Page:Tales-of-Banks-Peninsula Jacobson 2ed 1893 cropped.pdf/199

what was his astonishment to see Mr. Dicken’s slut crawling up to him. She was a mass of skin and bone, and must have been fasting during the whole of her absence, and she crawled up to him in that guilty way, which dogs have when they know they have done wrong. Her hair was matted and stained with red clay, and this struck him as most remarkable, as there was no red clay to be found in the neighbourhood of Barry’s Bay, the nearest being some miles away.

Mr. Silk gave the signal agreed on, and three boatloads of men came over from Akaroa, and they took the slut to the place where the horse was found, and tried to make her show them the road her master had taken. All was useless, however, for she would not go anywhere, and eventually the second search had to be abandoned without any result, and the mystery has never been solved to this day. Mr. Silk had a list of the things Mr. Dicken had with him, so that the body might be identified if it were ever found. One of these things was his pipe. It was a clay, and a triangular piece had been broken out of the bowl, so that it would hold very little tobacco. Only the day before his disappearance Mr. Silk had said to him, “I had better give you another pipe,” but he was a small smoker, and replied, “No, the pipe holds enough for me.” Mr. Silk could also identify his knife, and the pattern of the nails in his boots, which was peculiar. Some day perhaps this knowledge may help to solve the mystery. The slut became the property of Mr. Thomas Brough, and was eventually killed for biting one of his children.