WORRALS DOWN UNDER
by W. E. Johns
14. THE END OF THE TRAIL (Pages 212 – 216)
Raffety reaches Oodnadatta alive but dies later. Knowing he was dying he makes a full
confession. Moran had realised the value
of Aunt Mary’s lucky strike and tried to buy it, but was turned down. He called in Raffety and Barola to scare her
away and when it didn’t work he told his assistants to
get rid of the stubborn old woman any-how.
Barola had poisoned the household drinking water with strychnine. Charlie was not affected as he got his water
straight from the soak. Charlie had
refused to show them where the opal was and was shot in the foot when he
escaped. Raffety and Barola then spent
months looking for the opal without success.
Charlie returned to the house to watch over Aunt Mary’s grave. Yoka had hardly come into the picture, “he
was little more than a tool of the white men”.
Charlie had been given a plan of where the opal was by Aunt Mary on her
death bed. He had then buried her when
she died and put all the opal she had gouged in the
upper part of her grave to fend of prowling “debil-debils”. Aunt Mary’s body was exhumed for medical
verification of the story and proper burial.
Charlie had made a dummy grave to outwit the debil-debils rather than
Raffety and Barola. The opal had been
found after Aunt Mary had shot and wounded a dingo and it had taken refuge
under a rock. Charlie got a crow bar to
prise it up, the animal was shot, and the opal seen in the soil. Charlie had a superstitious fear of the opal
and after Aunt Mary’s death; he was absolutely convinced of its diabolical
powers. The opal already gouged out was sold and the money split three ways
between Worrals, Frecks and Janet. Janet
sold the property to an important syndicate and Dan Terry asked Janet to marry
him, which she did, “for she had got to know the cheery police officer very
well while the investigations were proceeding”.
Charlie was well rewarded and departed for his distant tribe. “Worrals and Frecks stayed on for Janet and
Dan’s wedding and then returned to Sydney where, having abandoned the project
of starting an air company, they sold the Desoutter, which is now ending its
days as an air taxi. After a few weeks
of sight-seeing, they took ship for the United Kingdom, richer in pocket and in
experience”.