NEW ZEALAND STORIES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVLI, Issue 10, 6 September 1911, Page 50

NEW ZEALAND STORIES.

[The Editor desires to state that Neto Zealand Stories by New Zealand writers, will be published on this page regutally. The page unit be open to any contributor, and all accepted stories will be paid for at current rates. Terse bright sketches of Dominion life and people, woven in short story form, are required, and should be headed “New Zealand Stories.”]

“A Secret of the Ruahines.”

By'

ALF. R. W. KREBS.

y ▼ ES. some mighty strange thing* 41 have happened in those very a I same hill",” remarked the driver of the old Rangivvahia Kimbolton com-h. a> hi< nearest companion’s glance travelled away to the distance, where the serrated ridges of the Ruahine mount a iii" pierce.! the air like uneven teeth of an immense upturned saw. “I know of an affair that caused a great ."lir in the droiia sbme fifteen years ago, and it has never been cleared up yet.” ‘’Well,” answered the man whom he addressed, “let u> hear the yarn. We wnqt something to kill the monotony of this ’lnni-stly journey.” -‘I don't know very much about it.” returned the weather-beaten jehu ; ‘‘but if is a well-known fact that there is gold in those hill", and about fifteen years ago a couple of chaps set out from Apiti to pro"pect for it. Only one of them caine back, and he brought samples of the meta! with him. that must have been taken from a fabulously rich reef. This man, however. disappeared—no one knows how or why— and the whole business has died out long ago; but it is certain that somewhere in those gorges liesluntold wealth.” “You know the story well, my friend.” Ibruke in a heavily-bearded passenger named Robert Dalton, who up till then had remained apparently disinterested in t’hA conversation. “However, I am still better acquainted with it. The man who returned with the gold bearing quartz v..i" well known to me, and his story has ■become mine also.” ‘Thunder'” exclaimed the coachman. '‘Did yo i know Kahl Neilson?” “Y well; but he has been gone these main \rai". I'll give you the tale if you wi"h.”

The men settled themselves comfortably in their seats, ami Dalton unfolded the strange narrative. It was in the yeai 1896 when Kahl Neilson first got the idea of organising a party to prospect for the gold, which, it was rumoured, lay hidden in the Ruahine mountains. His proposal was treated with amusement and it was only after the greatest trouble he secured a partner in his proposed venture. Ned Hanlon was in every way suited for the work, and moreover, was as true a white man as ever stepped. They were to share alike in whatever was the outcome of the expedition. On the 20th November. 1596. Neilson and Hanlon left the haunts of civilisation and struck out from the back of Apiti for the wild." of the range. The men were in high spirits and vert the township with pleasant anticipations for the f ut ure. “Mark my words,” said Kahl to the friendly Apiti storekeeper, “in three months we’ll bring these bags back full of the yellow stuff,’’ and he shipped the stout canvas bags on the back of his pack horse. “Well, boys, I wish you ‘God speed,' but you are going on a wild goose chase.” replied the storeman. The would-be prospectors laughed gaily at this pessimistic forecast, and rode merrily a wav in the direction of the hills. A few days later the search for wealth began in earnest. Leaving their horses at the foot of the range, the two men struck upward, forcing their way through tangled undergrowth and over ridges ami gorges where human foot had never before been planted, until they struck a small stream far back in the rugged country.

“W'e have dropped on the very spot, matey.” delightedly exclaimed Neilson, on catching sight of the creek. “See the rock on the bank there; it’s strange if that is not quartz.” A closer inspection proved that he was right, though whether the rock bore gold or not had to be proved. “You are correct. Kahl, it is,” announced Hanlon. “It is a case of do or die now'. Hurrah for the Ruahines and the gold they are going to give us.” Day after day went by, and mile after mile of the stream was severely scrutinised. but none of the precious metal came to light. Still, there were “signs” in abundance, ami the prospectors—now growing weary with incessant hardships —stuck to the work with that doggedness which the lust for gold seems to implant in every human being, but the limit of endurance was almost reached. “It is no use,” ventured Hanlon, as he threw himself dow n on his rough bunk one night; “we’ll have to give it up mate, or pass out. Tucker is low', and there is not much to kill in these confounded hills. W’e can't afford to die of starvation for all the ‘yellow’ in the country.” “You are right,” answered Neilson. ‘‘To morrow we must go, but we will take the stuff with us.” The man’s eyes sparkled with a curious lustre, and every fibre in his body was quivering with suppressed excitement. “We must leave the range by twelve o'clock to-morrow, but, hark ye, we will take the gold with us,” he cried again, ami struck I£< knee with a force that would have dislocated r the joint in any ordinary person. The .dawn of a new day had scarcely' broken, when the weary men once more set out on their seemingly hopeless quest. “We will part this time, Ned,” said Kahl. “You take the right bank and

