The Washington herald., 1914-03-08

| Inank ye. mister, groWied tne man
huge chap In a red checked shirt
Been an accidentr said I. reignini
up
Yes said he. scowling as though b
defled me 10 ask any more
| ".And a nasty one I said. II that,
| blood on the saddler
well. Bunny. ! may be a blackguart
myself. but / don't think / ever looket
at a fellow as tat chap looked at me
But stared him out. and forced him tc
admit that It was blood on the twisted
saddle. and after that he became quit.
tame. He told me exactly what had hap-
pened- A mate Of his had been dragged
under a branch. and had his nose smash.
| ed. but that was all; had sat tight after
It till he dropped from loss OF blood
another mate was with him back In the
bush.
''As I've said already. Bunny. I wasn't
the old stager that / am now-in any re-
spect-and We parted good enough
| friends. He askeG me which way I was
going. and. when ! told him. he said I
| should save seven miles. and get a good
hour earlier to Yea. by striking OF the
track and making for a peak that we
| could see through the trees. and follow
! ing a creek that 1 should see from the
peak. Don't smile, Bunny! I began by
saying I was a child in those days OF
course. the short cut was tho long way
round: and it was nearly dark when that
unlucky mare and saw the single street
OF Yea
81 was looking for the bank when a
fellow in a white suit ran down from a
veranda-
" Mr.. Raf1esr said he
Mr.. Raffiesr said 1. laughing as l
shook his hand.
You're late
Il was misdirected.'
That all? I'm relieved he said DO
you know what they are saying7 There
are some brand-new bushrangers on the
road between whittlesea and this-a sec
Tartar in you. chr
They would In you I retorted. and
my tu quoque shut him up and seemed to
puzzle him Yet there was much more
sense in it than in his compliment to me.
which was absolutely pointless
TIN afraid you'n find things pretty
rough he resumed. when he had un-
strapped my valise. and handed my reins
to his man. It's lucky you're a bachelor
like myself
Il could not quite see t.-e point of this
remark either. since, had been married.
I should hardly have sprung my wife
upon him in this free-and-easy fashion.
1 muttered the conventional sort of thing.
when settled. as though had come to
Craze upon him for weeksl Well
thought i. these colonials do take the
cake Tor hospitality And. stin marvel
ling. i let him lead me into thu private
part OF the bank
Dinner will be ready in a quarter OF
an hour said he as We entered. I
thought you might like a tub FIRST. and
you'n find all ready in the room at the
end OF the passage. Sing out If there's
anything you want Your luggage hasn't
turned up yet by the way. but here's a
letter that came this morning
Mot for mer
YES; didn't you expect oner
II certainly did notr
"'weIl. here 1t is
"And. as he Lit me to my room. 1 read
my own supsrscription of the previous
day-to W. F. Rames!
"W. r. Rallies! We had mistaken each
other for W. F. Raf1es-for the new man.
ager who had not yet arrived Sman
wonder we had conversed at cross-pur-
poses. The only wonder was that We had
not discovered our mutual mistake. How
the other man would have laughed
but IL could not laugh. Ey Jove. no,
1t was no laughing matter for mel 1 saw
the whole thing in a fash. without a tre-
NOR. but with the direst depression from
my own single point OF view. Call It |
callous If you like. Bunny. but remember |
that l was in much the same hole as |
you've since been in yourself. and that
1 had counted on this W. 3. Rafies even
as you counted on A J. ] thought of the 4
man with the beard-the riderless horse
with the bloody saddle-the deliberate
that had put me on the track
and out of the way-and now the missing
manager and TIE report of bushrangers
at This end.
Il was in as bi- hole as ever. What
the devil was l to do? / doubt II l have
sufficiently impressed upon you the alb
s1lute necessity of my returning to Mel
bourne in funds. AS a matter of fact II
was less the necessity than my own de-
eI nination which ] can truthfuIly de-
scribe as absolute
Money ] would have-but how-buf
low? Would this stranger be open to
/ told him the TRUTH No;
.ha. would set u all securing the coun-
~ for the rest of the night Why should
tell him? Suppose ] left him to fipd
,ut his mistake would anything
e gained? Bunny. give you my word
hat l went in to dinner without a den-
lite intention in my mead. or one premed-
tated lie upon my lips | might do the
Iecent natural thing. ant explain mat ,
ers without losi OF time; on the other ,
land. there was no hurry. I had not ,
pened the letter. and could always pre-
k,A l&k, tia / .