Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-11
and applied external heat to my dripping

and applied external heat to my dripping
clothes in front Of a fire.
In such house one may live on about
S2o year. inclusive excepting a horse and
doing some entertainlng). provided one
makes clothes and shoes out of sacking and
cowhide and is good shot. Moreover, II
ones antecedents are doubtful the privacy
Is complete, and the New Zealand bush
affords every facility for evading the
mounted police, who go around occasional
ly with the photograph of some criminal OF
whom they are in search.
Bushman Examined His Guest.
In such reassuring environment 1 was
to spend the night. Ny friend quickly got
ready meal of the inevitable mutton and
the eternal stewed tea and we sat down. On
closer inspection liked the look of him
still less than had at first.
AS We talked he carefully examined my
clothes, my shoes. the ring on my finger
IN tact, everything except my face. which
he studiously avoided. His jaw was heavy
and hung at an unpleasant angle, and ir-
seal upon his brow. Yet under the rough
veneer which bush life Invariably produces
there were traces of education and refine
ment. But the more I looked at him the
more certainly the conviction grew upon me
that had seen him before. and under dis
creditable circumstances, though for the
life Of me could not recall the occasion.
We'll, tea was over, and, with the storm
entertain each other First he invited me
to throw for sixpences, but the dice were
SO palpably loaded that l felt the offer to
be an insult to my intelligence. He then
proposed euchre, to which 1 acceded (for
the low points, so that 1 could not be too
readily robbed, glancing at the cards to
see that the back were not too obtrusively
marked and that there were not more than
six aces to the pack. l also furtively ex-
amined his coat sleeves for a secret card
box or holdout. He pressed me to sit
where should have a looking-glass behind
me; declined that, but Unanswered unsuc-
cessfully for some time to get him to take
that particular seat himself. We had each
now asserted ourselves as keen men of the
world who understood each other.
% Take your drink, mate; It'll keep the
cold OUT said my host.
He had seen suspicion in my eyes. and
now read 1t plainly in his. l drank his
villainous liquor mechanically; 1t might
have been furniture polish. but I inclined
pain-killer.
Host Won Steadily.
1--WE began to play euchre-the national
game Of New Zealand. as 1t might almost
be called. He won steadily. though could
see nothing definitely unfair in his play.
I noticed, however, he held the right and
left bowers suspiciously often. and occa-
sionally 'bridged' the pack when handling 1t
to me to cut. But my bush life had given
AC SoulS experience VI Swapping, ana I look
out the bridge by gently squeezing the
pack between my fingers. This increased
his respect for me immensely.
Handing me the pack the next time his
loose cuff fell back from his wrist 1 no
ticed tattoo mark on his forearm, AMI in
an instant it revealed to me the history of
a lifetime.
Like flash I remembered where had
last seen hint was in the prisoners dock
in Wellington! He was professional 6es-
perado named Jack Keen, who had played
the title role in score of sensational crmi-
nal cases in the New Zealand courts. And
there was in the power of the man who
would think no more of cutting my throat
than of eating his breakfast. His gang had
carried on robbery under arms as an or
ganized industry for many years. Their
household included forger, two murderers,
an excellent cook badly wanted for bigamy
and gentleman who. between reprIeves
and escapes from jail. had received so many
sentences that had he served his full time
he would have been $50 years in prison.
my hosts photograph and the extraor-
binary tattoo mark had been reproduced IN