I the left. We are going to ‘strike this morning.” Hour -after hour passed in silence. s»v» for the lapping of the. water and tappin., of hammers on the flinty rock. Several hundred.yards of the stream’s course had again been traversed unsuccessfully when an anxious, startled exclamation escaped from Kahl Neilson. His mata glanced up to see him feverishly fimr ( , r . ing a piece of quartz he nad broken from the main body. “Look, Hanlon, old chap,” he cried in a high pitched voice. “Here it is. The rock is full of it. Gold! Gold! Gold!” ‘ AU the energy of the man was aroused There at his feet lay the fortune they had struggled for. The quartz, where he had broken it, was glistening yellow in the sunlight. The treasure of the Ruahines was in their grasp. Hanlon dropped on his knees and examined the find. “Our pilgrimage has ended, Kahl. \\’ a are rich men,” he said, and once more bent over the rock. At the sound of his partner’s excited words, Kahl Neilsen was beset with an awful temptation. Something seemed to whisper in his ear: “Yon ure a rich man. Du not let him have a share. You found it.” The man made one ineffectual strug. gle against the demon at his heart, hut the tempter was too strong. “It’s yours, Put him out of the way, and keep it all.’’ As the terrible thought entered his mind, all the man in Kalil Neilsen departed. Controlled by an insanely selfish desire for wealth he did not care. Friendship, honour, human life—the greatest of all -—were nothing. Gold was everything, and he must have it all, whatever the cost. As the unsuspecting man made to rise from examining the metal, Neilson swung his heavy prospector’s hammer—only once. Three weeks later a miserable specimen of humanity struggled into tint township of Apiti. Covered in rags and racked with fever, he was but a shadow of the vigofljus Neilson who had set out so confidently on the search for wealth some months previous. The wretched ■man was quickly placed in the Hospital at Palmerston North, where for weeks he lay in the grasp of rheumatic fever. Neilson had brought back rich specimens of gold quartz,but he was unable to tell anything for the delirium which seized him. Rumour was rampant. Everyone knew all about it. Where was Ned Hanlon? Where was the reef? These two queries excited the public mind. One night Kahl Nerison escaped from the hospital. How he got away no one knew; but he; disappeared absolutely without '’answering the two great questions which everyone was -asking his neighbour. It seemed as if the man was spirited away from the earth, so completely has lie been hidden from that day to this. "While the bearded traveller na- c.'iicludiug his narrative, the; sky had darkened rapidly, and tell-tale drops of rain and mutterings of thunder foretold one of those sudden storms peculiar to mountainous country. The -passengers drew their great coats more closely .ir-mnd them, and waited for the outbreak -■- .i.e:i soon made its appearance. 11l ’ al ” many on the Orona who remem "'i' w-i.i a shudder the terrible storm wlii a took place that day. The heavens -Hi • I determined to create an extraordinary battle of the elements, while aniid-t tn' beating of the rain, the darting of the lightning and crash and roar of 11: :i mlei. the horses dragged t-he rickety co.i ii towards its destination. ) “By the power of Jove,’’ roar'-.! the driver to the- man nearest him. hi-- voice hardly, discernible above the din of tin' tempest, “this is the worst I h." ' ns' gone through, and I’ve seen some d.ulings in my time.” The words were hardly utterc.l ! 1!l a blinding flash of light, followed by* deafening ■crash, startled the horse-. into wild confusion. A big niaire tree. n '.iy on the cliff’s edge above the v -lii.de. struck from its foundation by the natural lightning, pitched down iig>' 'across the helpless coach, but the !>i' ■ had seen the danger in time. ‘•Jump me,, jump for. your live-. " shrieked in terrified accents, and m.v e a flying leap from his .seat. , Too late! The mass of charred woo rushed downward, and crushed J' vehicle to splinters, while benc.it i ruins lay the man who had reco the tragedy of Kahl Neilson's gold I ' /The storm abated as quickly as it - nnd the other traveller, who Lrkily escaped without injury, at once aswy the coachman to, extricate their <tunate companion. The man was irmsly hurt, though he etUl retained con•ciousnesa.

“I’m done for,” Dalton whispered hearselv. ‘‘l seem to be completely smashed up. Listen closely, you two, I have not finished that yarn yet. I am KAHL NEILSON!” A ery of surprise and horror broke Irani the man who was supporting the injured passenger. "Kahl Neilson? But you told us he bad passed away!” "True, Kahl Neilson did pass away—but in name only. Robert Daltou took the place. 1 am the man who found the cursed gold. That tremendous force which draws human beings bavk to the scene of a crime, forced me here once more to gaze upon the mountains where B iv murdered mate is lying. I killed him for gold, but I did not get it. My life has been a terror to me sitin’. Conscience-stricken I have wandered over the face of the globe seeking to bury my memory; but it’s no good. Evil deeds will find us out. Not all the gold in the world would have taken me back to the reef again. It is there, though. Gold everywhere. Ned Hanlon has guarded the secret for fifteen years now. and the Ruahines have kept the secret well.” A spasm of pain passed over the speaker’s features. He paused and struggled for breath. "1 am dying, friends, and I am terrified to go with this blot on my soul. I cannot face ray Maker now that He has .ailed me. Can you not say something to help me?” The awful entreaty’ of the dying man’s voice would have touched a heart of ‘■ one. The old coach driver was not a religious man, but kneeling down on the sodden roadside, he offered up a simple petition for the man who was soon to meet the Judge. "Thank you, friend,” whispered Neilson. "That gives me some hope at any rate. Now, before I die, I will give you the secret of- the reef, and may it prove a blessing to you, and not a curse, as it did to me. You will find a plan of the—route —in—” fhe wounded head fell back. Kahl Neilson —homicide, wanderer, consciencestricken —had passed the portal. The two men remained for some moments sazing fixedly on the human wreck at their feet. “I say, mate,” the driver said softly, “we are the only two who know who

and what he was. He has taken the secret of the reef’s hiding place with him, and perhaps it is better so. He was ’Robert Dalton.’ What do you say?” The other extended his hand, and they clasped in a fervent grip across the body of him who had been vailed to the last tribunal. “Right. He was nothing else but a. traveller named Robert Dalton. Let the Ruahines still keep the secret they have carried so long.”

Pe eh ].<>: He‘» been awfully nice to me all summer, f.l.idy-- And t<> me. to. Maude; No nicer than he'a been to me. Penelope: Ami he inquired if I minded if be asked mama. Gladys: He asked me that, too.

Maude: That’s no more than be asked me. Penelope: And I said he might. .Gladys: And I said so, too. Maude: No objection from me. All: And now he's proposing to her.