all jabbered and cut capers when they knew that the base-born white man (taurakarika pakeha) had mated with the daughter of such a well-bred chief (rangatira) as M henohau. Old Whenohau took it very well, especially when 1 gave him a couple of blankets out of my sea-chest, which 1 had smuggled ashore. Not so Rahui: he took it verv badlv. He. the son of I’ene-

tana, to be cut out (for he had wanted my gal—by my humble self —preposterous! " But for that scoundrel all would have been well, and I might have been a pakehaAlaori to this day. But he wanted utu — he sought revenge, and. by Jove, he had it, too! Not on me, though. 1 sometimes wish it had been. Poor old Alary! Rest your bones. " Well. when all seemed happv as the marriage bell, and our whare had been patched up to suit my sailor fancy, and we two were as happy as skylarks, the first idea of any interference on Rahui’s part was made known to us. Me found out that the meetings held round the tohunga's whare were held for my special benefit. I didn’t feel flattered. I assure you. Rahui would often get his friends together, and -pout for hours against my lx* in allowed to remain in the kainga — against, I discovered, my

being allowed to live! This was coming it a bit too strong. However, 1 could do nothing. All the niggers gave me black looks (that ain’t meant for no pun) but Mary's reassurances kept me quiet. They never, she said, would harm her husband, she was too much respected. How she hated Rahui! His would have been a poor show, even with me out of the field. " Mell, one night, moonlight and bright, we were awakened by the furious barking of out dogs, and before we knew where we were, the door was burst open, and 1 saw Rahui’s figure outlined against the sky. He inarched straight in. followed by a crowd of his black devils of friends, and without saying a word he started to haul me out of bed! Of course 1 showed fight, and poor Alary showed her teeth, but we were soon overpowered. "1 was bound hand and foot with flax, and carried to the big whare in the middle of the pah. To my surprise everybody seemed awake. Plainly some devilment was afoot. Aly tohunga friend was there, but seemed passive. A big fire blazed in the middle of the floor, the smoke escaping through the usual hole in the roof, A curious framework of sticks, tied with flax, was rigged up about five or six feet above it. I was put down on the floor. You can imagine how 1 felt. The friends started jabbering, apparently paying no attention to me. 1 gathered from what they were saying that Rahui had patched up a yarn that 1 had frequently and purposely violated their holy blooming Tapu laws. All seemed quite satisfied that I merited death by torture. 1 started to talk, and to vindicate myself, but Rahui got up. and calmly picking up a billet of wood, stooped and brought it down v.haek on my jaw. Now you know, boys why I have such a hideous slit for a mouth! Mell, to continue, I was silenced. The devils saw my blood running on to the earth floor, and that seemed to rouse their savage natures, for they immediately started to play tl.eir hellish tricks on me. As if I didn't suffer enough from my jaw wound! M ell, they lowered away this frame business. tied me on to it, and refixed it above the fire! Good God. boys, it was awful! For half an hour or so they left the fire as it was and watched me in silence. This half-hour seemed a week. I won't try to tell you what the feelings were like—you can guess. The smoke, heat, pain of my wound, pain cf my bonds, thoughts of my wife —ugh! . . . . 1 must have another pull at the bottle: pass it along. Jim. Thanks. . . . Let me see, now; I'm getting muddled. The fire, yes! If Hell's worse than that, God help us! I began to get unconscious. They piled on more wood, and when that blazed up! It won’t last long. I thought. "Suddenly in rushed Alary. I heard the disturbance, though barely conscious. How- she screamed when she saw me! I knew she was being held. Her old father spoke and commanded her to be let alone. Then the tohunga (my friend, fersooth) used his authority, and, despite Rahui’s wild remonstrance, proposed as devilish a plan as was ever conceived by mortal man. He told my Alary that if she loved her husband she should be ready to die for him! She was ready, she said. "The frame I was on was taken down again, and placed against the wall, so as to give me a view of the whole room. Aline must be a good constitution. I hadn’t fainted yet. and eagerness to know what was to happen kept me up. What do you think? If my wife chose tc walk into the fire and be burned to death I was to be free! Did that gal falter or delay? No, boys; that heroine, that wonderful woman, walked, barefooted, straight into the fire! Good heavens! How I struggled and shouted to our tormentors to take her out. to ent me up. or do anything they liked to me, but to save her. Her father and Rahui pleaded, but in vain; the tohunga was all-powerful. Mell, boys, my wife stood, she writhed in agony. She looked round, she smiled; yes, smiled at me. She quivered, screamed, and dropped in a heap! Aly Alary was dead! "Dead! Then her murderers were satisfied. They seemed remorseful. She had done nothing, they said —-why should she -uffer? Kill the man! I begged them to do so. The tohunga spoke of the promise, and 1 was freed from my bonds. I dropped, and Rahui came towards me. Hatred, and all my evil passions arose at sight of him. With unnatural strength I sprang up. Quick as

lightning X seized a half-burnt stick and dealt him a blow on the head, rushed at the tohunga and hit him with the wood in the face. I saw his nose was torn off, and it hung by a thread of skin. A whole host of details came into my vision and have remained in my memory: the half-dazed Maoris about to rush me, the horror-struck face of Mary's father, the charred trunk of my faithful • al's body—ugh! I turned to the door and rushed, bleeding and weak as 1 was, far into the bush, where my enemeis dared not follow me for fear of the evil spirits that come out of the totara three spirit that comes out of the, totara trees at sundown.

“I spent that night—God knows how! However. I got away from there. My jaw healed itself. I begged tucker from squatters as I worked my way up the eoast towards Auckland. 1 haven't been here since then, boys. God receive my dead wife’s soul! That's all. boys: don't laugh at me. 1 can't keep the tears lack. Good-night, all!”

And John Dory made his way to his bunk under our "tucker-cart.