The Shasta courier., 1865-09-23


tolerably heavy swag, and this with my
pannikin and billy gave me all the appear
ance of a bona tide one. | went straight up
to the bar, had my nobbler, lighted nay pipe,
and then sat down outside to consider my
next movement. 1t was necessary should
have some one in my confidence, but | re-
solved not to trust the local police, as in
these remote stations their life of idleness
often makes them loafers and gossips. re-
solved to call Mr. T., the hotel-keeper ana
postmaster, aside-he had been an officer IN
the army for many years-and tell him my
errand. l did so-never was secret better
| kept-and returned as If nothing had oc-
Cured. Toward evening, the bar was pretty
/ i..ls and ! took the opportunity OF saying
publicly to Mr.. r., that | was out of work,
that ] was a groom, that l did not want to
90 on q station, and should be glad OF
chance Job. He at once told me to 90 to his
stables and tell his foreman to take me on as
an extra stable hand. | gave Mr.. I. my
swag to take care of; it contained my uni
form, and my authority from headquarters
! to act as detective. lie understood all, and
that was sufficient.
As groom | remained here seven
months able for long while to do nothing;
but feeling more and more confident that
the general sucpicion of Stevens was well
founded. OF course, / became intimate with
him, but only in the evenings when my work
was done in all respects | acted as an or
dlnary groom, receiving my weekly wages,
and carefully ayoiding everything that
might lead any one to suppose l was any
thing but groom. Often have | laughed
within myself as a mounted trooper has
| ridden up, and called me to take his horse
| and give him feed ; however | kept my own
counsel, and little by little light dawned
upon my track. Over the never failing
| pipe ! had frequent conversations with
Stevens about this old man; on such occa-
slons he would generally fix his eyes upon
the ground, which gave me the opportunity
to watch him the more narrowly. | could
then see the nervous twitchings of his face,
the biting Of his lips and the sudden pass
ing OF his handkerchief across his brow,
which convinced me that he knew more Of
this affair than l did. Frequently at the
! close Of our conversations, he would say
hate talking Of this dismal subject, let's
| have another glass On such occasions he
always said, III shout you are only a
/ groom, | can afford it better than you.'-
/ Gradually he took to regular drinking
morning noon and night he was to be found
at the bar. When joked about his finances,
! he had his answer ready: he had sold
horse, or an old mate had called and given
him some cash. So long, however, as he
shouted freely, few cared where the money
came from. My eyes, however, were steadi-
ly fixed on his drinking habits as a clue to
my researches"
Summer was now coming on; though it
was late summer, it was u regular hot Aus
tralian one; and in the course of few weeks
the Glenelg began to dry up, and its long
chain Of water holes to appear. Now was
| the time for ascertaining whether the re-
mains Of the old man were to be found in
any of the water-holes in the neighborhood
| of Il, and one evening | was talking
to Stevens about this, I said, -'y you or |
/ may as well try and find the remains of
Jeffrey, any so lay clam to the Government
reward, L noticed this gave him quite a
turn and although he tried to conceal it,
| | saw that he trembled all over, and though
| generally very mild spoken, he got very
angry with me, and told me that 1 might do
what liked, but he wasn't so fond of look
| ing after dead men, especially if they were
murdered. replied No one said that
Jeffrey was murdered you have always
said he made away with himself Il
| thought so once, but now, the more | think
over the matter, the more convinced | am
| that he was murdered That has to be
| proved, said |, and to prove it we must
| find the remains, and as the river dries up |
have no doubt we shall find them in one Of
! the water holes near his hut This was not
! exactly guess, but was a conclusion ar
rived at thus: First, Stevens was q slight
| built man, and, supposing him to have been
| the murderer could not have carried jeffrey
| far, and secondly, every one knows that
murderers seldom have nerve or forethought
/ to carry their victims far from the scene of
| the murder. As soon as | had said this he
became very pale, and quickly said Well,
| let's have a nobbler; | can't stand this
everlasting talk about murdered man.
We had our glass and parted for the night
hut nv mind was ready made up. Stevens,
! beyond doubt was the murderer, and | must
obtain the proof. | am not going to defend
our code of morals ! admit that we often
do evil that good may come but society
should not employ us to find out dark crimes
| if they mean to condemn US for our ques-
| tionable methods Of procedure.
| sit was now late in January, and the
weather was intensely hot. 1t was surpris-
ing to see how rapidly the Glenelg ceased to
be q river and how each day the water
holes became shaIlower and shallower.-
Prompted by me, Mr.. L. obtained. from
| peighboring magistrate, orders for the police
to examine every water-hole within a mile
on either side of old Jefrey's hut. As soon
as this was known, Stevens was down at
the bar trying | suppose to smother his
memory in deep potations Of whisky. Di
rectlv the police commenced searching the
river. [ discharged myself, and having my
check. proceeded or pretended, to spend it
after the usual upcountry fashion, which,
as everybody knows, means staying in the
bar. and shouting right off the reel. This
did not exactly do; | kept as sober as a
iudre behind the scenes | prompted every
thing through Mr.. 7. | suggested every
stem that had hitherto been taken, and now
| had only to wait the result of the searching
and dragging these water-holes These who
know the country, know that this is no easy
matter. and that it occupies considerable
tirae. Sometimes only two or three could be
searched in day, on others more. Whilst
this was going on Stevens became almost a
resident in the bar, seldom leaving it, but
betrav;no the most intense and childish
cnr;oSSitv rs to the result Of the search
Have they found anything Z, or Haven't I
thew fonud anything? or Well / should
have thought that they would have found
| ~; br tbis time were expressions