The Springfield herald., 1899-01-06
A FELLOWS LOVE.
BY HENRY W. NESFIELD.
BY HENRY ". NESFIELD.

day after day passed by. but no Rob
ert Luke appeared.
The mounted police, with the black
trackers. secured the country for over
thirty miles around, and left hardly
a rock or patch of scrub unsearched.
Every building on the station had
been examined, and there only re-
mained Tom Baynes' hut to visit.
Baynes was the first to suggest that it
should be searched.
There's been lot of talk know,
SIR" he said, "about my wife's shutting
herself up so. Poor thing, she can't
help that wish she could get about
SO l should like the sergeant to satisfy
himself that Luke isn't in hiding
there"
| Nobody would be foolish enough to
suppose he was, Baynes," replied Mr.
Hall. smiling at the young mans anXi-
ETY.; but We had better. as you say
look everywhere while We are about
| it."
Mr.. Hall had really a secret desire to
behold this hidden treasure in the way
of wife, who was so persistently shell
tered from the vulgar gaze. Accord
ingly he made one of the party to ex-
anime the hut.
| When the troopers knocked at the
door, it was standing a little way open.
Come in said low voice.
Half-sitting. half-reclining upon the
bed which occupied one corner of the
one room the hut possessed. dressed
in the ordinary printed calico gown
of working-woman, shawl over her
feet. and some needlework on which
she was engaged upon her lap. was
Mrs. Baynes. Her jet-b.ack hair was
neatly smoothed in front and braided
at the back. and her pale face and
nervous manner denoted the invalid.
She wore colored spectacles.
Very sorry to intrude, Mrs Baynes,
l am sure" said Mr. Hall. but we
are compelled to search everywhere for
this lost man. Your husband has no
doubt told you about it?''
Yes. yes" replied Mrs. Baynes. at
seems very strange that he should
have gone on like that!"
What nice woman" thought Mr..
Hall. land a good-loolking one, too,
It's thousand pities that she should
be broken down. No wonder Baynes is
careful of her." Then he said aloud.
IF We were only certain that he had
gone off somewhere, it would be sat
| isfactory, but We can find no traces of
him anywhere. Besides, a man does
not run off in the middle of the night
without his boots, leaving two or
three months wages behind him, un-
less he has a very important reason
for doing So"
There was very little for the sergeant
| to inspect in the hut-a deal table, two
rough benches. the bed upon which
Mrs. Baynes reclined, and which had
no hangings or drapery upon it that
could conceal anything. and one or two
small boxes containing clothes. These
articles made up the entire furniture
of the apartment. The walls, which
were of roughly-hewn slabs nailed to
the frame of the hut. We're carefully
papered over with old Sydney Morning
| Heralds, while the two small window
frames were covered with calico.
A hut which is built for the dual pur-
nose of cooking and sleeping in gen.
orally has large fireplace which en-
tirely occupies one end of it. Such a
one had this, and upon the hearth
there bazed log-fire. beneath ket
tie which hung from an iron bar.
Altogether the visit to the hut did
not occupy above five minutes.
The sergeant declared himself salts
fed, and Mrs. Baynes. rising from the
bed, begged Mr.. Hall to stay and ac-
cept of some tea.
THE kettle is already on the boil.
SIR" she said
pray do not disturb yourself. Mrs.
Baynes," the squatter answered. as she
stood up. I'VE are too sorry for hav-
ing had to come at ALL"
When the search-party had with
drawn, the sergeant remarked to Mr..
Hall
That's the woman, l suppose, I've
heard so much talk about-the one
people said was mad and shut up
| herev'
Il dare say" replied Mr.. Hall "Peo-
Pile say all sorts of things. She's the
cooks wife, and is hopeless invalid,
but she is very good at her needle.
and my wife is uncommonly glad to
have her here Poor thing she looks
very white and ill"'
The disappearance of Bob Luke re-
manned a complete enigma.
The colonial papers, under the head
ing of 1.-The Mysterious Disappearance
on the Barrier Ranges suggested all
sorts of solutions to the riddle, and
penny-a-liners found in it large
scope for their imaginations.
All the remarkable disappearance
| that had ever been recorded were
brought to light again, and. as last
loophole out of the difficulty. it was
suggested that the man had for some
urgent reason determined to lose his
identity, and so had gone OFF, leaving
his boots behind him in order to throw
people off the scent.
Like most other mysteries, this soon
became thing of the past The sub
| ject at last grew monotonous, and In
a very few months people had ceased
to think any more about 1t. What.
after all. was bushman more or less
of whom no one knew anything and
| for whom nobody cared?