The Sweep Winner Part 40

CHAPTER x.x.x

THE SWEEP WINNER'S HOME

Glen Leigh was taken to the Kangaroo and nursed by Mrs. Prevost. His chest was crushed, his arm lacerated, but he made a wonderful recovery, and in a week was removed to Sea View, Manley, where, needless to say, he received every attention.

The terrible fight between Glen and Lion was the topic of conversation for several days. Many trainers who were present were firmly convinced the horse had been drugged, or he would never have been so savage, or possessed such strength and staying powers. Nothing however, was discovered, and Sam Wimpole, in order to extract his money from Bellshaw, had to threaten him with exposure.

Glen was of this opinion. He, too, thought Lion had been dosed, but as he won the wager he thought it best to make no enquiries.

Craig Bellshaw was beaten. His temper was not improved. He heard Leigh was at Manley, and decided to go and visit Mrs. Prevost. Some years ago, when he was infatuated with her, he had made a will in her favour, leaving her Mintaro and all the stock on it; this he decided to alter as soon as possible. He would tell her when he reached the house.

He landed from the boat, walking along the street to the sea-front. As he turned in at the gate he looked up at the bedroom window. What he saw caused a shock which almost deprived him of reason. He stood staring at what he thought was the ghost of the woman he had left to die of hunger and thirst. It was Clara looking out. She saw him enter. Her face changed rapidly. The seat of memory was no longer vacant. She recognised him, and with the recognition returned a flood of recollections. The horror on her face made it look unearthly. She fixed her eyes on Bellshaw with a gla.s.sy stare which he returned; he dare not move. Leigh told him the woman was dead and this must be an apparition.

What did it mean?

Of one thing, in his confused state of mind, he was certain; he must fly from the spot. But his feet were rooted to the ground, and he could not take his eyes off.

The woman swayed to and fro, pointed at him with her hand. Then suddenly the thing vanished. She had fallen on to the floor in a dead faint.

Bellshaw knew nothing of this--he was horrified. His mind gradually became unhinged. He imagined the ghost disappeared suddenly in order to come out to him, perhaps seize him. In his frenzy he attributed supernatural strength to the apparition. It might carry him off, take him away to some dreadful place.

Bellshaw turned and fled, running along the sea-front like a madman, then turning towards the landing stage; reaching it, as the steamer was moving away, he ran on, and despite all the warning cries made a desperate leap. His head struck the paddle box; the wheel spun him round as he fell into the water. The boat stopped, a.s.sistance was at once rendered, but Bellshaw had disappeared. After waiting a quarter of an hour the captain left one of his men behind to report to the police, and proceeded on his journey to Circular Quay.

Craig Bellshaw's body was recovered later on in the day. His head having struck the paddle box, he was rendered unconscious and he sank like a stone.

When Clara fell with a thud on the floor of the bedroom, Mrs. Prevost rushed upstairs and found her insensible. A severe illness of some weeks followed. When she recovered she remembered everything in her life at Mintaro, and how she came to Glen Leigh's hut. It was a pitiful story, and Glen Leigh, Mrs. Prevost, Bigs and Jim listened to it in sadness. As a young girl she recollected being with Lin Soo. How he obtained possession of her she had no idea. There were other girls about her own age, and they were kindly treated for several years.

Then one day she recollected Bellshaw coming to Lin Soo's. She did not like him; she shrank from him when he touched her. She only had a hazy idea of how she was taken to Mintaro. She must have been drugged in some way. At first Bellshaw treated her kindly, doing all in his power to ingratiate himself with her. She refused all his advances, and this changed his whole actions towards her. He attempted to force her to his will and failed. Garry Backham a.s.sisted her as far as he dare. He smuggled a revolver into her room, and with this she felt safe. For a long time her life was one constant, unceasing watchfulness. She dare not sleep. When she dozed she awoke in a fright fearing Bellshaw was near her. She shot at him once, wounding him in the arm. It was soon after this he said he was tired of her and offered to drive her to Bourke and send her to Sydney.

She related what happened when they reached the water hole; how he thrust her out of the buggy, sprang after her, and tried to push her into the muddy water. She struggled, then fainted. When she came to herself she was alone, lost in the great s.p.a.ces surrounding her. She struggled on for several days, until at last she staggered into Glen's hut, and fell on his rough bed.

