Ghost Stories and Mysteries (8 page)

“He had scarcely finished speaking when we caught sight of his horses, and he started after them, leaving me to meditate on the pleasant piece of information he had just imparted to me.

“I did not do anything sudden or rash, but rode quietly home. Next morning I left the district, never to return. I wrote to her a letter I do not think she would forget very easily, and have made her an allowance—as much as I could afford—ever since, on condition that she never called herself by my name or attempted to join me. She consented perforce, for I went to New Zealand, and remained there for three years.”

“Have you heard of her lately; are you sure your information was correct?” said Starr, after a pause.

“I have; and her conduct since my departure fully comes up to, nay exceeds, the character I heard of her.”

There was a pause of some minutes, during which the regular breathing of the sleeper outside could be heard.

Jackson’s attention was attracted by it.

“Who is he?” he said, in an undertone to Harris, indicating the object of his remark by a move of the head.

“I don’t know; I only met him a day or two ago, and we travelled down together. He says that he has been in the army.”

“Looks more like a skittle-sharper,” said Starr, rudely.

“Don’t be spiteful now, because he won when you played off!”

“Not I, but I saw something that you fellows didn’t see. The stakes were not worth making a noise or a scene about, but the cards know him as well as he knows them.”

“What! Did he cheat?” said Harris, turning as red as fire.

“Something very like it.”

“Confound him forever. To think of my having brought him here. Old Fitzpatrick introduced him to me; he seems to have been educated, and I supposed that he was as good as most of the other men you meet. “

“Of course, Harris, it is impossible to know what a man is from just riding along a road with him. Good night,” he went on, shaking hands, “we shall have breakfast at sunrise to-morrow, but you need not get up unless you are going to start early too.”

“I am off the first thing,” replied Jackson. “And Harris, of course you will come to my place to-morrow?”

“Yes. But I have a good mind to wake Mr. Haughton up, and tell him something that will stop him from proceeding with us to-morrow. I feel almost as though I had been found out doing something dirty myself.”

“Oh, nonsense,” said Starr, “it is not worth speaking about; only don’t play at cards with him any more.”

By sunrise next morning breakfast had been despatched, and the horses were ready, saddled. Haughton complained of an attack of fever, and declined any breakfast. Starr and Jackson bade him good morning, and made some ordinary remarks.

Harris stalked by him like a muzzled tiger past a shin of beef.

Haughton took no notice of his changed behaviour, though it was open enough. He said that he would ride slowly and overtake them in an hour or two if he felt better.

The station was soon tenanted by the cook and stockman only. Haughton’s horses were in the yard, and about an hour after the others had left, the men saw Haughton catch and saddle them, then ride away along the same road taken by Jackson and Harris.

They had pushed on, and by three o’clock arrived at Jackson’s station, Glenmore. Harris was easily persuaded to stop the next day, the station of which he was superintent being only fifteen miles distant

“Mr. Haughton does not seem to be showing up,” he said, as he was preparing to start the following morning.

“No, he could not help noticing your behaviour towards him. I will be down your way in a day or two—good bye.”

Chapter II

On the second day after Harris’ arrival at home, Jackson rode up to the station, a black boy following him. Harris came out to meet him, and was immediately struck by the gray expression of his friend’s face.

“Why, Jackson, you look serious enough for half-a-dozen parsons; what is the matter?”

“Starr has been murdered,” returned Jackson, shortly.

“Good God! You can’t mean it”

But Jackson’s face assured him that he did mean it.

“He was found dead at Yorick’s Lagoon, shot through the head. Here is his black boy, Dick, who found the body.”

Harris turned to the boy.

“Mr. Starr been killed?”

“Yöi; ben shootem here,” touching the top of his head.

“Had he been robbed too, Jackson?”

“There were no tracks of any other horse but his own within two miles of the place; no signs of a struggle, and his body appeared to be untouched by anybody after falling.”

“And the gold?”

“No gold was found upon him. Some papers, two or three £1-notes, and some loose silver, were all the articles of value on his person. His horse was found with a mob of station horses, but without the valise, which Dick says was on the saddle when he left the Blatherskyte diggings. This is all I can learn from Dick. If you can come we will start back at once. An inquest will be held to-morrow or the day after; Williams has gone up to Blatherskyte.”

All that was elucidated at the inquest was, that on Monday, the 24th of January, James Starr had left Blatherskyte diggings alone, leaving a stockman named Williams and the black boy, Dick, to come on slowly. He was not again seen alive by anybody then present. Williams stated: That he was a stockman in the employ of the deceased; assisted him to drive a mob of fat cattle to Blatherskyte; that he left the diggings on the same morning, though some hours later, than the deceased did; a storekeeper of Blatherskyte, named Thompson, and the black boy, Dick, accompanied him; went as far as the creek called the “Twenty-mile,” and camped there that night; arrived at Yorick’s Lagoon about twelve o’clock; saw the body of a man lying at the edge of the water; the upper portion of his body was on a log; went over to it and found it to be the body of his employer, James Starr; a bullet wound was visible on the top of his head; appeared to have been dead about twelve hours; the body was quite stiff; deceased had some gold in a valise in the front of his saddle when he left the diggings; did not know the amount; found his horse close to the station, with some other station horses; the saddle was on the horse, but no valise.

Thompson’s testimony was to exactly the same effect.

