A VISIT FROM WHISPERING PETE
Three months later the shearing of my small flock was at an end, and the
result, an excellent clip, had been dispatched to market. Then, having a
good deal of spare time on my hands, I held a consultation with Sheilah,
planned our house, and set to work upon it. Like my own old home, it was
to be of _pisa_, would consist of five rooms and a kitchen, and have a
broad verandah running all round it. No man, who has not built a house
under similar circumstances, will be able properly to understand what
the construction of that humble abode meant to me, and how I worked at
it. Every second that I could possibly spare was given to it, and as bit
by bit it raised itself above the earth, my love for Sheilah seemed to
grow stronger and purer with it. It was a proud day for me, you may be
sure, when the roof was started, and a still prouder when it was
completed. The windows and doors were then put into the walls, the
floors of the rooms and verandah laid, the papering and painting
completed, until at last it stood ready for occupation. A prettier
position no man could possibly have desired, and as far as construction
went, well, when I say that I had worked at it with the patience and
thoroughness that can only be brought to bear by a man in what is a
labour of love, you will have some idea of what it was like. Ah! what a
glorious time that was--when everything animate and inanimate spoke to
me of Sheilah. When I rose from my bed in the morning, with the sun, it
was to work for her, and when I returned to it again at night it was
with the knowledge that I had done all that man could do for her, and
was just so many hours nearer the time when she would be my wife. It may
be a strange way of putting it, but if you've ever been in love yourself
you'll understand me when I say that her gentle influence was with me
always, in the wind blowing through the long bush grass, in the
whispering of the leaves of the trees, in the rising of the moon above
the distant ranges, and in the murmur of the water in the creek. Nor
did I want for encouragement. When the day's work was done I would cross
the creek and discuss it with my sweetheart and her father, and even
Colin McLeod, now that it was all definitely settled between us and he
knew his fate, treated me quite as one of the family, and without a sign
of his old antagonism.
Then, at last, the joyful day was fixed, and I knew that on a certain
Thursday two months ahead, all being well, Sheilah would become my wife.
The house was completely finished, painted, papered, and furnished, and
even the garden, which I had constructed so that it should slope down to
the river, was beginning to show signs of the labour that had been
expended on it. Then, in the midst of my happiness, when I felt so
secure that it seemed as if nothing could possibly come between me and
the woman I loved, something happened which was destined to be the
precursor of all the terrible things I have yet to tell, and which were
to bow Sheilah's head and mine in sorrow and shame down even to the very
dust.
It was a night at the end of the first week after the completion of the
new house. Having finished his supper, my factotum had gone across to
the township, and I was paying my evening visit to Sheilah. About ten
o'clock I started for home. It had been hot and thundery all the
afternoon and evening, and now a mass of heavy cloud had almost covered
the heavens. The wind whistled dismally through the she-oak trees in the
scrub and moaned along the valley. A premonition of coming ill was upon
me, and when I reached the new house, where I had already installed
myself, I went into the kitchen feeling ready to jump away from my own
shadow. The fire just showed a red glow, and to my amazement gave me the
outline of a man sitting beside it.
'You're up late, Dick,' I cried, thinking it was my man returned from
his evening's outing. But he did not answer.
I lit a candle and held it aloft. Then I almost dropped it in horror and
astonishment.
The man sitting beside the fire was Whispering Pete!
'Good heavens, how did you get here?' I cried, as I set the candle down
upon the table.
'Rode,' he answered laconically, getting on to his feet. 'My horse is in
your stockyard now. I've ridden three hundred miles this week, and must
be over the border before Tuesday.'
'But why have you come here of all other places?' I asked, resolved to
let him see that I was not at all pleased to have him on my premises.
'Because I had to see you, Jim, for myself.' Here he stopped and went
over to the door and looked out. 'Nobody about is there?' he asked
suspiciously.
'Not a soul,' I answered. 'Go on, out with it, what do you want to see
me for?'
He came closer and sank his voice almost to a whisper, as he said,--
'Because, Jim, if we're not careful there'll be trouble, and what's
more, big trouble. The police are looking high and low for Jarman, and
naturally they can't find him. The rumour which I had circulated that he
followed the horse Gaybird up to Northern Queensland has been exploded,
and now they're coming back to the original idea--that we know something
of his whereabouts.'
'Don't say "we" if you please,' I answered hotly. 'Remember I had
nothing at all to do with it.'
Once more he leant towards me. This time he spoke in the same curious
undertone, but with more emphasis.
'Indeed, and pray who had then? Jim Heggarstone, if you're wise you
won't try that game with me. It will not do. Just review the
circumstances of the case, my friend, before you talk like that. What
horse did you ride in that race? Why, the horse that was discovered to
have been stolen. Where did you spend the evening after the race? In my
house. Jarman was among the guests, wasn't he? Who took his dead body
away and buried it in the mountains, and then disappeared himself? Why,
you did. Are those the actions of an innocent man? Answer me that
question before you say anything more about having had nothing to do
with it!'
I saw it all, then, with damning distinctness. And oh, how I loathed
myself for the part I had played in it.
'You have contrived my ruin, Pete!' I cried, like a man in agony.
'Don't be a fool,' he answered. 'I only tell you this to show you that
we must stand by each other, and sink or swim together. If they ask me,
I shall admit that he dined with us and went away about ten o'clock. I
should advise you to do the same. If you did your work well they can
hunt till all's blue and they'll not find the body. And as long as they
can't find that we're safe. I came out of my way here to warn you,
because inquiries are certain to be made, and then we must all give the
same answer. Present a bold front to them, or else clear out or do away
with yourself altogether.'
