Page:Through South Westland.djvu/263

Rh periodical visits to Pembroke to buy stores and sell cattle. He used to take the two horses and the dray, and he always brought a supply of whisky back with him; as long as he was sober there was no great danger, for the track in those days was much better than it is now, and the horses knew every foot of the way. But there came a time of protracted storms and heavy rains, and the river, as these rivers do, made new channels for itself; and in one place the track was washed away, and Sandy found himself obliged to make a new one to avoid a deep wash-out. One night he left Pembroke much later than he should, and badly under the influence of the whisky—a supply of which he also carried in the dray. As he passed Russell’s Flat some men who saw him shook their heads and said: “Sandy’s not fit to drive the horses; something’ll happen one of these days.” At last he lost all idea of where he was—took off his boots and went to bed in the cart. The two old horses plodded on in the gathering darkness, taking the old, accustomed way. Sandy, comfortably asleep, had dropped the reins—and then the inevitable happened, for they all went over the steep edge of the wash-out into deep water: the dray turned over on top of Sandy, who was drowned in his sleep, and one horse, tangled in the chains, was drowned too. The other stood all night in the icy water: and thus they found them when the men at the Flat, getting uneasy, set out to follow him. It was their only neighbour who was commissioned to go