Jawdon, a butcher of Blatherskyte, stated that he paid the deceased the sum of one hundred and sixty ounces of gold, and a cheque for £155, before he left the diggings; it was in payment for cattle sold and delivered to him by the deceased; saw the deceased put it into a valise and strap it on in front of his saddle; made some remark at the time about the horse getting away with it on; Starr left his place immediately afterwards; did not see him stop anywhere as long as he was in sight; believed that he went straight away. Williams, recalled, stated that after finding the body the black boy, who was an excellent tracker, went round with him to look for tracks; saw no fresh tracks of wither horse or man, excepting the track of deceased and his horse; knew the track of deceased’s horse by his having been newly shod on the diggings, and having a very peculiar shaped hoof; could swear to it; had shod the same horse himself at various times; the track of Starr’s horse went straight to the place where the body lay, and from then back to the road, and along it until the horse joined the mob he was found with; the lagoon was a small piece of water, about five miles from the station, close to the road; saw no horse tracks on the other side of the lagoon; it was about thirty to forty yards broad; cattle had been watering on the opposite side of the lagoon during the previous night; saw fresh tracks of a large number; saw the tracks of Starr’s horse all the way along the road to Yorick’s Lagoon; saw no other fresh tracks; met no one on the road.

The medical testimony showed the cause of death to have been a bullet wound in the top of the head; bullet produced was a small one seemingly, belonging to a very small bored rifle.

Jackson and Harris were examined, but of course their testimony threw no light on the affair. Suspicion first settled on Starr’s discharged cook. He was found at a public-house, some fifty miles from the scene of the murder. Had gone there direct from the station, and had been there ever since, “on the spree.” Several witnesses could swear to his presence there at all hours of the day and night.

Haughton was then enquired for, and found at Imberwalla. Proved to have stopped at a shepherd’s hut, six miles beyond Glenmore station, the night after he left Stratford; he accounted for not calling at the station by mentioning the changed manner of Harris towards him; arrived at Imberwalla three days after wards; had to camp on the road, on account of sickness; was still suffering from fever; did not possess either a rifle or revolver; had not had one for the last six months.

A verdict of willful murder against some person or persons unknown was returned; but years passed and nothing ever transpired.

Dick went into the service of Harris, and one day passing the scene of the tragedy he persuaded Harris to ride over, and then made an explanation which seemed to have been troubling him.

“You see, Mitter Starr bin get off to drink, lay down, like it there, doss up along a log. Some fellow been come up along a nother side, you see, where cattle track big fellow come up. That fellow bin shoot em Mitter Starr when he bin stoop down drink. Then go away along a cattle track. Cattle come up along at night, look out water, put em out track all together.”

Dick’s conclusion struck Harris as being correct, but it went no further towards pointing out the murderer.

Chapter III

More than twelve years after the events of the last chapter, Jackson and Harris met in Sydney. They had not seen each other for several years, both having left the district in which they formerly resided.

“Jackson, you must come and stay with me for a while. I want to introduce you to my wife. No! not the one I told you about. She is dead, died from drink I believe. I heard she was dying, and went to see her. If I had not seen it, I could not have believed that a woman could alter so. I am not a hypocrite, Jackson, nor are you, so I can say thank God she is dead without fear of your pretending to be shocked. No! I can show you a wife I am proud of.”

Jackson stayed several days with Harris, whose wife certainly merited her husband’s praise. One evening the conversation turned upon spirit rapping. Mrs. Harris remarked that some friends of hers, who were devout believers in it, had pressed her strongly to accompany them to a séance the next evening. She did not at first mean to go, but on Harris and Jackson saying that they would accompany her, they made up their minds to see the wonders of spirit-land the next evening.

Mrs. Harris’ friends called at about three o’clock in the afternoon, and the party, after proceeding down several rather shabby streets, stopped at a more than rather shabby house.

Jackson whispered that he wondered the spirits did not select a more fashionable, or at least a cleaner, neighborhood to make their communications in. After payment, they were shown into a dimly-lighted room, where several other well dressed persons were present. Some were seated round a table, others standing. The medium and another person, who was not a medium at present, only a disciple, were holding a conversation on spirit-rapping for the good of the company.

The medium was a thin-faced, crafty-looking man, evidently in bad health. Not bad looking, but still not exactly prepossessing. After a time, he seated himself at the table, the disciple left the room, and silence was demanded. The medium having explained the meaning of the knocks, what one knock stood for, etc, put himself into communication with the spirits. Several people asked questions of deceased relatives, some trustingly and confiding, others sneeringly. Sometimes the answers were strangely correct, to judge from the countenances of the enquirers; others, and by far the greater number, were as evidently wrong. Presently a conversation arose, which soon ended in a discussion between believers and unbelievers.

The medium then took a pencil and paper, and stated; “that any of the company might write a question on a piece of paper, fold it, and lay it on the table; that his arm would be guided by the spirits to write the answer, without having seen the question. This was evidently the display of the evening, and the company evinced a good deal of interest in the proceeding.

As before, some few of the answers seemed to be correct, and the majority wrong. The spirits, to judge from the manner in which the medium jerked his arm about, were fighting for possession of the pen.

Harris and Jackson determined to ask a question out of fun. Harris took out a note-book, wrote a question on a leaf, tore it out, and then handed the book to Jackson. He took it, but did not write anything. Harris walked up to the table and placed his folded paper on it; at the same time looking half-laughingly, half enquiringly, into the face of the medium, immediately afterwards though turning his gaze on to his wife.

The medium’s sharp black eyes looked for a moment disconcerted, as they met Harris’ frank look, but they noted its after direction, and a curious puzzled expression came into them. The spirits at first did not seem inclined to answer the question, but presently the mystic arm moved, and with a doubtful look, which soon changed into a triumphant one, the seer handed the answer to Harris.

It was a small piece of paper, and there were only two words on it, but they were quite enough to make Harris look at the medium with a scared face that was quite ludicrous; he drew back without speaking.