I could say nothing--I was too stunned even to think. I wanted air and
to be alone, so I opened the door, and went out into the night. The wind
had dropped and an unearthly stillness reigned, broken at intervals by
the sullen booming of thunder in the west. It was a night surcharged
with tragedy, and surely my situation was tragic enough to satisfy
anybody.
'And where are you going to now, Pete?' I asked, when I went into the
room again.
'I'm off to Sydney,' he replied. 'I shall show myself there as much as
possible, for I do not want it to be supposed that I am in hiding. Then
I shall wait awhile, and, when things get settled down a bit, clear out
of Australia altogether. If you are wise, I should advise you to do the
same!'
'Never!' I answered firmly. Then, after a little pause, I continued,
'Pete, does it never strike you what a cruel wrong you have done me?
Fancy, if the girl I am about to marry--whom I love better than my
life--should hear of my part in this dreadful business? Imagine what she
should think of me?'
'She would think all the more of you,' he answered quickly. 'Remember
you are sacrificing yourself for your friend, and as long as it doesn't
make any difference to them, women like that sort of thing.' Then,
changing his voice a little, he said, 'Jim, you must not think I'm
ungrateful. If ever the chance serves I'll set it right for you--I give
you my word I will.'
He held out his hand to me, but I would not take it. It seemed to me to
reek with the blood of the murdered man.
'You won't take my hand?--well, perhaps you're right. But I tell you
this, man, if you think I haven't repented the stab that killed him,
you're making the greatest mistake of your life. My God! that poor
devil's cry, to say nothing of the expression on his face as he fell
back in his chair, has been a nightmare to me ever since. I never go to
sleep without dreaming of him. Out there, in the loneliness of the West,
I've had him with me day and night. Think what that means, and then see
if you can judge me too harshly.'
'God help you!' I cried. 'I cannot judge you!'
'And you will help to save me, Jim,' he said, with infinite pleading in
his voice. 'You will not draw any tighter the rope that is round my
throat--will you?'
'What do you mean by drawing it tighter?'
'I mean, you will not say or do anything that may lead them to suspect?'
'What do you take me for?' I cried. 'I am not an informer. No; I will do
my best for you, come what may. But, remember this, Pete, I'll not have
you coming round here any more. It isn't safe.'
'I'll remember it, never fear,' he answered. 'You shall not set eyes on
me again. Now I'll lie down for an hour, and then I must be off.'
There and then he laid himself down on my kitchen floor near the wall,
and in less than five minutes was fast asleep, for all the world as if
he had not a care upon his mind. I sat by the window, thinking and
thinking. What a position was I in! Just as I had thought myself clear
of my old life for ever, it had sprung up again, hydra-headed, and
threatened to annihilate me. A deadly fear was tearing at my
heart-strings; not fear for myself, you must understand that, but fear
for Sheilah--Sheilah, who believed in me so implicitly.
At the end of an hour, almost to the minute, Pete sat up, rubbed his
eyes, and then leapt to his feet.
'Time's up,' he said briskly. 'I must be getting on again. Will you come
down to the yard with me?'
'Of course,' I answered, and followed him out of the door. We walked
across the paddock together, and when his horse was saddled, he turned
to me and said, solemnly,--
'As you deal by me, Jim, so may God deal with you! I'm not the sort of
chap you would associate with religion, but, little though you may be
able to square it with what you know of me, I tell you I am a firm
believer in a God. My account with Him is a pretty black one, I'm
afraid; but yours, old man, is made a bit whiter by what you've done,
and will do for me--there's a sermon for you! Now, good-bye; perhaps we
may never meet again.'
'Good-bye,' I answered, and this time, almost without knowing it, I
shook him by the hand. Then he swung himself into his saddle, and
without another word drove in his spurs and galloped off into the
darkness. I stood and watched him till I could see him no longer, then
back I went to the house, my heart full of forebodings. Try how I would,
I could not drive the memory of his visit out of my mind. An unknown,
yet all-consuming, terror seized me at every sound. I thought of the
lonely grave among the rocks near the Blackfellow's Well, of the
mysterious man in grey who had appeared, no one knew whence, to relieve
me of the horse on that awful night. Then I fell to wondering what
Sheilah and her father would say if they knew all. I never thought of
bed. Indeed, when the sun rose, he found me still gazing into the
ash-strewn fireplace thinking and thinking the same interminable
thoughts.
That afternoon Sheilah commented on my haggard appearance, and I had to
invent an excuse to account for it. Then under her gentle influence my
fears slowly subsided, until I had forgotten them as much as it would
ever again be possible for me to do.
On the Thursday following Pete's visit, I wrote to my father informing
him of my approaching marriage and imploring him to make the occasion an
opportunity for a reconciliation. To my letter I received the following
characteristic reply:--
'SIR,--I have to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of
yesterday's date, and to thank you for the same. In reply, I beg to
state that I have noted the contents as you desire me to do. With
regard to the step you intend taking, as it has been arranged
without any consideration of my feelings, I am not prepared to
venture an opinion of its merits. As to the latter portion of your
communication, I may say that on and after your wedding-day I shall
be pleased to consider you once more a member of my family.--I am,
Your paternal parent,
'MARMADUKE HEGGARSTONE.
'_P.S._--I may say that I have in my possession certain jewels
which were the property of your mother, and which are heirlooms in
our family. On your wedding-day I shall, according to custom, do
myself the honour of begging your wife's acceptance of them.'