In answer to questions she said she had no idea who her parents were, nor did she seem to remember any home other than Lin Soo's. It could do no good questioning her further, so the subject dropped. She explained how she saw Bellshaw looking up at the window and he recognised her.

Glen expressed the opinion that Bellshaw must have thought he had seen a ghost and the sight turned his brain.

At the inquest held on him, death was stated to be caused by drowning, and that this was brought about in the manner already described. Craig Bellshaw's lawyer had his will. He came to Sea View. Great was Rosa Prevost's surprise when she discovered that Mintaro and all the stock on the station was her absolute property. Looking at the date of the will she knew he must have forgotten to alter it until too late. She consulted Glen Leigh as to whether she should take advantage of it, and he left it entirely in her hands. The lawyer strongly advised her to take over Mintaro as there were no direct heirs to it. This she decided to do, more for Glen's sake than for her own.

Ten years had gone by since Bellshaw's death and other happenings. Glen Leigh and his wife, Rosa Prevost, lived at Mintaro, where everything prospered with them. They had five children, three boys and two girls, all well grown and strong.

The hands at Mintaro found Leigh a very different "boss" from Bellshaw.

Garry Backham sold out at Boonara and came back to Mintaro as overseer, and very glad he was to be there under such a master. Glen mustered all the stock on the station and found thousands more cattle and sheep than he antic.i.p.ated. Many of the wild horses were shot, others tamed and used on the station. He bought a small stud-farm near Albury, and sent horses to be trained by Ivor Hadwin. There was a prospect of a successful year before the stable at the end of five seasons when Glen had a score of horses, most of them bred by himself, in training. The sweep money came in very handy to run the station and tide over one or two bad seasons; when rain and the good times came Mintaro cleared a fortune for them every year.

Jim Benny and his wife, the woman who suffered so much at Bellshaw's hands, and whom Jim helped Glen Leigh to save, came to Mintaro, where Clara acted as nurse and governess to all the children until such time as the two elder boys went to school in Sydney; she then took charge of the three at home, and Mrs. Leigh found her a great help and a genial companion.

It took a lot of persuasion to get her to come to Mintaro, of which she had so many unpleasant memories, but eventually they prevailed when it was pointed out how advantageous it would be for her husband.

The show was sold as a going concern; Lion had to be shot; he never recovered from the blow Bill gave him. A post-mortem was made at Gerard's request and the veterinary surgeon said the horse had been heavily dosed with a powerful drug, which undoubtedly caused him to be in a frenzy in the ring when Glen rode him.

Lin Soo was tackled by Glen and Bill Bigs, and compelled to pay a large sum of money to Mrs. Benny in order to avoid criminal prosecution.

Moreover, he was forced by them to leave Sydney and return to his own country. Chun Shan was installed as head cook at Mintaro, a position he worthily filled.

Sea View, Manley, was not sold; the Leighs used it as their residence on visits to Sydney.

It was a great day for Ivor Hadwin when he won the Sydney Cup for Glen Leigh, whose white jacket, black belt and cap, were immensely popular.

Horatio was the horse, and, as he started at two to one, the enthusiasm was immense. Later both the V.R.C., and A.J.C. Derbies fell to Glen's share, and he had hopes of landing a Melbourne Cup with a son of Barellan's, who was at the Albury Stud, and a most successful sire.

Glen never forgot the keepers of the fence, and when he came to Mintaro they soon discovered they had a friend in the man who had once been one of themselves. Glen sometimes rode there and chatted with them, rendering their lives less lonely.

One day he drove his wife to the glittering wire and showed her where he had stood for long hours in the terrible heat and drought.

"What an awful life, Glen," she said, with a shudder.

"I stood it all right," he replied, "but I was glad when it ended."

When Barellan's son won the Melbourne Cup, Bill Bigs, pointing Glen Leigh out to a friend, said, "He drew Barellan in the big sweep, and now he's won it with his son."

"That isn't likely to happen again," was the reply.

"No, I don't suppose it is," said Bigs.

Luke Nicholl came to Mintaro for a change, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Jerry Makes.h.i.+ft came with him; both were heartily welcomed.

"I shall never forget it was owing to you, Jerry, I bought the ticket in the sweep, and drew the winner," said Glen.

"You've made good use of the money, anyway," was Jerry's reply.

THE END