By obtaining permission from the government of Z----, the river’s
course could be again deflected as it was in the early Christian days,
and the remaining treasure systematically and leisurely recovered.
* * * * *
It was quite late when my guest left me that night, after having first
extracted from me the promise that I would call upon him at his humble
inn in the happy valley next day.
Having made a parcel of the still wet clothes I called next morning
upon my new friend, and spent the day with him, wandering about the
valley, and trying a cast with the fly. On parting in the evening
he informed me that he was to return to town next day, and I should
probably see him no more.
A day or two after his departure a man came down to the beach leading
a fine piebald mare, and inquiring if I were Mr. S----. I informed him
that that was my name, whereupon he gave me a note written in pencil,
reading thus--
“MY DEAR FRIEND,
“I cannot allow the day I spent in your cosy domicile on wheels to
pass without some little acknowledgment of the courtesy shown me, and
of the kindness you extended to a perfect stranger. By bearer I send
you a magpie, which kindly accept as a remembrance of
“Your obliged friend,
“H. K. K. (A. Z.)”
I have never seen H. K. K. since, although I think I could, if I
wished, make a very near guess at his real name and abode. The magpie
still tugs myself and home from place to place, the admired of all
beholders from the beauty of his peculiar markings. He makes my caravan
an object of extra interest wherever I go, simply because of the
superstitious belief that a piebald horse brings luck.
Some people _wish_ when they see my horse, others affirm that stroking
its glossy hide helps to realize their wish. Parents whose children
suffer from St. Vitus’s dance have asked me to allow the afflicted ones
to ride a little way on its back, in the belief that such exercise on a
parti-coloured steed will effect a cure.
A jockey about to ride a race on a certain occasion begged seven black
hairs from the tail of my horse and seven white ones from its mane. I
granted his request, and watched him bind the hairs carefully round the
handle of his riding-whip. I witnessed the race with more than usual
interest, and strangely enough the superstitious jockey WON his race by
a short head.
At more than one inn at which I have halted, the landlord would take
no money for the maintenance of my parti-coloured horse, saying that
bad luck would fall upon them if they charged for the keep of a “lucky”
horse.
So much for credulity and superstition!